knowing your
church history.”
“How do you know I’m Catholic?”
“You’ve just about fingered that poor
crucified soul off the gold cross around your neck. You mean to say you can’t
even hazard a guess at who Joan is?”
She couldn’t recall any male saints or
apostles or biblical stories mentioning a man named Joan. In fact, the only
Joan that came to mind was… Okay, that was going to take some getting used to.
Joan turned to size her up with beady black
eyes. “You should be more careful about approaching strangers.”
Gabriel’s mouth pulled to the side. “You’ll
have to forgive Joan. He’s not good at first impressions. The last woman who
pranced out to meet him wound up dead.”
Ignoring Gabe’s dead comment, Maria said to
Joan, “If Francis and Gabriel hadn’t known who you were, they wouldn’t have let
me anywhere near you.”
“Francis and Gabriel aren’t always right.”
Joan’s deep voice reverberated through her chest.
“Now see here, Joan,” Francis felt obliged
to object. “I’ve been right for most of my life. It’s every other son of a bitch
who didn’t see the light.”
Gabriel eyeballed Joan’s packs and snorted.
“Looks like Joan’s planning on going to a funeral, Francis.”
“I bought a new collar just for the
occasion.”
Honest to God, her head felt like it was
going to explode. “I hate when you guys do this.”
“Do what, honey?”
“Talk around me instead of to me. Too many
people have died already and I don’t—” Wait a minute. Now this Saint business
was starting to make sense. Will was the saint. All these men, including Seth Harris, owed Will
something and he was calling in markers, letting Harris take charge of whatever
it was they were planning. And she was pretty sure what they were planning to
do was kill Benito Juarez in cold blood. No Juarez, no trial. Wasn’t that what
Harris had said?
How could Will do this? After everything
they’d talked about. Everything she’d been through. What kind of justice was
that? “No.” Maria shook her head in denial. “You can’t just waltz into Juarez’s
home and…and murder him.”
“She’s gonna blow,” Gabriel murmured.
“I’m not risking my job, my family’s honor,
or my life for cheap revenge! My grandfather came to this country because of that
kind of sick injustice. If there’s no law, there’s no quality of life. No
soundness of mind. Jimmy isn’t going to have died for this! The agents who gave
their lives protecting me aren’t going to have nothing to show for it. There’s
no honor in slitting the man’s throat who steals your pig. Revenge only breeds
vengeance.”
“What the hell is she talking about?”
“Vengeance is mine, sayeth the Lord.”
“Shut up, Francis!” She whirled on him,
every muscle in her body taut with anger. “I won’t be part of this. I won’t let
you use me as a cause for taking the law into your own hands. I’m not a
murderer and I won’t let you make me into one! When I face Benito Juarez, it’ll
be fair and square, across a courtroom.”
“Juarez doesn’t play fair, Angelface,”
Francis said through a stream of smoke. “If he did, you wouldn’t be here.”
“Juarez?” Joan’s eyes snapped at the
mention of the drug lord.
“Yes, Benito Juarez,” Maria told him.
“California Businessman of the Year, with contacts all along the West coast and
who knows where else. He’s respected, revered and the only way to take down his
organization is to take it apart legally. I don’t need to cheat to win. I have
more than enough on Juarez to bury him in prison for the rest of his life,
where he can think about what he’s done.”
“Oh, you want him to think about it,”
Gabriel sneered. “Don’t sweat it, sister, he will. While he’s in prison he’ll
think about ways to continue expanding his operation. He’ll bribe the prison
guards onto his payroll, buy himself open unmonitored communications with his
people on the outside
church history.”
“How do you know I’m Catholic?”
“You’ve just about fingered that poor
crucified soul off the gold cross around your neck. You mean to say you can’t
even hazard a guess at who Joan is?”
She couldn’t recall any male saints or
apostles or biblical stories mentioning a man named Joan. In fact, the only
Joan that came to mind was… Okay, that was going to take some getting used to.
Joan turned to size her up with beady black
eyes. “You should be more careful about approaching strangers.”
Gabriel’s mouth pulled to the side. “You’ll
have to forgive Joan. He’s not good at first impressions. The last woman who
pranced out to meet him wound up dead.”
Ignoring Gabe’s dead comment, Maria said to
Joan, “If Francis and Gabriel hadn’t known who you were, they wouldn’t have let
me anywhere near you.”
“Francis and Gabriel aren’t always right.”
Joan’s deep voice reverberated through her chest.
“Now see here, Joan,” Francis felt obliged
to object. “I’ve been right for most of my life. It’s every other son of a bitch
who didn’t see the light.”
Gabriel eyeballed Joan’s packs and snorted.
“Looks like Joan’s planning on going to a funeral, Francis.”
“I bought a new collar just for the
occasion.”
Honest to God, her head felt like it was
going to explode. “I hate when you guys do this.”
“Do what, honey?”
“Talk around me instead of to me. Too many
people have died already and I don’t—” Wait a minute. Now this Saint business
was starting to make sense. Will was the saint. All these men, including Seth Harris, owed Will
something and he was calling in markers, letting Harris take charge of whatever
it was they were planning. And she was pretty sure what they were planning to
do was kill Benito Juarez in cold blood. No Juarez, no trial. Wasn’t that what
Harris had said?
How could Will do this? After everything
they’d talked about. Everything she’d been through. What kind of justice was
that? “No.” Maria shook her head in denial. “You can’t just waltz into Juarez’s
home and…and murder him.”
“She’s gonna blow,” Gabriel murmured.
“I’m not risking my job, my family’s honor,
or my life for cheap revenge! My grandfather came to this country because of that
kind of sick injustice. If there’s no law, there’s no quality of life. No
soundness of mind. Jimmy isn’t going to have died for this! The agents who gave
their lives protecting me aren’t going to have nothing to show for it. There’s
no honor in slitting the man’s throat who steals your pig. Revenge only breeds
vengeance.”
“What the hell is she talking about?”
“Vengeance is mine, sayeth the Lord.”
“Shut up, Francis!” She whirled on him,
every muscle in her body taut with anger. “I won’t be part of this. I won’t let
you use me as a cause for taking the law into your own hands. I’m not a
murderer and I won’t let you make me into one! When I face Benito Juarez, it’ll
be fair and square, across a courtroom.”
“Juarez doesn’t play fair, Angelface,”
Francis said through a stream of smoke. “If he did, you wouldn’t be here.”
“Juarez?” Joan’s eyes snapped at the
mention of the drug lord.
“Yes, Benito Juarez,” Maria told him.
“California Businessman of the Year, with contacts all along the West coast and
who knows where else. He’s respected, revered and the only way to take down his
organization is to take it apart legally. I don’t need to cheat to win. I have
more than enough on Juarez to bury him in prison for the rest of his life,
where he can think about what he’s done.”
“Oh, you want him to think about it,”
Gabriel sneered. “Don’t sweat it, sister, he will. While he’s in prison he’ll
think about ways to continue expanding his operation. He’ll bribe the prison
guards onto his payroll, buy himself open unmonitored communications with his
people on the outside
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