his rough lips as if he wasn’t sure I was worthy of the information. Then he talked.
“As I told you before, I hadn’t kept in touch with Ellie too much over the years. We’d talk on the phone around Christmas time – she was really good at calling – but other than that it was more that I would help her out when I could. Fake IDs, information on people, yadda yadda. During that time, she never once mentioned Javier. It was like the moment she left him, she erased his memory from her head. And she seemed to be doing fine. What is the point in bringing up the past anyway? So I never spoke a word about him, even though I was keeping tabs – mainly out of curiosity, mainly for her sake. No one just up and leaves a gang member, it doesn’t happen. I was so sure he’d come after her right away, but from what I could tell, he never did. He stayed put in Ocean Springs, Mississippi. And then he began to build his empire.”
A chill laced my blood. Empire?
Gus went on. “I’d heard it through my grapevine that Travis and Javier were butting heads. He started getting friendlier with their rivals, Los Zetas in particular. That was unheard of, not to mention stupid for someone like him, but Travis Raines cared more about power than loyalties. He believed that their cartel could go grow stronger if they became allies instead of enemies and thought going back to Mexico would help. Never mind the explosion of violence in the country, the fighting, the tourists who were getting caught in the middle, the fact that it turned into one big shit show and it was getting international attention. Javier did not agree. Javier thought it was too dangerous, too chaotic, and that Travis would slowly lose control. He would rather die than make peace with his rivals. It came down to Javier staying behind and Travis booting him out. Javier siphoned a few key players of his, people who still had loyalty to a cause, instead of to Travis. I still don’t know who’d win in a fight, but Javier at least has charm to mask his brutality, something Travis doesn’t have.”
I winced at the word charm. I remembered meeting Javier for the first time, in that café in Palm Valley. I wouldn’t say he had charm but he definitely had something. Mystery, if I wanted to sound quixotic about it.
“There was an incident, of course,” he continued. “Before Travis left, he’d managed to get two of Javier’s men killed. And once he made it to Mexico, he went one step further and hunted down one of Javier’s sisters. Raped her, killed her, all that big stuff. This was about three years ago, mind you, though nothing really came of it. Javier still stayed in the US and began leaching from another cartel, trying to build his own power. That was his revenge, I suppose. Who knows, maybe Javier didn’t give two shits about his sister. Nothing would surprise me with that guy.”
I cleared my throat, watching the green hills whiz by. “You knew all this stuff, all this time and you never told Ellie.”
He looked chagrined or maybe that was wishful thinking. “It didn’t concern her. And by the time it did concern her …”
“Well you obviously knew he was coming after her.”
“Actually, I didn’t. I’d stopped paying attention about a year ago. I got dragged down into some money and health problems, I just didn’t have the time. Javier seemed to be holding steady and at that point I figured he’d never come looking for her.”
“Which begs the question, why now?”
“Good question. That’s what we’re going to find out. I doubt it was something as simple as hearing a love song on the radio.”
“Perhaps it is as simple in that he’s still in love with her.”
He glanced at me, his eyes hazy behind the aviators. “Men like Javier don’t know what love is. I wouldn’t worry too much about that.”
But Ellie did know. And that’s what concerned me.
“I’ll tell you one thing that I thought was odd,” Gus added. “About a few
“As I told you before, I hadn’t kept in touch with Ellie too much over the years. We’d talk on the phone around Christmas time – she was really good at calling – but other than that it was more that I would help her out when I could. Fake IDs, information on people, yadda yadda. During that time, she never once mentioned Javier. It was like the moment she left him, she erased his memory from her head. And she seemed to be doing fine. What is the point in bringing up the past anyway? So I never spoke a word about him, even though I was keeping tabs – mainly out of curiosity, mainly for her sake. No one just up and leaves a gang member, it doesn’t happen. I was so sure he’d come after her right away, but from what I could tell, he never did. He stayed put in Ocean Springs, Mississippi. And then he began to build his empire.”
A chill laced my blood. Empire?
Gus went on. “I’d heard it through my grapevine that Travis and Javier were butting heads. He started getting friendlier with their rivals, Los Zetas in particular. That was unheard of, not to mention stupid for someone like him, but Travis Raines cared more about power than loyalties. He believed that their cartel could go grow stronger if they became allies instead of enemies and thought going back to Mexico would help. Never mind the explosion of violence in the country, the fighting, the tourists who were getting caught in the middle, the fact that it turned into one big shit show and it was getting international attention. Javier did not agree. Javier thought it was too dangerous, too chaotic, and that Travis would slowly lose control. He would rather die than make peace with his rivals. It came down to Javier staying behind and Travis booting him out. Javier siphoned a few key players of his, people who still had loyalty to a cause, instead of to Travis. I still don’t know who’d win in a fight, but Javier at least has charm to mask his brutality, something Travis doesn’t have.”
I winced at the word charm. I remembered meeting Javier for the first time, in that café in Palm Valley. I wouldn’t say he had charm but he definitely had something. Mystery, if I wanted to sound quixotic about it.
“There was an incident, of course,” he continued. “Before Travis left, he’d managed to get two of Javier’s men killed. And once he made it to Mexico, he went one step further and hunted down one of Javier’s sisters. Raped her, killed her, all that big stuff. This was about three years ago, mind you, though nothing really came of it. Javier still stayed in the US and began leaching from another cartel, trying to build his own power. That was his revenge, I suppose. Who knows, maybe Javier didn’t give two shits about his sister. Nothing would surprise me with that guy.”
I cleared my throat, watching the green hills whiz by. “You knew all this stuff, all this time and you never told Ellie.”
He looked chagrined or maybe that was wishful thinking. “It didn’t concern her. And by the time it did concern her …”
“Well you obviously knew he was coming after her.”
“Actually, I didn’t. I’d stopped paying attention about a year ago. I got dragged down into some money and health problems, I just didn’t have the time. Javier seemed to be holding steady and at that point I figured he’d never come looking for her.”
“Which begs the question, why now?”
“Good question. That’s what we’re going to find out. I doubt it was something as simple as hearing a love song on the radio.”
“Perhaps it is as simple in that he’s still in love with her.”
He glanced at me, his eyes hazy behind the aviators. “Men like Javier don’t know what love is. I wouldn’t worry too much about that.”
But Ellie did know. And that’s what concerned me.
“I’ll tell you one thing that I thought was odd,” Gus added. “About a few
Similar Books
