Yours (3 page)

I paused and looked up at Ten. His eyes were dark.

“Anything
?” I repeated.

“You’ll be doing his dirty work, no question about it,” Ten said. He didn’t meet my eyes.

“And that’s okay with you?”

Ten swallowed. I could see his Adam’s apple move down his throat, then back up. It was oddly mesmerizing. There must be something he wasn’t telling me. This must be bad.

“Your mission is to do whatever needs to be done to get close to him.”

I nodded slowly.

“Right.”

“You understand me, Vale?
Anything
.”

“This guy’s important.”

“We think he’s behind a few more disappearances than just the one woman. That’s what Valentina leads us to believe, anyway. I’m not sure how much she says is true, and how much she says just to get a paycheck from us.”

Ten ran a hand through his hair. He looked shaken up. I wondered what other disappearances he was investigating. I wondered if I would be up for the task, if this guy was as unkillable as he thought he was.

“Alright,” I said. I stood up and tapped the folder with my fingertips. “When do I get to go after this motherfucker?”

“Right now.”

“
Right
now? I need a haircut.”

“He’s asked for the escort tonight,” Ten said. “You fly out in an hour from terminal eighteen. It’s a private jet.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” I finished the last drag of my joint and stabbed it out on the top of the desk. Ten winced. “Right fucking now?”

“This is a big deal, Vale.”

“How big?”

“A half a million big.”

I blew the last of the smoke out between my teeth.

“A half a million? For one guy?”

“Emphasis on the
one
. We don’t want to pick up any more bodies than we have to, and you’re more likely to get caught if there’s a body trail. Don’t let anyone see you kill him if you can help it, or you probably won’t get out of there at all. Wait until right before the raid, and we’ll be there for backup. Can you handle that?”

“Got it. Don’t kill anyone. Unless I need to, in which case, do anything.”

“Right.”

“Thanks for the clear instructions.”

“Hey, you’re the one who wanted this job. Can you do this?”

“Yeah. Sure, sure. I can do this.”

I shook my arms out. Cool. Controlled. I could take down one guy no problem. It was the other stuff—the
anything
—that had me a little concerned.

“Take your time and memorize the file,” Ten said.

“Already done.” I flipped open the folder once more just to satisfy Ten. El Alfa grimaced out at me.

“You got this under control, Vale?”

“Of course,” I said, closing the file and looking up at the man who was sending me across the border to do his dirty work. “I always have things under control.”

Chapter Four

Jessica

“Mexican Border, 12 Miles.” I read the highway sign out loud and sighed. “Tell me this is all a joke.”

“No joke,” Mimi said.

“What about my passport? I can’t go across the border without a passport.”

Mimi tapped the dashboard.

“I stole it out of your desk for you. It’s right in the glove box.”

Ugh. That had been my last hope of convincing them not to take me with them. I let out a deep breath.

“Did you bring a Spanish dictionary?”

“You won’t be needing that one bit,” April called forward from the back seat. “But you
will
be needing this.”

A clump of red fabric sailed forward and landed in my lap. I picked it up gingerly with my fingertips and held it out in front of me.

“What is this?” I asked.

“It’s a dress.”

I eyed the skimpy thing. It was a red bandage dress with no sleeves.

“This isn’t mine,” I said. “I would never have bought this.”

“No, it’s the one you
should
have bought when we were out shopping. I picked it up for you, though. So you’re welcome.”

I looked at the tags. Despite its skimpiness, it said that it was my size. And then I looked at the price tag. My heart skipped a beat when I realized where the decimal place was.

“I can’t afford this dress!” I exclaimed. “Did you see how much it costs?”

“So keep the tag on and don’t spill anything on it,” April said, shrugging. “We can take it back next week.”

“I’ll try real hard not to puke margaritas up on you,” Mimi said earnestly. “Try it on.”

“What do you mean, try it on?”

“I mean put it on.”

“Right now? In the car?”

“We’re going straight to the club. You can’t go out dancing wearing a muumuu that looks like wallpaper from the seventies,” Mimi explained, her manicured fingernails tapping the steering wheel impatiently.

“This isn’t a muumuu,” I said, looking down woefully at my maxi dress. She was right. The print did look like terrible op art.

“Try it on! Try it on!”

April and James joined in the chant.

“Try it on! Try it on! Try it on!”

“Ahhh!” I screamed. “Okay, okay, fine!”

“Don’t look,” I said. “April, cover James’ eyes.”

“Already closed,” James said.

“Better hurry up before we get to the border,” April said in a singsong voice.

“Oh, jeez.”

I scrambled to pull my so-called muumuu up over my head. I had it off in only a few seconds, but then I fumbled with the red dress.

“Shit,” I said. “Which end is down and which end is up?”

“Are you girls sixty-nining without me?” James teased.

“Hurry up!” April said. “There’s a car coming up on our right!”

“What are you doing with your seatbelt still on?” Mimi asked, glancing over at me.

“We’re on the highway!” I yelled. “I can’t unbuckle my seatbelt, that’s dangerous! And do you know how much a ticket like that costs?”

James was giggling like a maniac. I hoped he still had his eyes shut tight. I pulled the red dress over my head to shimmy it on.

“Wooooooooooooooooooo
!”

“Shit!” April said.

“What is it?” I asked, panicking. The tight dress was stuck over my head and I couldn’t see anything.

“It’s a car full of guys on the right.”

“Show us your tits!”

I blushed hard underneath the dress. At least I was wearing underwear. I could take some comfort in that.

“Take it all off!”

I heard the window rolling down in the back seat as I tugged the dress down over my shoulders. April leaned over her boyfriend to yell out the window.

“FUCK OFF!” she screamed back at the guys.

“I’m going to run them off the fucking road,” Mimi said. I barely had time to yell
no
before she yanked the wheel hard.

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

We all screamed as the SUV swung over into their lane. They honked and slowed down, laughing hysterically. I pulled the dress down the rest of the way, adjusting it over my hips. God, it was a tight dress.

“Ugh,” Mimi scoffed.
“Thirsty
.”

“One of them is mooning us,” April said, turned almost completely around in her seat.

“Hey, you don’t get to look at other guys’ butts,” James said, tickling her side. She burst out laughing.

Despite myself, I giggled as the car with the mooning guy swerved off onto an exit ramp. I looked down at the dress. It looked badass.

…
I
looked badass.

“Thanks, April,” I said. “I’ll try not to get anything on it.”

“What about if a pirate captures you and steals you away into the Pacific?” James teased.

“Then I’ll send you an envelope with gold doubloons to pay it back,” I said, sticking my tongue out at both him and April.

“Here we are!” Mimi shouted. I looked up.

“This is it?” The border loomed up in front of us, a mess of concrete walls and half-finished construction. I’d never been down this far.

“This is it!” Mimi said. The tires chattered over the rumble strips as we slowed down.

I was flabbergasted at how easy it was to get into Mexico. There was nothing in our way at all. Not even a single border patrol. We pulled up to an automatic gate that lifted up, and we drove right across.

“Wow,” I said. “That’s… that’s all it takes? They didn’t check our passports, or—”

“Easy as getting into a parking lot,” James said from the back. “It’s getting back out that’s tough.”

He thumbed back over at the exit lanes to get into America. On the other side of the highway, I could see American guards with guns lined up at every exit lane. Customs agents in protective plastic cages. Metal gates stretching fifteen feet high stretched over the sidewalk entrance. Barbed wire everywhere. The setting sun shone over the border wall, glinting off of the long line of waiting cars.

“Wow,” I said again. “So that’s it? We’re in Mexico?”

“Hell yeah! Tijuana, baby!” Mimi hooted.

“Uh, where are we going, exactly?”

“I know this club,” Mimi said. “It’s super nice. All the rich guys I know in TJ go there.”

“What’s the cover?” I hadn’t brought any money at all in my purse.

“For us? Are you kidding? They let girls in free as long as you don’t look trashy.”

“Too bad for you, Mimi!” April said, kicking the back of Mimi’s seat.

“Hey!”

Mimi laughed, and I began to laugh along. I didn’t know what it was, but as soon as we’d crossed the border into Mexico, it seemed like a weight had been lifted off of my shoulders.

Over here, I wasn’t plain old Jessica anymore. I could be anything I wanted to be. I could act however I wanted to act. On either side of the bumpy street, throngs of people made their way through the crowded sidewalks. There were fruit stands everywhere, and taco trucks on the corners of the streets. And a million other people who didn’t know anything about me.

I looked down at the tight red dress curving over my hips. This wasn’t the old me. I was doing something I wasn’t supposed to be doing, for once in my life. And it felt… liberating. Like a breath of fresh air. I rolled down the window, unbuckled my seat belt, and leaned out as far as I could.

“
Viva Mexico!
” I shouted, spreading my arms wide in pure joy. “
Woooooooooooo!
”

Chapter Five

Vale

When Valentina stepped into the private jet, it was all I could do not to gape. The way she strutted up the aisle made me think she was used to guys taking one look at her and popping their eyes out with a cartoonish
AROOGA
sound.

Long black hair flowed over her shoulders in waves pinned back loosely from her face. Her features were exotic. Maybe Asian, maybe something else. Her eyes were so dark that it looked like her pupils had swallowed the irises whole. She was wearing a fire-engine red dress with a slit all the way up, hinting at a smooth upper thigh.

She sat down across from me and crossed her legs. The plush leather seats in the small private jet faced each other, and I was pretty sure I knew the color of her underwear.

“You’re the man they sent.” It wasn’t a question, but I nodded anyway.

“You’re handsome,” she said idly, batting her long dark lashes. The jet engines started up and I glanced out of the window.

“Why do I get the feeling that if I say anything like that to you, something bad will happen to me?”

“You’re smart, too,” Valentina said, smiling. “El Alfa wouldn’t like you even talking to me.”

“Excuse me,” the flight attendant said, bending down over the back of my seat. “Would either of you like a drink?”

“The Napa Cabernet,” Valentina said. She’d obviously flown this plane before.

“Whiskey neat,” I ordered.

Valentina waited until the flight attendant disappeared into the back of the plane before leaning forward. Her cleavage spilled over the top of her low-cut dress. I had to focus on the space between her eyes to keep my gaze from drifting. Good practice, I told myself.

“What is your name?” she asked.

“Vale. We’re supposed to be—”

“Old family friends. Right. They told me. Vale and Valentina,” she mused. She seemed utterly unworried about the ruse. I wondered how easy this plan was going to be to pull off.

“So tell me about your friend. El Alfa,” I said.

Valentina shrugged.

“He’s a man,” she said. “He likes to fuck.”

“Anything else?”

“He likes to fuck rough.”

The flight attendant came back with our drinks and disappeared again. The plane was empty other than us, and it felt weird to be sitting in the middle of a half dozen empty seats. Valentina sipped her wine as the plane taxied down the runway.

“They said you think he’s responsible for some women going missing,” I probed.

“I don’t think. I
know
.”

“What does he do that’s so bad?”

Valentina’s eyes flashed with something like fear.

“He’s a bad man,” she said. “He hurts women.”

I lifted my whiskey glass and took a swallow. The amber liquid ran smooth and hot down the back of my throat, burning my stomach as it hit.

“You know why you’re bringing me there?” I asked.

She nodded slightly and recrossed her legs.

“They told me all about you,” she said.

“Is that right?” I took another swallow of whiskey. “Then you know I’m single.”

“Yes.” She pressed her lips together.

“What else do you know about me, Valentina?”

“Don’t patronize me,” she said sharply. The wine in her glass sloshed as the jet began to pull away, the engines roaring. Small planes were always so loud.

I frowned.

“What did they tell you about me?”

“They told me what happened to your last girlfriend,” she said. She didn’t look at my eyes.

My stomach turned hard as lead.

“They told you that?”

“They told me you killed her.” Now she looked directly at me. I would have been worried the flight attendant would hear, but the jets were so loud I could barely hear her myself. “They told me to be careful around you.”