Prologue
“Esteban, I have to ask you, what is your plan for Gloria?” She has been through a lot and has tried to help us. She doesn’t need to go into the ground with the rest of them, does she?” Enrique asked anticipating his answer.
“My boy, she is a material witness to all of our wrong doings here,” spreading his arm out toward the back of the truck and the bodies piled high. We not only have five bodies to conceal but do not forget that one of them is the notorious Ernesto Garza, the feared Enforcer of the Garza Cartel and the brother of the head of the “family,” Pablo Garza, The Viper, whose touch kills in an instant.”
“I have not forgotten. Ernesto died by my hand. If Pablo finds out I’m his brother’s murderer, he would bring all his wrath to bear and hunt me down. No gopher hole would be small enough to hide in. He would surely find me, and I would exist no more. I say we should let Gloria go. She won’t tell anyone about this or how I killed Ernesto to protect her.”
“My crazy love sick boy, what makes you think she wouldn’t rat you out if given a chance. She saw us kill those innocent people right in front of her eyes. No amigo, her responsibilities lie too deep for her to forgive us and to lie. She must be silenced! I will record her death by your hand,” he said lifting the video camera slightly, “And send it off to Pablo, who will see, first-hand how committed we are to him. We will then spread the story of how she killed Ernesto, and we have killed her in revenge with proof in living photographic color. We’ll be welcomed into the arms of the Garza cartel. It’s fool proof, but she has to die. It has to be tangible, for them to believe our story.”
“Okay, we will start digging the graves, but we should not bury Ernesto here. Pablo will want to have his own funeral and will demand the body.”
“You are thinking on your feet, my little friend. Of course, we’ll take Ernesto back with us along with the video of her death. The video will aid us in gaining Pablo’s trust.” Esteban shook his head and looked weary, “I must be getting old. I didn’t think of this and was ready to leave him to rot in the desert like all the rest of the scum buried here. Let’s hurry, he’ll start stinking pretty quickly in this heat.”
Enrique and Esteban took turns digging the five graves. When he came to the last one left for Gloria, he started to weep. His tears streamed into the sandy loam and disappeared immediately. He thought, there has to be another way to save her, yet still explain Ernesto’s death to the cartel. He didn’t want to die nor his family to be harmed. Deep down, he felt, no other solution was viable, or was there? He continued to dig.
One by one they dumped the bodies into the shallow graves and covered them. First the two women, and then, the two men. This left one grave yet still unoccupied. It was finished. The time has come for him to say goodbye to someone who had touched his soul like no other ever had.
Esteban went to the rear cab of the truck and pulled Gloria out into the hot desert sun. She was semi-coherent, but still deeply under the influence of the drugs they had given her. He pulled her to the site and stood her up at the foot of the grave, so when Enrique shot her she would fall gracefully backward into the trench, be covered up and forgotten. As she stood before the grave a little life came into her. She feebly tried to speak.
“Enrique, what are you doing? Where are we? Why do you have a weapon aimed at me?”
“Señorita, this is the end I’m afraid. I have run out of options and must go on with this to the bitter end. I will miss you.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” she blabbered. The drugs were still affecting her mind and speech. “I have a couple of questions to ask you before you go.”
“What is it you wish to know? Ask me anything.”
“Why did you really kill Ernesto?”
“The truth is, he was a wild animal needing to be put down. It’s true, but I did protect you from certain death. I would have found it impossible for me to live with your death on my conscious. What else?”
“How did you know where I was being held prisoner and that Ernesto would be gone at the time?
“You know I work for the cartel. Therefore, I am privy to a lot of the inner workings and dialog, plus Ernesto loves to brag about his sick treatment of people, especially women. I was told he had two women being held by him, and both were tied to law enforcement so they would be getting his “special” treatment. Again, Señorita, I would never have allowed an animal to treat you so horribly. Esteban came up with the location of the house. To answer the second part of your question. Esteban and I staged a scene for him in Juarez drawing his attention and causing him to leave for a few days. I had hoped to get there in time to save you both, but that, as you know did not happen. What else do you want to know? Make it quick. We must finish here.”
Gloria sensed by his demeanor he meant business, so she took a chance of asking one last question. “Who is the ‘Invisible one’?”
“Señorita, I will tell you what you want to know, but close those eyes. You don’t need to see what happens next. He was about to speak again when Ernesto motioned the camera was recording and to proceed. “Señorita, the name of the Invisible one is…”
Gloria didn’t hear the words as the thunderous gunshots overwhelmed any verbal interpretation. She felt the impacts from the shotgun blasts to her upper chest and mid-section of her body. She stopped breathing and felt herself falling backward into the shallow trench that would be her home for all eternity. She succumbed to the warm blanket of darkness as it covered her.
Enrique quickly stepped over the still body, reloaded the double barrel shotgun and fired again at close range into her midsection. He stepped back and started shoveling dirt and sand over Gloria’s lifeless body. When Enrique finished, he turned to Esteban who was busy recording the whole event on a video camera. Esteban smiled as he shut off the camera saying, “A job well done, my little friend—it had to be.”
Enrique asked, ’You have captured the entire thing so Pablo will be convinced of our sincerity?”
“I caught every little agonizing moment down to the final gasp of Gloria Ramos,” Esteban said while switching off the camera, “Pablo will be convinced we sought revenge on the perpetrator of his brother’s death. Now we are free to go see him and make our amends.”
