“What the hell is this?!” he yells, searching for a way out.
I stand up and remove my hat to let my hair fall down around my shoulders, showing him a surely recognizable face. “Sit down. We have no interest in harming you. We only want to talk and keep you from doing anything crazy while we do.”
“You’re the one that broke into my home. You know I’m going to have to kill you,” Fonseca says bluntly.
“I’m sure you think you do, but after our conversation, I have a feeling we will become fast friends.” I motion for him to sit down as I sit myself. “Please, I promise you no harm will come to you. The only person we want to harm is Nidia Luis, the fucking bitch that killed your brother and his family.” The moment I mention her name, he sits with interest. “That’s right. We have a common enemy, and I’m here to help you eliminate her.”
“Why?” he asks smartly.
“Good question. It’s obvious that I want something, and it’s pretty simple really. I want my friends back—my lover back. And I want to be the one to kill her. She has him and the rest held up at her compound as prisoners.”
Fonseca sits back in his chair and laughs. “This is about her stealing your man? How ridiculous.”
“Actually, she set him up. When he went in to rescue her from Guzman. She’s off on a business trip right now, and when she returns, she is expected to execute them.”
“I am not aware of any business trip she needed to take, and I keep close tabs on her.”
“Not close enough. I know for a fact that she had a sudden issue pop up that she needed to personally take care of,” I say, my words laced with pride.
“An issue? What kind of issue?” he asks with curiosity. With a smug grin, I ease back and cross my legs while taking a drink of my half full liquor glass. “Oh, I see. You are quite the technical menace. I don’t care for what you did to my security.”
“I had to get your attention somehow. Would you have believed me if I simply said I could do some technical damage to Nidia’s compound?” His stern stare guarantees his interest. “No, you wouldn’t. You would have laughed in my face. A woman to do that kind of damage? Never. I could only imagine how hard you would have laughed in my face.” He leans back nodding but stops short of admitting the truth. “Now you know what I can do. And I’m telling you to believe me when I say I can not only get you past her front gates but also into her home, grant you full access to all her accounts, and provide unprecedented information about everything she has, does, and plans to do. She will be done–for good–and all she has is yours.”
“And you are going to tell me that all you want is your friends and boyfriend back, nothing else in this deal?”
“Well, that seems awfully simple, doesn’t it? Of course, I want more than that. I want a favor and a promise. You promise to help me get her and get my friends out safely, and I will let you have whatever is left, after I kill her of course.”
“And the favor?” he asks, not missing a thing.
“That is something I will ask of you at a later time. I am not quite sure when, but at some point down the road, I will call you and ask for your help one more time. When I do, I trust that you will honor that favor. I believe you’re the type of man that takes a lot of pride in being a man, a man that will never let a favor go unfulfilled.”
“Woman, you’re crazy, and I don’t usually like doing business with crazy people, but I have to admit, you have me intrigued. This woman, Nidia, has been a nuisance since she showed up here. I will guarantee all the supplies and men you need, the opportunity to help your friends, and an easy death free route back to wherever you came from. However, I won’t guarantee any favors, but I will consider whatever you may ask for and that is the best I can do. If you are able to do this.”
“Perfect. But Senor Fonseca, I will do this, and I trust that you will remember what I did for you here and you will be in a charitable mood come time for me needing my favor fulfilled. Besides, I have studied you well enough to know that you prefer respect more so than being feared. The people in this town talk of you as if you’re a hero, not a monster whose name should never be said out loud.”
“One last thing. I don’t do business with anyone without their name. You know mine, and it’s only fair that I know yours.”
“Call me Austin, and that’s the only name you need to know.”
“Okay, Austin. Let’s hear your plan for getting the bitch.” Fonseca motions for his guards to relax before folding his hands in front of himself and waiting patiently for the details of my plan. I glance towards Antony who finally takes a breath.
Nidia has no clue about me and never sees me coming. I like it that way. Fonseca gives me everything I want—cars, computers, men, guns, and complete control of the operation as long as we complete it within three days. No problem.
“How the hell are we going to do this?” Antony asks as I go over the final details. “There is more to this than getting in and leaving a note and getting out. We have to get in and stay in and then get a shit load of people out. How the hell …”
I put my hands on Antony’s shoulders and smile. “Antony, trust me.”
“Oh no.” He sighs, turning towards one of Fonseca’s men who doesn’t speak a word of English, puts his hand on his shoulder, and shakes his head in sadness. “It was nice knowing you.”
“Que?” he says in obvious confusion.
“No, no, I don’t want to go through a long, drawn out goodbye. Just know that our short time together has meant the world to me.” Antony continues on while I roll my eyes.
“Que?”
“Yes, I feel the pain too, my friend.” Antony hugs the somewhat accommodating but so very confused man.
“The man has no idea what you are talking about! Stop hugging him before you scare him into not helping us, Antony,” I snap.
“You have no idea the connection Juan and I have formed these last couple of days … Austin,” he emphasizes with a shaking of his head from side to side.
“Then you would think you would know his name is not Juan. It’s Ian.”
“Oh, well where’s Juan?” I walk away from him as he tries to recall the man he seems to think exists as Juan.
Fonseca’s men are easy to talk to; however, it’s not so easy getting them to pay attention to what I am actually saying. They seem more interested in discussing my ass and tits, so I have to walk up to one and put his face in the dirt. I hold him there until they all finally look me in the eyes. Fonseca laughs and applauds my action as if I am here to perform a show for him. No matter my audience, I make sure everyone understands we don’t move until the defenses are down. And only then do we move forward and with each of my guys leading a corner. I will handle the technical details as well as getting to Dace who we have discovered in a back bedroom. This bitch has him chained up like he’s her personal show toy. The whole key to my plan is me getting in unseen and undetected. It’s not something that’s usually hard for me, but this place is a little more tricky than the typical. They don’t allow just anyone in, and they check every car and truck that comes through, coming and going. It doesn’t give me many options, but I do have one. Nidia is set to return home today to host a hopeful ally—a one Joe Lach, a wealthy and well-connected distributor. She has never met him, and what I know about him comes from Antony who has met him once through his brother Ettore. Antony knows only the most basic information about the man which is that he doesn’t socialize one on one with just anyone. You have to be recommended or have something that no one else has to offer. Nidia’s father created the drug of all drugs, a highly potent ecstasy. Viagra has nothing on this concoction. Nidia’s forced luck has made her a huge player in a world where she had to pretend to be a man to get any respect. Now, she doesn’t have to hide behind anyone anymore because she has something no one else does, and Lach wants to be her first customer.
The first step of our plan is to meet Lach and explain that Nidia has been killed and her entire operation has b
een destroyed by a competitor who didn’t realize what he was destroying. Antony is going to handle this. With his family name, he will be easily believed. If Lach even thinks of questioning Antony’s credibility, it will be too late; Nidia’s operation will be done.
Our new friend, Fonseca, harasses Nidia’s car and transport enough that she will be more than an hour delayed. Hopefully, that gives us enough time to persuade Lach to return back to where he came from.
When Lach’s plane lands, he gets off, surrounded by wired and armed men. Antony walks out to meet him, and surprisingly, Lach recognizes him immediately.
“Antony Colletto?”
“Yes, sir. How are you doing?” Antony asks, shaking the man’s hand.
“Good, but what are you doing here? Are the Collettos claiming this territory?” Antony seems to recognize something in Lach’s reaction to him. He looks back at me as I listen in from a distance.
“Yes, we are. I was sent to greet you and make sure our position is clear,” Antony says with authority in his voice. He learned that Colletto tone well.
Lach takes a step back, scanning the immediate area and the horizon. I’m not sure what he’s looking for, but when he responds, I breathe again.
“Certainly. It’s clear. You will have no trouble or interference from me. I’m going to have my pilot gas up the plane as fast as possible and be out of your way.” Lach slowly backs away, continuing to check the area with his hands displayed clearly out from his sides. It wasn’t the plan we had put in place, but it seemed to work well enough. Lach’s plane soon speeds off, leaving us only with Nidia to deal with.
Marcus approaches, shaking his head. “I love when we don’t follow the plan and it works like a charm.” Antony and I both nod in agreement
Part two of our plan is for me to portray Joe Lach or, in our version of things, Josephine Lach, a woman who survives the business by letting people believe she is a man—a good reason why few get to talk or meet with Joe Lach. Now, I have to step up my game and be the woman that all others would be jealous of. It’s a far cry from my norm, but Antony swears I can pull it off, even against Nidia, the Spanish beauty that all men would give their life to screw at least once. With a little help from Fonseca’s wife, I am able to dress the part. Now, if I could only walk in the damn high-heeled shoes she provided. Nidia is vain, about as narcissistic as they come. The goal is for her to get one look at me and instantly want to prove she has a life I should be jealous of, which we hope will give me access to everything she has, including Dace. If I walk in stumbling in heels or try swaggering in wearing my usual sneakers, it kind of puts me at a disadvantage in the war of women in charge of men. I have been practicing, and I continue to practice while I wait for Nidia’s car to finally evade its harassment and pick me up. I hold my head up, concentrate on placing one foot down after the other and …
“Oh my God, you’re terrible.” I look towards Antony’s shocked expression. “How can you possibly be this bad at walking in heels? I could do better than you.”
“I’m not that bad. I haven’t fallen yet,” I claim proudly.
“Really? That’s how you judge an accomplishment? That you haven’t fallen and busted your face on the floor and crushed everything we have been working for. Really?”
“Hey, do you want to do this?” I ask him.
“Nooo, but maybe you should start off pretending to be intoxicated. Throw her off, get her defenses down, and then attack. After watching you try and walk in heels, I feel more confident that you can pull off drunk than poised and confident,” he suggests, which may not be such a bad idea, but I still I give him my best disgusted expression to which he simply shakes his head. “Please don’t die, because my brother will be very mad at me.”
“I can do this. She doesn’t scare me,” I say to myself while Antony and the others prepare to be my so-called guards. The moment Nidia pulls up to the hangar we directed her too, the frustration and anger written all over her face are evident. Fonseca did a great job pissing her off for me. Great. I told him to stall her, not give her a reason to want to kill us all. Her well-adorned foot hits the group, and I march towards her without swaying at all. “Where the fuck have you been?” I demand.
“And who are you?” she asks, taking an instant territorial lean to one side, as she looks me up and down
“Josephine Lach, and I don’t like to wait for anyone.”
“You’re supposed to be a man.”
“You assumed me to be a man, as does everyone. It makes it easier to be a man in this business. I would think you would understand that?” She nods, casually looking over my entourage while still keeping an eye on me. “I assumed you had an intention of impressing me at some point? Or should I return home and remember you as a bad joke?” My words have their intended effect. Nidia straightens her stance and motions towards her car.
“Absolutely not. I have more than enough to impress anyone, including you.” I urge her to go forward first and follow her angry lead. And so the bitch war begins.
Chapter 8
Austin
Ten minutes after arriving at Nidia’s estate, it’s clear she had every intention of using her womanly ways to persuade Lach into working with her— luxury dinner, a revealing outfit, wine and plenty of scantily clad women to serve me. Nidia really went all out for Lach. Of course, it does nothing for me, and I make my disgust perfectly clear while we make boring small talk. It all has to be embarrassing to her, but maybe she has hopes that I am into women. I quickly become impatient with the whole display. “I know I have said this before, but do you have any plans of impressing me at all?”
“I am trying to give you time to relax before we get right down to business. You must have had a tiring flight in?” Nidia says, doing her best to hold back her attitude. Sighing, I look at my watch until she gets the point. She calls for her assistant to make arrangements to take me to see her lab and demonstration room as I overheard her say. “Please, Ms. Lach, come with me.” I follow her into a cart that drives us to a barn-like structure. Inside is a high class lab where her assistant introduces himself and begins talking about the facility and how it works. By the time we get to the drug Lach was coming to see, my mind is distracted by our men imprisoned in cages at one end. They all seem to be well; I am not sure for how long though. Nidia explains their presence as lab rats for drug trials. I am careful in how I respond when I see her guards pull out a screaming and determined-to-get-free Leandra. She has seen them do something before that scares her, and I am not sure I want to stand by and watch whatever it is, no matter how much I dislike her. “The drug I am excited to show you is one that will turn any person into a sexual beast. It doesn’t matter how much they may want to fight it or dislike someone, they will give in and fuck anything that moves. As you can see, this woman is defiant and resistant to have sex with any of my men, but give her a shot of this drug and she will fuck them all, probably all at once. Let me show you.” Nidia’s men hold Le down as a lab assistant prepares a needle to stick her with. My disgust for this woman grows. She just created the worst kind of rape drug anyone could have ever imagined. Make a woman agree to sex with whomever wants her.
I stare into Le’s eyes hard and make a silent agreement. “Are you really going to make me watch a woman be raped by three men? Do you think that will somehow entertain me? I have no interest in this. Get a car ready and get me out of here. I’m finished.”
“No wait! I have something that may actually entertain you, if only you’ll give me a chance to set him up for you.” She runs after me while I process what she said. Him. I give her some time, feeling better when they push Le back into her cage undrugged.
I wait in a sitting room with a drink while my entertainment is supposedly set up for me. When Nidia calls for me, I am escorted to a back bedroom where I find Dace dressed to impress in tight pants and no shirt. I look him over, trying to hold back my full smile.
“This is my new slave. I acquired him after a lot of hard
work. It wasn’t easy, but I assure you, he was worth the effort. I have not had a chance to enjoy him myself yet, but I am willing to give you first dibs, if you believe that he might impress you.” As Nidia explains her offer to me, I walk towards her so-called slave, looking him over while he snarls and huffs at me.
“He doesn’t look too willing. It’s not exactly easy to force a man to fuck as it is a woman.”
“Trust me. One loaded syringe, and he will do whatever you want him to do,” she says as I face Dace with an excited expression that nearly causes him to laugh.
“A syringe? You mean someone has to carry a syringe with them every time they want to use this drug? Not exactly a drug that will easily distributed?”
“No. We have it in any many forms. The syringe simply gets into the bloodstream faster. We have yet to try it on this man, but as you can see, he is more than healthy and strong.” I agree, turning back to her as she motions for her man to stick Dace with the needle.
“I was hoping to see how a pill form would work.”
“Much the same at a slower pace. No time for that. You wanted to be impressed, and I am anxious to do just that. I have supplied you with plenty of food and drink for the night, and now you have a man who will be able to service you. I will leave you to him and see how impressed you are in the morning. I will let you decide if you want your men to watch. Although, a word of warning, this drug is powerful, and he may not stop with satisfying you. He may continue on with your men here.” Her man moves quickly, injecting Dace in the neck with her prized potion. He roars in pain, and Nidia, a sly smile on her face, leaves with her men, shutting me in the room with Dace, Antony, and Marcus.
The awkward silence gets more awkward as the three of us look at Dace who doesn’t look the least bit happy right now. “Can someone please explain the plan here?”