Sebastian kept telling me he was ready but we were still sitting in our car outside of the compound. After assessing the damage of my fall we went to print out the pictures. Accept for Mr. Ho's dragon being the centerpiece of the pictures they turned out well. Mr. Ho would not be able to deny an affair with Mr. Tang's wife. I didn't want to explore what kind of relationship they had but it seemed like it was seasoned. Mrs. Tang was a lot younger than Mr. Tang and I wondered if she married for the money then fell in love with someone who she was more compatible with. Mr. Tang didn't come off as a man who would dance naked with a woman.
"Come on Sebi you got this," I grumbled. Sebastian was talking to himself in a voice that was barely audible. It was annoying but also kind of cute.
"I know I am just going over my lines in my head one more time."
"You're psyching yourself out," I warned. "Let's just do this. We have the dirt we got this bastard. He is going to beg for the deal."
Sebastian put his head back against the headrest. "Maybe but I want to be prepared if he tries to flip it? It is mainly pictures of Ho's backside you can hardly tell it is Mrs. Tang."
"You can definitely tell it is Mrs. Tang. It may not be the best angle since her head is leaning into his shoulder but you can tell. And Mr. Tang doesn't seem like an understanding man. I think we could have gotten them getting out of the car together and it would be enough."
"I know," Sebastian sighed. "I am just trying to prepare myself Leah. I want him to be scared. I want to be assured that we won't have a problem with him telling Tang. If he tells Tang about us still working with Bo we're done. Bo's done."
"I know," I said quietly.
I let Sebastian think in silence. We were so different. I was spontaneous while Sebastian premeditated everything. I didn't think I just reacted and that was when I was at my best. My first reaction was always authentic. When I had a lot of time to think about something I started over thinking and would get frustrated. I wanted to take action and react as I went. I had a teacher notice this trait in junior high and she said never apologize for being spontaneous. I wasn't quite sure what she meant at the time but I saw the way she looked at me like she wished what I had was in bottle and she could drink it.
Sebastian opened the door without saying a word and I followed his lead. He called the maid Lupe on the cell phone we gave her to give her a heads up that we were back. I punched in the code to the gate and we walked up to the door. I was full of nervous energy. Sebastian knocked lightly on the door. I gave Sebastian a hug around the waist and put my head against his chest. He kissed my head softly then broke away from my hold. When Lupe let us into the house it felt like déjà vu except this time I didn't have to pee. Sebastian walked in front of me with the manila folder full of pictures in his right hand. I followed with anticipation. Lupe led us into the study and told Sebastian she would go get Mr. Ho.
We heard Ho before we saw him. He was talking in a harsh tone to Lupe. Obviously he was not happy he had late night guests. Ho's face was priceless when he walked through the study door and saw us. Sebastian's face was equally priceless. He cut Mr. Ho off just as he about to launch into a tirade.
"Sit down Ho!" Sebastian said with authority. "Sit down and listen."
Mr. Ho was taken aback by Sebastian's tone and when he started to respond Sebastian cut him off.
"Stop! Look here jerky this is what's going to happen." Sebastian spread the pictures out on the table. "You're going to listen to me today."
I didn't recognize Sebastian. He was commanding the room like a rooster in a hen house. His confidence and appearance as a badass was turning me on.
"So Ho as you know we have been looking for Grace. You see those pictures? Yeah the ones with you and your boss's wife? They can be instantly emailed, faxed, or hell I can FaceTime them to him if you like. If you don't give us what we want they will be sent to Mr. Tang so he can see that his right hand man is banging his wife. Unless you want to cooperate with us."
Mr. Ho couldn't look at the pictures after he saw what they were. Sweat beads formed on his head. Damn Mr. Tang wanted to destroy Bo when he found out he was trying to find his missing girlfriend I wondered what he would do if he did find out about Ho's affair with his wife. Death would be the only viable option. Ho looked like he might faint from fear. He sighed loudly and stood up slowly. He walked toward the window. He's had his underwear in a bind and I was scared of how he would respond.
"Tick tock Ho I have Tang's phone number on speed dial," Sebastian assured him. "I can call or send a picture right now."
Mr. Ho turned around forcefully. "Stop! Just stop! Put those away!"
I was startled by Ho's explosion. His loud voice bounced off the walls. Sebastian didn't budge he kept his eyes locked on Ho. It was safe to say we had his attention.
"I will help you," Mr. Ho said with uneasiness. "I will tell you where the girl is."
Sebastian and I shot each other WTF glances. I was literally holding my breath and had to tell myself to breath. Mr. Ho knew where Grace was? Is that what he was implying? I watched Sebastian change his demeanor and I could tell he was going to play this cool.
"Okay tell us where she is," Sebastian demanded. "If you tell us the pictures will disappear."
Mr. Ho paced back and forth slowly. I wasn't sure if he was gearing up for another explosion or if he was surrendering. I couldn't believe he knew where Grace was. I didn't know what was going on. Was Mr. Tang solely behind Grace's disappearance? Was that why Tang was so mad at Bo for hiring us to find her? Some family Bo had. I was irate inside. Who the hell did these people think they were? Ho's silence was starting to infuriate me and his pacing was making me dizzy.
I snapped. "Where the hell is she? Tell us!"
Mr. Ho stopped and turned toward me although he didn't look at me. "The girl needed to be removed. She is in the hands of a businessman in Juarez, Mexico." Mr. Ho said this like it was a normal everyday occurrence.
"So you had her sold as a sex slave?" I asked angrily. "And she had to be removed, what the hell does that mean?"
"Leah." Sebastian gave me a disapproving look. "Calm down."
Tears were forming in my eyes and I wanted to respond but I decided against it.
"Mr. Ho," Sebastian said. "What is she doing in Juarez? Who has her?"
I always admired how Sebastian could keep his cool no matter who he was talking to or what the situation was.
"She was put into the care of a Mr. Ping that is all I know."
Sebastian frowned. "Did Mr. Tang order this?"
Ho sighed as if all these questions were unwarranted. "I told you where she is that was the deal."
Sebastian glared at Mr. Ho. "But where in Juarez? It's a big place."
Mr. Ho raised his voice dramatically. "His place is called Ping's that's it!"
I jumped in still fuming. "And how do we know you are telling us the truth? How do we know you won't give Ping a heads up that we are coming for the girl and he is waiting with a gun?"
Sebastian turned his gaze from me to Mr. Ho and picked up all the pictures that were on the table. "Mr. Ho if anything happens to Leah or myself the pictures will still get sent to Mr. Tang." Sebastian stepped toward Mr. Ho and got close to his face. "You understand?"
Mr. Ho seemed pissed off that he had to make a deal with us as if we were lowly peasants. He finally muttered a quiet yes.
Sebastian grinned. "I will leave a copy of these pictures with a trusted friend of ours and if they don't hear from us these pictures will go into the hands of Mr. Tang. If we get down to Ping's place in Juarez and there is no Grace these pictures will be sent directly to Mr. Tang."
Ho pointed his finger at Sebastian. "Listen I have no control over what Mr. Ping does with her. She is his now. I give you my word that this is the man the girl was left with and he will know where she is."
"If he doesn't we have a problem."
Mr. Ho grimaced. "When you get the girl I get all the pictures and your word
you will not tell Mr. Tang or Bo."
"You have our word," Sebastian said.
"If you do not honor this agreement it will not be good for you." Ho shook his finger at Sebastian. "And when I say it will not be good for you -"
"We'll be removed." I said sarcastically and looked at Sebastian knowing Ho wouldn't look my way.
His threat was weak and scary at the same time. If he had the balls to mess with Mr. Tang's wife I didn't put it past him to do bodily harm to us to protect himself from Tang. They had innocent Grace Yu removed and given to a businessman in Mexico. These people were freaking crazy. I thought of how we even got involved with these people. Nelly and her need to buy cheap drugs in Mexico came to mind.
I waved my empty Smirnoff Ice bottle in front of Sebastian's face and he shook me off as if it didn't count. I went inside to grab another bottle. I returned to the deck where the sun was slowly going down. The view looked like a masterpiece painting. It was such a beautiful night in San Diego but we had been oblivious to our surroundings up to that point. I tried to get Sebastian to stop and take a look at the breathtaking sight but he couldn't be lured. He was in focus mode and rightfully so. In the morning we would leave for Juarez having no idea what we would be in for. We didn't know anything about this Ping character. We knew we couldn't just show up and ask him to give us Grace. Sebastian and I seemed to have discussed every scenario we could think of. If Ping's place was a brothel the best idea we had come up with was to try to sneak her out with a disguise.
The fact that we couldn't bring any kind of self-defense weapon had me worried. Juarez has a population of 1.5 million people and has been called the most violent zone in the world outside of declared war zones. The more articles I read about the violence in Juarez the more I became fearful for our safety. There was terrible violence against females in Juarez and I wondered what kind of hell Grace was living in if she was in fact still alive. It was mind-boggling what I came across online. I started reading snippets out loud from an article about a mass grave found that was full of women's bodies.
"Leah please," Sebastian snapped. "I know the violence down there is horrific. It's not going to do you any good to keep reading all those articles. We have a chance to possibly save one female from enduring violence are you in or out?"
"I'm in I am just trying to do some research on Juarez." Gosh somebody was testy I thought. I loudly closed my laptop.
Sebastian didn't look up from his notes. "Leah you need to call Nelly that's all I need you to do tonight."
I shrugged. "Yeah I will. I'll call her now. You going to call Pauly and make sure he has the Ho files?"
"Yes." He looked up slightly. "Leah are you sure about getting Nelly involved in this?"
I glared at him. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Can we trust her?"
"Seriously Bastian? She's my best friend and she already knows we are trying to find Grace." I shrugged. "I am going to go down on the beach and do a walk in talk."
"Whatever just don't go far it's getting dark and make sure she knows how important this is."
I waited a few seconds to see if Sebastian would look up from his notes but he never did. "I will."
I went down the elevator and through the lobby. For a second I wondered if this would be my last night on US soil. The thought made me uneasy and I dismissed it. I took off my flip-flops once I was outside. I let my feet snuggle into the sand.
Nelly answered on one ring. "Leah what the hell girl."
"What up Nelly?"
"Dude I haven't heard from you for like ever."
"I haven't heard from you. How's Falip?"
"He's good."
Nelly didn't elaborate so I assumed their relationship hadn't progressed.
"When are you and Sebastian coming back here? You find Hello Kitty?"
"Not sure and not yet. I am calling because I need a huge favor."
"Okay what is it?" Nelly sounded curious.
"I am going to either call you or text you everyday starting tomorrow. If you don't hear from me by 9 pm every night you need to call Pauly."
"Wait what?"
I groaned. "If you don't get a call or text from me starting tomorrow call Pauly, I will text you his number he is our friend in Orlando. Call him and tell him you haven't heard from us and he will know what that means. That's all you need to do."
Nelly gasped. "What does that mean if I don't hear from you Leah are you guys in trouble? What's going on?"
"No everything is fine." I thought about telling her more but decided she didn't need to know anything else.
"Ah," Nelly laughed nervously. "You have to tell me more than that Leah. I am just supposed to call some guy in Orlando?"
"I just need you to do it Nel. Can you?"
"Okay chill I will. So you're going to call or text everyday. It will be nice to hear from you more frequently."
"Is Gwen there?"
"What you don't trust me?"
"I trust you Nelly but maybe Gwen should be in on it as well. I will contact both of you."
Nelly sighed dramatically. "You think I will forget?"
"Shoot I don't know if you'll be having phone sex or something with Falip and I'll get a 'oh my gosh Leah I am so sorry I totally forgot' from you."
"I am offended," she whined.
"Whatever Nelly I trust you I just want Gwen involved as well. Put her on speakerphone."
"Okay hold on."
Out of the three of us Gwen was the reliable, dependable one. She was the one in college who would tell Nelly and I if our ideas were not very bright ones. Gwen was the mother hen of our house making sure we didn't burn it down.
"Hey Leah what's going on?" Gwen yelled.
I brought the phone away from my ear. "Hey Gwenie pooh. I need a favor. Nelly will give you the details but basically I am going to call or text you two everyday starting tomorrow. If you don't hear from me by 9 pm call Pauly."
"MMM-kay. Why?"
I almost laughed at Gwen's response she always had a sarcastic tone that could make me bust out laughing. I guess what I was asking did sound odd and I realized it at that moment.
"Sebastian and I have to take a trip to Mexico. Remember our little trip down there awhile back? So yeah this is just in case something happens to us."
"Seriously LG?" Gwen's tone changed from playful to serious.
I smiled hearing Gwen call me LG. It was my initials and my old nickname. I rarely heard it anymore. It made me think of my childhood.
"You two are flipping crazy," Nelly yelled.
"It's all good," I pleaded. "We just need Pauly to be informed if we are unable to be reached."
"Is Pauly hot?" Gwen asked.
"No he's a computer geek."
"That doesn't make him not hot," Nelly chimed in. "Don't be hating and why would you hide a Florida potential from us?"
"Stop he's still in college plus I think he has a girlfriend."
"Picture please."
"Ah fine I will see if I have one. Now can you two do what I asked?"
Nelly sighed. "I don't like this Leah. I know you love being risky and adventurous but this is just plain stupid."
"Nelly we'll be fine. I promise. Now can I trust you guys to follow through?"
"Wait so if we don't hear from you by 9:00 that means what you were captured by the cartel or some shit?" Gwen asked.
"Guys seriously I just need to know you two will call Pauly if you don't hear form me by 9:00 pm. I'll tell you all about it when it's over. I don't know how good of reception I will have down there so if you get a call from a weird looking number answer it. If I have reception I will text you."
"What will you text us so we know you're good for the day?"
"I'll text 'LG good' then maybe some emoticons. Some hearts and smiley faces. Is that cool?"
"Yeah."
"Okay," Gwen said. "When are you guys coming back to Phoenix?"
"Well if we make it back."
"Shut up Lee!" Nel
ly yelled.
"I'm kidding. I don't know yet."
I switched the subject so we could leave the call on a better note. Gwen had some drama at her job she shared with us then we laughed over Nelly telling us about her first trip to get a massage. It was typical Nelly and it took my mind off of Mexico for a few moments.
When I got back to Bo's apartment Sebastian was still at the table on the deck. I could tell his mind was in motion. I loved that Sebastian was my partner in crime. We complemented each other well. I convinced him that he needed to call it a night. We had a ten-hour drive to Juarez tomorrow and planned to leave at 6 am. I took Sebastian's hand and led him to the couch. We both sprawled out with Sebastian taking up most of the space. He draped his arm over my body and we snuggled in close to each other. My Cousin Vinny was playing on one of Bo's hundreds of channels. I zoned out while watching it and wondered if a 9 to 5 job would be better for us. It would mean we could do this nightly without having to worry about what kind of danger we would be in the next day.