The Beasts of Juarez by R.B. Schow (story books to read .txt) 📗

That’s when his cell phone rang. Cursing, he hit pause on the remote, inhaled deeply, then let out a measured exhale. He checked the caller ID and it said PRIVATE.

“Camden Fox,” he said, ready to rip into any reporter calling him this late.

“My team is just about to cross the border,” Leopold said. “Yergha spoke with the border attendant who took payment to let in the van we saw in the video. He’s been put on leave pending an internal investigation, but I will personally hold on to his information in case we need to pay him a visit, which we probably will. Either way, we’re trying to track the van now.”

“What should I do?” Camden asked.

“Nothing. We’re likely dealing with the cartel. With the recent opening of the border, most of these narco-traffickers are like caged animals that just got loose. There’s going to be a lot of gang activity and a lot more trafficking, which means your kids could get lost in the mix. We’re going to need more hands on deck.”

“Are you asking for more money?” he asked.

“I’m going to double the size of the team, but not at any additional cost to you. I only tell you this so you know why I’m not with my team just yet. Once my additional assets are in place, if I’m needed on-site, I’ll be there.”

“Who are these other two assets?” Camden asked.

“Heavy hitters.”

“Aren’t Esty and Yergha the heavy hitters?”

“We’re all at the top of our game,” Leopold said with unwavering confidence.

“Indulge me, Mr. Wentworth.”

He took a deep breath, thought about it for a moment, then let out a long sigh and said, “One of the assets, she’s like death before death died. This woman will tear your heart out like an attack dog. She’s a wild card, part of my kill squad, and probably the most dangerous of the four of them.”

“And the other one?”

“That would be a Californian with a bad attitude, a God complex, and the need to mete out a severe amount of retribution, more for personal reasons than anything else. He’s a bit tricky, but when he’s on, the man will run headfirst through brick walls for you.”

“The first forty-eight hours are the most important hours in a kidnapping, Mr. Wentworth.”

“You don’t have to tell me the stats, Camden. My people are already on it. I just want two more assets in place should we need them, which at this point, I’m feeling like we will.”

“Alright, then…I guess I’ll just what—wait by the phone?”

“Try to get some sleep, if you can. The next two days will feel like the longest days of your life and you’re going to need your energy.”

“I know this is your thing and all, but honestly, how in the hell am I supposed to sleep when my wife and daughters are out there with God knows who suffering God knows what?”

“Do the best you can,” he said.

And with that, they said goodnight and hung up the phones.

“Now where was I?” Camden asked out loud, his focus narrowing. He un-paused the video just as the father and his throbbing erection made the twenty-year-old wake up extra fast.

The phone rang again, to which he barked out a short string of curse words. Picking up the phone, he said, “It’s nearly midnight.”

“I’m aware of the time,” the nameless, scratchy-voiced man said. “You were supposed to check in with me half an hour ago.”

“I just got off the phone with Leopold and I’ve barely managed to take a breath, let alone dial your number. Were they supposed to be taken over the border?” he asked, “Because that wasn’t our agreement. And why the hell did you shoot my security detail?”

“Who does Leopold have on the job?” his contact asked.

“Estella and Yergha, plus he’s also going to retrieve some lady and a man in California.”

“That’s good, Camden. Really good.”

“Did this thing go off the rails already?” Camden asked the man whose name he did not know.

“This is all under control, Camden.”

“If it was under control,” he said, losing his erection and slamming his laptop shut, “they would be in the United States of America, not freaking MEXICO!”

“What are you doing right now, Camden?” he asked.

“Unsuccessfully trying to rub one out.”

“Well, go back to it. If that’s the only way to unwind, then unwind.”

When the line went dead, Camden cursed the man, and then he cursed the two interruptions. With no more interest in the video, he went into the bathroom and imagined he had a twenty-year-old maid that needed to clean the sheets at midnight and didn’t want to go home to her abusive husband. He couldn’t get himself to that place, though, because the whole situation felt out of his control no matter what the scratchy-voiced old man said. Giving up, he shut off the lights, flopped down on the bed, and closed his eyes hoping for sleep.

He expected to have nightmares, especially after he learned that his family was taken across the border, but that night—for some odd and unexplainable reason—he slept like a baby for the first time in years. Perhaps it was because the payout for using his family as bait was more than he’d ever make as a U.S. Congressman, and as quarrelsome and antagonistic as politics was becoming, this was his escape hatch. He had it all worked out...

….he just didn’t think the whole thing would come undone on day one.

Chapter Nineteen

LEOPOLD WENTWORTH

Leopold called Esty just after she and Yergha crossed the border into Mexico. She answered the phone sounding a bit tense and then she asked where he was.

“I’m taking the jet to Blacksburg. I’m starting to think we need to put the second team in place now that this thing is shaping up to be an international incident.”

“Do you think Camden can