Page 99 of Unruly

Catherine eyed the assault rifle resting in the front seat. Behind her and the man who had done the talking, another man sat with a similar rifle firmly in his grasp.

She kept her gaze drifting between the man beside her, and the roads ahead of them. As it was, she was not very familiar with Mexico. It was not a popular vacation spot for her, and little of her business was done here.

After all, the cartel controlled the country.

All business was done through them, on their time, with their permission, and to their commission. That was how a cartel worked.

“You must have questions,” the man beside her said.

He was younger than Catherine expected—probably early twenties, or there about. His black hair was slicked back like he had been running his fingers through it. His white teeth flashed in his smile, and it contrasted against his tawny skin tone. He was quite handsome with his strong features, yet his smile made him seem almost … boyish.

A bit young, she thought, to be delivering someone to his boss.

Unless, of course, this young man was very close to his boss.

Who was to say?

“I do have questions,” Catherine finally replied.

“Yet, you’ve not asked any.”

“I was told not to.”

“Ah, I see. Smart woman.”

Catherine shrugged, and peered back out the window. “I have only one goal in this, and that is finding myself a new supplier. I’m not interested in semantics, problems, or anything that might cause issues.”

“Then you will not mind this?”

She looked back to him.

He held a black hood in his hands.

“Understand, we take great care to ensure the safety of our organization. Everything is carefully protected, but especially the boss and the compound. You have a very good chance of getting what you want from this meeting, Catherine, but you will enter and leave our premises without having ever known where you were. You will never know—no one ever does.”

She appreciated his honesty.

The hood was still a bit daunting.

Catherine sighed. “Well …”

He raised a brow.

“At least let me know your name?” Catherine asked with a dry laugh.

“José.”

Catherine nodded, and reached for the hood. “All right. Give it over, José.”

Catherine blinked at the bright sunlight blinding her vision as the hood was slowly tugged off her head. José stood in front of her, but he wore no smile like he had in the vehicle earlier. Now, his seriousness was back, and he held an assault rifle in his hands.

Behind him, Catherine surveyed the quaint two-level home with a wraparound porch. It would be a nice place, she thought, if not for the guards at each corner dressed in camo gear with guns in their hands. All of them watched her, but otherwise, didn’t move a muscle.

It was quite unnerving.

“Welcome to the compound,” José said.

Catherine looked over her shoulder to see a dusty road, dry land, and a few scattered trees. The heat soaked through her black dress, and she was starting to regret the choice of color as the sun beat down. A mile back, she thought she could see buildings of some sort. Hangars, maybe? One or two, for sure. Further east, she could see warehouses. Fences blocked fields, and in one, horses grazed as their tails flicked away flies.