My mouth dropped open. “If we do that, my men may not go along with this.”
Brick shrugged. “Anyone who doesn’t, will get a bullet to the head.”
I ground my teeth together. “They’re all armed, Brick. Do you want them shooting each other instead of Cuchillo’s men?”
He unclasped his hands and rubbed his fingers over his clean-shaven chin. “No. You’re right. We’ll compromise.”
I folded my arms across my chest. “How?”
“We will only tell our top man, the one closest to you. Then there will be knowledge of the deal, and should one of us not make it out alive, it can still be completed.”
; “As long as Miri is recovered. And…” I leaned over the table. “If anything happens to me, she is to be given a set amount of money and allowed to leave the state, unharmed.”
Brick watched me with his intelligent eyes. The Houston boss was not a stupid man. “Agreed,” he said.
I stood and held my hand out. “Then let’s get our men in here so we can finish this and go.”
Brick grinned and clasped my hand in his, shaking firmly.
“Yes, let’s. I’m looking forward to this. I’ve wanted to take the little prick out for a long time.”
“Me too.” I clapped the man on the shoulder. “Me too.”
Miri
The time had come.
Cat was fairly lucid. I was battered and bruised from head to toe, but was afraid if we didn’t try to escape now, at the rate the bastard was beating me, I’d be physically unable to make any sort of attempt in another day or two, max. Our plan sucked, but it was the best we could do with what we had at our disposal. The window wasn’t an option. When I first got here, Cat told me she tried and they were reinforced and unbreakable. That meant we either had to go through the men we heard from time to time outside our room, or find another way out. Luckily, I found that way.
El Cuchillo’s massive ego was going to be our salvation.
I went into the bathroom and turned the shower on to cover any noise we made in case they were listening in, which I didn’t really think they were since I hadn’t found a single thing in the room. Like I said, massive fucking ego. No cameras either. The prick was so confident we weren’t going anywhere he didn’t bother putting a permanent guard on the door or any eyes or ears in the room.
“Cat,” I whispered. She looked up from where she lay on the bed.
“What?”
I grabbed a couple pillows and motioned for her to join me in the bathroom.
“It’s time.” Cat’s eyes widened and she began to tremble.
“I’m scared, Miri.”
“I know. Me too.” I tossed the pillows to the floor and grabbed my friend’s hands. “Would you rather stay here forever, or die trying to get free?”
“I can’t stay here anymore, Miri. I can’t take it.” Cat began to sob.
“Shhhhh, I really think this is going to work. No one has noticed anything.” Cat nodded and wiped her face with a piece of toilet paper. “Start singing,” I said while I stripped a pillow of its case and wound the fabric around my hand.
I stripped the second pillow, stuffed it in the sink, and held the first pillow up to the mirror. Cat began to hum a song, as if she were singing in the shower. Taking a deep breath, I pulled my bound hand back and punched the center of the pillow that was up against the mirror. Nothing happened. I tried again, harder this time. A crack in the reflective glass snaked up from the behind the pillow.
“It’s working,” I whispered.
Cat’s eyes filled with tears as she continued to sing a tune I recognized but couldn’t place. One more blow and half the mirror shattered, the shards tumbling softly onto the pillow in the sink. I threw the pillow I held to the floor and inspected the pieces of glass.
“Here.” I threw the second pillowcase and threw it to Cat. She quickly wrapped it around her own hand. “Take a big chunk, Cat.” With a shaky, sheet-covered hand, Cat chose a nice, dagger-shaped piece and gripped it like a knife. “Good.” I chose one for myself and took a deep breath and nodded at my friend. “Open it.”