He grins. “There’s no choice in the matter. Adjust or live a miserable existence. Luckily boss man took a liking to her quickly and she became his number one almost immediately. There’s a freedom in being chained to that spot. Money. Anything she desires, really.”
“She couldn’t leave if she wanted to?”
Rufio cackles—an evil sound. “No one leaves.”
“Is she happy, or do you think she wants to leave?” This turned into something different. Sympathy isn’t something I expected to harbor for the crazy bitch.
He looks thoughtful. “Rena is too hooked to leave. That’s a good thing. It means she doesn’t feel anything at all. Don’t worry for her. Worry for yourself. They’ll be going after you. She’ll order it and it will be.”
My breaths quicken as fear slips through the cracks. Be pliable or die. “Please don’t let them come after me, Rufio. Can’t you stop them?” If it sounds sincere, it’s because it is. I’m not worried about my own safety, though. Turner and Lincoln are my priority.
His thick, black brows furrow. The first sign of emotion I’ve seen yet. His Adam’s apple bobs as he swallows hard. “I’m as good as dead to them. They assume I’ll rat. I won’t. I don’t hold any power any longer.”
“There’s nothing you can do?” My question sounds feeble.
“Unless you want protection by becoming human debt, there’s nothing I can do.”
My chest is rising and falling at an accelerated pace. “You mean… like Rena was. If I go with them, they might leave… my friends alone?” It would be a mistake to bring Lincoln’s name into this when Rufio is viewing himself as my fucked-up savior right now.
“I can’t say for sure what Rena will ask him to do with you, and she’ll be the one who makes the decision, but by how strongly she hates you taking over her family, I’m sure she’d do anything to get you away from them. Even cut a deal to make sure you stay away from them… forever.”
“Why not just kill me?”
His face contorts in confusion. “You are her sister by blood. Even on the Mexican Mud, she would never kill you.”
I can’t help the loud scoff. “You’re underestimating her. You were knocked out cold when she was wielding the gun at anyone who looked at her wrong. Even her son.”
Rufio shakes his head. “She would never kill you or her son.”
“She shot the man she loves,” I argue. “How do you explain away that one?”
“Is he dead though? I said she wouldn’t kill. I said nothing about harm.”
My stomach sours. She would have shot Turner if she had to, and that fact is shocking and repulsive. “You can get a message to Rena then? You can tell her I’ll make a deal as long as Lincoln and Turner get to live free of all interference from the car— your friends.”
His grin turns mischievous, crooked teeth peeking from behind dry lips. “What are you going to do for me?”
“Is that how this goes then? You do something for me, and I owe you? What can I possibly do for you from this side of the glass?”
“You are underestimating your freedom,” he says.
“What then?”
“I need to think on it, but to start with, you can write me letters. Tell me about your life. What’s going on in the world. I get lonely and bored in here. Letters would brighten my day.”
I nod immediately. “Fair. I’ll keep track of where you’re at. They’re moving you soon, I think. I’ll send them wherever you are.”
“Money for the commissary, too,” Rufio says. “Not a lot. Just a hundred a month or so.”
“You’re going to be in prison for the rest of your life. A hundred a month for the rest of your life? No way.”
“Fine. For a year. To start.” Making deals with the devil has a price. “And I will be getting out,” he adds.
“What happens after… I’m gone.” My stomach flips.
“Tell Rena. She’ll make sure the money continues.”
Rena is going to get caught,I think. The FBI is blazing a warpath against the cartel now that they have the strong link sitting in front of me.