Chapter Nine
Señora
The old woman spoke. Her voice was strong, and all the men paid instant, respectful attention. In Spanish, she commanded, "Let them eat."
"Sí, Mama," said Delgado. Giving El a mocking look, he gestured toward the food, in invitation.
For a moment El did not move, not believing, but Maria's tug on his arm brought him cautiously to the table. The two of them began filling plates. There was coffee.
Sands did not move. "What's the problem? Has the shipment come? I'm ready to be your guinea pig."
"The shipment, Agente Sands," said Delgado with a glance at his mother, "was ambushed outside of San Miguel, and stolen."
"Well, fuck. I thought we cleared that corridor. That was sloppy of your brother."
The man who had scrutinized El so closely slammed his plate down on a table.
"Oh, David!" said Sands, "Is that you? I'm so sorry; I didn't realize you were here."
David's response made clear what he thought of that claim.
"Enough!" Delgado said sharply. "You will all show respect for Mother. And for the lady," he added with an ironic nod toward Maria.
"Do you at least know who perpetrated the dastardly crime?" asked Sands.
"The Orozcos," replied David, through clenched teeth.
"Oh! Well, no problem, then," said Sands, with an elaborate shrug. "They'll take it to their basement cache outside of Villahermosa. I can give you the address. Just go raid it."
Even the angry David looked astonished. He, Pablo, and Delgado exchanged guarded looks.
"How do you know this?" demanded Delgado.
Sands threw wide his arms. "Hello! CIA? We know everything." Sands turned and swaggered to the food table, but rather than take any food, he moved around the table until he stood right by Maria. "They'll guard it like a motherfucker during transport, but they'll be complacent once it's safely there. They don't think anyone knows about their hidey-hole."
Maria, with a glance at the others, turned and put her plate of food between herself and Sands.
"Why, thank you, Darlin," said Sands, helping himself to a pastry from her plate.
Pablo jumped to his feet. "I could go ahead and be waiting for them there."
"They'll expect an immediate reprisal from us because they think we don't know where they're going," said David. "They'll be cautious and heavily guarded. Which means slow. Plenty of time for us to get to Villahermosa."
Both men consulted Delgado. Delgado tipped his head and looked at Sands with narrowed eyes. "What do you suggest, Agente Sands?" he asked, his voice silky. "You know the consequences if you mislead me."
"When have I ever done that?" Sands replied innocently. He took Maria's plate from her, and groped with it to find a clear spot to set it on the table. "I just supply the information. You guys do what you do best. But if it were me . . ." Sands slid his arm around Maria's waist.
No one said anything.
El planned how best to deck the asshole if he felt Maria up any further.
After a moment, in which, El reminded himself, Sands couldn't see how everyone was looking at him, Sands shrugged. "I'd have you guys go somewhere else, high-profile, as a decoy, so they don't suspect you know where they are. Send the men to do the job. Juan, maybe."
"Juan is dead," Delgado said, with a venomous look at El. "As is Antonio."
"Oh, yeah, I forgot. Well, Pablo might be up to the job. It shouldn't be very hard."
Pablo, who had suggested going in the first place, growled low in his throat.
The Señora interrupted, in Spanish. "The girl. She was with the American?"
The conversation ceased, respectfully, but Delgado looked puzzled.
"Last night," Señora insisted. "Why was the girl not with her brother?"
Delgado glanced at Maria.
"It is not to happen again. At night, she is to sleep with her brother. This is not proper."
"Sí, Mama," said Delgado.
"Maria!" cried Sands. "They're going to separate us!" He grabbed the girl around the waist and swung her, somehow missing the food table and a nearby chair. "Ma-ri-a!" he sang. "I've just met a girl named Maria!"
"Señor," breathed the girl, wide-eyed. Around them the others looked on in different states of disapproval and alertness.
"And suddenly the name, will never be the same to me!" Sands dipped the girl and kissed her deeply.
Maria made a small sound, but did not struggle. The kiss continued, everyone, even El, strangely transfixed by its intensity and inappropriateness to the situation.
Then he collected himself and started forward, but was startled by a loud knocking sound. The Señora had stamped her cane on the tile floor, and the sound echoed around them. Still in her chair, she looked furious. She gestured to Delgado, who leaned over near her to hear what she had to say.
Delgado straightened. "Enough!" he yelled, gesturing at the armed guards. "Stop him!"
Two of them pounced on the couple and dragged Sands off the breathless Maria.
She was permitted to scamper to El's side, her cheeks flushed.
"The girl," Delgado announced, "will stay with her brother. Agente Sands, you have displeased the Señora." Something about the way he said it made it sound like a judge pronouncing sentence.
With a guard holding each of Sands's biceps, the man looked sullen, like the accused hearing his fate.
"And Mariachi, you will raid the Orozcos in Villahermosa."
Suddenly El was part of the conversation. "No," he said.
"Yes," said Delgado pleasantly. "It is the perfect job for our new muscle. Or you will spend the day with my cousin, again."
El's mouth went dry. "No," he said.
Delgado sighed dramatically. "Very well. We have time. I'll ask you again later."
El went cold. The threat beneath all the morning's pleasantries had become real. The guards came and took him back to the concrete room.