Day Six:

Thursday, July 13th

Laguna Beach, California

Edward

When Bean broke up with us after four months of dating, I wanted to die. The separation wasn't something I had handled well. My nightmares kept me awake, and her scent permeated the house, making me drink more. I made it three months before crawling back, groveling and begging for her to fucking put me out of my misery.

Seven years later, she was being ripped out of my life again, but this shit was worse than her needing some space. Back then, I knew that the only thing keeping her from me was my stubbornness, but she was only five miles away. At any time, I could see her face, fucking hold her. This shit was not the fucking same. The cartel took her from us and put their fucking hands on her. There was no way I would let them get away with it.

The fire in my gut was ignited.

The night before, I pushed aside the feelings for those five hours as we made the drop-off in Chula Vista. It was best not to reflect on anything; it would just trip me up, and we couldn't afford to make a mistake. Jasper led me to believe that we would get her back that night. I let my love for Bean and trust in Jasper close my eyes to the truth.

However, things changed when that bitch Elena told us she would keep our girl for a year.

One fucking year!

I knew we would never see her again.

It fucking pissed me off when Jasper considered it. I saw how he tried to defend his actions by calling those savages businessmen. He hoped that if we continued to play by their rules, a peaceful outcome could be had - like, these assholes wanted anything other than fucking violence and destruction. We were only alive because they needed Jasper's knowledge of botany and my expertise in distribution. The Baja Cartel fucked us, and I was wide awake. All my training was kicking back in, and I knew how these cockroaches operated.

How long would they keep Bean alive? They said a year. I told Jasper she wouldn't last three weeks. But I knew we had two days. We had two days to find her and kill all these motherfuckers. If they sniffed, just a little bit, that we were on the defensive, it was over. After that... well, hell, truthfully, I would put a bullet in my head. I told Jasper if Bean died, then I was going with her. He told me not to think like that. If he wanted, I would take him out too. He didn't seem to understand it was the only way my nightmares would stop.

The negotiations were over; we were done talking about it. Jasper agreed; it was time to do it my way. If only we had done it my way at the beginning of this whole mess, a month or so ago, Bean wouldn't have gotten taken, and we would still have three hundred pounds of grass. Compromising and running was never an option. You only get anywhere in life by driving head-on into the storm, and that involves getting intel and then attacking them, and then attacking them until Bean was found or until they were all dead.

And it all started with Dennis, that fucking piece of shit.

Jasper called him late last night, telling Dennis he needed to meet us in the morning. Dennis said he would be up at Lang Park by ten that morning, but that wasn't soon enough. Every fucking minute was a minute lost and taking us further and further away from Bean. Jasper told him that we expected him at the park at eight sharp. Of course, the prick bitched about it, but he knew where his bread was buttered.

"Here comes Fuck-Face," I said, nodding towards his caddy as it zoomed into the parking lot.

Jasper said, "I'll do the talking."

"That's fine with me."

When it came to Dennis, I preferred that Jasper dealt with him. My approach was less than cordial, and I couldn't keep the disdain for the prick out of my voice. The first time we were introduced, he showed me everything I needed to know about him. The guy had no loyalty or integrity and would do whatever was necessary to get results. Dennis betrayed anyone to save the skin on his back. At the time, his shady morals came in handy. He kept our business under the radar – and that's how I fucking knew he was the one who sold us out to Elena. How else would they know where we lived or about Bean? Jasper and I took steps to keep our private life out of the public eye. For the cartel to pin us down that easily only led me to Dennis, the fucking rat.

Fuck! I was clenching my fists to keep my fury under wraps, but as more and more things added up, the more enraged I became.

Jasper saw this and placed a hand on my arm. "Give him a chance to make it right."

My head nodded, and my smile was strained.

Dennis swerved into a spot next to my Jeep. We were under a large tree, shaded from the sun and far enough back in the parking lot to prevent anyone from getting too close to us. It was the best we could do to protect his fucking anonymity.

He got out of his car and leaned into my open window. "Twice in one week? Not good, guys."

"Get in, please," I replied, biting back my anger.

Dennis hopped into the back seat and shook his head. "You know, a little sleep can do wonders." That comment was aimed at Jasper. The guy looked like shit. "To what do I owe this pleasure?"

Jasper went right into it. "Dennis, we need your files on the Baja cartel."

"What?" Dennis asked as he looked at Jasper again. The signs of distress were all there; that's how he knew we weren't going along to get along. "I told you, don't fuck with these people. And I meant it. Have a nice day." He started to get out of the Jeep.

You better stop him, J, I thought, or I'll fucking do it myself.

Jasper heard me and spoke up. "Dennis, you step out of this car, and I'm coming down to San Diego to introduce myself to your district supervisor. And you'll have a hard time explaining half a million parked in the Cook Islands when you clear 110 after taxes—and don't even think about calling someone and having us disappear; I've got plenty of evidence in other people's hands."

Dennis closed the door and sat back in his seat. "So, what happened to our mutually assured destruction thing? We rat each other out, and we all end up in the same prison cell. What happened to that?"

Jasper glanced at me before redirecting his gaze at Dennis. "They lifted Bean."

"Really?!"

"Are you surprised?" Jasper asked, knowing just as well as I did that Dennis wouldn't be surprised at all.

"Yeah."

"Well, I'll do time, but you've got kids, Dennis. They're already growing up without a mom." Jasper said, and I smirked. That was a low blow, but fuck him - and his fucking cancer-riddled wife. "You don't have a move here."

That seemed to do the trick.

"When Hillary Clinton grows up," he said, "she wants to be Elena Sanchez. You run up against "La Reina" Elena, and I'm telling you, I see dead people."

The Baja Cartel killed people, but it was fucking child's play compared to the real ballers in Iraq.

"That's really dramatic," Jasper mocked, "but in the reality-based community, there's always a weakness."

Just like they knew Bean was ours.

Dennis must have thought the same thing because he tried to catch my eye, but I kept my face forward and my fucking mouth shut.

Considering my mood, that guy didn't want me to engage.

"Okay, here's the deal. Do you know this El Azul guy?" Jasper shrugged his shoulders like who the fuck cares. Dennis waved him off and continued. "All right. He was her inside man for years, and now he's out. This year, there's a Mexican presidential election. He's in, she's out. There was a bust in Baja, the largest grow ever. A quarter of a million plants. It's hers. She's losing men, she's losing money like a BP oil spill. That's why she's coming up and moving in on indie guys like you."

This was the second time he used that word to describe Jasper and me. We weren't fucking Indies, and what he said sounded fine and good, but Elena wanted more than just our weed and territory. She wanted something she could never produce. Dennis fucking knew that. So why was he still lying?

"Where does she live?" Jasper asked. "Does she have a house up here?"

"Tijuana, and don't even think about it! She's got security like the American fucking embassy. Look, this is the deal. Husband, brothers, son: dead. She's got a son in Mexico City. He's some playboy. He's alive. A daughter, Magda, is also dead. And that's all I fucking know."

"This is bullshit!" Jasper spat.

"It's not bullshit!"

"We need the information the DEA has on the cartel - names, histories, and stash houses."

My patience was wearing thin, and time was running out. Taking off my sunglasses, I calmly set them down on the dashboard as they continued to argue about what Dennis knew and what he didn't know.

"But that ain't part of the deal, buddy."

What deal was that? The deal he made with Elena? Because it wasn't a deal we made with each other. Out of all the fucking years we'd been friends, and we'd made him a wealthy man and never once asked him to do us any extra favors, and he treated us like this? He fucking knew how much Bean meant to Jasper and me. He saw our desperation and we got nothing but bullshit.

My anger rose the longer I sat there quietly.

Jasper said, "It is now."

"It doesn't work that way. It's fucking 1984 in there, man. The three databases are encrypted and have redundant firewalls."

"Again, more fucking bullshit, Dennis."

"It is not bullshit!"

"Our guys are helping set up those firewalls so nothing can be hacked. We're running out of time; you need to step up right now."

"Do you know what?" he said, moving closer to me. "Get fucked, both of you! Fuck me, fuck you. I'm out of here." He moved to leave, placing his hand on the top of my seat, near my shoulder. That was a huge mistake.

I let Jasper handle it again, and yet again, these assholes wanted to blow us off and play fucking games?

Dennis had taken my restraint for granted and assumed that I wasn't a threat.

Yeah, I was done with all of that.

All these fuckers were going to die.

We are starting with this asshole.

Getting out the knife Bean had bought for me, I opened it up and swung it around, plunging the blade into Dennis's right hand, pinning him to the seat.

"What the fuck, Edward?" Jasper exclaimed, his eyes widening. "What the hell are you doing?"

Dennis screamed in pain and lunged for my throat, but he was a weakass bitch. "Motherfucker!"

Twisting the knife, I made a bigger hole and went deeper. Face-to-face with this fucker, my rage came out as a low growl. "They took Bean. They took our girl. And I'll do anything, anything, to get her back. Do you understand me?" I removed the blade, and he fell back into the seat, gushing blood all over his shirt and tie.

"Holy shit, Edward," Jasper said, fucking stunned.

I ignored him and kept my hatred all on the fucker in the back seat.

"You fucking stabbed a federal agent! Look at this!" Dennis exclaimed.

I pulled out my gun and busted him in the fucking nose with it. There was a satisfying crunch and another red gush. When he recovered from that, I pressed the barrel to his throat. "I'll fucking do more than that."

My finger was on the trigger, and I was close to ending his ass, but we still needed that fucking intel on Elena. The point of all this was Dennis had to believe that I was fucking serious and that I would fucking kill him.

He was smarter than he looked and quickly complied. "Okay, stop, stop, stop. I'll figure it out." I eased off him and smirked. He threw the door open and got out of my Jeep. "I'll figure something out," he said, stumbling toward his car. That asshole continued to bleed from his hand and nose, dropping it all over the asphalt. "Crazy motherfucker," he groaned.

"I want to hear from you soon, Dennis," I pleasantly called out to him, already feeling accomplished.

When I turned back to Jasper, he was so shocked he couldn't speak or do anything. His eyes spoke volumes, though. What the fuck? Are you fucking mental?

The guy had never seen me be that violent before. Sure, he heard the stories, but like most, he believed it was all talk. The pacifist in him thought a stern voice would get things done, but not with these fuckers. These savages. Look, he had to accept Dennis sold us out. That fucker helped Elena take our girl. Why should we handle him with kid gloves? Whatever partnership we had with Dennis was over. The only way to get what we wanted was to inflict severe pain on him. Shit, after Jasper's endless and mind-numbing back-and-forth discussions with him, I was the one who got results.

All it took was one knife stab and a broken nose.

"Let me guess," I said, grabbing my sunglasses and putting them back on, "Buddha would not approve?"

AN: This was one of my favorite scenes in the movie. It's so hot watching Chon (Taylor Kitsch) get all brutal.

Thanks for reading!