The Beasts of Juarez R.B. Schow (reading the story of the .TXT) 📖

keep a lid on things long enough for us to find the wife and kids?”

“Maybe, but who knows,” he said. “Having Kiera and Atlas active doubles our chances of a positive, quiet outcome.”

“Do what you have to do, but we’ll be working leads down here.”

As his limousine pulled onto the private airstrip, he spotted his plane then began collecting what little luggage he had on his person, just in case.

“I’ll text you when I land,” Leopold said, “but it might be an in-and-out thing.”

“With you, it’s always an in-and-out thing,” Esty joked. In the background, Leopold heard Yergha erupt in laughter.

“Bye smart-asses,” he said before disconnecting.

The limo pulled to a stop, the driver opened the door for him, and then he boarded his private jet. The pilot told him it would be a few minutes before they could taxi out to the runway. They were awaiting the tower’s approval. Using the time wisely, he opened his phone and dialed Cira.

“Hi, Leopold,” she said, slightly seductive, but not so much that it had him thinking twice.

“Cira, love, how do you feel about sunny California these days?”

“I’ve been dying to visit there?” she said, phrasing it as a question.

“Indeed, you have,” he said.

“Are we going together?”

“No, babe, I’m headed to Virginia.”

“For Kiera?”

“Yes.”

“At this hour?”

“I have alerted my contact within Monarch Industries,” he said. “She tells me Kiera is in a twenty-four-hour training cycle and that when she is done I can have her.”

“But she’s yours, not theirs.”

“Apparently the people training her are far more important than either me or those missing girls. We’ll see. If I can free her sooner, we’ll get back to Texas and hopefully complete the timeline of events.”

“What about me?” she asked.

“You’ll have to get Atlas out of prison without me.”

“Um…you remember last time, right?” she asked. “Not only was Atlas a dickhead, but he said no, and then Dicampli said no.”

“And I had to make him say yes,” Leopold said.

“Yes, you did.”

“I remember threatening the warden with irrevocable damage. That was supposed to pave the way for future extractions, Cira. You’ve been training, right?”

“A lot, actually,” she said.

“You’re ready then?”

“I’ve trained five hours a day, six days a week since Russia,” she said. “Hell yes, I’m ready.”

“Then don’t act worried about a spineless twat like Fabian Dicampli.”

“What if he doesn’t respect me the way he does you?”

“That’s a fair question,” Leopold said. “If he takes that tactic, you make him respect you by any means necessary.”

“By any means necessary?”

Nodding into the phone, he said, “You are about to be your own woman within this organization, Cira. You’ve already leveled up. It’s time to get in the game with the heavy hitters, and the only way to do that is to be a heavy hitter.”

“I’m ready,” she said, confidently.

“I’ll know you are if you meet me in Texas with Atlas. Otherwise, we can try again next time.”

“I appreciate this,” Leopold.

“I know you do. Now go and take what’s yours.”

He hung up with Cira and shut off the phone as they taxied toward the runway. When the jet took off, he leaned his head back and closed his eyes, having decided it was time to recharge the batteries.

By the time he arrived in Blacksburg, Virginia, just before he was set to be picked up by a driver and taken to the Virginia branch of Monarch Industries, he turned on his phone and saw that several texts had come through.

Two of them were from Stacy and Emily, who thought sending him nude pics of their boobs smashed together would be cute. The other one was from his hacker, Codrin Pichler, telling Leopold to call him ASAP.

Leopold dialed Codrin’s private number just as the plane touched down. The Romanian answered the phone, chewing something squishy. Gummy worms, maybe?

“What’s up, Codrin?”

“They were taken to a warehouse, and another van came out, a carpet van,” Codrin said. “That was the van that took them to the border.”

“Great work,” he said.

The hacker gave Leopold the exact lane, described a transaction of license plates and papers then said he had a perfect picture of the border attendant’s face.

“Can you get me a name and an address?”

Another text came through. “That’s me,” Codrin said, stuffing more food into his mouth. “I just sent it through.”

“You ran facial recognition already?” he asked.

“My version, not theirs,” Codrin said. He guzzled something then burped obnoxiously, and then he said, “My shit’s better. Way better.”

On his way back with Kiera, Leopold would compare notes with the information they received from the border attendant. Then, if necessary, he would pay the man a visit.

Outside the jet, he saw his ride waiting for him. He collected his things then said to the pilot, “Wait for me, I shouldn’t be too long.”

“And if you are?” he asked.

“Wait anyway.”

Chapter Twenty

CIRA KINGSLEY

Cira called and secured the first available commercial flight to San Francisco International Airport, arranged for an Uber to meet her out front, then smiled when a younger man arrived in a Toyota Corolla a few minutes later. She didn’t expect to talk with anyone on the drive to NorCal State Prison, but the kid ended up being personable, friendly, and a little cute. Smiling, she asked, “How does your girlfriend feel about you driving all kinds of people around day and night?”

“Good enough to leave me for a guy with a desk job and a Tesla,” he said with a smile.

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Why?” he asked. “If that’s the measure of her loyalty, then she’s better off with someone else and, quite frankly, so am I.”

“That’s a good way to look at it.”

“I think so, too.”

“The truth in this world—well, the world according to Cira—is that men like pretty girls, but pretty girls like men with money, power, and prestige. I know it’s simple and sounds shallow,