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

what his life would be like if she were taken from him. He felt a hitch in his throat at the thought of her not being taken. Sadly, no one would ever take her away. She would likely be with him until he died, which was about the most tragic thing he could imagine. Freaking Tanya! She really left him holding a steaming bag of crap. He looked at the text he’d written and knew time was of the essence.

TAKE THEM NOW.

Drawing a deep breath, realizing it was now or never, he pressed SEND. It took a moment for him to catch his breath.

Relieved, he turned his attention back to the live broadcast of Fox at the Border, then leaned back against the opened toilet lid and watched the congressman layout a whole host of talking points.

The forty-nine-year-old Louisiana congressman was now conversing with a young Guatemalan girl at a kids’ table where everyone had a sandwich and a juice box. “How scared are you right now?” Camden Fox asked.

Beside Fox, an interpreter asked the child the question in Spanish. She didn’t look frightened as much as she looked bored.

“I’m really scared,” she said, contrary to her expression. It was almost as if this was a script she’d dutifully memorized before illegally crossing over into America.

Camden turned to the rep, his eyes shining with unshed tears. He cleared his throat and apologized, and then he asked, “How do you handle those eyes?”

“Excuse me, sir?” the rep asked.

“Look at those eyes, the fear, the desperation, the absolute aloneness they must feel,” Camden said, pointing to the ambivalent little girl. “All the kids have that same look, the same expression. How do you handle it, emotionally?”

“We’re not in the business of emotions, Congressman. We’re here to protect the border with as much dignity as we can.”

“It just breaks my heart to see this,” Fox said, again clearing his throat of so much manufactured emotion.

“You big, stupid fraud,” Otis mumbled in his slow Texas drawl. “You’re about to get exactly what you deserve.”

He couldn’t take any more. He shut off his phone, tidied himself, then started the shower and waited for the water to run hot.

Grimacing, he stood on the scale and frowned. “Forty pounds in two years,” he said out loud with the biggest frown. “You can’t even see your pecker, you fat asshole.”

He got off the scale, kicked it back by the toilet, then tried cheering himself up. Today was the day he went from the minors to the majors.

“You’re in the big league now, playa,” he said as he stepped into the shower.

Chapter Three

SYDNEY FOX

Forty-six-year-old Sydney Fox wished her husband was with her at the El Paso street fair, but she was content being there with their three girls. In his stead, however, Camden had hired an armed escort from a local security outfit. As comforting as Camden thought this would be to Sydney and the girls, she had assured him it wasn’t necessary.

“A woman like you stands out in a crowd, be it at parties, charity dinners, on vacation, or even street fairs in the middle of El Paso, Texas. I want an extra set of eyes on you, just to keep you and the girls safe.”

“Thank you, Camden,” she had said, “but we’ll be just fine on our own.”

No matter what the blonde-haired, green-eyed beauty said, she knew Camden’s real concern was for his daughters, especially their sixteen-year-old daughter, Callie. Having just reached womanhood, she was fast becoming the bright and shining star in the eyes of males of all ages. And it didn’t help that being in the family of one of today’s most controversial politicians put her in the public spotlight more times than either he or Sydney liked.

Looking around the crowded streets of El Paso, she didn’t know how people would feel about her if they recognized Sydney and the girls. Making the connection wouldn’t be difficult with Camden at her side, but being alone with the girls at such a pedestrian event didn’t strike her as something that required a risk assessment, or even an armed escort. But to Camden it had, which was why he went ahead and hired Tyler Vandecourt for protection.

“We have to think of your safety first,” Camden had said that morning before they went their separate ways.

“You say that like we’re not going to one of the safest cities in the nation.”

“Be that as it may, El Paso is only a stone’s throw from one of the most dangerous cities in the world. And now that the border is wide open, even something as simple as a street fair warrants a bit more precaution on our part.”

She tried to put those conversations and her continued agitation out of her mind as she and the girls walked through the heart of El Paso. Fanning herself with her free hand, she said, “How is it this hot and dry and it’s not even noon?”

“Yeah, it’s pretty freaking hot,” Callie said as they meandered down the sidewalks through the crush of bodies.

Callie was not only a flowering beauty, she was a potential problem as far as Camden was concerned. She was getting too much attention from the press, social media, and from boys and men alike. It didn’t help that she wore too much makeup and frequently posted a few too many provocative selfies on Instagram. In fact, it was for that very reason that Camden had been overly protective lately.

“If I see one more bellybutton, or the white underside of her boobs, or even her butt cheeks sticking out the way she did in that picture with her green bikini,” Camden had said just two nights ago about Callie’s latest Instagram selfies, “I’m going to break her phone, toss her laptop, and break her texting fingers.”

“Do that and