* * *
We’d goneto the first water tower, but no one was there. I was glad it wasn’t July because it gets up close to 130 out here. They don’t call it Death Valley for nothing.
“Let’s head out to the other water tower and see if he’s there.” Without waiting for an answer, Hawk left me in the dust.
About half a mile up a narrow dirt road set among cacti and bushes was the second tall water tower in the Baker area. From a distance I could see two bikes, and felt confident that it was El Diablo and that guy Chanclas.
The closer we got, the more my confidence melted like ice cream on a 130 degree day. The first bike was El Diablo’s all right. I’d recognize it anywhere. But the second bike was also one I’d recognize anywhere—from my own workplace. It belonged to Padre.
My first instinct was to think that maybe Padre had been taken hostage by El Diablo. But as I approached, I saw that they were standing side by side talking. Padre was here on his own free will.
As soon as El Diablo heard us, he jumped on his bike and raced off. Hawk waved at me, and followed El Diablo, leaving me alone in the middle of the desert with Padre.
My bike slowed to an idle. “What are you doing here, Padre?”
He looked sad and old as he shook his head. “This wasn’t supposed to happen.”
“You didn’t mean to come out here? How did you get here, Padre?” I was getting concerned. He wasn’t making sense.
“I rode here.” He shook his head again. “It wasn’t supposed to happen. He was only supposed to scare you.”
“Scare me? Who was supposed to scare me?” I really wished I knew what the hell he was talking about.
“El Diablo. I didn’t mean for him to…”
The reality of what was going on started to seep into my brain, but it couldn’t accept it. “Tell me what is going on, Padre.”
“You were stealing from me, and…”
“I wasn’t stealing from you,” I corrected, “but go on.”
“And I wanted you and the others to know that disloyalty is punished. El Diablo owed me a favor from that time with the cops and I called it in. I told him to grab Lily and just hold her for an hour or two. When you discovered her missing, then you’d learn a lesson in loyalty.”
The rage that rose inside of me was sudden and fierce. The man I considered a father figure after my parents had died betrayed me by hiring some thug—a sex trafficker—to kidnap my little sister as a lesson. I was going to kill him.
I lunged off my bike and reached out to grab his neck. I had weapons, but I wanted to feel him choke under my hands.
“Ryder! I didn’t mean it. He was supposed to bring her back. I swear!” His eyes were wild with fear but I didn’t care. Punches started landing on his old face.
“You motherfucker. You gave my baby sister to a fucking sex trafficker and believed him when he said he’d bring her back? You’re as stupid as you are old.”
Padre wasn’t fighting back, but was in a defensive posture with his arms up. “That’s why I came out here. To get him to release her. I went to the warehouse last night to try and stop him.”
I stopped punching him. “Wait. You were at the warehouse? When?” We were at the concert last night. I saw him at the convention center.
“When you guys were all inside. I said I had to take a leak…”
Oh my god. “So you started the explosion?”
“Yes, it was supposed to be a couple of little explosives. Just to distract him so he wouldn’t kidnap Lily. I changed my mind and didn’t know what to do.”
I wanted to start kicking him, but it’s no relief to beat a defenseless old man so I stopped. “Where is she, Padre? Where is my goddamn sister?”
“I don’t know! He just said he had her and another girl hidden away until sunset and then the plane from Columbia would come to take them.”
That meant we had about five hours to find Lily and Bailey before they were transported to South America to god knows what fate.
I grabbed Padre by the collar of his jacket. “If I don’t get my sister back, I am going to kill you, personally. I will fucking kill you.”
