With a chuckle in his voice, the man on the cell asked, “Is it time?”
“It is,” Carlos replied. “The roses have bloomed.”
“Tell me when and where,” the brit voice asked from the speaker.
Carlos looked up at me.
I froze. He had told me not to speak.
He motioned his hand at me and nodded his head rapidly.
I grabbed my pack at my feet and then took out the hotel keycard. I showed it to Carlos.
Leaning forward, he read it aloud, “The Executor Hotel in San Diego.” He raised his gaze to me as he looked a bit startled by the fact that he was so far away from New Orleans. Then he spoke again, “Call this number when you arrive.”
“I gotta get a flight out. But I will be there as soon as I can.” The call ended.
Carlos tapped the screen and looked up at me.
“Boy, do I have questions,” I told him.
“Me too,” he replied.
“Yes, you were flown here in a private plane,” I answered his question before he asked it. “And yes, you are about eighteen hundred miles from the Crescent.”
“And why?”
I scoffed as if he should know that answer.
“Oh, si.” He nodded. “We are closest to Mexico here.”
I nodded. “That and we are hidden from your family in New Orleans. As best as I could.”
“The answers to your questions about the phone call.” He stared at me and explained, “It’s a sort of complicated yet simple answer. The code was for the Knights Of Valor. It is the actual Chivalric Code: bravery, loyalty, honor, and the defense of the weak. His real name I think is actually Henry but he calls himself after an English nobleman who was a knight in the 14th century. Henry ‘Hotspur’ Percy.An English nobleman and military commander famous for his fiery temperament and combat skills. And I have to agree that this Henry is a skilled fighter and bodyguard. His temper flares up quite a bit too.” He chuckled. “Ok, don’t look at me like I’m insane, Selena. He made all of this up, not me.
I stared at him. “Órale and this is the secret code he uses?”
“Yes, as far as I know.”
I shook my head as I smiled. “So, this guy is a bodyguard?”
“Yes, hence the knight story. Man, he owns the whole outfit of armor and chainmail. Like the heavy stuff and totally real. He showed it to me once. Actually, he wore it to show me.”
“Is he sane?”
Carlos stared at me and tilted his head back to laugh.
I blinked at his reaction and argued, “It is a legitimate question.”
He was still chuckling as he replied, “Selena, none of us are sane. Not the ones in this business anyway. You and I are in what is considered to be the Mexican Mafia. We direct shipments of drugs and guns. We send men out to kill. What the hell is sane about that?”
“Yes, I suppose you’re right.” I shrugged. “The Wasp was a great teacher but she was loco too. She wore disguises like I’d never seen before. And she could change her accent to five others to help the disguise. She told me that many people either wanted her dead or they wanted to challenge her.”
“Yes, see? But I do admit that Henry does live by that code of chivalry. I mean you’ve heard the joke that chivalry is dead?” He shook his head. “To this guy it is alive and kicking. At least for him it is.”
“So, how does he kill then?”
Carlos shrugged his shoulders. “He doesn't as far as he told me. He might beat them within an inch of their lives, but he refuses to kill.
