Rain then turned to catch Henry as he had been in the middle of falling face forward in his heels.
Henry immediately sat down and took off the stilettos. “So apparently, I’m notthatcool.” He then shushed Rain who had opened his mouth to comment.
After the shoe shopping, we then went to one of the mall’s many restaurants for an early dinner. This one was expensive and as Henry called it,swanky.
I did have to admit that having this Black Card gave us an astonishing amount of freedom. We didn’t have to worry about money for this trip. Then suddenly, I wondered how I would live after this was over? I hadn’t thought about this until now. I did have a bank account somewhere, a few of them in fact. But I would never use them again. Those accounts were literally infused with blood money. Made from drug deals, selling guns and other illegal items. All for Santiago's Powerball.
Now that I was in the real world and free from that coma, and free from crime… reality was moving in. However, I got ahead of myself. Who knew if I would even survive this so-called rescue?
Si, it was true. I never thought beyond the day we would have them with us. Alex and Hope. That had been what Gabby named them. Who knew what they believed their names were by now? And did they even speak English? They had been in Catemaco since they were babies. There were so many questions and possible scenarios to consider about these two kids.
“Earth to Pedro.”
I looked over at Selena who sat next to me as we waited for our meal. “I am so sorry, my love.” I reached over and took her hand in mine to kiss her knuckles.
Selena smiled at me. “You have been a world away.”
I gripped her hand in mine. “I am now moving around in the real world. I have been contemplating so many things. Then this trip, the kids, all of it.”
Rain cleared his throat.
We looked over at him.
Raising his wine glass, he said, “Courage, my children. Don't you see that we are leaving on a mission? They pay our fare in the bargain. What a piece of good luck. The thing to do now is to pray well in order to win as many souls as possible.”
We all stared at him.
“Orale, Rain,” I exclaimed.
“That is more of Saint Maximillion’s verses, isn’t it?” Selena asked Rain.
“Yes,” Rain replied. “You see, I chose him as my hero even before this mission. Not that I or anyone I have ever known could attain the holiness he possessed.”
“What did he do that was so holy?” I asked.
“He was a Catholic priest but not just any priest,” Selena replied. “His flock was in Poland. A Nazi held Poland. He helped the Jews to escape and he hid many of them and for that he was sent to Auschwitz. The SS had arrested him for his active resistance against the Nazi occupation.”
Rain leaned back and studied her. “So you know that whole story?”
Nodding, she sighed. “It doesn’t have a happy ending. He wasn’t slated for death at first, due to being a priest. But after a prisoner escaped, Nazi officials selected ten men to starve to death in retaliation. Kolbe volunteered to take the place of one of them, a man who was a husband and he had children too. Kolbe died for him.”
We all stared at her.
I felt amazed by her and the story.
She shook her head at us. “Yes, I can see the disbelief on your faces. Why would a hit woman for the Diego Cartel know of such things?”
“Yes, exactly my question,” Henry agreed. “I mean I get that Rain here has to knoweverythingin the world. But you do not seem like the type to know about saints and such.”
“The truth is…” she paused as if she wondered if she should share her secrets with us. “Before I came home to find Alex stillmissing and then discovered that he was never coming back. I intended to become…” she paused to look up at me and said, “...a nun.”
I admit it, my jaw dropped. I believe the same held true for my two amigos. They looked astounded as well.
“The hell you say!” Henry exclaimed then his face went a bit pink as he tried to backtrack. “I mean—not hell but…” He shook his head as he looked gobsmacked.
Rain agreed with Henry for once, “You are telling us that you were set to be a nun, but instead you became The Blade? Like you turned from the church to the mafia?”
Selena nodded. “When I found out that my sweet brother was murdered, I had too much rage to be a servant to the Lord. The news rose up at me like a fork in the road. One led to harmony and peace. The other led to revenge and retribution.”
