The Beasts of Juarez by R.B. Schow (best books to read for beginners txt) 📕

clothes. Leopold glanced over at her. There was strength to her features he hadn’t seen in a woman of her stature, a steely-eyed gaze that spoke to her true character.

“No matter what happens in the future,” Sydney said without actually looking at him, “I want you to know that I am more grateful to you and your team than you will ever understand. Thank you for what you did for us.”

He nodded, tearing up for some reason. Later, when he looked back at that moment, he would realize that he seemed to be feeling her pain. This was a woman who was taken from America with three daughters but returned to a husband she no longer loved with only two of them.

“We have an SUV waiting,” Camden said when they reached him. He looked Sydney over, saw the abuse she’d endured then leaned in to kiss her. She dodged the kiss, taking Maisie’s hand instead.

Leopold glanced at Cira who raised an eyebrow. Yeah, Leopold thought, she’s going to eviscerate him on a soul level, if not physically.

The group met the Fed a moment later. His physique was a bit slovenly, but his uniform, his hat, and his shoes were in good order. For all the laws Leopold’s team had broken, for the many lives they’d taken, and for the stealing and drug dealing that it took to get there, he prayed to God he wasn’t getting cuffed and thrown in the back seat.

Instead, the FBI Agent tipped his hat and said, “This way, folks.”

They all piled into a large black Suburban. The Fed took the driver’s seat while Leopold sat up front in the passenger seat. The girls climbed back into the third-row seat allowing Camden, Sydney, and Cira to take the second-row bench seat. Whether Cira sat behind the Fed on purpose or not, Leopold didn’t know. Either way, he was glad she did. Tactically, it was a smart move.

“Thanks for arranging for this,” Leopold said to the agent.

“My pleasure,” he replied. “That’s a hell of a thing you did for this family. We have been able to keep things relatively sane on this side of the wall for a long time but it’s spilling over and, to be honest, it ain’t getting any easier.”

“This is true,” Leopold said.

“What are you going to do, though, right?” the Fed asked jovially. “I just put on the uniform, show up, and do the best I can.”

“For sure,” Leopold said. “But you have to admit, it’s always nice when you can get one over on these scumbags.”

“Scumbags, is right.”

Leopold was still worried about his team crossing the border, but for these anti-gang guys to have his back despite what they just did in Juárez…talk about a great feeling! As he felt himself beginning to unwind, he couldn’t help but reflect upon the tremendous amount of respect he had for guys like their liaison. This man put his life on the line every day to protect this country.

“Do you have family here?” Leopold asked.

“A daughter,” he said. “Had a wife too, but you know how law enforcement and marriages go. Some relationships have legs while others just fold and close up shop. My old lady booked it a while back.”

“That’s tough,” Leopold said.

It suddenly occurred to him that this man’s wife not only left him, but she also left their daughter.

Wow, he thought, that’s messed up.

“What’s your name, by the way?” Leopold asked thinking maybe he could use this man as a connection later on down the road.

They came to a stop at a light. The Fed turned and said, “I’m Agent Otis Fykes. And you?”

The name jumped into his mind but why did it sound so familiar? He shook the FBI man’s hand and said, “Leopold Wentworth, pleased to meet you.”

“You as well.”

They drove to the next light, stopped again, and that’s when the answer hit him like a wrecking ball straight to the gut. The guard who let the kidnappers take Sydney and the girls through the border, Gill Franklin, said he knew the name of the guy who arranged this. He said the guy was a Fed, Agent Otis Fykes.

“Didn’t you make some huge bust a few years back?” Leopold asked.

Fykes gave a bit of a smile. “I try to be modest but yeah. Our task force has hit some pretty big scores over the years. It sure takes the wind out of these guys’ sails, but you know how it goes—cut the head off of one scumbag and two more grow back. Sometimes it feels like a losing battle, especially in this new climate. It’s like we’re just treading water here, you know? Like one day you’re going to get so tired you just give up, sink to the bottom of the ocean, and let the water hold you until the end of time.”

“That’s pretty pessimistic,” Camden said from the back seat. With his politician’s voice, he said, “Hopefully I can help change some of that with some policy that works.”

“We’re sure rooting for you, Congressman,” Agent Fykes said.

While this conversation between Camden and the agent went on, Leopold was busy texting Cira.

THIS AGENT HELPED ORCHESTRATE THE KIDNAPPING. HE IS A BAD GUY. THIS IS YOUR CHANCE TO MAKE THE TEAM.

He sent the message, heard the text alert on Cira’s phone then felt a sudden stillness in the air where Cira stopped breathing.

At the next light, Cira unbuckled her seatbelt, sat up fast, and hooked her arm around Fykes’s throat. She pulled it as tight as she could, trapping him in a seated noose. The struggle was instantaneous and violent. But then he started to work his fingers in between the seatbelt and his neck, which would allow him breathing room. Leopold unbuckled his seatbelt and went to work