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

mumbled against the seat. There were fresh tears in his eyes and his voice was hoarse from crying. “You guys can’t leave me here!”

Before Scotty left the bathroom to make a call, he stepped back and kicked him again, this time catching Keegan’s balls from behind. This was one of the worst shots you could lay on a man because it’s all balls. The man broke into a heaving fit followed by a shrill wail. The sound alone brought a tiny measure of satisfaction to Scotty’s soul.

In the living room, Scotty dialed Leopold’s number. He answered right away. “Scotty,” he said, “let me have good news.”

“We found one of the two people who took Alabama.”

“Which one?” he asked, interested.

“Keegan White, the guy in the photo. He’s married to Gabrielle White, who was the woman. She’s his wife and she’s MIA, along with Alabama.”

“Where is Mr. White now?” Leopold asked.

“He’s currently face down on a toilet seat and not going anywhere. We have a lead on the wife. She left Keegan and took Alabama with her.”

“Why’d they split?”

“I’ll give you one guess,” Scotty said.

“No,” Leopold said quietly.

“Yeah,” Scotty said, eliciting a deep groan on Leopold’s part. “But it gets worse.”

“If you say ‘baby,’ I swear I’m going to be sick.”

“Get yourself a barf bag then,” Scotty said.

“For the love of God, what is wrong with people?”

“We think we know where Gabrielle is, which means we can probably find Alabama, but we have to leave Keegan. The question is, do we leave him dead or alive?”

“Text me Keegan’s address, then head out to see if you can retrieve Alabama,” he said, matter of fact. “Oh, and Scotty…great job.”

“Jackson has been instrumental in this,” he said because he felt he needed to after dodging his investigator’s calls last time. “Without him, I would still be in Louisiana scratching my ass.”

“It was a good move bringing him back then,” Leopold said.

“Yes, it was.”

“Anything else?” Leopold asked.

Scotty took a breath, tried not to sound nervous. “How are you progressing on your end?”

“You worry about you and I’ll worry about me,” Leopold said firmly. “But if you’re wondering, there’s still time to hit that performance bonus.”

“Yeah, well, Gabby’s at her mother-in-law’s house in Queens.”

“That’s about a three-and-a-half-hour drive from where you are,” Leopold said. “Check the flights, and if you can’t hop on one quickly, rent a car and go.”

“Roger that, boss.”

Chapter Thirty-Six

ZOEY FOX

When they woke up in the morning, Zoey and Maisie were hustled out of bed and sent to a food line. Zoey was exhausted. Her body ached in a dozen new places, her fingers were raw to the touch, and her stomach was about as empty as it had ever been.

She and Maisie ate a terrible breakfast with runny eggs that tasted funny, potatoes that were overcooked, and pig bacon that was more fat than meat. With both of their stomachs now rumbling and sick, they were loaded back on the truck where they would be taken back to the maquiladora. Maisie sat beside her, holding her hand and laying her head on Zoey’s shoulder.

“I’m scared,” she turned and whispered into Zoey’s ear.

“I am, too,” Zoey confessed.

As they drove, Zoey studied the route looking for nearby businesses, but there were only a few small homes and a lot of dusty roads. She managed to memorize a couple of street signs, hoping that one day they may mean something.

When they got near what might have been a town, they turned onto yet another dirt road and from there the warehouse came into view. It was like a nightmare cresting the horizon of her mind, one that had her trembling inside.

They walked inside with the others, keeping their heads down and talking to no one as they took their stations. Beside the stations were stacks of fabric—the day’s work.

Maisie started to cry but Zoey gave her a stern look and shook her head slowly. The girl’s lips puckered as she lifted her chin and willed herself to work.

Zoey was proud of her, but she was also scared for both of them.

Later that morning, the man from the office called her and Maisie in to see him. Were they in trouble? Did they do something wrong?

The second she and Maisie stepped into his office, Zoey heard the boss speaking into the phone. He didn’t sound happy at all.

“Yeah, they’re with me now,” he said in a frustrated tone. “Are we a go, or not?”

He listened intently to the person on the other end of the line, looked up at Zoey and Maisie then raised his finger like he wanted them to wait a second. The man now looked more peeved than ever.

Behind Zoey and Maisie, a mean-looking brute of a man stood in complete silence, his back and neck perfectly straight. Zoey snuck a quick look back. She saw a gun on his side but his hand was too close to the weapon for Zoey to grab it. And even if she did risk stealing it, how would she get it out of the holster, much less use it to kill everyone bad around her?

After a few minutes of stressful back and forth on the phone, the man on the phone ended the call with a big sigh that ended in a very deep frown.

“I thought we were moving them now,” he said to the man behind them, the one with the gun. “Girls, it seems you now have new parents, but they were delayed some. It’s unfortunate for us all, but maybe you will still meet them today.”

Before Zoey or Maisie could react to the terrible news, much less form a response, the boss looked at his gunman and said, “When they do arrive, the new owners will pick the girls up at a small runway off