Chapter 52

David
Two jets flew in, waking everyone. That meant the extended Sandoval family had arrived. David got up and took a shower. When he was done, he found Fritz, Chuck, and Paul sitting in their cottage’s living area.

“What are you guys up to?” David asked as he heard Chloe get into the shower.

“The cartel’s security team asked that we wait here with you and Chloe until they complete their check of the compound and the rest of the estate.”

David received a text from Alex, saying that he and Nat would be over shortly, and they would go to the market to pick up some produce for their chef. It would give them a chance to get out of the chaos going on at the house.

The Sandoval clan had a large barbecue in store for the evening. Alex had shared that there would be Colombian-style beef ribs, and they planned to do a whole beef hindquarter. David knew that was about 130 pounds of meat by itself.

Nat and Alex walked into the cottage as Chloe finished getting ready.

“I hate to do this to you, but my family wants to meet the Hollywood actor,” Alex said.

They made their way to the pool, where four generations of Sandovals were present to celebrate the twins’ birthday. David spent a half-hour being introduced, along with Chloe, who Alex declared was his girlfriend. Poor girl.

One couple didn’t come over to meet him. David noticed because they were in their early twenties and looked to be arguing. It wasn’t the arguing that caught his attention; it was the fact that the young woman would have stood out in any crowd—and she knew it. It wasn’t her rich, dark hair, slightly tanned skin, curvy shape, and striking looks that intrigued him. She was wearing a white bikini bottom with a white half-shirt that you might see in a gym. What made David smile was that she was wearing four-inch heels by the pool. Some women with larger breasts, such as his friend Adrienne, didn’t need the aid of a bra. This sexy creature was one of them.

“Introduce me,” David said as he used his chin to point out who he was talking about.

“That’s my cousin Orlando and his latest girlfriend, Ariana. She’s a fitness model and hosts a reality TV dating show. He always seems to bring a similar-quality babe to these family get-togethers. Once they get to know him, they’re gone, and he’s off to the next one,” Alex explained.

To this point, Orlando and his girlfriend had been quietly arguing. Suddenly, they could be heard across the party.

“Oh, really?”

She folded her arms. Now Orlando had done it.

“You’re going to give me an ultimatum?” Ariana fumed.

Orlando threw his arms up in frustration.

“Don’t act like you’re not forcing my hand!”

“This isn’t the 1950s. I’m not going to marry you just because your mother thinks you should be a father. I’m not giving up my career to sit at home, wash your dirty clothes, and have babies,” she shot back at him.

Orlando turned bright red.

“I’m not the one who said I had to marry you before you’d sleep with me,” he said, pointing at Ariana. “You know what it means to marry into my family. There are expectations as to how our women act. If that doesn’t make you happy, then take a walk. I’ve been as patient as I can be. Now you have to decide.”

He went to stomp off into the house. But as he stepped away, a ball two little boys were playing with got away from them and rolled in front of Orlando. His patent-leather shoe landed right on top of it. There was a moment of suspended animation where David could glimpse into the future and envision what was about to happen. Orlando got this shocked look on his face as his front foot shot forward, and he did a perfect front split.

David had dated cheerleaders who would have been jealous of how far down he got. The problem was that his boy bits cushioned his body’s impact when he hit the concrete. His shocked look changed instantly to one of excruciating pain. There might have even been a crunching noise that made David a bit queasy in sympathy.

“My balls!” Orlando screamed, clutching his crotch. “I’ve crushed my balls!” Of course, he said it in Spanish. David was surprised to understand Orlando; he apparently remembered more Spanish than he would have thought.

Everyone seemed stunned into paralysis. David ran up to him, unsure what to do to help but confident that crushing one’s balls was severe. He was impressed, though, that Orlando had still been able to talk. If it had been David, nothing as coherent would have passed his lips.

“It looks like you ripped your pants,” David said and then realized that didn’t matter. “Oh, sorry. You probably don’t care that everyone can see your butt. I mean, it’s a bold choice not to wear underwear. My mom always told me mine had to be clean if I had to go to the hospital ... Oh, yeah. I might be rambling. Sorry. It’s just I never saw something like that happen before.”

“Let’s help him up and get him inside. My dad will call a doctor,” Alex said to save David from having any more verbal diarrhea.

David wasn’t really surprised when Orlando didn’t want his help carrying him inside.

After Alex and one of his cousins helped Orlando into the house, David found Nat and Chloe at his side, trying not to laugh.

“At least his girlfriend won’t have to worry about babies now,” David said, still stunned.

The two of them couldn’t help themselves and burst out laughing. Half the crowd joined them in nervous laughter. But there was one severe-looking woman—almost certainly Orlando’s mother—who glared at him.

“I don’t think I’ll be invited back,” David predicted, causing another round of laughter.

“We better get him out of here before he says anything else,” Nat said.

David was made to sit and wait until Alex was free so they could leave for the market. Nat and Chloe made him promise not to leave his chair at one of the outdoor tables. He spotted Ariana weaving her way through the crowd directly toward him. If he hadn’t promised, he would have fled before he could cause more trouble.

As she got closer, he cycled through opening lines for a woman like her. But she was faster.

“I never liked the Stryker character. I much preferred Ian Bond. But today, you were more the bumbling fool from Love Letters.”

“That wasn’t my best moment,” David admitted.

“Ariana,” she said, sitting down.

“David.”

“How do you know Alex?”

“He’s my college roommate.”

“I hear that you’re going into town to the market. Care if I tag along? I think we both need to leave for a while so everyone can calm down.”

“As long as you put pants on. I don’t feel like getting into a fistfight to protect your honor with you dressed like that,” David said.

“You don’t think I should wear this in public?” she teased.

“That should only be worn when you and I are alone,” David said as he gave her his sexiest look.

“What’s going on?” Nat asked.

“Ariana asked if she could go to the market with us. She’s going to change, and then we can leave,” David said.

The market was in a large warehouse with twenty-foot ceilings. It was laid out in a grid where each vendor had a permanent area to set up shop. Nat had brought two of their workers from the compound to pull around a wagon she could fill with fresh produce.

David found Ariana had tucked her arm under his while Alex showed them around. Alex noticed and raised an eyebrow but didn’t say anything.

“While Nat shops, let’s grab something to eat. There’s this place in the far corner that has the best sancocho in Cali,” Alex suggested.

“And ... that is?” Chloe asked so David didn’t have to.

“Stew made with local meat and yuca, corn, potatoes, and plantain. It’s usually served with white rice,” Ariana explained. “It’s one of my favorite traditional dishes abuela makes.”

“I’ve learned that if your grandmother makes it, it has to be good,” David said.

Their version was made with chicken.

Paul had drawn the short straw, so he stayed in the car while Fritz and Chuck joined them.

As they were being served, a large group of men ranging in age from sixteen to twenty-five walked in the side door, talking loudly. David noted that Alex stiffened, which David pointed out to Fritz. Ariana must have had the same vibe because she leaned down over her food and concentrated on eating.

The group passed them by. As soon as they had, Alex was on his phone with Nat.

“A group from the Los Tiburones Cartel just came into the market. You need to wrap this up pronto,” Alex said.

“How do you know they’re in a cartel?” David asked.

“Their tattoos.”

“I’ll have Paul pull the car around to this door,” Fritz said. “If...”

POP! POP! POP! POP! POP!

That was all Fritz got out before there were screams and people were running down the aisle. All around them, people threw themselves to the ground. Suddenly, David felt sharper and more alert than before. The only cover he saw was the counter they were eating at, so he jumped over it, then pulled Ariana over and had her get down. Then he did the same with Chloe and Alex.

Fritz did something David never thought he would do: reached over and handed David a pistol.

A salvo of gunshots rang out.

“There are men with assault rifles rushing in,” David heard Paul say over Chuck’s phone. “I’m releasing the swarm with all safeties off.”

BOOM! BOOM!

Someone had a large-caliber gun, probably a .45 pistol.

Then came a burst of full auto. Instantly, David hit the ground as gunfire broke out in all directions. He covered his head, curled into a ball, and turned his back to the action.

It was total chaos as people were running in circles. Between the outside group and the Los Tiburones Cartel members, they were faced with drawn guns and were caught in the crossfire. The shooting lasted several seconds as boxes on the shelves over their heads exploded when the machine-gun rounds ripped them apart. The girls both screamed.

When there was finally a pause in the firing, David rolled up on his knees to peek over the counter and check on Fritz and Chuck. He saw them jammed together behind some fruit crates. The knot of people that had been running for the side door lay in a writhing pile. It was a massacre. There were guns and blood all over the floor.

Chuck took advantage of the lull in the action to slip behind the counter. Fritz had seemingly disappeared.

“If we want to get out of here, we need to go RIGHT NOW!” Chuck said.

The workers who ran the kiosk they were hiding in pointed to a way out behind the shelves.