Falling With Grace

I froze as a single whimper escaped my pressed lips, and a vivid memory worked through my mind with crisp details.

Not again.

I won’t watch.

“Wait,” The Boss said.

The tension in my shoulders eased, but a breath held in my lungs.

“Do it outside. This place is already a dump.”

“I’m sorry.” I dropped my quivering hands as Javier moved towards me, the ice in my veins melting with adrenaline. “If I tell you everything, what assurance do I have that you will let me go unharmed?”

The Boss laughed, and the card players chuckled as they elbowed one another.

My shoulders hunched, and a searing heat crept up my cheeks. “What’s so funny?”

“What is it? You don’t know anything, and you’ve wasted my time, or you know everything and lied to me?”

Sweat slicked my skin as I caressed the rosary in my pocket. “I never said I—”

“I’ll spare you the exhausting charade of concocting yet another lie.” He rose from his seat and advanced towards me with measured steps. The air crackled with an ominous tension as he closed the distance, his presence looming over me like a gathering storm.

He stopped before me and leaned in, his hand planted on the armrest while his other touched my cheek. He turned my face to the side, his knuckles grazing my skin, sending a shiver down my spine.

“No one has this branding without Andrés’ approval.” His voice cut through the silence like a blade through flesh. “And yet, those who hold the knowledge of his whereabouts or identity now rest in their graves, leaving only you as the solitary link.”

How did he know they were in graves?

Has he seen them?

Was he there?

My muscles tensed, and my fingers tingled as my spine straightened.

“Didyoukill them?”

“No one escapes Andrés.” He released my cheek and shook his head. “How did you?”

A slow exhale escaped my lips, a measured release of tension. My gaze shifted, and I caught sight of Javier, standing beside him, his studious eyes locked onto me. “We waited for the right moment.”

The Boss sat on the coffee table corner beside my knees, his stance wide, his elbows braced on his knees. He sat at eye level with me, even in his hunched position, as though I were a mere child. “Explain.”

I rolled my lips and adjusted myself, swiping my free hand under my dried, bloody nose, the flakes coming away on the back of my hand like ruby drops of sand. “There was a large party that night. Bigger than normal, but he didn’t have a use for us, so he locked us up in our cages. Jorge and I had been planning our escape for months, and this seemed theright time to do it.” I shrugged, my gaze cast down. “He smuggled the keys away from one of the guards when they let him out.”

My fingers roamed over the rosary as my friend’s face came to the forefront. His smile bloomed in my mind even when he was in pain. “We had a short window to exit the compound.” I drew in a staccato breath. “They were all passed out drunk, so we got as many as we could before they woke, but we had to leave some.”

I frowned, their whispered cries echoing in my ears. Tears blurred his darkened jawline as I tucked my hands between my thighs and rubbed my palms together.

“There was a hole in the wall next to the toilet used only by us. We would chisel away at it when we’d use the restroom.” I swiped at the tears falling. Javier tucked his pistol back into his holster behind his back, and my shoulders sagged a little more. “But it wasn’t long before they realized we were missing and sent a whole troop of men after us.” I sniffled. “We, um… we ran for about three days before they caught us on the ridge line by the river.” I squeezed my eyes closed as Jorge’s vacant face flashed in my mind.

“How did you survive?” His once demanding tone now held a lilt of kindness and understanding beneath the undertones of curiosity.

“I jumped to my death.”

His brow raised, causing his worry lines to deepen.

I pointed to my trapped arm at my chest and the cuts on my face and head. “It didn’t work out so well.”