The Chaos Order (Fanghunters Book Three) (12 page)

She stopped a few feet away from them. A diminutive but central figure.

She removed her shades; she now stared at them both with beautifully lashed, deep-brown eyes that flashed with vibrancy and life.

Dom felt his jaw drop. She was a firecracker.

“Who are you? What do you want?” she asked in a rapid and aggressive tone, her perfect English unhindered by her Mexican accent.

“We’re looking for someone,” Trixie said, her eyes never leaving the girl.

“Are you tourists?” the girl asked.

“No,” Dom said in a voice that to him sounded weak. He glanced up to see his hands in the air like a wuss. He threw them back down, cleared his throat and lowered his voice an octave or two. “We’re looking for Lionel,” he said. “We work for Vincent Beauchamp. This is his daughter.”

The girl stared at Trixie hard for a second. “Lionel?” she then echoed, flicking her eyes over to Dom. “Lionel’s dead,” she said, her eyes brimming with sorrow.

Dom lowered his head. “Oh. Sorry.”

“Los Verdugos shot him in cold blood. They’re the cartel in control of Tijuana. Lionel was the leader of the
autodefensa
, us, la Sagrada Família, the Holy Family. We’re resistance fighters against the cartel. We were getting close to Los Verdugos’ boss, el Víbora, the Viper. His gangster hideout is at the top of this valley.” She pointed up the highway. “That was when they killed Lionel. I’m Lionel’s daughter, Alicia.”

“I’m Dom, this is Trixie.”

“Nice to meet you. We’ve been expecting you; we just had to make sure of who you were because you’ve just walked into the middle of a war zone.” She smiled. “I don’t know who this Vincent is, but we’ve still got access to my father’s emails and I saw messages sent between them both. They were obviously friends. And a friend of my father’s is a friend of ours. This Vincent said you two could help us.”

“Maybe we can help each other,” said Trixie.

Alicia stared at her for a second or two, and then nodded. “Welcome to Mexico.”

“Well if the greeting’s anything to go by, this should be a blast,”
Dom said to Trixie in a quiet voice.

Alicia turned to her guys. “
Bajar las armas
,
” she said.

They all lowered their guns.

Dom relaxed.

“Come on,” Alicia said to Dom and Trixie. “We’ll take you to town so we can talk.”

“Sounds good to me,” Dom said with a grin, stepping toward Alicia with much enthusiasm. “Get our bags, Trixie,” he said over his shoulder.

Trixie’s jaw dropped. “Yes, boss!”

Dom ignored her. Instead, he kept his focus on Alicia.

Alicia gave him a return smile. “How was your trip?” she asked him in a casual tone.

“Great!” Dom lied. “I love flying.”

“So what are your first impressions of Mexico?”

Dom ran his eyes down her slim, tanned body, that thin sheen of sweat causing her skin to glisten in the sun. He smiled. “Hot,” he replied.

T
rixie followed up, feeling like a third wheel as she struggled with all the baggage. One of the Sagrada Família guys came over and offered to take her bag for her.

“Thank you,” she said as he then dumped it in the back of a truck like it was a bag of trash. “Thanks,” she then said without much enthusiasm. He then curtly ushered her over. He grabbed her arm and yanked her up and into the back of the truck with a few other guys. While that was going on, Dom was shown into the front seat of the Humvee complete with air con. He was laughing and smiling with Alicia the whole way like they were long-lost friends.

Trixie rolled her eyes. She turned her face up to the sun; it was beating down on her, something she wasn’t used to one iota. Chicago’s gray skyline was more her style.

She heard Dom laugh one more time before it was cut off once the passenger door shut. “Thanks, Dom,” she said to herself, glancing at the mean faces surrounding her, some of them obscured by bandannas. She sighed and sat back, the sun cooking her.

One of the guys handed her a bottle of water.

Trixie took it. “
Gracias.
”

“What’s your name,” the guy asked.

“Trixie.”

“I’m Rafa,” he said with a half-smile.

Trixie returned the faint smile. “Pleased to meet you.” She threw the cap off the bottle of water and gulped it down. It was warm and gritty, but right then, it was good.

The vehicles then all started up, and they headed along the highway toward the houses in the near distance.

They pulled up outside a series of small shacks. Chickens flew in terror as the Humvees approached. Somewhere nearby a grazing goat was bleating. Beyond the village were lush fields of golden corn that rose up to the perfect blue sky. Some of the trees that were dotted around were bursting with the greenest limes Trixie had ever laid eyes on. The only time she’d seen them was on a store shelf in a plastic wrapping. Seeing them dangling off the trees in such a picture perfect climate gave them a sense of vitality, health.

The guys in the vehicle with Trixie got out. Rafa turned and offered her his massive hand. Trixie thanked him and took it.

Rafa helped her down and stood tall, his broad shoulders widening. He gave her a pleasant smile. “My pleasure,
señorita
.” He gave her a final smile before he turned and headed away, giving orders to the other guys. Trixie watched him go, his lats flexing whenever he pointed here and there.

The door of one of the other vehicles swung open and with it came Dom’s laugh. The sound of it made Trixie’s top lip curl up. Dom stepped triumphantly out, holding the door open for Alicia. She got out and the laughs started up again.

Trixie shook her head. Dom caught her stare. He cocked a thumb her way before he finally left Alicia alone and headed toward Trixie. He reached out a hand.

“Well, you two seem to be getting on just great,” Trixie noted, shoving his duffle bag into his hand.

“Who, me and Alicia? Yeah, she’s a cool girl.
Plus, she’s pretty damn hot,
” Dom whispered to her.

“Well maybe you need a cold shower to cool you down.”

“Yeah, you know I could kill a cold Bud right about now. It’s hot down here, huh?”

Trixie gave him a hard stare. “At least you got to be in the shade for the drive. Try sitting in the back of one of those.” She swiped the sweat from her forehead as she spoke.

“Well, why didn’t you get in the front of one of the other cars?”

“Uh—”

Before she could respond, Dom clapped his hands together. “Hey, maybe it’s not gonna be so bad down here after all. We got good weather, hot babes. All we need now is a bar.”

Trixie poked a finger into his arm. “Hey! Just remember why we’re here.”

Dom showed her his palms. “Woah, woah, cool down. I know why we’re here. Jeez.”

“We don’t know these people,” Trixie reminded him in a lowered voice. “Okay? So, just play it safe.”

“Hey, safe is my middle name. Dom ‘Safe’ Dempsey.” He flashed her a grin before marching off to catch up with Alicia.

Trixie grabbed her forehead. He was acting like he was on vacation. She hoped the novelty would wear off quick.

Alicia led them toward one of the biggest buildings in the small town. “This whole town is now deserted thanks to Los Verdugos,” Alicia said as she opened the door. “They’ve all fled in terror or been killed.”

Inside, it was sparsely furnished. A couple of fans were placed at either end of the main room, both on full blast. Some old, beaten couches were pushed up against the walls. Other guys were already sitting on them, rifles on their laps.

“
Levántate!
” Alicia said to them, slapping them on the knees. They stood and cleared the way, taking their guns with them.

Alicia nodded toward the empty couch. “Take a seat,” she said.

“Thanks,” Dom replied, putting his bag down on the floor and then taking the weight off his feet with a satisfied groan.

Trixie went and sat next to him. She immediately began fanning herself with her hand.

“My cousin Rafa will get us some drinks,” Alicia said to them. “What you guys want?”

“Got any Bud?” Dom asked.

Trixie rolled her eyes.

“Bud?” Alicia echoed. “This is Tijuana, Dom, not LA. Here, we drink Corona.”

“I’ll take one of those then.”

Alicia turned to Trixie. “And you?”

“I’ll just have water,” Trixie replied.

“
Limón
for me
,
Rafa,” Alicia requested.

Rafa went to the fridge to grab their drinks. In the meantime, Alicia took a seat on another couch. She moved to the edge of her seat and craned her neck toward Dom and Trixie. “So, why are you here?”

“We were hoping your dad could give us clues on how to find a temple,” Trixie answered.

“A temple?”

“We think a Mayan temple called the Temple of Snakes. Heard of it?”

Alicia shook her head. “My father was always looking for ancient stuff. I was never really interested. Why do you need to find it?”

Dom and Trixie glanced at one another.

“Well...” Trixie began.

“There’s an ancient vampire locked away in the temple that Vincent has sent us to kill,” Dom said straight up.

Trixie turned away and scratched the back of her head. Dom watched Alicia as her mouth popped open.

Alicia then began to nod. “My father was always talking about vampires controlling the cartels. I always thought he was crazy. I never believed it. But, after they killed him, we sent some guys up to Víbora’s hideout, Castillo Serpiente, to assassinate him. Only one of them came back. He had this... wound on his neck like someone had taken a bite out of him. Before he died, he told us Víbora did it to him. He said Víbora is a vampire, and that he was too strong to kill.”

“It’s all true, Alicia,” Dom said. “Your dad was correct. The cartels are controlled by a faction of vampires known as the Chaos Order. The head of the Order is Magdalena. And we think she’s in the Temple of Snakes. If we can stop her, then we can hopefully stop the cartels.”

“So, you know how to kill vampires?”

“Absolutely! We’re experts.”

Alicia gave him a skeptical look. “The guys we sent were good. Víbora killed them all.”

“Yeah, but we’ve got methods. Proven methods,” Dom told her.

“Okay. I’ll make you a deal. My father kept notes on everything he found out about the cartels and ancient Mayan culture. Maybe there’s something in there about this temple you’re looking for. If you help us kill Víbora, then you can have my father’s notes, and we’ll help you find this temple.”

Dom glanced at Trixie.

Trixie shrugged. “Deal,” she said to Alicia.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

T
hat evening they had a meal of fresh chicken and rice covered in lime juice picked from one of the trees outside. It was one of the freshest, tastiest meals Dom had eaten in a long time. The chicken came straight from a backyard farm, and with the lime cooling the heat of the jalapenos, it was a new twist on the processed garbage he was accustomed to. He washed it down with another Corona, which helped cool down the heat of the chili further.

He let out a gasp of satisfaction. He was enjoying his stay in Mexico more than he’d expected. While they ate, they all exchanged stories. Alicia and la Sagrada Família told of their battles with the local cartels, while Dom and Trixie relayed their episode in the I-Sore Tower against Leviah’s Blood Order and Blacklake. La Sagrada Família all listened intently, absorbed in what Dom and Trixie were telling them, Alicia translating as and when she needed to.

The stories and hatred for the orders and cartels were similar. Venom addiction versus drug addiction, fangheads versus gangbangers, an order controlling things; it was all the same. Only the attitudes on how to approach the battle were different. The
autodefensa
didn’t seem to have any qualms putting bullets into Chaos Order affiliates. As far as they were concerned, cartel members were criminal scum who deserved to be put down. When Dom and Trixie explained the use of tranqs to sedate fangheads, it was met with derision.