Every Time You Close Your Eyes, S3 (Queen of the South)

Part 1 - Quit Driving Like A Pinche Viejita!

James got the SUV to a halt in a cloud of dust and dirt, then he jumped out without wasting a second, noticing that Pote had also gotten out and was running after him. The second SUV with the men Boaz Jimenez had sent was also pulling in.

The small wooden structure of the Imala Medical Clinic which was the front part of a house, was not impressive, but he only had eyes for the numerous muddy footprints visible on the path to the door, which had been left slightly ajar. There were no vehicles around. The place looked deserted.

He pushed the door and stepped in, already having drawn his gun. The picture made his insides cramp: the doctor, wearing a white apron lay on the floor, shot in the back, a pool of dark red blood underneath him. A woman holding a child to her chest lay sprawled in the adjacent room, both of them dead, tons of blood on their clothes, the floor and the walls.

Massacre! Fuck! Cortez and his soldiers were fucking sons of bitches and the worst was that there was no sign neither of Teresa nor of Guero!

"Teresa!" he called her name, his voice sounding hollow. Pote called her right after him and then pushed an adjacent door and ran upstairs. James followed him after seeing the bloody spot on the floor in the center of the room which was still being fed by an occasional drip from the ceiling.

"Cortez must have gotten to them before us! Carajo! Puta madre!" Pote cursed and kicked the door with as much force as the anger gave him.

"Quit driving like a pinche viejita!"(Stop driving like a little old lady) Pote had told James and now that they were late, and Teresa had been re-captured by this monster Cortez, who had electrocuted him last year in Chicago, he felt angry at himself for not speeding more and for not being on time.

He walked out and took a few breaths of air. His hand drew down on his scruffy face as Pote said: "What are you thinking, Cabron?"

"We must get to them before they harm them...there's no reason to keep them alive...they must have kept him alive to bait her...but I'm certain she had no clue he was alive and captured, otherwise she wouldn't have...." He stopped himself short as he would have said "slept with me", but the idea that Guero's existence wouldn't have changed their attraction to each other hit him fast. She had told Finch she would die for him the previous night...and if Little T hadn't called, they both might have just died or been captured. No matter, he was sure that had she known Guero was in such dire distress, she would have attempted to rescue him.

"How are we gonna breach Cortez's compound? Just the two of us and the three Jimenez, Cabron!" Pote was breathing hard.

"We won't attack. We'll trade!" James said and headed towards the SUV.

He drove for about 5 minutes on the road in the direction of Culiacan, and then he suddenly pulled over with a screech of tires: "You know...for them to escape to this little clinic in this shitty little town...the prison they were kept in must have been very close...and they most likely have been taken there again. How do we find that prison? A garrison or something?"

Pote looked at him, scrunched his face and said: "Go back to Imala...I'll walk in the central plaza and find out!"

James turned the rented SUV around fast and when he had picked up speed, he said to Pote: "Call the pilot. Tell him to wait. We will pay for the extra time and the fees for the plane...for day or two...I don't know how long...then call Tonto or Charger and have them meet us at the border crossing where our guy works. Make sure they have cash on them...a lot of it".

Pote nodded: "We assume we'll be transporting two without documents, one possibly wounded, right? So, at least twenty grand?"

"At least", James confirmed, eyes on the road.

===

Teresa was blind folded as was Guero when the soldiers led them away. She could feel her insides cringe but realized it was not with fear, but rather with rage. She was angry for being put in such precarious situation again, and the situation again involved Guero.

True, he had kept himself alive for eight months, hoping that somehow an escape opportunity will present itself, but he had gotten captured these eight months ago the same way he had almost been blown to pieces in his plane, or had been caught by the DEA in Dallas right after their return from Bolivia. Guero just moved around and did things as he pleased, never considering the dangers.

And now he was bleeding on the back seat next to her! She could hear his labored breathing and could only imagine what more torture Camila would order on him. Her mind refused to think what Camila might order done to her.

Where the hell were James and Pote? He had said they had landed in Mexico!!! Carajo!

They arrived at their destination, not after more than a 15 minutes' drive. As the vehicles stopped, solders started jumping off them. She heard the doors being open and was dragged out by the arms and shoulders, then was led inside. She couldn't say if it was the same place; it smelled and felt just as disgusting as the previous one.

Someone removed her blindfold and she found herself staring into the cold brownish eyes of General Cortez. Last time she had seen this hijo de puta (son of a bitch) had been in a closed for renovations floor in a high rise hotel where he had been torturing James! Her being filled with disgust and anger! Then she noticed two soldiers dragging Guero to the left and then they were out of sight.

"I can't believe you and your boyfriend managed to get our doctor to betray me and get killed in the process, Miss Mendoza! How inconsiderate of you! He had a family and....the community would miss him!"

"Bastard!" Teresa said through her teeth. "It's your soldiers who killed him! Don't you know doctors take an oath and cannot refuse help to a wounded person!"

"Hmm!" Cortez seemed to consider her words. "Entonces, que pena para todos!" (So, how sad for everyone!)

"What do you want?" Teresa asked, trying to keep her composure.

"I personally have no beef with you or your pilot...but La Jefa...she cannot forgive you for shooting el Gobernador...and as I report to her, I have no choice but to keep both of you here until I get orders!"

"At least get him another doctor...and let him go! It's me who she wants!" She pointed with her chin to the direction where the soldiers had taken Guero. Teresa knew he couldn't go very far in his condition, but nothing else came to mind.

"And what would I get in exchange for defying La Jefa?" Cortez almost smiled.

Teresa considered offering him to work together but the sly expression on her face suddenly made her realize that this man was not a friend of Camila. The woman was such a snake that she had no friends! So, she said: "Personal satisfaction!"

Cortez was taken aback for a second and then the sly smile came back: "I usually don't like people who try to read my mind!"

He turned on his heel and ordered the soldiers behind him to put her in a cell in the other wing. As they pushed her roughly in the opposite direction of where they had taken Guero, she saw a man in white overalls being lead in. He carried a bag and she hoped he was a doctor or a nurse.

Not more than five minutes had passed after she had been locked unceremoniously into a cell, when she took a good look around and realized they were not in the same prison, but in some small military garrison.

Then she heard high heels on the cement floor as Camila Vargas turned the corner and headed into the direction of her cell.