La Mujer de Lalo (Lalo's Woman)

Los Scicarios

At dinner, Lalo and Ana had a good time with all the yummy food Yolanda had prepared for them paired with good wine and juice. Nacho couldn't savour anything. His tastebuds had died the moment he got the phone call. He had to get them out of there. But how?

Post dinner, Ana retired to bed while Lalo and Nacho left to meet Don Eladio at his hacienda. Eladio was impressed with Nacho and took a liking towards their new man. He was even more impressed after Lalo had given Eladio some of gifts, which included a trunk full of uncle Benjamin's and a red 1983 Ferrari 308 QV GTSi. They both returned back home satisfied with how things went.

"It's really late. Aren't you going to get some sleep?" Lalo asked Nacho.

"Not tonight. No." Nacho responded.

"Ah... another night owl, huh? Your sister is totally opposite, eh?" Lalo joked. "Yeah, I never sleep much either. An hour, maybe two. It's enough. When it's like this... that's when I can think. I get my best ideas when everybody else is asleep. Some people, they call it a curse. I like it."

"I don't know. I'd rather get some shut-eye." Nacho spoke as his eyes constantly moved towards the back gate.

"And yet here we are." Lalo chuckled.

"Got anything stronger?" Nacho enquired holding the beer can up.

"Now you're talking! In the bar, bottom shelf, decanter. That's the good stuff. Two glasses."

Nacho went inside to get the drink. He came back stroding slowly.

"You ever had Dris Trece, Nachito?" Lalo questioned.

"Nah man. I don't think so."

"Oh, you're in for a treat! To sleep, and those who need it." Lalo raised his glass as Nacho followed his gesture.

Lalo took a few sips while Nacho burried the drink into his throat in a just 2 sips. Lalo looked at Nacho with astonishment.

"Lalo, I have to tell you something." Nacho started.

"Yeah?"

"I... I think we need to leave."

"Leave? Where?"

"I don't know. Anywhere. We need to leave this place. Your men too. There's, uh, going to be an ambush. We need to save ourselves."

Lalo grew more and more suspicious of Nacho. This kid definitely had something to do with whatever he's talking about.

"And how come you know of this?"

"I was informed. I... I got a call this afternoon."

"Who? When? Where?" The tone in Lalo's voice had completely changed.

"Sicarios. 3 a.m. at the back gate."

Lalo looked at his watch, it was almost 1.45 a.m. they hardly had an hour left. His breathing became fast and heavy.

"You take Ana and leave to my safe house. Take Ciro with you. He'll drive. No matter what happens to you, ensure that no one lays a finger on her." Lalo instructed Nacho. "You and I, we'll talk later."

Nacho ran upstairs to wake up Ana while Lalo whistled and called few of his men to give them some instructions. As Ana and Nacho came down, the tension in Lalo's face disappeared temporarily.

"Mi amore, I want you to leave with Ciro and Nacho. They're taking you somewhere else."

"Why? What's happening? Is there a problem?" Her puzzled face held more questions within.

"Querida, later." That's all he spoke to her before gesturing them boys to take them away.

Ciro drove Nacho and Ana away after few guns and ammo were thrown into the car trunk.

Lalo drowned the entire drink. And took out his gun. He slid some ammos into his pockets and gave instructions to his men. Lalo waited in the kitchen with some oil heating in the stove.

As per his jefe's instructions, one of the men covered his face using a bandana and unlocked the back gate. He put his hands up in the air and said "In the kitchen." As he walked out. 3 assassins entered the house. Another 4 entered from the front gate.

The next few minutes filled the house with the sound of gunfire and screams. Lalo had taken down 3 men, while his men took care of the rest. Just when he thought they'd gotten them all, he caught a glimpse of shadows moving outside the windows. More men had entered the castle grounds.

One masked sicario entered the kitchen as Lalo threw oil onto his face from behind him. But the guy managed to shoot Lalo in the leg accidentally as his fingers pressed the trigger. Lalo limped his way to a bathroom, where he pulled a secret handle and the bathtub unlocked, enabling Lalo to open it, revealing a passage, which Lalo crawled into.

The passage led him to the front gate from where Lalo again entered the house, ready to serve a surprise to the hitmen. Together with Miguel, the guard who opened the gate for Lalo and Nacho in the morning, he took down the rest of the assassins.

He finally got to the guy whose face was scalded. He questioned about who had sent the hitmen, but the man didn't know. Lalo then asked him to call the middleman and let him know that the mission was successful, which the guy did reluctantly.

Enraged at the damage that had ensured, Lalo instructed his men to clean it all up. He drove his car towards the safe house, to see if his Ana was alright.