Out of Control ✔

TENTH CHAPTER

With crossed arms Juanita looked at the little baby that Adelita was holding in her arms. "We're kidnapping babies now?" she said, shaking her head. "How does that make us any different from the cartel?"

"Well we won't be stripping off their skin and sending them back to their familias," the woman answered in a grim voice. She looked Juanita in the eye. Her glance told Juanita that she didn't care for the criticism being directed at her, but she didn't care what the others thought either.

"This is wrong," she insisted. She thought about Emily, knowing this was her child. They hadn't been the best of friends in the past, but they hadn't been unfriendly either. Being siblings close in age, Ezekiel's path had crossed hers a lot; they had different types of friends, different interests but living in a smaller town and an even smaller home, didn't leave for much privacy.

"In a fight with the cartel we sometimes have to play dirty, Juanita. When they bring machine guns to harass us, we can't keep throwing stones. This baby is good leverage. They will meet our demands."

"And after that, they will hunt us like never before. They will crush our innocence, and show the world what happens to baby kidnappers."

Adelita's jaws tensed. "There is no innocence left in this camp, Juanita. They took that from us a long time ago. We are all soldiers, all doing what needs to be done. They may seem like horrible things, but you need to look at the future we're fighting for."

Juanita had a feeling the cartel believed the same thing. They were probably also telling themselves that their future was justifying their horrible actions now.

"This is the child of my brother's ex girlfriend. Does Angel know about this?"

Adelita glanced briefly at her, then she shook her head. "They don't need to know everything. They have their plans, we have our own." She held out the baby in her arms to Juanita. "You seem very concerned... does this mean you want to look after his health personally? Will that ease your mind?"

By reflex, Juanita stepped back. "No, baby's and I..." She shook her head. "Not my thing."

Adelita kept her glance for a while. "Then what is your thing? I have a feeling you've been brooding over something, but maybe you lack the courage to share it with me? Haven't I proven myself to be a trustworthy leader?"

"That's not the point."

"Is it about the Mayan you're sleeping with?"

Juanita frowned her eyebrows.

"I keep a close eye on all of you, Juanita. You are no exception."

She shrugged. "It's nothing. And it's no secret. Not from you, at least."

"Your brother?"

She answered with a sigh. Those brothers of hers seemed to be pushing in on practically everything going on in her life right now. She didn't want to talk about them anymore, it was time to talk about something else. "I might know a way to get closer to the cartel, it would mean that I'd have to be seen in public, north of the border which will allow my family to find me and we will have to deal with the confrontations that are sure to follow."

"If there's anyone that can protect you from unwanted attention, it's the cartel," Adelita replied. "But this sounds interesting. Tell me more." She handed the baby to one of the rebel children and took Juanita to her tent, where they both sat down.

"Does the name Nestor Oceteva ring a bell?" Juanita asked.

"The Head of Security for Galindo," Adelita answered looking her in the eye.

Her answer surprised Juanita. She'd thought that he was one of Emily's bodyguards, not that he was in a position of much more importance. "In my previous life, we... had a thing goin' on, it would have been a couple of years ago now. It was brief, my family didn't even know, but it was... intense." She leaned back, contemplating her next words. She still didn't know if she wanted to do this at all. It would be perilous and there was a good chance it wouldn't lead to anything anyway. But if she did manage to find a way back into his heart again...

Adelita was still silently waiting for her to finish and had not taken her eyes off her, so she continued.

"I could always try to flirt with him again, see if he might be interested... Who knows what will happen..."

The rebel leader snorted. "You want to become his whore to get intel?"

Juanita shrugged, untouched by her blunt words. "Could be useful to have someone close to him? Who knows what the sweet whispers of a woman will elicit."

For a while the woman just stared at her. "Why would you want to do this?"

"You said it yourself; we're soldiers. Maybe this should be my mission."

"If you get caught, we won't be able to help you."

"They won't catch me." She held the woman's stare, it was just as fierce as hers. "I hate the cartel, but they have not traumatized me as badly as some. Not like most of the others in this camp. I can do this."

"I will think about it. And the Mayan, how does he fit into this plan?"

"He doesn't," she shrugged. "I already told you – it's nothing. We were just havin' some fun."

Adelita studied her face. For some reason sweat drops were inching down her neck. Did the woman think that she was lying?

She wasn't – right?

For a moment Cruz's face flashed by – his mocking smirk, the sparkle in his eyes, his challenging voice...

"This is more important," she insisted.

Her tone told her that it wasn't only Adelita who she was trying to convince.

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