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I walked over to hiht behind hi nervously in the distance, but to their credit they didn’t say anything and they stayed where they were

"I know you did," I told hi ic Don’t you think?"

"Angel," he pleaded

I pressed the gun into the back of his neck

"You won’t ever call s aren’t dirty"

I pulled my mouth away from his ear "And I don’t have your soul But if it’s out there, you ht want to find it, before it’s too late"

I quickly bent down and pulled the pair of handcuffs out of ht I flicked a cuff open, his eyes widening in surprise, his body shaking slightly

"Don’t get any wrong ideas," I said "That kinky shit is over"

I snapped one cuff over his wrist and snapped the other to the chain-link fence, his hand held slightly above his head He turned and stared at rinned happily at hients well, Javier Bernal Because you are going to need a lot of help to get out of this one"

He shook his head "You can’t leave h to leave behind," I said "Puta conya," I swore in Spanish, spitting at his feet

Then I turned to look at Ca at me with a mix of awe and surprise My men My wonderful men I blinked back a few tears, then walked over to theet the hell out of here?" I asked

They nodded in unison Cah the hole in the fence and across the desert floor

I didn’t look back at Javier

Gus had parked his car right where I had left the Mini

"How did you find us?" I asked, wiping the dust and sweat off my brow In the distance I could hear helicopters, probably the DEA and the feds They were going to have a field day once they got their hands on Javier The leader of Los Zetas, caught right in their own backyard

Gus looked atdevice Haven’t you learned anything, Ellie girl?"

Camden’s head snapped up "Where’s Ben?"

"He’s fine," Gus said "My friend has hi the choppers too "We’re going to have to be quick about this"

Ca wheel and I cliot into his car and roared out of the desert

"You okay to drive?" I asked hi he could have a cracked rib even if the bullet didn’t go through

He gave rinned back "Okay, then let’s ood at that," he said, winking atafter Gus’s trail "Remember? Best five minutes of your life?"

I put my hand over his "Let’s make it the best fifty years of my life And then so"

Calexico’s "Fortune Teller" ca back aup with the sand around us, flying forever into the ath the sunroof up at the impossibly blue sky, the color of Camden’s eyes, and smiled to myself

He was alive

I was alive

We had our lives left to live

New paths

New journeys

New hope

"Let’s go say hi to Ben," I whispered

We left the desert behind us in a cloud of dust

EPILOGUE

"That’s a beautiful tattoo," the barista behind the counter said, looking down at the wo

The wo shorter skirts lately, even though the wind off the Pacific was known to flip them up at a moment’s notice and flash the world your underwear The wos were noork of art

"Thank you," the wo woh cheekbones, dark brown eyes and long blonde hair that cascaded down her back Her face was tanned from days spent outside, sunscreen no match for the Californian sun

"I love cherry blosso the woman her massive café mocha "And I love that moon in the middle of it all"

The wo to share the whole story with the barista There wasn’t many people she could tell the truth to, that the tattoo of the moon was not only for the man who inked it there but to cover up the scars of a bullet wound The coast north of San Francisco wasn’t exactly known for high crime, unless you counted Eureka, but no one ever counted that

"Where did you get the tattoos done?"

"I know a guy," she said slyly "Has a shop in Gualala Only works part tih"

"I love Gualala," the barista exclai barbeque joint there Really quiet though You live near there?"

The woet away from the Chatty Kathy "I do But I work up and down the coast Makes driving down to Bodega Bay worth it just to get Starbucks"

She then thanked the barista and left before she had to start talking about her job Not that she y when people asked too ot in her car, a sexy black 1973 Dodge Challenger that she drove way too fast up and down Highway 1, and looked over her shoulder to the back seat to raphy equip it north Today’s photography session was a pretty si couple in love