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Manuel had not been pleased Yesterday afternoon, the cartel boss had forwarded to Vida a very sie

Slay the dragons, his text had said Each and every one

She weaved through the dense El Monte neighborhood until she found the location she was looking for, a deserted parking lot behind a shuttered superswell Road

The young er seat beside her loudly slurped at the last of his McDonald’s chocolate shake as they came to a stop

“You’re going to do this now, right, Jorge? Not having any second thoughts on ht?” she said in Spanish

“Please,” Jorge said, looking at her, his brown eyes soft in his even softer face

Youthful appearance aside, Jorge was an up-and-comer in the cartel’s newest ally, Mara Salvatrucha, the brutal Hispanic gang otherwise known as MS-13

Jorge had dealt to the Dragons before, so his job had been to set up a dope deal Five kilos of coke at the cut-rate price of 12K per There weren’t any drugs, of course, and the only thing cut-rate was going to be the lives of the Vietnaers, as soon as they showed up

Vida looked out on the El Monte neighborhood as they waited Low stucco houses, palm trees, chain-link fences California shabby, ainst the fast-fading gold of the sky

More waiting, she thought, feeling like a bubble about to pop It was driving her mad

Vida sat bolt upright as Jorge’s phone finally rattled in the silence

“Is it them?” she said hopefully

“It’s theot off the expressway”

CHAPTER 21

AT JORGE’S CONFIRMATION, THE inside of the truck was immediately filled with theloaded and readied