Page 1 of Tango

Eric

“Paul?” Frank repeated, and I squeezed my eyes shut and cursed. Everything was heading south so quickly I could barely keep up. “What’s happening?”

“The subject…” The words were like a ball of acid in my throat that slowly dripped down into my chest and burned. “The subject is down—” A cry ripped through me. “Jesus, Frank,” my voice quivered, “Lexi’s dead.”

Silence.

Frank made a sound, and I knew it had hit him, then he cleared his throat and was back to business.

“Have you been compromised?” His normal voice commanded and helped ground me.

“Yes.”

“Pull the pin, take nothing. Get out. You know where to go. And Paul…”

“Yeah?”

“No man left behind. You’ll be met. Do whatever’s necessary to get both of you out.”

“Roger that.” The line went dead.

I glanced at my phone for a moment then shoved it back into my pocket as I desperately tried to clear my head. I needed a way out. I needed to blend in with the locals, and that wouldn’t be easy with Lexi. I knew there would be police everywhere after the convoy was attacked.

I bent down and scooped Lexi’s limp body into my arms and cradled her close to my chest. I raced down the street in the opposite direction from the one Alejandro had taken. Once I got to the end of the alleyway, I risked a quick look around the corner but quickly whirled back around, slamming my back to the wall. Two police cars crawled by with their lights flashing.

“Stay off the streets,” one yelled in broken English over a speaker. “Go inside. It is not safe for you.”

I inched forward, shifting Lexi in my arms, and saw a crowd of young people who looked like tourists, standing in front of the nightclub trying to catch a peek at what was going on. Clearly, the sound of bullets in the distance didn’t get through their drunken revelry. Blood from Lexi’s stomach wound made my hands slippery, and I fought to hold her tight against me. This wasn’t going to work. If one person saw the blood, they’d scream. I sat her against a wall behind a trash bin and peeled off my bloody dress shirt, then whisked out into the busy street. A vendor was preparing to close, and I quickly caught the door as he went to shut it.

“Please,” I said in Spanish, “I need a jacket, or a sweater, a shirt, just something. My friend got sick all over me and I need something clean.” When the man shook his head, I fished out a bill. “This for anything you’ve got.” He turned to a shelf and tugged out a t-shirt and a ratty old blanket. He grabbed the bill and tossed me the stuff then yelled at me to get out. I was happy to oblige.

Keeping my head low as I pulled the shirt over my head, I hurried back to where I’d left Lexi and gently pulled her arms through the sleeves of my suit jacket and fumbled my way through the buttons. I pushed the ratty blanket inside the jacket to try to camouflage the blood.

“I’m so sorry, Lexi.” I tucked her hair behind her ear and fought the nausea that wanted to come up. Suddenly, Keith’s face flashed in front of me, and I heaved over to the side and purged what I had in my stomach. Mostly liquor. More sirens could be heard, and I knew I needed to move. The city wasn’t that big.

Chatter from the crowd in the street had me gather up Lexi again. The group of partiers were loud and obviously had had a lot to drink, which would serve my purpose well. Some had their phones out recording a patrol car that was stopped a few blocks down. Others carried tequila or beer bottles as they milled about. The officers were placing barricades to block off a street. Fuck me, the entire city was going to be locked down. If I didn’t get out of here soon, I’d be stuck.

I quickly darted across the pavement and joined the tequila-soaked crowd. Lexi’s arm dangled, and I quickly tucked it up with a comment to a couple girls about my drunk woman.

“Any idea what’s happening?” I stepped closer as I used their bodies to hide me from the police. I had to concentrate hard to fit in and not let my mind go dark.

“No,” one girl looked at me, clearly half in the bag, “but there’s police everywhere.”

“Do you guys know where the blue hotel is?” I played dumb. “My girl’s had way too much to drink.”

“No, sorry, I don’t.” One girl quickly shut me down, but the other pulled out her phone.

“Do you remember the name of it? I could look it up for you.”

“I feel like an ass, but no, I don’t.” I tried to look like a dumb tourist and shrugged with a sloppy smile. I hoped I looked like I’d had a few too many myself.

“Shit, bro, was that gunshots?” One tuned in, and I hoped to hell they didn’t start to freak out or run.

Another police car came by and slowed as they went by us. I tilted Lexi’s body like I was placing her down on her feet when one guy glared at me.

“Dude, she’s too wasted to walk, just carry her ass home.” Then the guy turned and wrapped an arm around his girl’s shoulders.

“That’s what he’s trying to do.” The girl shoved the guy’s arm away.

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