Page 52 of Monk
“Now, walk. Down to the lot,” he orders.
Stepping out from behind the thick screen of bushes, I feel all eyes down below fall on me. I cut a glance at Jacob and see his eyes widen, see the fear darken his features. Bala keeps his gun trained on my back as he leads me down the hill. He guides me over to where Jacob is standing with the other two men, and I feel their eyes on me. They stare at me in both disbelief and anger. Jacob looks down at the ground and I see the turmoil on his face.
“Found this one lurkin’ in the bushes up there,” Bala said. “I think she’s a fuckin’ cop.”
“I’m not a cop. I told you. I swear I’m not a cop,” I say.
“Who the fuck are you then,señorita?” says the other Mexican man.
“I-I’m Kasey.”
The two Mexican men exchange a look, and the man standing with Jacob looks at me and I see that he recognizes me, but the questions I see in his eyes tell me he’s not sure from where.
“I think we should kill her,” Bala says. “We don’t know what she saw or heard.”
I feel my face pale as my body hums with a nervous energy. I look to Jacob, waiting for him to say something—anything—to stop this. But he doesn’t say anything. All he does is stare at the ground.
The first Mexican man nods. “Yeah, I think so, too.”
“I’m telling you, I’m not a cop and I haven’t seen anything,” I plead. “Jacob, tell them.”
All three men turn their eyes to Jacob who stands up straight, his eyes on me. For a long, agonizing moment, I fear he’s going to disavow me. Going to tell them he doesn’t know me and that they can do with me as they please. My vision blurs and my eyes grow hot as they well with tears.
“Take her into the mill and put two in her head,” the first Mexican man tells Bala.
His large hand falls on my shoulder, gripping me with hand like iron. A choked gasp bursts from my mouth and I look to Jacob, begging with my eyes for him to stop this madness.
“Come on,” says Bala. “Don’t make this harder than it’s gotta be.”
“Take your hand off her,” Jacob finally says. “She’s with me.”
All eyes turn to him again, but Jacob raises his chin in defiance. The man who’s standing with him looks from Jacob to me, then back again. Then, he bursts into laughter. He goes on like it’s the funniest thing ever and his voice echoes through the forest around us all. Everybody looks at him like he’s lost his damn mind—me included.
The man finally gets himself under control, and it’s then I belatedly notice that the patch on his kutte says his name is Cosmo. I recall Jacob mentioning him before, saying he’s a good friend. Even still, I have no idea what he’s borderline hysterical about.
Eventually, he gets himself under control, wiping his eyes from the tears of mirth that have been rolling down outer corners of his eyes. He finally gathers himself and turns to the two Mexican men standing across from him.
“She’s with him. They’re not lying,” Cosmo says.
“Why are you laughin’ so hard,ese,” the first Mexican man, Tarantula according to his patch, says.
“I was just remembering the first time I ever saw her—it was when she did her best Floyd Mayweather impression and popped him in the face. Funniest shit I’ve ever seen,” he says, then turns to Jacob. “This is her, huh? The girl you ghosted all those years ago?”
Jacob shifts on his feet uneasily, cutting his eyes to me, and then away. He nods, a strange expression crossing his face.
“Yeah. This is Kasey.”
The two Mexican men look from Jacob to me, and back to Jacob. They, too, start to laugh hysterically. But the man named Bala, still laughing hard, gives me a thumbs up. The only people not laughing are Jacob and me. In his eyes, I see a smoldering anger as he looks at me. I’m sure if I get out of here alive, I’m going to have some questions that need answers. Which is fine. I’ll answer them myself. As long as I get out of here alive.
“Man, what I wouldn’t give to have seen that,” Bala says.
“Why don’t I give you a demonstration?” Jacob says.
“Easy, kid,” Cosmo says.
“Yeah, put a leash on your boy,” Bala fires back.
“Shut your mouth,ese.Don’t be a fuckin’ moron or I’ll put you in your place. You feel me, homie?” the first Mexican man says to Bala, who falls silent immediately.
