Free with You

Chapter 9: It’s the Woman

Vito POV

Me:

“I’m here.”

…

I text Puppet with the new burner phone, that he gave me on my first day. He had told me earlier to meet him, here, on the vessel, as soon as the meeting was over. I didn’t want to risk being late.

“How long is this f*****g meeting going to last?” I say to no one in particular. Like they would understand me anyway.

There’s several other Mexicans dressed in reflective vests and helmets, minding their own business on the vessel, obviously with work to do.

I just lean my back against one of the containers, trying to catch some shade in this blazing sun. It’s 100F and the air is so humid, I feel as though I’m melting in a sauna. I look to see that my orange T-shirt and khaki shorts are both sticking to my skin, soaked through with sweat.

That son of a b***h thought it would be hilarious to dress me in orange again, like a felon. I didn’t care though. As long as I was out of that s**t hole, I was grateful. Plus, he managed to house us all in a motel nearby. It’s walking distance to the port too.

And when I say, “us,” apparently I wasn’t the only one Puppet picked up in El Hongo for his job on the vessel.

A group of us were selected, based on our backgrounds, to serve as his muscle across the sea.

And aside from our phones, we were also given an assortment of weapons: AR-15s, M82s, FN 57s, knives, bulletproof vests, smoke masks, the list goes on.

Clearly, the psycho has an itch.

Man…I can’t stop panting like a dog.

You know what I really need right now?

Water!

My eyes are getting dizzy and unfocused as the ground before me is rippling in heat. I slowly walk up to the railing without touching the scorching metal, and glance over to the white building, where Puppet is having his meeting.

I wipe the beads of sweat off my eyes with the back of my hand to take a closer look. There are windows lined along the edge of the building. It’s likely there, in those conference rooms, where Puppet is negotiating.

Then I see it.

A group of black suits are exiting the building, clustered together around who I’m guessing is their leader. I don’t get a good look at him, but he’s wearing a black suit like the rest of them with his hair in a bun.

Puppet had briefed us yesterday, that he was going to meet with the boss of the Yakuza to finalize the contract.

I’m hoping I’ll get my chance to meet this boss, since we’re all traveling on this vessel together for 17 days. Puppet doesn’t seem like the type to be fluent in Japanese which means they’re conversing in English.

I figure this is my window of opportunity to possibly strike a deal with the J**s before we land at their port.

If only I could just live out a free life away from binds of the Cartel…

I need to find a way to escape without having the Yakuza chase me down… but what could I possibly offer them?

Before I get ahead of myself, I see the escalades leave the property and Puppet is seen walking out with his hands in his pockets. His head is cast down like he’s deep in thought.

I wonder what happened?

Maybe the deal is off?

Before I am about to yell and wave my hand, it’s as if Puppet can sense that I’m here, staring at him from 100 yards away. He suddenly turns and looks straight at me, nods, and starts to walk over.

As always, the guy is dressed clean cut with his gold rimmed aviators, crispy white shirt, and his black leather jacket in one hand.

Hah!

He’s even wearing black jeans and some fancy cologne.

Fucking tool is going to burn up in flames from his poor outfit choice. He stands before me now but…hold on, how is he not sweating?

Could he be bred differently from the rest of us?

A cold blooded snake in disguise?

I laugh at my own ridiculous thoughts.

“The meeting, it went well?” I ask.

“Yeah, she’ll sign it tonight,” he says.

Wait… did I hear him right?

What?!

“She?” I ask. Puppet is emotionless, his neutral stupid face staring back at me.

“Yeah. She,” he says.

“A woman…The boss of the Yakuza, Nomura, is a woman?” I ask.

“That’s what SHE means” he says shaking his head. “And no, she’s not the f*****g boss. Probably the daughter. They’ve got the same last name,” he says.

I’m speechless. The leader I saw walking out earlier was a woman?! Curiosity got the best of me and I wanted to know more. Before I could ask another question, Puppet interrupted my train of thought.

“Cut the questions, it ain’t the reason you’re here,” he says now turning his attention toward the containers. “—your job is to make sure this b***h stays out of my way. Seeing as you both speak English, this won’t be a problem,” he says.

“You think that she’ll want to come talk to you?” I say as neutral as possible, but I can’t help my tone from coming off aggressive, because of this heat.

Is it the heat?

Puppet smirks pulling his aviators slowly off his face to look at me. I remember now, those piercing dark grey eyes—a drastic contrast to his darker complexion.

And then I see it, a subtle glint and wrinkles form at the edges of his eyes like he’s amused at the utter idiocy of my question.

I’m starting to feel stupid, but I look away and play it off so we’re on equal ground. There’s a moment of silence before he pulls his aviators back onto his face.

“We depart tomorrow,” he says starting to walk away from me.

“So that’s it then? You could’ve just texted me about this,” I say.

Puppet stops midway and doesn’t turn around. In fact, now that I’m looking around, it seems no one else is on the vessel. They all scattered like cockroaches when Puppet arrived.

“Oso, the b***h pays when we dock. If she doesn’t…kill her on the spot.”