Scott lay on the sofa in the dark, wide awake. Despite his exhaustion, he couldn't sleep. His brain simply wouldn't shut up. He was too worried about Victoria and the kids. The people chasing him, whoever they were, had tracked his cell phone and had probably intercepted the call from Glenn Pe-terson. That was the only way they could have known he was coming across the border to meet Benny.
And if they were up on his cell phone, there was a good chance they were up on his home phone too. So he hadn't called Victoria. She would be worried, but she was used to it after having been a DEA wife for ten years. There had been a lot of nights when he didn't make it home and couldn't call.
"Are you awake?" Benny's voice came out of the dark.
Scott sat up. He could barely make out her silhouette in the doorway. "Yeah."
"I couldn't sleep." Benny crossed the den and sat on the sofa beside him. "I'm worried about Rosalita."
"I'm worried about my kids too."
"How many do you have?"
"Two," Scott said. "A boy, nine, and a girl, six."
Benny smiled but it didn't last. "I don't know what I would do if something happened to Rosalita. Besides tío, she's all I have left."
"Did you talk to her?"
"She was already asleep when I called."
"But she's all right, though?"
Benny nodded. "My friend Maria will take her to school in the morning."
"That's good."
For a while they said nothing. He could feel her leg pressed against his. Scott cleared his throat, suddenly even more awake than he had been. "Your uncle seems nice," he said.
"He's a good man."
"I can tell."
"You saw his tattoos?"
"I did," Scott said, "but they looked old. Like they were from another life."
"He's been a priest for a long time," Benny said. "Since I was a little girl."
"And before that?"
"He was a...what you would call a gangster."
"With a cartel?"
Benny nodded. "When I was little I loved those tattoos. Then I got older and realized why he had them...I tried to talk him into getting them removed, but he said he wanted to keep them because they remind him of what he used to be."
"I'm glad he was here," Scott said. "I don't think we could have made it much further."
"The Church has wanted to close this parish for years, but tío has been fighting them. Most of the decent people have moved away from this neighborhood, but there are still a few of the old ones left. He says if the diocese closes the church, the old people won't have anywhere else to go, and everybody has the right to hear Mass and to receive the sac-raments."
"Is he going to keep fighting them?"
"Yes," she said. "He's very stubborn."
"So he loves his job and he's good at it."
Benny smiled. "Yes."
"And what about you?"
"What about me?"
"Do you like being a cop?"
Benny was quiet for a moment, then said, "I used to."
"Not anymore?"
She shook her head.
"Why?" he asked.
"Because I'm responsible for my daughter. I'm all she has. If anything happens to me...That's why I want to take her away from here, away from all this."
"Away from Nuevo Laredo?"
"Away from Mexico," Benny said. "I love my country, but it's too dangerous to stay here."
"Where do you want to go?"
"My sister lives in Ohio, Cincinnati."
Scott smiled. "Cincinnati, Ohio."
Benny smiled back. "Yes, Cincinnati, Ohio."
"Was Mike trying to help you?"
"I didn't tell him. I wasn't sure then. But after he died...I made up my mind. You remember what they said in the video, plata o plomo?"
Scott nodded. "Silver or lead, right?"
"Here it's not just a phrase," Benny said. "It's a way of life. If you are policía, those are the only two choices the cartels give you."
"There must be other options."
She laughed but there was no humor in it. "The cartels keep files on us. They know where we live, who our parents are, wives, husbands, even where our children go to school. They tell you all that. They tell you exactly what they know." There was a catch in her voice as she said, "Then they ask you, which do you want, our money or our bullets?"
He saw tears forming in her eyes. "Which did you choose?"
She looked at him for a long time, the tears spilling over and running down her cheeks. Then she stood and walked away.