Page 66 of High

Biting my tongue against a chill that swept me, I squeezed Thio’s hand. I wasn’t sure what I was expecting to see when we reached the barn, but it wasn’t a good-looking man about our age who seemed like any other farmer anywhere, not that I’d met many. But he wore a sweat-stained T-shirt, jeans, and work boots, and he talked to Thio about the rain they’d had recently, and when they would be harvesting and ready to ship out the coca to the processing facilities.

“Is it really this boring?” I whispered to Rafael, while Thio nodded quickly at Perez about some sort of bugs they’d had to kill off a couple of months ago with pesticides they didn’t normally use.

Rafael laughed, and I shoved my hands into my pockets, trying to look like I knew what I was doing.

“Él es mi Manny,” Thio said, and I jerked my attention back to him and walked over to shake hands with Perez.

“Mucho gusto.”

“Igualmente,” I said. His black hair was swept to the side and he had a blinding smile.

Perez was only the first grower I met that day. We visited so many farms I started getting their names confused in my head by the time the stars were coming out and we pulled into the driveway of a small stone house. The sharp lines of the roof’s silhouette made me think it was the red clay stucco we’d seen on almost every building in the towns we’d passed through. The lawn was closed in on all sides by tall trees that kicked up my anxiety for a minute or two as we climbed out of the car. They looked like dark tsunami waves waiting to crash in on us. I made myself breathe and stop being an idiot, but the tickle that something wasn’t right wouldn’t leave me alone. When I’d calmed down enough that my heart wasn’t hammering in my ears, the night noises reassured me I was staring at trees and not water ready to drown us. There were birds calling from the forest and loud frogs I imagined might keep us awake. Closer to us classic rock was blaring.

There were several more vehicles in the driveway already ahead of ours, and a couple of large party tents were set up on the wide circular lawn around the house with the flaps open and men sitting around firepits talking, drinking, and laughing. One man close by had a hunting rifle across his knees that looked like it could take down a rhino, and the way he was dressed made me think he might be on a military mission.

“What’s going on?”

“Maddock must be here. This house belongs to him, and sometimes he flies down to hang out and do other work when I let him know I’ll be in the area. I always stay here. It’s just easier than trying to keep a low profile at a hotel.” He shrugged. “Even if it is a bit out of the way.”

“So those men work for him?” I shuffled closer to Thio’s side.

“Those men work for the highest bidder,” Rafael said as he came up behind us. Thankfully with the sun down it was a little cooler out, and Thio slung his arm around my shoulders and tugged me flush to his side. Together we went to the massive arched front door bracketed by bright coach lamps, but Thio didn’t stop, he simply opened it and walked in, with all of our men following behind us.

Maddock stood inside at a large round wooden table, glaring down at a map in the middle. The black T-shirt he wore had the sleeves ripped off so they were ragged, something I’d never done in my life, and he had on a pair of camouflage pants, so that he reminded me of a bad-action-movie hero.

“Qué onda, güey?” Thio called.

Maddock snapped his attention to us and then crowed a happy noise toward the ceiling. The diamond stud on his nose winked in the light. “You sonofabitch, I didn’t know if you’d make it or not. Come on in. And good to see you again,” he said in his thick Texan accent while pointing at me. He walked over and slapped Thio so hard on the shoulder that he rocked us both, and then shook my hand like he might break me if he moved too fast. It was kind of hilarious to see him try to be gentle with me, and I wasn’t sure if he really thought he would hurt me or if he was scared of Thio.

“Thank you for Coco, my kitten.”

He guffawed. “You be careful with that cub. I have someone who’s gonna come around and teach you how to train ’m, and yes, a cat can be trained, at least mostly. Dinner’s barbecuing out back as we speak. Your room’s same as always, Thiago. Just had it spruced up before you rolled in.” He winked at me as if I was the picky one and not Thio, and then I was being hustled out of the way down a long corridor to our right as another group of men came in and started talking about a trap they’d found in the woods.

“What’s going on?” The house was simple and there wasn’t far to go to our rooms. Thio opened a door on our left and I was a little jealous. He was completely familiar with this house and these people. He had an entire life I’d never known about… except now I did. I gave him a one-armed hug that he returned.

“Someone’s poaching jaguars in the area,” Thio murmured. “Or at least that was the last thing Maddock was angry about when we spoke. There’s never a shortage of game for him.”

“I thought he liked animals?” Frowning, I tilted my head back and caught a scary expression swooping across his face that smoothed out almost instantly.

“Oh, he does. If you recall, the animals aren’t what he hunts.” Thio’s smile was arctic, and I chose not to ask any more questions. This time, I didn’t think I wanted to know. I liked Maddock and didn’t want to have a reason not to.

Thio and I showered the day’s sweat off together in the little attached bathroom, and when we came out our luggage was waiting on the bed, even though I hadn’t considered it once since we boarded the plane. I glanced at him, but he didn’t seem surprised. “Did you take care of this?” I opened my suitcase and dug through the clothes until I found a white V-neck T-shirt to put on and a pair of shorts to match. They were a little short, but I knew Thio liked them, so I pulled on some underwear and dressed.

“What?”

“Our stuff. Did you take care of it?”

He shrugged and grabbed out a pair of shorts he never would have worn at home. They were ratty and old and had huge pockets on the sides for carrying things. I kind of liked them on him when he buttoned them and I saw how they drew attention to his crotch. “Someone did. Our men. My eyes are up here,” he said, pointing at his face with a wink.

I rolled my eyes at him. “Shouldn’t we know who to thank?” He paused and stared at me.

“You know, I really am glad you’re here. Yes, we should. I don’t have time for all this… keeping track of every little detail, but being close with our men can keep us safer in certain ways. Why don’t you find out who did this and thank them for us? That can be your job.” He tapped my shoulder and then went looking for a shirt. The one he pulled on was as old as the shorts, complete with a stain on the right side. He really did have two lives.

“I didn’t say I wanted work.”

“That’s why you’re here. To learn the business.”

I stuck my tongue out at him and he laughed. Together we went back into the main part of the house and then continued to the lawn when Maddock was nowhere to be seen. Rafael was out back, sitting in a chair around another fire, and there was a simple spread of food on a few long tables, with pans of barbeque, as promised. It smelled fantastic and my stomach grumbled.