CHAPTER 35: THE TICKING CLOCK

Xitllali

My stomach twisted into a tight, cold knot. The old woman who ran the fruit cart was Doña Carmen.

She walked with a bad limp, and every Tuesday, she always brought an extra sweet orange and refused to take my money for it. She was one of the first people who had welcomed me into this neighborhood when I arrived as a stranger with nothing but a fake name and a broken heart.

And now, she was kneeling in the cold street with a gun pointed at her head.

"I have to go up there," I whispered.

I grabbed the thick edges of Guillermo's heavy coat and pushed it off my shoulders. I shifted my weight, trying to move out from under him so I could stand up and go to the ladder.

Before I could even lift my knees, a large hand clamped around my wrist like an iron trap.

"No," Guillermo stated.

It didn't sound like a request. It was a dark, absolute law.

I looked down at him. His face was pale and covered in dried gray mud, but his grip on my arm was terrifyingly strong. His eyes were wide open, stripped of all the softness from a few minutes ago. They were hard and completely ruthless.

"Let me go, Guillermo," I said, my voice shaking with panic. I pulled my arm, but he didn't move an inch. "Did you hear what Mateo said?They're going to kill her!"

"Those men do not take prisoners, Xitllali," he said, his voice a low, dangerous rumble that vibrated in the small cellar. "You think you walk out there, and they just say thank you and leave the town alone? No. They will put a bullet in the old woman's head anyway and then they will take you."

"I can't just sit in a hole in the ground while they execute my neighbors!" I cried, a hot tear spilling down my cheek. "They are innocent people!"

"I care about you. You are mine to protect, and I will not let those men touch you. You are not going up there."

I stared at him through the dim light.

He meant it. He was El Crotalo. To him, the math was brutal and simple. My life was the only one that mattered. He was perfectly willing to sit in the dark and let the entire town burn to the ground as long as I was safe beside him.

"I can't live with that," I whispered, my voice breaking. "I can't have her blood on my hands, Guillermo. If she dies because of me, I will never forgive myself." I looked deep into his dark eyes. "And I will never forgive you."

He went completely still.

My words hung in the freezing, damp air. He searched my face, seeing the tears running down my cheeks and the pure desperation in my expression.

He knew I meant it.

If he forced me to stay in the dark while innocent people died for us, he would keep me alive, but he would lose me forever. Whatever small trust we had built between us would turn to ash.

He swallowed hard. A muscle ticked violently in his sharp jaw. He closed his eyes for two long seconds, taking a deep, ragged breath that rattled in his chest.

When he opened his eyes again, the weak man who had just woken up from a fever was gone. The King of Jalisco was back.

He let go of my wrist.

"Valdo," he ordered, his voice was low and cold. "Get me up."

Valdo’s eyes went wide. "Boss, you can't. The fever just broke. If you stand up..."

"I said, get me up," Guillermo repeated.

His voice left absolutely no room for argument.

Valdo didn't hesitate this time. He slung his rifle over his back and hurried across the cellar. He grabbed Guillermo firmly by the right arm.

I quickly scrambled out of the way.

Guillermo let out a sharp, agonizing hiss through his teeth as Valdo hauled him off the floor. The dry mud on his chest cracked and fell onto the dirt in gray clumps. His knees buckled immediately and his large frame swayed dangerously.

Valdo quickly shoved him against the wall to keep him upright.

Guillermo leaned heavily against the wall. His breathing was harsh and fast, sweat instantly broke out across his pale forehead from the sheer effort of standing.

"Mateo," Guillermo grunted, his eyes fixed on the wooden ladder. "Give me the layout."

Mateo stepped closer, his voice low and urgent. "There are twelve men, Boss. All heavily armed with automatic rifles. They parked two large pickup trucks across the street to block anyone from leaving."

"Where is the woman?" Guillermo asked.

"Right in the middle of the street," Mateo answered, swallowing hard. "Directly in front of the broken windows of our shop. There are four men standing in a circle around her. One of them has the megaphone."

Guillermo nodded slowly. He looked at Valdo. "Give me your sidearm."

"Boss..."

"The gun, Valdo," Guillermo commanded.

Valdo reached down to his thigh holster, pulled out a heavy black pistol, and handed it to him.

Guillermo took the gun in his right hand, he pressed the top of the gun against the heavy fabric of his trousers on his thigh. With one sharp, violent downward push, he racked the slide back with one hand, loading a bullet into the chamber.

The loud, metallic clack echoed in the small cellar.

My heart hammered against my ribs like a trapped bird.

"What are you doing?" I whispered, staring at him in horror. "Guillermo, you can barely even stand up."

"I am going to do what I do best, Xitllali," he said, turning his head to look at me. His eyes were dark, cold, and utterly terrifying. "I am going to kill them."