Through Me You Go

Chapter 1

To a brave man, good and bad luck are like his left and right hand. He uses both. - St. Catherine of Siena

Anarosa
São Paulo, Brazil

"Vamos, Rosa! Você já está bêbado?" [Come on, Rosa! You drunk already?]
I look around to find Camille's laughing face, taunting me as she beckons toward the side exit of the club we've been at for hours.
"Ok, estou indo." [Okay, I'm coming.] My words slur a bit depite my best efforts to mask the shots I took before.
The alleyway is dark, the only street light shining feebly at the end of the block and the smell of marijuana thickening the night air. Most of the group we came here with are present, along with a few people I don't recognize. There is a couple making out in the shadows down the way, oblivious to us.
"We shouldn't be doing this here." I say, even as I accept the joint from Gabriel anyway.
I can't always be a good girl. With the mixture of alcohol warming my veins against the cool midnight breeze, Gabriel's hungry gaze tempts me as it rakes over my hips. Maybe just for tonight I can take a break from being me. Tonight I can pretend be a normal twenty three year old woman who is just like anyone else.
The moment after the smoke reaches my lungs, a quick, jarring siren blare sets my pulse racing. Lights render me temporarily blind, and the scuffling of feet lets me know that my so called friends have abandoned me. As two officers exit their vehicle, my eyes adjust. Other than Gabriel, everyone else that was in the alley with us is gone, leaving he and I here with a joint full of weed clenched in my teeth.
"Olá. Você está tendo uma boa noite?" [Hi. Having a nice night?] The officer from the driver's side questions with a friendly smile.
  The tone of his voice sets off warning bells in my head. I am a seasoned professional at recognizing a seedy, ill-intentioned man. If my life has taught me anything, it's that I can't trust a soul. Especially not a man. Not even the uniform could change my mind about that.
"Sim, obrigado." [Yes, thank you.] I reply, trying to control my racing heart as Gabriel steps on the weed I tossed to the ground. "Estamos apenas fazendo uma pausa para fumar." [We were just taking a smoke break.]
"It's not a problem." The officer smiles, too nicely.
  The next few moments pass like a scene in a movie. The officer raises his gun and takes aim. For a moment I do not react as a gunshot tears through the light-flooded alley, because it is not aimed at me. Why would it be? These men know who my father is, they wouldn't even fine me for smoking weed in public. It's not until warm liquid splatters across my face that my body jerks and my brain registers what has happened.
"Gabriel! Gabriel!" I'm screaming his name, the concrete biting into my exposed knees as I fall next to his crumpled figure. "Você- você atirou nele! Por quê?! O que ele fez? Ele não fez nada!" [You shot him! Why?! What did he do? He has done nothing!]
  My hands shake as I run them up his torso and clumsily try to locate a pulse. I barely register one of the armed men crouch beside me, but the putrid smell of his sweat somehow penetrates the coppery scent of Gabriel's blood that covers me.
"O único crime dele era estar perto de você." [His only crime was being near you.]
  I look at him for a split second before my father's face swims through my brain. I square my shoulders and set my chin firm, defiance written plainly across my face as I stand tall and look him in the eye. Gabriel's lifeless frame thuds sickly back against the ground as I do so, and I focus all my energy on not throwing up all the shots I had earlier.
"My father-"
  Pain explodes through my skull before I can continue. My body gives out from beneath me. The long shadows of the alley way swirl and grow, consuming the sneering face above me until there is nothing.

***

Jackson
The Kimberly, Western Australia

beep beep
I press a side button to ignore the nagging sound of the cell in my pocket and look down at the girl who's name I can't remember for the life of me.
"Aren't you gonna get that?" She asks, wiping her lips with the back of her hand.
We occupy the largest bathroom stall at the bar in town that I like to frequent.
"Nah. It's not important." I mutter, tightening the grip I have on her hair and guiding my cock back into her lipstick smeared mouth.
  Just as she gets to work once more and has a good rhythm going, the damned phone starts going off once more.
"Are you sure?" The girl sighs, raising her eyebrows at me.
"Fuck." I swear, digging the phone from my pocket and glaring at the caller ID before answering. "This better be good, Mikkel."
"It's even better." The man says on the other end of the line. "Our largest payoff yet, but it's dangerous."
  With a great sigh, I adjust myself and zip my jeans back up.
"I'll call you back in a tick."
"If you want this, you have to be ready to go early in the morning Lee." Mikkel added.
"Yeah." I shove the phone back in to my pocket and begin to buckle my belt. The girl scoffs irritably,
"So it was important." She says as she stands, straightening her dress that leaves little to the imagination.
"Yeah. Sorry sweetheart." I mumble as I push my way out of the bathroom stall.
Only stopping to pay my tab, I head home. About an hour later I'm pulling into the lonely property in the Northwestern corner of Australia that is all mine. Once the engine to my truck is off, I dig around for my cellphone once more and dial Mikkel.
"You done having your dick sucked?" The man jokes.
"What's the job, Mik?"
"A college student in Brazil. A twenty three year old girl was taken from a club in downtown São Paulo. She's the daughter of the most notorious drug lord in Brazil and she was captured by her father's rival in Ciudad del Este. Paraguay. He must be agreeing to a large ransom because they didn't even blink when we quoted them five mil down for her safe return."
I take a deep breath. Five million dollars was more of a payout than any job our team had yet received.
"I'll take it." My answer comes automatically.
What matter is it to me what the payout is? It's been years since I gave a shit about money.
"Now wait a moment. You have to think about this. Ciudad is far more dangerous than any job we've had before-"
"Save me the dramatics. I'm the only guy that might accept the job, right? Isn't that why they're even asking?"
"Well, yes. There's a reason for that. If you do manage to get hands on the girl, your problems will only begin there. The whole city is at the mercy of Francisco Benitez. He has power over the whole police and military task force there. Once you have the girl, getting out will be the most dangerous part of the mission."
"Copy that, Mikkel. I said I'll take it."
"Why?"
"Why?" I repeat blankly, popping the cap off a pill bottle and dumping a few into my mouth. "The fuck do you mean why? It's a job."
"It's a near suicide mission, Lee. There's a fair chance you won't make it out of this one. You or the girl. I don't know if it's worth the risk involved."
"I said I'll take it. What more do you need?"
"You're the boss. I need you to show up sober though, or else I'm pulling the plug on the whole thing."
I toss back a pour of whiskey to wash the pills down my throat before answering,
"I'll be there."
"We'll see you tomorrow at the Fitzroy Crossing. 4am sharp. Keep that head of yours on straight."
I click the end button on the cell and sink down into one of the weak dining chairs, pouring another glass of the amber liquid. The whole place is in disrepair, all the way down to the chicken that is clucking near my bathtub.
"We need the money, right?" I ask the hen before taking a long drink.
The chicken only clucks in response, which is good enough for me.
"Alright. Paraguay it is."