Sparrow's Flight

Chapter 3

Sparrow/Raven's POV

In the next 20 minutes or so the city line becomes visible. Tijuana. I don't care for cityscapes anymore and watch the landscape as we get closer. We head directly downtown. Eventually Manny parks in a deserted alley off a main road and takes out his phone. A phone call is all it takes for the engine to fire back up and he pulls into a tall glass building's loading dock. He hops out and opens the door for me. I follow obediently as we head up the stairs of the loading dock. He gives me no introductions or directions. I just follow quietly. We take a freight elevator up 20 floors and the doors open. We walk down the hallway and turn left.

Giant windows face out to a view of the city. I don't stop to look at anything except the office in front of me. The doors are heavy and huge made of expensive wood. We enter and there are two men inside. A tall brute that has a Glock visible on his waistband. And a well tailored suit sitting behind the only desk in the office. He is handsome. And looking at him further there is no denying the family resemblance to Carlos. Enrique Munos. Light caramel eyes, thick brows, muscular build, chiseled face, pouty lips. He barely looks at Manny as he stands up. Eyes are focused on me. He looks me up and down. What registers with me immediately is that his eyes don't show any interest in me. He walks around me and then lifts my chin to stare into my eyes. Men do this when assessing the fight left in girls they want to buy. I let my fight register. Since there is no interest in his eyes, what is the harm in letting him see me?

"I'll take her. She will do perfectly here." He says to Manny dismissing him on the spot.

I sigh through my nose and watch as Manny walks away back down the hall taking the left to the freight elevator. Enrique Munos looks at me up and down again. He has no interest in me sexually, his eyes don't get the familiar predatory look that I have seen in most men I have encountered down here. Mr. Munos stops and grabs my chin again.

"So pretty Raven, what is so important about you that my papa is interested in making you a bride to my brother and what makes my brother sell you to me instead of just putting you in a grave?" He says calmly walking back to his desk. I freeze up inside debating whether or not to run from the truth.

"No lying pretty bird. I can always tell when you bitches lie to me." He says tapping his knuckles on the desk and turning to face me. He leans against the desk. Vicious and calculating it is then. Good to know, I think to myself.

"My past is a dangerous and expensive one. Simplest way to answer your question is to say that I make bad decisions when it comes to men and when those bad decisions had even worse consequences I had to pay your brother for a way out." I said letting a bit of my personal history come out in the open. It's the god honest truth that I let him see as he stares at me.

Mr. Munos takes a while to respond. It's almost like he zoned out to get his answers. I turn and face the adjacent wall where the big, tall brute is standing. He is built, packed with muscle and keeps a frown on his face. Not much is hidden on his body, tattoos, piercing, and scars. A sicario at his finest. Probably one of Mr. Munos' favorite. He stares at me with the same cold dead eyes in all these guys. I stare back at him showing him that I have no fear. The air conditioning kicks on in the room and my goosebumps rise as I wait for my answer.

Finally, I hear from Mr. Munos who has sat back down at his desk. "I am glad you told the truth, pretty bird. I was hoping for that secretly because I am actually in need of you." He says sternly as he opens his legs behind his desk. I know what that means. I walk towards his desk and before going behind it I lower myself on my knees. From this angle I can easily crawl under the desk to service him. He looks at me and then laughs.

He closes his legs and stands up. "No pretty bird, that's not what I need from you here. Although it's good form for you to show me what obedience my brother has taught you. I need you to be my executive assistant, pretty bird. My old one Bianca thought she was slick and started a two month fraudulent streak with the company card I gave her. Since I now know that you come with so much obedience, I know you wouldn't steal from me now wouldn't you? He asks with a sadistic smile on his face.

I make eye contact with him again and shake my head. What kind of plastic bitch did he hire? Who steals from a lieutenant in the Munos Cartel? I think to myself, wanting to roll my eyes.

"Good, pretty bird, because you know what happens if you do and I won't be doing it myself, you know. I'll have him do it." He says tipping his head to the sicario in the room. "Now, I know you need lodgings so there is an apartment on the 19th floor that has recently become available. The rent will be taken out of your paycheck each month and automatically forwarded to me. I expect you to answer the phones, emails, and faxes for me. Also, each morning come in and update me on my calendar,  handle any guests that come for meetings, and work on the weekly spending reports. If you find any irregularities, I expect to hear from you once you have triple checked them. Do you have any questions about the work, pretty bird?" He says in a professional tone.

I am officially shocked. This job is not what I was expecting. I nod my head and turn to leave. I have my own apartment now. I can't believe it. It's too good to be true, honestly.

"Thank you, Mr. Munos. I appreciate the job." I say as I walk out. Down one floor of stairs it opens to an unfinished floor with wires sticking out of the ceiling. There is a corner of the floor that looks like it has been lived in before. No privacy though. No walls and lots of windows. Although I'm sure the windows are not seen through. A queen sized bed is pushed up against one wall and a tiny bathroom has been installed along a column. There's a tiny refrigerator and freezer pushed against another wall and a rack of office attire on the other side. Black out curtains are on the windows closest to the bed and there is a giant flat screen TV. Of course there are cameras all over the floor. I counted at least 7 since I got on the floor and walked to the living area. Looking around me, I am relieved it is so much better than I imagined minus the privacy part. I can work with this, I say to myself. Flopping on the bed looks great but I want to check the bathroom for cameras. That is something I want to know about before showering. I do a little victory dance at the upgrade in my life and then take off the ridiculous stripper shoes I have had on for way too long. Feeling the grainy carpet beneath my feet, I smile. At the end of the bed, I open my purse and shove the money I still have with me under it. Then I walk over to the bathroom and open the door carefully. Looking all around at the tiny bathroom, I look for cameras. I go over every inch and push on the lights and fan to see if I can see anything. Hmm, I think to myself so not a peeper either. Strange. Different from his brother in so many ways.

I shrug my shoulders accepting the fact that Enrique Munos is different from his brother and strip. With nothing left on I take stock of my bruises in the mirror. Nice one on my temple from the gun shoved in my face. My knees have cuts on them from the gravel in the 'All That Glitters' parking lot. And there are hand impressions on my wrists. I start the shower and turn on the fan. Warm water is soon jetting out of the sprayer and I am relieved again. This place is officially the best place I have lived since home. I wash up with Bianca's soaps and get out of the shower. Drying off I pad into the living room looking for something to wear. I find a big enough T-shirt and thank Bianca silently that she is like me and wants to preserve some dignity in front of the cameras. Going back into the bathroom I change. Coming out of the bathroom I start a laundry pile and then go take stock of what's in the fridge. Finding a garbage bag under the sink, I empty the contents except for some bottled water and some bread. I guess food will be my first thing to buy when I get paid. I stopped thinking about the long-term nature of my situation a long time ago. It's so weird to think of things in advance of having to do them then just living moment to moment. I have no idea what time it is but it's still too early to go to bed. Thinking of the bed I strip the sheets and concede that I will need the blanket to sleep under. But the sheets are definitely getting washed. Curling up on the end of my new bed I turn on the TV with the remote and watch the nature channel. It soothes me and I need that right now.
A few hours later, I get up out of bed and manage to drink a whole bottle of water. I turn off the TV and dig into my purse. Using some mouthwash and a hair comb I do the best I can to get ready for bed. Then I get under the blanket and sit in the silence. The camera lights kept me up for another hour or so, and then it was lights out for me.

Hi everyone,

Just wanted to update and say I'm pretty sure my update schedule is going to be Tuesday mornings EST. However, I do work full time now and so to commit to every Tuesday morning is probably not going to happen yet. As an update recently, I did actually put point of views up at the top because they are going to change in a few chapters. Also in case no one realizes Sparrow and Raven are the same person. 

Hope you all enjoy! -E