Defending Zara (Mountain Mercenaries #6)(19)

“I was ten when my parents decided to come to Lima for vacation. I wanted to go to Disney World, but they thought it would teach me more if we came here. We were staying at a hotel in the Miraflores area. I don’t remember what it was called, but I remember the huge tub in the bathroom and how the water in the shower came from little holes in the ceiling rather than a showerhead.”

She shook her head at the odd things she remembered.

“We’d gone out to dinner one night, and I guess we stayed too long. Everyone knows not to wander around after dark, even in the upscale, touristy area. I remember I hated my dinner. I complained and pouted throughout the meal. My dad scolded me, told me to stop acting like a four-year-old. I was mad at him, mad at how they sat at the table laughing and drinking wine when I just wanted to go back to the hotel and eat some of the candy they’d bought me earlier that day.”

Zara took a deep breath, ashamed of how shallow she’d been back then. She’d been completely unprepared for the life that was ahead of her.

She felt Meat’s hand resting on her leg and was surprised to realize it didn’t creep her out that a man was touching her. He wasn’t groping her, wasn’t looking at her with lust in his eyes. Even looking like a boy, she’d been subjected to the lustful glances and touches of men who thought they had the right to fondle her and say whatever they wanted, simply because she was homeless and alone on the streets.

“Go on,” Meat encouraged softly.

Her throat felt dry. Zara hadn’t talked this much in a very long time, but she nervously licked her lips and continued. “I was walking a couple paces behind my mom and dad. I was still mad at them and knew they thought my little temper tantrum was amusing. They were talking about the boat they’d chartered for the next day and how fun the outing was going to be, when two men appeared out of an alley we were passing. They dragged my mom into it and covered her mouth so she couldn’t scream. My dad did his best to get her away from them, but he was stabbed before he could do much more than plead for her life.

“I didn’t know what to do . . . maybe I was in shock. So I just followed them into the alley. I’m not sure the men even knew I was there, or that I’d been with my mom and dad at all. They left my dad’s body at the end of the alley in the shadows and dragged my mom farther into the darkness. She was trying to struggle, but the guy had his hand over her mouth, and she couldn’t do much of anything. She was small, like me. She was no match for them.

“The second guy finally noticed me, and he grabbed me. He held his hand over my mouth as the other guy raped my mom. Then they switched places, and the second guy also raped her. When he was done, my mom’s eyes met mine . . . and I saw the relief in them. That it was over, that they’d leave now and we could get some help.”

Zara stopped and closed her eyes. That moment would always be imprinted in her mind. She could see everything as if it had happened yesterday. She hated going to Miraflores, knew exactly where that alley was, but since that was where she got the most money while begging, she went down there anyway.

She hadn’t realized she’d been clasping her hands together until Meat took one of them into his own. He didn’t say anything, which she was glad for. Now that she’d started this story, she just wanted to finish it. To tell one other person what had happened that fateful night that had changed her life forever.

“But instead of leaving, the guy who’d just raped my mom . . . he took out a knife and slit her throat. She didn’t have time to say or do anything—it was so fast. He left her there on the ground, her pants around her knees, and even though I didn’t understand Spanish at the time, he obviously wanted the guy holding me to finish me off. But apparently he had a weird sense of honor or something, because he refused.”

She gave a little snort. “Murdering a man and raping and slitting a woman’s throat was fine, but killing a kid was taking things too far. They argued, and I guess neither wanted to be the one to kill me. So they took me with them. I was scared out of my mind. I had no idea what their plan was. I realize now how lucky I was. They could’ve sold me to someone like del Rio, but they didn’t.”

When she paused for a long moment and didn’t continue, Meat asked, “What did they do, Zar?”

Zar. She liked that. It was much better than the name Zed, which she’d picked out years and years ago when she realized it was better to pretend to be a boy.

When she felt Meat’s fingers gently squeeze her own, she decided to finish her story as quickly as possible. “They drove for what seemed like hours, but I know now was probably only about thirty minutes. They pulled into a barrio much like the one where you were attacked and literally pushed me out of the car. They yelled a bunch of stuff at me, probably threatening to come back and kill me if I told anyone about what happened, then they left. It was pitch-dark, and I had no idea where I was.”

“Shit, Zar.”

Yeah. Shit. “I was terrified. I couldn’t understand what anyone was saying, and no one could understand me. I managed to find a hiding place along the back end of a concrete-block wall in that barrio. There was tons of trash and pieces of extra concrete piled up against the wall, and I basically burrowed a space under it all until my body could fit inside. I hid there for days, hungrier than I’d ever been in my life and terrified that one of the big, scary-looking men who roamed the barrio would find me. Sometimes I came out at night and stole scraps of food, but for the most part, I lived in that hole for weeks.”