Green Ice: A Deadly High by Christian Fletcher Read Free Book Online

cars and trucks flashed by, heading in the opposite direction. Trey wondered if those vehicles would encounter the crazy guys further back on the highway. Several one storey dwellings cropped up on either side of the road and the rugged countryside soon became a populated urban area. Mancini took out a map from his jacket pocket and studied the area, following the highway with his finger.
    “Looks like we’re coming to a town called El Sauzal,” he said. “We’ll stop somewhere and dump her off and do a quick cleaning job. Don’t stop anyplace that’s too populated. We don’t want any witnesses.”
    The traffic on the highway increased in number. Vehicles pulled out onto the main route from side roads and intersections. Mancini felt uncomfortable with the looks they received from the occupants of passing vehicles. He glanced back to the map spread across his lap.
    “Ah, shit, we’ve got a toll gate coming up ahead,” he groaned.
    “You got any Mexican coin?” Trey asked.
    “Yeah,” Mancini said, reaching into his pants pocket. “I made sure I had some before we left LA. Don’t hang around if they ask any questions. Just be vague if they ask about the girl.”
    “ Vague ? What’s fucking vague , man?”
    “Mancini sighed. “Just don’t go into too much detail, if they ask. I hope there are no cops hanging around the toll.”
    The Thunderbird rumbled forward for another mile before Mancini and Trey spotted the toll gate’s white, flat roofed canopy, straddling across the highway.  
    “What do I say?” Trey asked. “What if they want to know what happened to the girl?”
    Mancini detected an element of panic in Trey’s tone. “Try and keep calm and don’t tell them too much. Say we’re taking her to the hospital if you have to. Just get us through the toll as quickly as possible.”
    The traffic slowed in front of the Thunderbird and Mancini sighed as they joined the line of waiting vehicles. A middle aged woman in a blue VW stopped next to the T-Bird in the adjacent lane. She glanced at Trey and Mancini then into the backseat at the injured girl. Mancini knew there was going to be some sort of interaction. The woman in VW wound down her window and called out to Trey and started conversing, nodding to the girl in the back of the Thunderbird.
    Trey flashed Mancini a worried glance then turned back to the VW. “ El hospital ,” he called.
    Mancini wiped a coating of sweat from his forehead with his sleeve. The heat increased due to their temporary stand-still and the tension progressively grew. The line of cars nosed onward and Trey rolled the car forward. The woman in the VW’s line stayed stationary and her vehicle fell behind the Thunderbird. The toll booth loomed closer and Mancini handed Trey a few notes and some coins.
    “Just pay them and get out of here, real quick.”
    Trey stopped at the toll booth and a woman, smartly dressed in a blue uniform took the money without batting an eyelid. She didn’t give the injured girl a second glance. Mancini and Trey breathed a sigh of relief when the barrier across the lane lifted.
    They drove through the toll and Mancini baulked when he saw cameras on top of yellow poles, lined up with each lane. The Thunderbird was no doubt on some computer hard drive somewhere now and Mancini hoped the streaks of blood across the side of the car wouldn’t start alarm bells ringing in an official government office someplace.
    A few yards further on, they drove beneath a green sign above the highway. Printed white lettering on the sign welcomed drivers to Ensenada in both Spanish and English. Mancini presumed El Sauzal was a province of the larger city. They saw a sign that pointed the way ahead to Ensenada or a right turn beside a small minimarket, indicating the route to San Miguel. Mancini quickly glanced over the map.
    “Turn right in here,” he instructed Trey. “We’ll leave the girl by the store and give the car a once over.”
    “We’re just going to