Category: Flash

Raven Series Part #16 | Jump to Raven # 1  I was surprised to see Pato the next afternoon when I pulled into the lot at Cenote Cardenas. He had parked next to the wooden stairway leading down to the water and was sitting on the open tailgate of his truck, Silver, smoking a cigarette.… Continue reading Never Trust a Nobleman

Raven Series Part #15 | Jump to Raven # 1  “You haven’t met Don Hidalgo,” Don Pedro said to me, “but he hates you.” “Why?” I asked. Don Pedro was pacing again, and he was tapping his machete against his leg.  “I should have thought of it sooner,” Don Pedro said, “He wanted to buy… Continue reading The Same Cell Block as El Chapo

Raven Series Part #13 | Jump to Raven # 1  Don Pedro and I zip-tied the unconscious Bonetta to the angle iron supporting the compressor frame. The walls were double thick, but to be sure nobody could hear him, I fired up the compressor. It wouldn’t hurt to top off the high-pressure air reservoir. There’d… Continue reading A Personal Matter

Raven Series #12 | Jump to Raven # 1  All three of us—Bonetta, Don Pedro, and I—heard the knocks at the same time.  In the hallway, a voice slurred: “You in there, Baby? Sorry I’m late.” Don Pedro looked at me, the question plain on his face. It was the first time he’d looked away… Continue reading Three Knocks on the Wrong Door

Raven Series #11 | Jump to Raven # 1  The three of us crowded into the single room. “Let me show you this,” El Cangrejo said, handing me a wallet. “My name is Ray Bonetta. El Cangrejo is part of my cover.”  Bonetta sat in a wooden chair by the window facing the hostel courtyard.… Continue reading Smoothies and Shrimp Cocktails

Raven Series # 10 | Jump to Raven # 1  His machete gleaming in the moonlight, Don Pedro stepped from behind a tree. He nodded his head toward the far side of the street.  I turned. We walked away from the hostel in silence. After a block or two, he leaned toward me and asked, … Continue reading Two Empty Hands

Raven Series #9 | Jump to Raven # 1  The cashier shook his head. No lockers. I would have believed him, but I believed Raven more. She had told me there were lockers at the bus station, so there had to be. For that reason, I pressed the cashier. “There are no lockers? No way… Continue reading Unofficial Lockers

Raven Series Part #7 | Jump to Raven # 1  I didn’t sacrifice a chicken.  Instead, I ducked through a couple alleys to my favorite hole-in-the-wall restaurant and for some sopa de lima, a delicious chicken soup spiced with cloves, cinnamon, oregano, and because this is the Yucatán, habaneros. A healthy dose of lime juice is added… Continue reading Sopa de Lima

Raven Series # 6 | Jump to Raven # 1  A ratty looking gringo I’d never seen before sauntered into the dive shop. Outside, Ramón stood in the shade by his licuado cart. He was watching through the window.  “I’m looking for Pantas,” the stranger said.  “I don’t know anyone named Pantas.” “She said you’d say that.”… Continue reading Looking for Pantas

Raven Series Part #5 | Jump to Raven # 1  “Dad, you should really listen more,” Raven said, gliding through the door of the dive shop with a mango licuado in one hand and an envelope in the other.  “Is that right, Kid?”  “Yes. Both Santa Sofía and I think so.”  “Oh, you do? Why am I… Continue reading A Ticket and a Maze