This is a work of fiction. Unless otherwise showed, all the names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents in this story are the product of the author's imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. All characters are over the age of eighteen.
Santo Diablo Pt. 7 Recruiting, Reminiscing, Revenge, and Recovery
My parents always called me Rose, although my given name is Rosa. I was born in Guatemala. My father always wanted a boy, but after my younger sister was born, my mother couldn't have any more children from complications during childbirth. My younger sister received all the attention from my mother, which left me the odd child out. My father wanted little to do with either of us, but stayed married to my mother out of a sense of loyalty and duty.
From the age of five, when my younger sister was born, I had to watch out for myself. That made me independent and headstrong. That didn't go over well with my father. He beat me often because of my actions and my mouth. When I reached the age of sixteen, I left home. Life on the street was better than black eyes and bruises. I received word from a family friend a little over a year ago that my sister was missing and presumably taken by human traffickers.
The Mendoza cartel operates throughout Central America and became the number one suspect in who had my sister. By this time, I lived in Mexico, but when I heard about what happened, I traveled back home. The same father I left greeted me. Between the curses and punches thrown my way, I gathered he blamed me for what happened. Shortly after I left, my family fell on hard times. My father was injured and unable to tend the land where he grew the vegetables my family sold. Without me at home, all the work fell on my mother and sister, but they could not keep it up. I wasn't there to help, so they had to sell their land.
What money they received from the sale went to my father's medical bills and the cheap shack they lived in, leaving little else. To survive, my mother took on any odd job she could. That included cleaning, sewing, and cooking. My sister helped, but there's only so much a teenager without usable skills can do. My sister found a job as a hostess in a local restaurant for a few hours a week, and that's where people surmised she came across the cartel's radar.
My sister is beautiful, taking after my mother. I, unfortunately, took after my father, which explains my plain looks and heavier build. No one has ever called me beautiful, but that's ok. I found myself with a decision. My father blamed me for their situation, and my mother wasn't talking to me because my father forbid it. I had always gotten along with my sister, but I hadn't talked to her since I left. I doubt the letters I sent her made it through my father because I never heard from her. Would I try to find my sister and put my life in danger, or leave it and walk away forever?
I tried to find my sister. The chance of finding her was slim to none, but I couldn't just turn my back on her, and my sister did nothing to deserve the fate that awaited her. I had to learn as much about the cartel as I could, so I inserted myself into the only place I knew I would run into cartel members; as a prostitute. I only plied my trade around areas frequented by the cartel. This also gave me access to the other women selling themselves, and I gathered as much information as I could.
I suppose my inquiries were raising suspicion, because it wasn't long after that they took me. I booked time with one of my regular men, a member of the cartel. When I arrived at the hotel, three men jumped me and threw me into a car. After an hour's drive, they pulled me into an old house. They started asking me questions while I was beaten and abused. By the time the sun rose the next morning, I would have welcomed death, but the men had other things in mind.
They took me to another house and chained me to a bed. Two men came in, held me down, and one of them shot me up with some kind of drug. After an hour, the men started arriving, one after another. The drugs clouded my mind, and I had no energy to fight back. My days settled into alternating between drugs and sex. They gave me a shot in the morning, afternoon, and evening. I had to perform sex all day for the cartel's customers. I thought my life was over. That existence wasn't a life at all, and I didn't see a way out. I was ready to die.
One day three men came in, unshackled me, and took me out to a van with the other women in the house. We must have driven all day and night with no food or water before arriving at our destination. We were all taken into a warehouse and locked in cages. I heard the guards talking and put together that they had sold us to someone who needed women to work in their brothels. They planned on shipping us out in a few days once they gathered all the women and received payment.
That's when you came in with your soldiers and saved us. I owe my life to you, as do the other women that were with me. I don't know how I can ever repay you.
"I'm glad we were there to help you." I answered. "Should I call you Rosa, or Rose? Which do you prefer?"
"Rose is good." She answered. "I've always liked that better. And you're Mr. Burkhart? Right?"
"Yes, and please call me Rich." I answered. "Rose, you're here because you didn't want to go back home. Is that correct?"
"Yes, sir, it is." Rose answered. "I have nowhere to go back to. My family wants nothing to do with me, and whatever life I had vanished when I disappeared last year."
"I'm sorry to hear all of that, Rose." I replied. "I'm talking to you because you've passed the other tests and interviews we have. I'm the last step before you're invited to join our company. You'll have two choices if you do. You will either enter our training program for our Black Widows, or work in our security division."
"Can you explain more in depth what a Black Widow is, please?" Rose asked. "The others I've spoken to were vague and told me I would have my questions answered once I passed the tests."
"I'll be more than happy to." I answered. "Our Black Widows are our covert operatives. We use women because they're able to blend in easier, and most people don't see women as a threat. We train them as assassins and use them in operations like the one that saved you. We also have them perform undercover operations to gather intelligence, and when the need arises, to assassinate targets."
We sat and talked for another thirty minutes, and I went over how her life would be as a Black Widow, and how it differed from a member of our security division. After going back-and-forth Rose told me she would be interested in becoming a Black Widow. Rose was not the first woman to advance to this stage, another three preceded her. The next step of my interview turned the other women away. That was the step where I revealed I also trafficked women, along with other illegal goods.
"Rose, the last part is up to you." I began. "In order to accept you into the program and trust you, I must be honest with you. I'm not the savior you've made me out to be. Yes, we rescued you, but doing so was not the reason we were there. Our operations destabilize or eradicate organizations that are a threat. Rescuing women is a side effect of that, a welcome one, but not our focus. In fact, my organization also buys, sells, and transports women who have found themselves the property of someone else. I have a woman slave. She has voluntarily given herself to me, but regardless of how I ended up with her, I still treat her as my property."
"If you don't accept what I do, I will return you to your country." I explained. "For giving us your time, we will give you cash that will help you get settled into a new life. If, however, you decide to join us, your life will be here in the U.S., working for us."
"Rich, I'll be honest." Rose answered, looking me right in the eyes. "I don't care what you do. In my failed attempt to find my sister, I've met plenty of men and women on both sides of the fence. Some were slaves, some bought and sold them. I worked as a prostitute, and some women who worked alongside me were no good. They would steal from their Johns and hurt other women that got in their way. What I'm trying to say is, not all slaves are innocent or good, and some of these women deserve their fates."
"I don't know what became of my sister." Rose continued. "She may be dead. If working for you gives me the chance to hurt the men responsible for her abduction, or others like them, I'm all in. I would suck your dick every day for the chance to inflict some pain on these men. You owning slaves doesn't change that."
"Well, Rose, sex may be part of a mission." I answered. "I want to have a close relationship with all of my Black Widows. As a Widow you will get personal access to me, and I'll expect the same from you. We will train you as an assassin, but I'll also have to train you as a slave. You won't be, but you may find yourself in situations with me where you'll have to act as one. I take my own women with me as security, but there may come times they aren't available and I need to take a Widow or two."