Thanks to Fernando’s oversight, work at the job site had progressed without incident to the final stages of construction. And so he was surprised, as he made his way back toward one of the near-finished rooms the jefe had claimed for his office (in lieu of his afore-sold trailer), to find Pedro and his friend

Fernando dismissed his grandmother’s imagined concerns. He was confident that the success of his ventures would soon allay them. The goats were bringing in a bit of profit already. The exceptional quality of their milk at market outweighed the locals’ superstitious suspicions that the old witch had cast charms on the well water and hay

* * * By the next week, Fernando had seen the choking ferns and vines routed from beneath his grandmother’s house and a plot of the rich dark earth plowed under for a garden. Fibrous weed roots of all kinds riddled the loam. They snapped in sullen protest at their demise. Under the killing blade

“I don’t have any money for you,” Fernando said. This wasn’t exactly true, but as Chico had so sagely put it: Why pay for what you could get for free? The whore shut the door behind them, plunging them both into shadow. “I don’t care,” she growled back at him, driving him up against the

Outside on the streets of Saguero, Fernando ambled past closed shops, deserted cafés. After asking around, he knew the general direction of his destination. But the path there he took at random, letting his intuition guide him as much as his senses. His night vision had always been good. Even in the darkness of this

Alejandra giggled, as if Fernando were joking. “What do you like then? Tell me.” “Order,” he said. “Reason. I like for things to be in their rightful place. For people to behave like rational beings, not dumb blundering animals. When they don’t, it irritates me. It should irritate everyone. But it doesn’t. And that irritates

Fernando turned to see who’d tapped him, though he’d half-guessed already. It was the beautiful girl from the dance floor. Up close, she looked every bit as lovely as she smelled. Her eyes were blue and electric, her rosy lips framed in the most luscious pout. She was slender yet shapely. Cream-complected. She wore a

It was quieter and less crowded up on this second floor, if only by a little. Taking a quick look around, Fernando gestured to Tito and Pepe. “Go find us a table. I’ll get us some drinks.” Nodding to him, the two took off. Shed of them for the moment, Fernando made his way over