As El Gato approached the bed, [Ana] saw something fall from his hand, then heard it make a soft bump as it hit the wooden floor. Ana suddenly curled up defensively in the fetal position. Then, when he grabbed her by the collar of her T-shirt, the two younger girls back-crawled off the mattress to a dark corner of the room.
"No . . ." Ana softly said, and whimpered in anticipation of what was about to come.
Breathing heavily, Juan Paulo Delgado hovered ominously over her. Ana smelled the alcohol on his breath, some beer probably and what had to be tequila. She could visualize his cold hard eyes in the dark even though she could not clearly see them. Then she heard him grunt-and saw his right arm in silhouette suddenly swing back, then forward, his palm finding her face. As she recoiled, her T-shirt ripped in his left hand.
"No mas! No mas, por favor!" she cried out, wishing that this all was just another nightmare. But she then felt the sting of his backhanded slap, and she understood with painful clarity that this was building to be the real thing. Again.
"You fucking bitches! Every one of you!" Delgado yelled in English, then swung again, this time striking her with a balled fist. He switched to Spanish:
"I helped you, made you family, and how do you repay me?"
Ana looked away from El Gato, trying to hold her small hands to her face as protection.
"You want to see your cousin?" he went on in Spanish, and hit her again.
"I take you to Rosario! I'm through with the both of you!"
Ana began to sob. She did not understand; for months now she had been doing the disgusting work for El Gato, selling her body to repay her passage debt-and now her room and board-to him. As had Rosario. And it was not Ana's fault that Rosario had had enough and finally run off. Though Ana knew that it was futile to try to make that point now.
El Gato again cursed her, and her cousin, then hit her again. The salty taste of sweat on Ana's lips now mingled with a metallic one-and she recognized the warm sticky fluid as her blood.
As El Gato yelled-there was a furiousness in his voice that she had never before heard, even during the other beatings-she silently prayed, Holy Mother of God, please make him stop.
But he began striking her repeatedly, the sickening thuds of his fist on her face triggering whimpers of sympathy-or fear, or both-from Alicia and Jorgina, who were clinging to each other in the corner of the bedroom.
Then she stopped sobbing, made an awful groan, and went limp.
And Ana Maria Del Carmen Lopez's prayer was answered; he stopped beating her.
Alicia and Jorgina, fearful El Gato would turn and unleash his fury on them, tried to silence their whimpering. They watched in the dimness as he walked back to the doorway, picked up what he'd dropped on the floor, then returned to Ana.
Copyright (c) 2009 by William E. Butterworth IV
W.E.B. Griffin’s Badge of Honor police series returns, with a story of murder and lawlessness as compelling as today’s headlines. Homicide Sergeant Matthew Payne is used to murder, but lately there’s been an awful lot of it in Philadelphia. A gangland shooting in a popular tourist location has left six dead, and days later the body of a headless Latina turns up in the Schuykill River. Payne can’t shake the hunch that they’re related—and that hunch leads him to the Texas-Mexico border, where he finds a world in which the lines of law and order are murkier than he ever imagined possible. Filled with authentic color and detail, The Traffickers is a riveting novel of the men and women who put their lives on the line.
Hardcover: 352 pages
Publisher: Putnam Pub Group ( August 04, 2009 )
Item #: 43-8670
ISBN: 9780399155864
Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 8.25 x 0.83 inches
Product Weight: 14.0 ounces

It was great to see Matt Payne back in action. I'd been waiting a long time for the next Badge of Honor installment. This was a great story, made all the more interesting by venturing beyond Philadelphia for real-life events in Mexico and Texas. I hope a future installment will be on the bookstands soon.
Reviewer: jayp
It was great to see Matt Payne back in action. I'd been waiting a long time for the next Badge of Honor installment. This was a great story, made all the more interesting by venturing beyond Philadelphia for real-life events in Mexico and Texas. I hope a future installment will be on the bookstands soon.
Reviewer: Jayp
I have read all the books in this series and can't wait to get the next one. I only wish the author, had not abandoned, the character, Peter, so quickly.
Reviewer: Dee R
W.E.B. Griffin does it again!!! I have read all of his books, some of them numerous times. From the first ones I acquired over 20 years ago to THE TRAFFICKERS, I have found all of them to encompass good stories and to flow so smoothly that they are easy to follow and love. Matt continues to show growth and expanded maturity in each succeeding Badge of Honor book.
Reviewer: robert s
Great Book. I really enjoy Matt and the rest of the police force. Badge of Honor and Presidential agent are
just the best. W.E.B. Griffin is a great author and I look forward to his next book.
Reviewer: kay