“Yeah, I’ve heard that before.” I shook my head, laughing. “The nicknames people come up with these days.” I closed the van door. “Back inside. Let’s go.”
“Are you going to kill me?” Santiago asked, standing tall.
“Only if I have to,” I said, shoving him forward.
“Not so fast,” Sebrina said from behind me. I felt a gun to the side of my head and froze.
“Sebrina,” I said without turning. “I’d say I was surprised you’re here, but truthfully, I expected you to make an appearance at some point.”
“I won’t be staying long. Let Santiago go and we’ll be on our way.”
“Shipwreck’s inside. Do you want him too?”
“No thanks. Shipwreck’s served his purpose. You can keep him.”
“And Grady?”
“Been there. Done that. Now quit stalling. Let Santiago go.”
“I can’t do that. His brother is expecting him.”
“Miguel?” Her voice pitched higher. “He’s coming here?”
“What’s wrong, Sebrina?” I asked. “Are you scared of Miguel? Why?”
“He’s not someone you want to mess with, is all. Why’s he coming here?”
“To pick up Santiago, of course, and he won’t be happy if he flew all this way for nothing.”
“Shit,” she said as she took a step back. “This wasn’t part of the plan.”
“What was the plan? Ride off into the sunset with the cartel boss?”
“You’ll never know. I’m afraid I’ll have to kill you both. It will distract Miguel long enough to get away.”
“Oh, you’re not going anywhere,” I said, turning my head to grin at her. “Good night, Sebrina,” I said as I nodded to Grady who was standing behind her.
She started to turn, aiming the gun away from me as Grady’s arm slipped around her neck in a choke hold. Within seconds, she was passed out on the ground. Bones, Donovan, and Wild Card moved out from behind the van. I passed a set of flex cuffs to Donovan, and he secured her hands.
“Unless you want to turn her over to Miguel to disappear, I suggest you get her out of here. Take Shipwreck, too. He’s inside.”
Grady lifted her into his arms and without a word, carried her across the parking lot. Donovan nodded to Bones to follow them. I nudged Santiago with the gun to head inside.
“Took you long enough,” Tyler said as I walked in.
“Sorry. I had visitors,” I said as Donovan and Wild Card followed me inside.
“Is my brother really coming here?” Santiago asked. “Or did you say that to scare Sebrina?”
“Oh, he’s definitely on his way,” I said, shoving him to the center of the room. I swiped my leg low against the back of his calves as I threw an arm across his chest. He landed hard on his ass. “Didn’t he tell you he was flying in for a visit?” I stepped a few paces away and circled him. “It wasn’t hard to get his attention. Seems losing money is a big deal to him.”
“What did you do?” Santiago asked as he rolled to his side and looked up at me. Beads of sweat started to rise on his forehead.
“It doesn’t matter what I did. What matters is that Miguel wants his businesses protected, and that’s not going to happen until my family is safe.”
“Give me Sebrina,” Santiago said, nearly begging me as he sat up. “Give me Sebrina, and we’ll leave. You’ll never see either of us again.”
“You want me to hand over a dirty DEA agent to you? The head of the cartel? Get real.”
“She belongs to me! You can’t keep her from me!”
“You are insane. Sebrina was going to leave you out there to die as soon as she heard your brother was coming.”
“She would’ve come back. She would’ve found another way. We’re destined for each other.”
“Sebrina’s not in a position to save anyone. I have her and Shipwreck on video plotting against both sides. They’re done. Finito.”
“You’ll regret this. One of us will find you. We’ll destroy you.”
“I’m not too concerned,” I said as I took the butt of my gun and slammed it against the back of his head.
He slumped to the side, unconscious.
“Finito is Italian,” Tyler said, pushing Santiago over with his foot.
“Damn, I really need to learn Spanish. What’s the word for finished?”
“Terminado,” Shipwreck said, chuckling as he leaned to one side, then the other, moving his legs out from under him to sit flat legged on the floor.
“Thank you,” I said, turning my gun on him. “You know, for a jackass, you’re still a fun guy to hang with. Everyone’s going to be super disappointed to hear you’re a traitor. You’d likely have gotten away with it too, if you didn’t continuously underestimate me. I mean, how many times are you going to fail before you figure it out?” I asked, squatting down two arm-lengths distance away from him and holding my gun pointed at his head. “Tyler?”
“Yeah?”
“Relieve Shipwreck of his knife and re-secure his hands.”
“Where the hell did he get a knife?” Tyler asked, moving behind Shipwreck and kicking the small blade out of his hand.
“Did you search him?” I asked, grinning at Tyler as he pulled another flex cuff from his back pocket.
“No,” Tyler admitted, reluctantly.
“Think maybe next time you will?”
Tyler pulled Shipwreck’s hands into the cuffs. Tyler’s face scrunched in anger, but I knew he was angry with himself, not me. He patted down Shipwreck, relieving him of his phone, keys, sandals, and socks. Tyler wasn’t taking any chances. He even pulled Shipwreck’s necklace with a jerk, breaking the chain.
“Did you search the other guys?” Tyler asked.
“Nah. Wasn’t worth my time. They know the snipers will shoot them if they try anything.”
Shipwreck shook his head. “Everyone’s at the rope pulling competition. Your scare tactics won’t work. You’re not fooling anyone.”
The sound of a bolt-action rifle, ejecting
