“We need to get Madeline up to the safe room.”
“That’s what I just told her. Come on, Maddy. Who is it? Did you recognize them?”
“No.” It’s Joaquin who answers this time.
His back is to us as he scans the scene outside the kitchen window. Maddy covers her mouth and smothers a scream as the window next to my brother’s left shoulder shatters. We all dive for the floor, taking cover. I land on top of Maddy, trying not to squash her but shielding her with my entire body.
“Javi, I recognized that man.”
I barely make out what Maddy says since her voice is muffled from me being on top of her. I push up onto my forearms and roll slightly to my right, giving her enough space to lift her head and look at me.
“That’s one of Drew’s men. How did he get here?”
I look over at my brothers. “Did someone follow you?”
Jorge shrugs one shoulder. “I don’t know how they could have. Our flight pattern didn’t follow any roads. It was as the crow flies. The only way anyone could know we were here is to already know where we would be headed.”
More gunfire rips through the air, drawing closer to the house. Where the fuck are our men who’re supposed to be loyal to us? Obviously, at least one of our men has sold us out. Otherwise, these people wouldn’t have made it through the gate. No vehicle would survive ramming them. They’d come back as mangled metal. So, the only way strangers are on our land is if somebody let them on.
There’s a moment of silence, so I push up onto my hands and knees, then crouch before reaching out my hand to Maddy. I only straighten long enough to look out the broken window to see if anyone’s approaching our part of the house. It’s still quiet for now. The four of us ease out of the kitchen and into the foyer. But we don’t make it beyond there before we hear voices yelling out Maddy’s name.
“Madeline Doyle, this is the United States Drug Enforcement Agency. We are here to serve a warrant for your arrest. Come out with your hands raised.”
Maddy turns a panicked expression to me and shakes her head.
“We know it’s not real.” My whispered reassurance does little to ease her visible fear.
“Madeline Doyle, come out with your hands up.”
“Javi, that’s Jacob McIntyre. He’s Drew’s cousin. He is a DEA agent, but there’s no way he’d serve an arrest warrant on me.”
“If he thinks you’re gullible enough to turn yourself over to him when you’re on a Diaz property, then he’s insane. I wouldn’t let you go to anyone outside of my family, period. Let alone anyone connected to law enforcement or to another syndicate. He knows you’re not leaving my side. He’s banking on you fearing Drew more than you trust me and going along with what he says to avoid whatever Drew’s told him to do to you if you don’t cooperate.”
I’m focused on Maddy, but I hear Joaquin speaking to somebody through our earpieces. The radio’s suddenly gotten noisy with men loyal to us calling out orders to help barricade us in the house. I caught the name of the man who betrayed us. But there’s nothing I can do about him right this minute.
Jorge barks a command to keep the guy alive but out of the way. Apparently, two SUVs rolled in with sixteen men against the eleven still loyal to my family, my brothers, and me. I don’t know how many men we lost when our attackers breached the gates and opened fire. Not all the men have sounded off when the head of our guards told them to do a check-in. They could be injured or dead or must remain silent to hide, but the majority of our guys responded. Unfortunately, my brothers and I can’t afford to trust any of them completely.
We don’t have the luxury of making a mistake, so the three of us will err on the side of caution and only trust each other and Maddy.
“What are we going to do?” Maddy’s voice is barely more than a whisper, and it pulls me out of my thoughts as I consider all the possibilities.
“We still need to get you to the safe room.”
“No.”
My brothers and I spare her a glance, all three of us shooting her a look warning her not to argue.
“No, Javi, you don’t know which of your men have been compromised. I want to believe there’s only one person who would violate your trust, but maybe there are more. Right now, it’s three of you against an unknown number of men who could want you and me dead. Give me a gun.”
“Maddy, no.”
“Javi, give me a gun.”
Something changes in her posture, her expression, and her tone. It hardens to a shard of ice. There’s a warning in it that she’s more prepared for a situation like this than I want to acknowledge.
“Have you killed before?” Jorge blurts the question I already know the answer to.
“Yes.”
