My stomach twisted in knots. “Where are we going?”
“Somewhere else.” He sounded calm, and I desperately wanted to look in his eyes to make sure his eyes matched his voice. But his hold tightened, keeping me literally and figuratively in the dark.
“We’ve got you covered, boss. There are four out front and two in the house. Stay down around the next corner. On my command, dive low and to the right into the car. I’m right behind you.”
Ignoring instructions, my head popped up. “Emilio?”
Cursing, Val gripped my hair and bent me forward. “Cereza, get down!”
“Stop yelling at me!”
“Stop trying to get us killed!”
Heated taunts echoed from inside the house. “Where are you, you chickenshit? Face us and bring thatputatoo,La Muerte!”
My heart pounded as he expertly maneuvered us around the corner and out a side door. Once outside, a blast exploded beside us, and Emilio let out a low groan.
Val paused, turning around. “What happened?”
With a hand on both of our backs, Emilio shoved us toward the car, his face twisted in pain. “Go! It’s just a nick.”
“Emilio…” Val called behind him, a sheen of sweat coating his forehead.
“Get in the fucking car before I kick your ass, Carrera.” Clenching his teeth, Emilio held his side as his tanned skin turned a grayish-white color.
Without another word, Val picked me up at the waist and threw me in the back seat of a dark colored sedan. The pain on my boss’s face etched in my mind, and despite the disdain I felt for him, I crawled toward the door. “You can’t just leave him!”
Planting one foot inside the vehicle, Val propelled himself forward, knocking me onto my back. With the door closing behind him, the car lurched forward and peeled away from the house.
“Get off me!” I screamed, beating my fists against his chest.
“Stay down and shut up.” Covering my mouth, he pressed his full weight onto me, pinning me where I lay.
As gunshots popped off in the distance, a tear rolled from each corner of my eyes.
I hated Emilio Reyes.
But evenIknew that wasn’t a nick.
* * *
The buzzing became cleareras the room came into focus. Blinking repeatedly, I swallowed, my mouth feeling like I’d stuffed a bag of cotton balls down my throat. I attempted to find my voice as the buzzing morphed into voices.
“How the hell did they find us?”
“Don’t know. Only the top level knew the safe house location. At this point, the only logical explanation is to start looking for a mole.”
The sound of sloshing liquid filled the room as the voice switched back. “Fucking hell. I want everyone’s house searched. No one is excluded, is that understood?”
“Si, boss.”
With a fully functional brain, I shifted a gaze around the unfamiliar room. The guy who’d brought me food at the other house, Mateo, nodded as he exited the doorway, his eyes sagging from fatigue. A concentrated stare fell to my left, and with one glance, I quickly averted my eyes to the floor.
Val.
He sat in a chair four feet away from me, his hair disheveled, and a heavy five o’clock shadow covering his face. His hands cradled a half-emptied bottle of tequila between his legs. My lips twitched as multiple conversations ran through my mind regarding his disdain for assholes who drank tequila out of the bottle.
I guess desperate times call for desperate assholes.
