“Your worst nightmare. Now shut up and drive.”
The communications radio suddenly crackled with a voice.“Officer Ruiz, what is your location?”
Axis jammed the pistol hard into Officer Ruiz’s side. “Tell him that you and your buddies are fine. That the beach is quiet. Say anything else, and they’ll find what’s left of you after the vultures feed on your carcass.Entender?”
He nodded and reached for the old-fashioned microphone attached to the radio. In rapid-fire Mexican, Officer Ruiz checked in without revealing his location and repeated what Axis told him to say.
After he signed off, Axis smashed the radio with the butt of his gun. “Do you have a cell phone?”
“Sí.”
“Give it to me.”
Officer Ruiz pulled it from his back pocket and handed it to Axis, who dropped it at his feet, stomped it to pieces, then tossed them from the dune buggy.
There weren’t any warning signs advertising the location of General Escobar’s compound at the base of one of Mexico’s mountain ranges. As soon as they drove through a wrought iron monogrammed gate, snipers opened fire on them. Bullets struckand killed Officer Ruiz. He slumped over the steering wheel, blood seeping from his lifeless body. The dune buggy veered out of control.
The danger, the bullets riddling the dune buggy, the popping tires, the coppery scent of Ruiz’s blood, excited Axis and Axalia. They huffed and snarled like rabid animals. They laughed, too, as they crouched low in the footwells of the ruined dune buggy. When the assault ended, they heard footsteps pounding the ground toward them. They dropped their guns and slowly peeked over the steel frame of the dune buggy.
Six mean-looking men with mustaches and short beards surrounded them, AK-47s in their large hands. Tattoos of skulls and crossbones, eagles, and hearts with arrows puncturing them stained their skin. One tattoo they all had in common was imprinted on their exposed necks. Its shape and meaning eluded Axis.
One man, taller and more muscular than the others, detached himself and strode forward. He handled his AK-47 with practiced ease. In perfect English he commanded, “Surrender! You are trespassing on private property owned by General Jorge Escobar! You are surrounded with nowhere to run.”
Axalia whispered, pupils dilated with bloodlust, “Axis, there are six of them, and they don’t know we’re armed. We can take ‘em out.”
Axis cocked his head, considering. “No. It’s too risky. We’ll surrender.”
“Okay.”
They slowly raised their hands.
“We’re unarmed!” Axis shouted.
With careful movements, they climbed from the metal wreck.
The leader raised his AK-47. So did his men, ready to shatter Axis’ and Axalia’s feeble bodies with a barrage of bullets. Thesecutthroats wouldn’t be satisfied with a single shot to the head. No. They would turn them into Swiss cheese for the vultures to feast upon.
If this was how Axis was going to die, he at least wanted General Jorge Escobar to know his and his sister’s names.
“Aren’t you curious about why we’re here?” Axis challenged the leader.
“I don’t give a shit.”
Axis dared to flash an arrogant smile. “You should. Ever hear of Julio and Lola Escobar? Their daughter, DEA agent Julia Washburn, is our half-sister. We’re Axis and Axalia Anderson.”
“Liar!”one of the men shouted in Mexican.
“Kill them!”another urged.
“You know we can understand you,”Axis boasted in Spanish.
The others murmured angrily, demanding Axis’ and Axalia’s immediate execution.
The leader raised his fist. “Silencio! We will take them to the General. He’ll decide what to do with them.” He paused. His dark eyes gleamed with cruelty. “But first we extract our pound of flesh for their audacity.”
Two men grabbed Axalia. They held her arms prisoner and forced her to watch the four other men brutally beat her brother until he lost consciousness. His bright red blood stained the sparse grass. Axalia remained cold and detached on the outside. But on the inside, she burned with murderous rage. She memorized their sweaty faces. Later, she’d find and kill them.
The leader kicked Axis one last time with his booted foot, and her brother moaned. Axalia’s heart wrenched. She trembled with anticipation. She wouldn’t take a beating as meekly as Axis had. The leader’s bruised hands bled her brother’s blood.
