by Apryl Baker
“He understands English?”
“Sí,” Mateo answered for himself. “Not good.”
“It’s okay. You’ll learn English, and we’ll learn Spanish, but we need to go. Tío Conner is going to get us out of here now. I know you’re afraid, but we’ll keep you safe. No one, including Tomás or Juan, will ever get near you.”
“Juan?” Fear pooled in her baby’s face. “Juan is bad man. He hurts me.”
Conner clenched his fist, and Angel saw the struggle for him to remain calm so the little boy wouldn’t be afraid of him. “Juan will die, Mateo. I promise you he will die for hurting you.”
Mateo stared up at his uncle for a long moment before nodding, his expression solemn. “Good.”
“We have to go.” Angel took his hand and helped him off the bed. He was small for his age. She was guessing it had to do with how premature he’d been. “Is there anything you want to take with you?”
He looked around his room and finally shook his head. “None is my.”
“Nothing is yours?” she asked. The room held toys and books and clothes. All of it for him.
He nodded. “Is Tío Tomás’s. He tells me I play when I here.”
“Don’t worry. We’ll get you your own things when we get home. You stay close to Uncle Conner. He is here to protect us.”
“You ever had a piggyback ride?” Conner asked. When the little boy shook his head, Conner picked him up and tossed him on his back, explaining how to hold on with his arms and legs. Conner pulled out his guns once he was satisfied Mateo had the hang of it.
It bothered Angel that the sight of guns and talk of killing never fazed her son. He didn’t even blink. God knew what he must have seen to be so nonchalant about it. Her first order of business was to find the best child psychologist in New York when she got him home.
An explosion rocked the house, and Conner stopped, listening. “I think Kade just announced his arrival.”
Angel wanted to run and find him, to tell him their son was safe, but she knew that would only make things worse. She almost got him killed last time. It wasn’t a mistake she was prepared to make again.
“Do you have a way out?”
Conner shifted the child on his back. “Yes.” He didn’t elaborate, just opened the door and aimed. Three short bursts of the gun, and he walked outside. Two more men added to his body count. He moved slowly, stopping frequently to listen until they reached a back staircase that led down to the kitchen.
Maria and the cook were both missing. She hoped he hadn’t killed them, but she didn’t let herself think about it. Conner led them not out the back door, but through the basement door. He moved like a cat, and every time Angel stepped on something that creaked or groaned, she winced. How was he so freaking quiet, as big as he was?
The basement was another killing floor. Bodies, so many bodies. How had he done all this without alerting anyone upstairs? He hadn’t used a gun. He’d slit their throats and piled them in here. Dear God. Her mind shied away from the horror she saw, and she managed to keep following him deeper into the basement to a door that led to a tunnel.
“This leads outside. It’ll take you five minutes to walk it. Can you and Mateo make it? I need to help Kade.”
“What if there’re people in there waiting?” She panicked slightly at the thought of Conner leaving them.
He handed her a larger gun. “Shoot the fuckers.”
She took the gun in shaky hands. Some of the adrenaline was wearing off, and the fear was returning. What if she couldn’t protect them despite all the bravado of before?
“Sestra. You can do this. I have to go help Kade. There are too many for him to handle. I have to help him.”
“I can do this.” Angel knew how guns worked, even if she hated them. Kade made sure of that. She checked the safety then helped Mateo down from his uncle’s back. “We’ll be fine. Make sure my husband doesn’t die.”
Conner kissed her forehead before turning his attention to his nephew. “Mantenga a su madre a salvo.”
Mateo nodded and pulled a small knife from his pocket. He clicked a button, and a long, wicked blade appeared. It must have been custom made for his small hands. “Sí, Tío.”
“What did you tell him?” She understood the word mother, but not much else.
“To keep you safe. Now go. I need to hunt down some motherfuckers and make them pay for their intentions.”
Angel knew he was talking about the men who’d been in the room waiting for their turn with her. Conner probably memorized every face, and she shuddered from what she knew he’d do to them.
He picked up a can of gasoline and started dousing the basement. He was going to burn the evidence of his butchery. No evidence, no arrest, no trial.
Angel closed the door and started walking, hoping against hope they’d run into no one.
Chapter Nineteen
Kade opened fire as soon as his feet hit the ground. People were rushing around the side of the house, and he dodged behind an old oak tree, using it as best he could for cover. He leaned around the edge and took down four men as they advanced. Stupid fuckers. They were just racing out in the open. He watched several more fall to the hail of bullets from his team.
More swarmed on them, and Kade knew they were outnumbered and outgunned. He had to get to the front gate and let Jeremy and his small army of police inside. Tomás wouldn’t open the gates willingly.
He spotted the gas tank on the side of the house. It wasn’t overly large, but it was big enough to take out the bulk of the men coming for them. He never hesitated. He shot once, his aim true. The explosion that rocked them pulled his feet out from under him and made his ears ring.
It took him a minute before he regained his feet and shook his head. His hearing would take more than a minute to come back, but he motioned for the men to advance. They put men down as they inched their way to the front. He motioned for Cole to hit the main gate. Two of MPD’s gang unit went with him, while Kade and the rest advanced on the house.
He hugged the side of the house and looked through the window. An empty sitting room. Where was Tomás? He wanted to destroy that fucker like he’d never wanted to hurt someone in his life. He inched his way to the front porch and saw the men waiting there, guns aimed straight for him. Kade barely had time to duck and roll behind the closest tree before the volley of bullets rang out.
Shit. He looked for Cole, who had slithered close to the front gate. He’d have to get inside, and that would mean putting himself out in the open for every hired gun to take aim directly at him. Fuck.
Dylan had come to the same conclusion. He pulled out several canisters and tossed them to Kade. Smoke bombs. It would be harder for them to see as well, but it would give Cole the opportunity he needed. He uncorked the first one and tossed it as close to the porch as he could. Smoke began pouring out of it in midair, and he dived for the porch railing, tossing one in the middle of the men waiting and the other over the railing and into the yard in front of them, obscuring the vision of everyone involved.
Bullets whizzed at him, and he dodged, feeling one hit him in the back. The Kevlar vest took the brunt of it, but it still fucking hurt. He barely managed to keep from falling on his way back to his tree.
“Fire!”
He heard the shouting coming from inside the house and had to wonder if that was Conner’s doing. He’d found the underground tunnel that served as an escape route. It was how he’d planned on getting in to get Matthew, and Angel if he found her first. Kade hoped it was Conner cutting off Tomás’s escape route. That fucker was going to die today.
He and Dylan worked their way back around the porch, keeping low and staying quiet. They could barely make out shapes, but it was enough to shoot. They started firing. Kade emptied three clips before retreating to his tree. Dylan rolled just as a barrage of bullets hit the place he’d been hunkered down.
“Cole needs to get that fucking gate opened.” Dylan spat blood. Kade wasn’t sure how he’d
managed a busted lip, but he didn’t put too much thought into it. He raised his gun and fired at the man stumbling toward them. He fell, and another took his place. Kade kept firing while Dylan snuck out and collected guns. They would need them when their ammo ran out.
“We need to get inside.” Dylan checked the window closest to their cover. “It’s still clear.” He motioned Kade over to help him. Kade hoisted him up. The window must have been locked because glass rained down on top of Kade, and then Dylan pushed himself through the window. He heaved Kade up and into the room.
“Where the fuck are they?” Dylan asked, taking stock of his weapons. “They had to have heard that.”
Kade brushed the glass off his pants, ignoring the small cuts all over his hands. The pain was pushed into that dark place where nothing bothered him. He gripped the gun Dylan handed him. “Let’s go find my wife and kill that son of a bitch.”
Kade and Dylan flanked the doorway and looked out. No one. They moved toward the back of the house where voices drifted down the hallway.
“We can’t get out that way,” one voice said. “The basement fire has spread like wildfire. It stinks of gasoline.”
“Then we need to make it to the garage. We can drive through the men shooting at us and go out the back exit. No one’s disturbed that, have they?”
Kade recognized Tomás’s voice.
“It’s blocked from the outside. We’ve tried to budge it, but it’s no use.”
“Fucking idiots. How did you let this happen?” Tomás roared, his anger getting the best of him.
Silence met his outburst.
“Get me Kincaid’s fucking whore, and bring the boy.”
“Sir…they’re both gone.”
Tomás let fly a string of Spanish. Somewhere in the part of himself he’d locked away, Kade felt relief and triumph. His family was safe. It wasn’t a lasting moment or emotion, though. He was too locked down to really feel it. His focus was Tomás.
“Took your time, motherfucker.”
Conner’s whisper startled Dylan, but not Kade.
“Where the fuck have you been?” He leaned around the corner, looking to see if there were guards. Six stood in the hallway.
“Hunting.” Conner wiped his knife’s blade across his knee. The black material of his slacks wouldn’t show the stain. “Fuckers touched her. They died for it.”
“They touched her?” Rage built so hard and so fast, it burst through the lock he’d placed on his emotions, and they spilled out all at once. Conner gripped him hard enough to leave a bruise.
“Yes, but just touched. No one raped her, but they died for touching her. All except for Tomás. I thought you would want that honor.”
“What did he do to her?”
“You sure you want to know?” Conner didn’t look like he wanted to elaborate.
“Yes. Tomás will delight in telling me about it. If I hear it first, it won’t be such a shock, and I might be able to control my temper.”
Conner still looked doubtful.
“I need to know how much he needs to be tortured.”
“I don’t think you’ll have long.” They all heard the gunfire explode outside. “I’m guessing Cole got the gates opened. Whatever we are going to do, we need to do now.”
The men in the kitchen must have heard it too, because they grew quiet.
“There’s nowhere left to go.”
“I’ll be out on bail by tonight. I want you to find my beauty and my boy and bring them to our safe house in Santa Monica.”
“We’re retreating to the west coast?”
Whoever that was did not sound pleased.
“Not retreating. I just want them taken there and kept until all this blows over. It’s business as usual here.”
Conner growled, and Kade nudged him. It was time. He and his brother charged down the hall, firing as they ran. The six men went down. He’d forgotten how good a shot his brother was. Conner had been a sniper in the military. He was just as good up close as he was far away. Three men waited in the kitchen. Tomás, his second in command, Javier, and a guard.
Kade smiled when Tomás raised his gun. His own bullet found its mark in Tomás’s gun hand while Conner took care of the guard. Javier had thrown his weapon down. Kade stopped Conner from killing him. He had other plans for him.
“Hello, Tomás.”
“Agent Kincaid.” Tomás’s own smile came out. “It is good to see you.”
“Oh, I don’t know about that.” Kade leaned back on his heels while Conner disarmed Javier and kicked Tomás’s gun away from him. “You may not think so once you realize what I have planned for you.”
“And what would that be?” Tomás smirked. “Twenty years in prison? That is nothing. I can run my organization from inside as well as outside.”
“No. You’re going to die today.”
“You’re an agent of the law, Kincaid. You can no more kill me and get away with it than I can you.”
“I’m not an agent anymore.” Kade’s grin widened. “I’m not bound by the rules of law. You took my son and my wife. What do you think I’m going to do?”
“Ah, yes, my beauty.” He cupped his balls. “She was a good ride.”
Kade felt the rage build, but he pushed it down. “I know you touched her, but that’s all you did.”
“Are you sure?” Tomás leered at him. “She and I rode here together. Hours in a car with nothing to do but get acquainted with each other.”
“If that’s true, then what I have planned for you is all the more satisfying. On your feet.”
Tomás’s eyes narrowed. When he didn’t move, Conner gripped him by the scruff of his shirt collar and heaved him up.
Kade grabbed a kitchen dishrag and pulled open the door leading to the basement. The flames had made it all the way up the stairs, and when he opened the door, flames shot out, the oxygen feeding the fire. Dylan had moved before he opened the door, and the door itself shielded Kade from the flames.
“You’re going to burn in hell, motherfucker. For every person you butchered, you are going to feel the flames eat you alive.”
“You can’t…” Tomás shouted even as Conner pushed him toward the door. “You’ll be arrested…”
“Who’s going to tell anyone about this? These are my men, and if Javier wants to live, he’ll keep his mouth shut.” Kade grabbed one arm, Conner gripping the other, and together, they threw Tomás into the fire, his screams echoing up the stairs. They watched as the flames licked up his body, molding to his skin like a passion-starved lover. Once Kade was sure Tomás would burn and not escape, he closed the door.
Javier stared at him, horrified.
“If you want to live and take over the cartel as is your right, you need to understand two things.” Kade got in his face. “One, Tomás got trapped downstairs, and two, my family is off limits. This feud is done. The price will be removed from our heads. If you cross me, we will hunt you down in the middle of the night, skin you alive, and feed you to the dogs. Do you understand?”
The whites of Javier’s eyes ate away the dark irises. “Sí, señor. This is done.”
“Kincaid?”
“Back here.” Kade moved out of Javier’s face and stepped aside.
Jeremy burst in, followed by a small horde of officers. He surveyed the kitchen and turned curious eyes to Kade. “Where’s Tomás?”
“According to our friend here, Tomás got trapped in the basement. Once the fire spread, there was no getting him out.”
Jeremy stared hard at Kade, and he stared right back, unblinking. Conner stood beside his brother, daring Jeremy to question their recounting of events.
“Is that true?” Jeremy moved his attention to Javier, his hazel eyes troubled.
“Sí, señor.” Javier took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Tomás tried to get out through his escape route. I was to stay here and make sure our men got out before you stormed the house. I don’t know how the fire started, but Tomás, he said the door
was blocked, and the flames, they got him before he could get out. It was so fast. I’ve never seen fire spread like that.”
Jeremy didn’t buy it. Kade knew he didn’t, but there was no evidence to say that wasn’t what happened. When Jeremy nodded and officers took Javier into custody, a sense of relief spread through him. Only one thought remained.
“Now where the fuck are my wife and kid?”
***
Angel stumbled out of the tunnel into the night air. She wasn’t sure how late it was, but it was dark enough she could barely make out the path that led to the road. No moon lit the way, and she gripped her son’s hand tightly.
“Okay, baby boy, we’re out. We just need to get to the road.”
He didn’t say anything, just held onto her hand as tight as his little fingers could. She wanted to fling the knife from his hand, but Angel also knew he might need it if they ran into any of Tomás’s goons.
She stuck to the shelter of the trees and moved slowly, careful of the rocky terrain. She heard the beach but didn’t move toward it. She needed the road, not the sand. They walked for another ten minutes before she spotted the road.
“Okay, we’re almost there.” Angel crept toward the road, gun in one hand and her son’s in the other. Please God, don’t make me shoot anyone tonight.
“Where’s the damn exit?”
She knew that voice. Dropping the gun, she picked up Mateo and ran. She spotted Kade a second before he saw her. He rushed her, and the moment she fell into his arms, all the pain and fear fled. Kade was here. He’d keep her and Mateo safe.
“Are either of you hurt?” He pushed her back so he could look over her and their son. “Conner, call the fucking ambulance over here. I want them checked out.”
“No, we’re fine.” Angel reached up and pulled his head to hers, needing to taste him after everything she’d been through tonight. She needed him like the air around her to make all the bad memories go away.
When she let him up for air, she smiled down at their little boy. “Mateo, this your papa.”