Angel caught the side of Steel’s neck with a knife hand. Steel staggered sideways but managed to raise a leg and kick Angel’s ribs. They squared off a few feet apart, hands up, both in martial arts open stances, exposing only side profiles.
Footsteps to the east.
Steel rushed Angel with a flurry of hand strikes aimed at his face and neck—and then dove sideways to the ground. He grabbed his Glock, rolled, and shot the man charging from the east, first in his legs, then his chest.
When he twisted to his back so that he could fire on Angel, he heard Christie’s call for help.
Angel had already disappeared behind the far side of the boulder. The man from the west appeared, but before Steel could shoot him, the man toppled. Angel.
Surprised, Steel didn’t move, keeping his gun pointed at the boulder. He didn’t trust the cartel assassin.
“Truce?” Angel’s voice was a whisper.
Steel hastily rose. He considered bolting sideways to fire on him. “You lied.” He put another mag into his gun.
“Diego has my sister. The men here have orders to kill me. Lucas, their leader, needs to remain alive for hourly check-ins to California or Diego will do to my sister what he did to Marita.”
“Who shot Morris?” Steel stepped quietly to the opposite side of the rock, his Glock level.
“Lucas. I tried to save him.”
Steel didn’t detect a lie but Angel was a pro. “Proposal?”
“We finish them here, capture Lucas, and take care of Diego.”
“Why should I trust you?” Steel didn’t.
“I just shot one of Lucas’ men, and I’m coming out, guns lowered.” Angel stepped out from the boulder, his barrels pointed at the ground. “Either shoot me or we help each other finish this. You will need me to find Diego. He has his ranch under a company name.”
Gripping his Glock, Steel took off his night vision goggles, for once seeing the assassin without his smile. He stepped closer. “My people don’t get hurt.”
“I know who they are. I’ll finish on the ridge here, you go below. Find Lucas. Leather coat, moustache. Keep him alive. Alert your people.”
Steel’s gut said, Do it. “Go.”
Angel whirled and ran west, soon lost in the trees.
Steel ran hard, Christie’s last words still in his ears. “I’m coming, Christie,” he whispered into his mike. She didn’t respond.
Panic. No one would be there for her and he was too far away. His training overtook his emotions and he wove in and out of the trees in a wild dash down the hill. Another figure appeared ahead of him in the trees. One of Diego’s men.
Still, to be sure he whispered, “Signal.”
The man didn’t respond, instead whirling when he finally heard Steel’s footfalls. It wasn’t Lucas. Steel shot him twice on the run. At the barn he noted the three bodies near the door.
It was too risky to cross the clearing so he ran west along the hill, remaining inside the tree line.
Softly he called out, “Christie, Carlos, Wyatt. I’m coming in along the west side of the clearing. Mario, join Carlos. Angel is a friendly, I repeat, Angel is a friendly.”
No one responded.
CHAPTER 56
Clay wanted to yell. Instead he kept his mouth shut as he dropped through the air, landing hard on his feet. They slid out from under him, sending him into a tumbling roll for twenty feet into a pile of large rocks. His lower body hit them hard with a definitive crack!
He lay in a confused tangle of limbs and gulped for air. Moving his arms slowly, he could tell his left leg was at an odd angle. Surprised he had survived the fall, he didn’t try to move his torso or legs.
He had lost the SIG and his night vision goggles.
He surveyed the slope above, unsure anyone could see him down here. Either way, they would come down along the side of the small cliff and find him soon enough. He wasn’t going anywhere.
His rifle lay a dozen feet away. The SIG was a little closer. He tried to crawl toward it—and gasped. Sharp pain stabbed his leg. Either suffer the pain or die.
Rolling to his right side, he clawed at the dirt with his right hand and pushed with the heel of his right leg, inching himself toward the gun. Knifelike pain assaulted his leg. He gritted his teeth. Maybe he had a compound fracture. He definitely didn’t want to see that.
Small rocks tumbled down the hill north of him. Someone was coming.
“I’ve got a broken leg and need help,” he whispered.
No replies.
It took him a few seconds to realize he had lost his earpiece and throat mike too. The sound of falling rocks seemed closer. His outstretched hand was still three feet from the SIG. He pushed harder and reached for it, but a boot kicked the gun away.
He stared up. A stranger stood above him wearing night vision goggles and aiming a gun at his head.
A thump sounded. The man let out a weak gasp as he slowly slumped to his knees, and then fell forward over Clay’s chest and head.
Clay gasped as the dead weight jerked his broken leg. Had to be Steel or Mario who had shot the man. That eased his nerves.
Another body slammed into the dirt just above him and rolled down into his injured leg. He groaned.
Working as quietly as possible, it was all he could do to move the body atop his face down to his chest so he could breathe a little easier. It didn’t help that his left arm ached and was weak.
No one called to him. That worried him. He might have to get out of here on his own. But who had helped him? Maybe they didn’t know he was down here. It seemed too risky to call out.
Rocks skittered not far away. He hoped it was someone friendly. He closed his eyes to feign death. In seconds the body lying over his leg was lifted off. Clay opened his eyes. A shadowy figure pulled the body off his chest too.
A familiar face loomed one foot above his.
A cold fear settled into Clay’s stomach. I’m finished. I’m sorry, Meera. Fury replaced his fear. “Damn you.”
“I probably am damned for how many I have killed.” Angel stared down at him. “Steel and I have a truce. I’ll let them know you are here, Clay.”
Clay just gaped at him.
“I am sorry I killed your brother Dale.”
Clay wanted to scream at the man. “I still want to kill you.”
Angel nodded. “Sí. I understand. I would too if someone had killed my brother.”
“Go to hell.” He paused, swallowing hard. “If my sister dies here, I’ll hunt you down.”
“I will do my best to protect her, Clay.” Angel disappeared into the darkness but tossed something against Clay’s leg before he left.
Clay reached down and felt the SIG. He gripped it and held it against his chest. Settling back, he felt as if he had just climbed out of a snake pit without a scratch. It wasn’t over. Steel and the others still had to win tonight. Then he could return to Meera and the boys. He would cheer over that later.
“You have more lives than a cat, Clay Thorton,” he whispered.
The stars above him made him relax and allowed his thoughts to wander. He hadn’t been able to protect Dale or Christie during Harry’s kidnapping. Seeing Steel’s overprotectiveness with Christie had helped him see it in himself a little differently too. It wasn’t always good or noble. Like Christie had said, sometimes it was just arrogant.
He heaved a deep breath. Even if Christie lived, he wasn’t sure what he would do the next time he saw Angel. The man had saved his life. Meera would tell him revenge wasn’t healthy. And, crazy as it was, he couldn’t deny feeling hopeful now that Angel was on their side.
A tear filled his eye. He still couldn’t believe Dale was gone.
He hoped Christie was as lucky as he was. He couldn’t take another loss.
CHAPTER 57
Christie sat again
st the tree, waiting for the killers to reach her. She held the SIG in her left hand, the Rattler in her right. Keeping her attention fixed north, she would have to trust her ears for the guy coming from the east.
Hearing Steel’s voice earlier had given her satisfaction and relief. However he was too far away to help her. That left Carlos to the east. She concluded Wyatt wasn’t coming back. And Mario was too far away, like Clay. It bothered her that her brother hadn’t responded either.
The killer to the north appeared near the edge of a tree trunk. The night vision goggles gave her just a glimpse. He had to be able to see that she was sitting. Trading the Rattler for the SIG in her left hand, she aimed at his shoulder and fired.
The man disappeared from sight.
Soft footfalls?
Before she could turn, a gun muzzle pressed into the left side of her head.
“Drop the guns.”
Swallowing, she allowed both guns to slide from her hands.
“Put your arms up.”
She obeyed. Her wrists were gripped hard by two men and she was dragged onto her back and through the woods. Her extended arms pulled on her bruised ribs and she gasped.
“We have her,” said one of the men.
“Why are you dragging me south?” she asked. Steel would hear her and come, but she doubted he would be in time.
One of the men hit her with his gun butt and she lost consciousness.
CHAPTER 58
Jack heard Christie’s message. It tightened his jaw. He had no idea how many of the killers were left, or where they were, which made any tactical assessment practically useless. All he cared about was finding Christie.
The only reason he could come up with for Diego’s men dragging her south was to cut her up like Marita before they killed her. A message to him, to make him suffer. He would never recover from it.
Skirting the west edge of the clearing, he ran hard. His Glock followed his pumping arms as he found the quickest path through the trees, simultaneously scanning for anyone ahead of him.
He almost ran past Wyatt.
His friend sat behind a large log, the Mossberg on his lap, his head hanging down. Stopping, Steel saw three bodies in the grass on the other side of the log. Wyatt had blood near his neck. An upper back wound.
Steel gently shook him, but Wyatt just mumbled, “Get her.”
Sliding over the log, he ran faster, aiming southeast. He wondered about Carlos and Mario, who had both been radio silent for a while now. It didn’t matter. As he ran it seemed as if the emotional weight of the last few days turned his legs to lead.
Dread and fear filled his mouth. He wanted to call out to her, to let her know he was coming. Tears would have filled his eyes if he stopped running.
By the time he saw the four figures they were mostly hidden by a clump of trees. He caught only snatches of them as he ran flat out, charging full speed.
A smoke canister erupted outside the cluster of trees, quickly hiding the figures.
“Stop now, Steel, or we put a bullet in her head.” The voice came through his earpiece.
He stopped abruptly, his chest heaving. They had to be using Christie’s radio gear. “What do you want?”
“Drive a vehicle down the driveway. Only you in it. Do as we say and we don’t cut up her face. Take more than five minutes and we kill her in the worst way.”
“Okay, I’ll do it.” The clearing was his only choice for their timetable so he aimed for it.
Running hard, he played out rescue scenarios in his head, unsure how to make one work. He didn’t need to tell anyone what was happening. They would have heard Lucas as easily as he had.
A figure stepped out from a tree to his far right—and went down just as fast under rifle fire. Carlos.
Steel entered the dark meadow at a dead run. Lucas must have told his men to kill him if they could, or he was playing a game with him.
Halfway through the field another man stood up with a gun, and again went down just as fast.
He made it to the vehicles in the driveway, pulled out the keys for his, and got in. The rear-end fishtailed as he drove out of the large circular turnaround and south down the driveway. “I’m coming with the car, Lucas.”
“We’ll tell you when to stop. Be ready.”
He looked at his Glock on the passenger seat. Nothing inventive came to him.
A half mile down the driveway came the order; “Stop!”
He braked hard, skidding to a halt on the east edge of the road.
“Open all the doors, driver’s side last, toss your gun into the woods, and get into the trunk.”
He reached over the front seat and pushed open the rear passenger door. Shoved open the front passenger door. Pulled the trunk release. Getting out on the driver’s side, he held the Glock down by his leg. He kept the front door open and opened the rear driver’s side passenger door.
Eyeing the woods across the road, he sidled to the back and opened the trunk wide. Stepping back, he kept the car between him and the trees. “I need to see her, and that you’ve let her go before I get into the trunk.”
“No deal.”
He took a chance. “Then shoot her and I’ll be coming for you with my team. Yours is finished.”
Four men appeared just inside the edge of the woods. Christie was propped up by two of them, her head hanging down and one leg dragging. Fear gripped him.
“All right, we compromise, Steel.” They set her down with her back against a tree, her head hanging down. One of the men leaned over her. “Speak, so he knows you’re alive.”
“Don’t do it, Jack.” Christie’s voice was strained.
The man straightened. Steel noted his leather coat and moustache. Lucas.
“Get into the trunk, Steel. We’ll come out, you toss the gun away. Last chance.”
There was no doubt in his mind that they planned to kill Christie no matter what he did. He glimpsed a flash of movement in the trees behind the killers. Climbing into the trunk, he knelt down, still able to see Christie. “Move out of the forest to the car,” he said.
“Toss your gun first, Steel.”
He dropped his gun to the ground near the trunk.
The men moved out of the trees, two of them stepping toward the front of the car. They would quickly be out of his field of vision. One of those men went down first, leaning forward and toppling as if shot in the back of the head. The other man flew forward, as if punched in the back.
Steel rolled out of the trunk, landing in a crouch. Picking up his gun, he fired at the man beside Lucas, sending him to the dirt. He straightened as Lucas turned to shoot Christie.
Angel slammed into Lucas from behind, knocking him to the ground on his stomach. The assassin stepped on Lucas’ gun arm, forcing him to release his weapon, while keeping a foot on his back, his gun pointed at his head.
“Sloppy work, Lucas,” said Angel. “I am disappointed.”
Steel ran to Christie and knelt beside her, searching her face and eyes as she lifted her head.
Leaning forward, she weakly held him.
“You’re siding with Steel?” spat Lucas. “The cartels will kill you for this.”
Angel turned to Steel. “She is all right?”
“I am now,” she whispered.
Steel picked her up in his arms and she rested her head on his shoulder. He looked at Angel. “How did you know?”
“I trained them. If it is too difficult to reach your target, then you take the target’s prize.” Angel grimaced. “Diego has mine.”
“Clay?” Christie gazed at Angel, her voice weak.
Angel nodded to her. “A broken leg. I saved his life.”
As strange as that seemed, Steel didn’t care. He was relieved Christie and Clay were alive. One more job and the nightmare was over.
PART 7
OP: THE ALVAREZ CARTEL
CHAPTER 59
Carlos found his son. Mario had been shot early on, but the Kevlar had saved him, leaving him with a wound in his upper back. When he was shot he had fallen and hit his head, remaining unconscious for a few minutes and disoriented when he had come to.
Everyone helped carry the wounded to the clearing on makeshift stretchers, giving what first aid they could. Wyatt was barely conscious, but he managed to wink once at Steel. Steel could never repay what the man had done for him.
Clay was in pain, but glad to see them, and glad to learn Christie was alive. He held her hand while she sat next to him.
Clay also confirmed, grudgingly, that Angel had saved his life. It made Steel respect Angel’s word more, but he wouldn’t leave him alive after they killed Diego.
Mario, Wyatt, Christie, and Clay would wait in the field for the medevac helicopter Colonel Jeffries was sending. The colonel was also sending a cleanup crew for the bodies.
When Carlos first saw Angel, he glared at him, raising his rifle. Angel raised his Glocks.
Steel stepped between them, facing Carlos. “We need Angel, like it or not.”
His face taut, Carlos hesitated but then walked away.
They took what weapons and ammo they needed out of the armory safe, including a Kevlar vest for Angel, and closed the tunnels, safe, and barn. They left the bodies of Diego’s men where they had fallen. They were all accounted for.
Angel sat in the car with Lucas, while Steel walked away from the others and called Jeffries again to fill him in.
“Angel wants a clean slate for his help killing Diego. He also wants to know if you’re going to honor the agreement for the ISIS attack.” Steel waited, already knowing the answer.
“He killed four of my men,” snapped Jeffries. “I’m glad he helped us out, but my men are going to pick him up when they get your wounded.”
“We can’t do this without him. Unless you want Diego funding more ISIS actions, we need Angel.” He paused. “Did General Morris make it?”
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