She didn’t hear return fire. What she heard was the roaring of Harleys coming down the road.
“The calvary is here,” Bev told Danny.
“Good. Just sit tight then,” Danny advised.
“Fuck that!” Bev said. She left the tub and changed the clip in the Uzi.
“Sorry, Danny,” Yvette said. “We’ve got to go, and I can’t take you with me because we were in the bath and I don’t have any pockets.”
“Oh, I see. Well, be careful, Shield Sisters.”
“Got it,” Bev told him as she picked up the Glock and changed clips in that as well.
Outside, a firefight had started. She slung the Uzi strap over her shoulder and picked up the two flashbangs with her left hand and the Glock with her right. She looked back at Yvette, who had a fresh clip in her Glock and a flashbang in her left hand.
“Ready?”
“Hold on a minute,” Yvette said, and then kissed her. “Okay, let’s go kill some fuckers.”
Their Glocks following their eyes as they searched the area, they went to the head of the stairs and looked down. A new body was at the bottom. Bev crept down the stairs with Yvette behind her, gun out front, ready to kill anything that moved.
Reaching the bottom, they moved into the living area. They could tell that the fighting had moved outside.
Bev crept up to the door of the spare bedroom and ducked inside.
“You try for the porch with your flashbang, I’ll try out the porch door,” Bev said.
“You think I throw like a girl?”
“Don’t you?”
“Well, yeah, alright, I’ll hit the porch.”
“Right. As soon as they go off, we run and kill them.”
“Got it. Kiss again?”
Bev kissed her. “Ready now?”
“Yes,” Yvette agreed with a nod and a bite of her lip.
“Go.”
They both went out the door, grenades in hand, pins pulled. Yvette tossed first, underhand, and the grenade landed near the middle of the porch past the door. Bev threw hers like a baseball pitcher. It sailed through both doors and landed out past the stairs.
They ducked back in the room and covered their ears.
The concussion was unbelievable. Glass blew out from windows while cups and plates in the kitchen shattered. Pictures were blown off the wall.
“Leo’s going to be so pissed,” Bev said as she unstrapped the Uzi, clicked off the safety, and ran for the patio.
Two men were on the patio. She fired into their writhing bodies without hesitation. Then she ran down the stairs. Yvette fired from behind her with a Glock in each hand, and a glance back told Bev that she had missed one hiding in the kitchen. Yvette hadn’t.
Down the stairs, she found three dazed men behind one of three pickup trucks. She opened fire, catching all three in her spray of bullets. Then she ducked down, searching for any more.
“Bev! Yvette! Hold your fire! We’re coming up!” a male voice that sounded like Hugo’s shouted at them.
Then they were there, coming up from around the trucks: eight of them, with smiles and guns. Yvette stood up and waved, and Bev propped the Uzi against her shoulder to point it at the sky.
Big Marty came up to her while taking off his jacket. He draped it around her shoulders as Preston did the same for Yvette.
“Nice shooting,” Marty told her.
“That’s not what Leo’s going to say when he sees his house,” Bev told him.
“Bad?”
“Five inside, two on the porch, three out here: What do you think?”
“Five out here,” Preston corrected. He gestured at a van on the side of the house. “I got two of them before you used those damn grenades.”
“Well, if the fridge isn’t full of holes, there’s beers in there, and food if you’re hungry. Yvette and I were in the bath, so we’ll go get dressed now.”
“Think the cops will come?” Yvette asked.
“Those flashbangs might have alerted someone, but I doubt it. The closest house is Bev’s,” Marty said.
“We’ll know by the time we finish a beer,” Preston said. “Until then, don’t touch anything.”
Nods and grunts of agreement came from the group.
Just as they were reaching the main door, Bev heard someone say, “Yeah, but they sure were sexy wearing those guns.”
Bev went upstairs and got her phone. She took it downstairs and into the guest room with Yvette. “Still there, Danny?”
“Yes. I’m glad you are as well.”
“There were twelve altogether: three pickup trucks and a van for transport. The sheriffs don’t seem to be on the way. Clean up?”
“Easy Bev, easy. You two lay down for a bit, collect yourselves, and I’ll call Preston about the cleanup. Alright? Just take it easy for a bit.”
“I’m alright, Danny,” she said stubbornly, but then she saw that Yvette was shaking like a leaf. “Well, actually, maybe I’m not all that good. We’ll do like you said. Let the boys know we need a nap.”
“Good. Talk to you soon.”
To Bev’s amazement, she falls asleep with Yvette in only a few minutes. She woke to a gentle rapping on the door.
“Yes?”
“It’s Kim. Can I come in?”
“Um,” Bev says untangling herself from Yvette, “yeah, sure.”
Yvette was still asleep even after all of that, so Bev shushed Kim when she opened the door. “Come on in. I need to get dressed.”
“I heard all about the naked Valkyries blowing holes in everything on the way in,” Kim said quietly with a grin.
“Yeah, well, we were in the bath, and…”
“Right, what’s a girl to do when a bunch of assholes interrupt her bath? That’s just rude,” Kim agreed. Then she rubbed Yvette’s thigh. “Poor thing is exhausted. Adrenaline rushes will do that to you.”
Bev put on jeans and a t-shirt, and she nixed the idea of shoes right now. “How is the cleanup?”
“The bodies are already gone. I’m here with six other sisters taking care of the blood and broken things, sweeping up the debris. Did you fire through the stairwell wall?”
“Yeah, from the bathtub,” Bev agreed.
“Oh, good thinking. See, I never would have thought of that,” Kim said. “Brent, who’s a good contractor, will come out this afternoon and work on an estimate for sprucing the place back up.”
They left the room, quietly closing the door behind them. Bev asked, “How long have I been out?”
“Three hours, give or take. We’re just about done, but the guys wanted to talk with you if they could,” Kim explained.
The guys were Hugo, Preston, and Angel. Everyone else was either outside or had taken off. She needed to get the names of everyone who showed up and buy something nice for them. She walked into the pool/dining room and found the guys looking down at a collection of wallets, phones, watches, gold jewelry, and other items spread out on the pool table.
“Hey Bev, have you called Leo?” Hugo asked.
“No, and I’m not going to. This first guy who came up, he was specifically looking for Leo, not just anyone in the house. So, these guys were on their own, not from where Leo is at. They just would have waited for him to show up and capped him, right? Leo’s got enough on his mind right now.”
Preston pulled out one of the IDs and slid it over to her. “This guy is Jerome Morales.”
She looked at the picture. “This was that first guy. Morales? As in Ernesto Morales?”
“We’re thinking a brother. His cellphone had Ernesto as a contact,” Angel told her.
“I guess Leo should feel flattered. I mean, twelve men?” Bev chuckled.
“Serious hardware, too,” Angel told her. “We have it all laid out for you on Leo’s bed upstairs. Two Uzis, a handful of those flashbangs you seem fond of, and several nice pistols. One has a silencer, which I suggest you get rid of as soon as possible. Those are way too much heat.”
“For me?”
“Spoils of war, Shield Sister. That’s your stuff now. So is all of this. Use what you want, throw the rest away or sell it. But it’s yours. There’s about five grand in cash, too.”
“What about the cost of cleanup?” Bev asks, trying to get her head around this.
“Danny will let you know and work something out,” Hugo told her.
“Why isn’t some of this yours? If you hadn’t come and pulled them out of the house, we would have been overwhelmed pretty quick,” Bev objected.
“We all took a vote. You got ten, Preston got two, and he doesn’t want any of it because if he brings home one more gun, Kim’s going to make him sleep on the couch,” Hugo explained.
“Oh, well, I got nine, really. Yvette got the one hiding in the kitchen,” Bev said. “Well, I want a list of names of everyone who showed up, because they are on my special I love you Christmas list.”
“I got that for you, Bev,” Kim said, and rubbed her back.
“Kim? I think we’re done,” a woman called from upstairs.
“I’ll be back in a minute,” Kim said, and she headed upstairs.
“How are you feeling?” Hugo asked her.
“Good. Why? What’s up?”
“Well, we’ve got that gig tonight, and there’s supposed to be ten of us to pull it off right. On his way home last night, Frankie had a little accident and messed up his leg,” Hugo explained.
“So,” she said, looking from man to man, “you’re a person short.”
Preston nodded. “Yes, and we can’t think of someone with the skills, availability, willingness, and trustworthiness to fill the position in the patch holders, so we were thinking a Shield Sister could help us out.”
“When are we leaving, and is it bring your own gun?”
“Just like that?” Angel asked.
“How long has Leo been working on this? Maybe nothing will go wrong with a man short, but so far, he hasn’t said much to me that didn’t matter.”
“Which is why we’re asking,” Hugo concurred. “Just a little surprised at your willingness to go from one firefight to another danger zone.”
“Yeah,” she agreed, “me too. I need to find someone to watch over Yvette, though. Can’t have her waking up alone.”
“We’re meeting up in the back of the club at eight, so about six hours from now, and yes, it’s BYOG.”
“Is Austin going on this?” she asked.
“Yes,” Preston replied.
“Damn. I guess I’ll ask Kim, then,” she said.
“I’m sure she’ll help out,” Preston said with a smile.
Chapter Thirty Nine
Leo rode in the passenger seat of the Hummer while Nomar drove. Two of Nomar’s lieutenants sat in the back seats. Another Hummer was ahead of them, and one followed behind them. Trucks were already near the site at this point. Leo checked his Jaeger LeCoultre Master combat watch, which retailed at over $10k. It was a few minutes before 10:30pm. Like everyone else, he was wearing black fatigues and laced combat boots. He had two Glock 9mms, one on his side and the other in a shoulder rig. Vigilante border patrol groups and bandits would do well to stay away from Vasquez drug drops, but sometimes they were stupid. Nomar called it natural selection.
All five of Nomar’s lieutenants were on this drug drop, which was highly unusual, and it made Leo a bit nervous.
“Any contact from Gonzalez?” Leo asked.
“Gonzalez? Oh, you have been off, sorry. It is becoming a habit to believe you already know everything,” Nomar said with a smile. “I’ve taken care of the Gonzalez threat already.”
“Oh? Is the solution a secret?” Leo asked.
“From you? Not at all. I kidnapped Kari yesterday, then sent word to Gonzalez that I have her, and if any of my homes or businesses are attacked, I’ll kill her. On top of that, tomorrow she is eighteen, and I will marry her, as she wishes.”
“What was his response?” Leo asked, while a cold spike went through his spine.
“No response yet, which is unusual in these situations. But I’m fairly sure he got the message,” Nomar assured Leo.
“Hmm. Well, if you kill her, it will be all-out war. He’ll strangle your drug supplies and come at you with every resource he can muster,” Leo pointed out idly.
“Agreed,” Nomar said, “which is why this drop is so important. I’ve changed the drop amount to 1000 kilos, instead of 300.”
Part of Leo’s mind was doing the happy dance, because that meant Nomar had put out $18 million in cash for this drop, which he wouldn’t be receiving. Even for Nomar, that was a huge hit, more than Leo could ever have hoped for. Recovery from such a hit would take him years and weaken him enough that other threats might eat him up before he was able to get back on his feet. At this point, Woody and Emma were avenged.
Now, all he had to do was get out of this alive.
Just as they were turning off towards the Jacumba Wilderness Area, Nomar’s cellphone rang.
“Bueno?” he said after tapping the Bluetooth earpiece. He listened for a moment, and then said, “Hold on a moment, please.” Nomar tapped his phone a few times in its holder on the dash and put the phone into speaker mode. “Could you please say that again so that we can all hear it now? English please.”
The caller said, “Um, si. Jerome and elven of his men went out this morning at about nine to take revenge on Leo, but none have come back and I can’t reach any of them. The only answer I got was a woman on Jerome’s phone who said, ‘I’m sorry, Jerome has been disconnected,’ and asked if I would like to leave a message. I thought you should know.”
“Who told Jerome that he could do such a thing?” Nomar inquired.
“He said it was his bloodright,” the caller replied.
“Imbeciles! That whole fucked up family is stupidio!” Nomar snarled.
There was silence on the line.
“If,” Nomar said to the caller, “if Jerome shows his face, you are to take him to the cells and await instructions. Do you understand? He is rogue!”
“Si, I will do so,” the caller said.
“Adios!” Nomar growled, and he disconnected.
After a moment of silence, Leo said in a calm voice, “Jerome and his eleven friends are dead and buried in a common grave somewhere in the middle of a farm field.”
“Si? But you were not there. Not at home,” Nomar said.
“No, but I had guests who were. Jerome came watching for a bear trap, but he got the bear instead,” Leo said with a smile, and he leaned back in his seat.
Nomar’s curiosity was piqued, and he waited for Leo to say more. When Leo remained silent, he finally asked, “How many guests?”
“Two,” Leo said, holding up two fingers.
“Only dos?”
“Yes, only two. Women. They work as a team,” Leo said, laughing inside. It had to be Yvette who had said that Jerome was “disconnected.” It fit her kind of humor. And if she was in the mood to be funny, then Bev was obviously still alive and unharmed.
“These women are that good?” Nomar pressed.
“Better,” Leo agreed with a nod.
“Maybe I should hire them. It seems that my men are lacking real skill.”
“I’ll ask, but after being attacked by your men, they may not be so eager to talk with you,” Leo said.
“They do not know they were my men,” Nomar pointed out.
“Maybe. They will have taken IDs and used resources to find out who they were. If enough signs point to you, they will assume,” Leo explained.
“That would be unfortunate. Will they seek revenge, do you think?” Nomar asked.
“No,” Leo said casually. “They will know it was me that they were after. They had only just arrived, so it would not be them. The worst they will do is to try to convince me to leave your service.”
“Can you be convinced?” Nomar asked.
“Well,” Leo chuckled, “Counter-terrorism is not the only thing they are good at, and as I said, they work as a
team.”
The two lieutenants in back got the joke before Nomar did, but soon they were all laughing.
Nomar told him, “Sounds like I need to give you a raise, and soon.”
“That would put more weight on your side of the argument, yes,” Leo agreed. “But to be fair, I’ll have to enjoy their point of view as well. Just to be fair, of course.”
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