* * *
I grabbed the keys to the car that Chase had been driving, and hopped behind the wheel. I drove down the driveway, and out onto the road. This was the first time I'd been by myself since all the issues with Carmen had begun. There was an old gas station a few miles down the road that we often drove past, so I headed for that.
I was heady with freedom for finally having some form of control over something, and it felt good.
This was what it would feel like once I got out of here and back to England. I would be able to drive down the road in a car I loved, and hopefully, fingers crossed, have my debt to Luke paid off. I pulled the car into the gas station, and walked inside.
The place was dusty and grimy. I couldn't understand how River managed to keep his house so damn pristine in this climate, as opposed to this run down gas station, with filthy shelving and little stock. A woman stood behind the counter looking bored, reading a magazine.
"Un paquete de Marlboro cigarrillos light, por favor?" I stumbled through my request with my usual crappy Spanish, and handed her some cash, hoping it was enough.
She silently handed me the packet, and watched me as I retreated from the store.
An older Ute pulled in as I reached mine, and the man behind the wheel slowly got out, keeping his eyes fixated on me as I sat down behind the wheel. He stood there watching me as I pulled out, and turned around on the road back towards River's place.
I kept glancing in the rear-vision mirror as I drove down the road, he stood there the whole time watching my car retreat from sight. A shiver ran down me. "Creep," I muttered. I turned on the stereo, and Chase's music started playing.
A few moments later, I noticed that the Ute had sped up behind me. I slowed down, and tried to wave him past, but he was pulling in.
Panic ripped through me. I didn't know this person, and I had heard and witnessed far too much during my stay in Mexico to think he wasn’t after something.
I swallowed, planting my foot on the accelerator, propelling the car forward. My hands felt clammy as they gripped the steering wheel. I kept an eye on the Ute, but before long, he was right up my arse again.
"It’s okay, Mack, it’s okay." I tried to reassure myself, but I was lying. I reached for my phone and dialled Chase.
"Where are you?" he said immediately.
My eyes were almost a permanent fixture on the Ute behind me, and I was only glancing at the road ahead. "Um, I don't know. I'm on the main road."
"For God’s sake, Mack, what the hell are you doing?"
"Well... errr... right now, I'm being followed." Even I heard the tremor in my voice.
There was a pause. "Are you sure?"
"Pretty darn." I took a lungful of air and forced myself to analyse what was happening. "There is a driver in a Ute right up my ass. I tried to pull over to let him pass, but he just pulled in behind me. Now... let’s just say if I put my brakes on he'll be in my back seat."
"Keep driving. DO NOT come back to the house. You hear me?"
I cringed. "Yes?" I looked back in my rear-vision mirror. The driver was on the phone. "Fuck."
"What?"
"He's on the phone, Chase! Jesus Christ. Where should I go?"
"Just keep driving south. I'll track you and catch up." I hung up the call, and threw the phone on the passenger seat.
I watched as the Ute sped up beside me. The driver was leering at me. I swore, and accelerated more, jumping forward. We sped past River's house, and I had no doubt that Chase probably heard us roar by.
Despite Chase's instruction, I almost felt like ripping on the handbrake, and going in the opposite direction towards Tijuana. At least there I could possibly lose this guy in amongst the streets.
But I didn't.
I kept going.
Every now and then, I would pass people who stopped and stared at the two vehicles speeding down the road. Civilisation was getting more and more remote, and soon it was only farm houses that I was passing. I hoped to God that Chase hurried the fuck up, or else I would be driving down to Cabo San Lucas.
The guy was back on his phone. My heart sank. I guessed that he’d recognised me and was yet another psycho that wanted to take my head off.
Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would be in a car chase. A year ago I had been blissfully happy in a relationship with a man I loved, doing a job I loved. Now I didn't really have a job, and a bunch of crazy Mexican’s were out to kill me.
I opened the pack of cigarettes, and lit one. The Ute had dropped back a little. I saw River's big black truck in the distance behind us, and relief flooded me. Help was on the way. "Finally!"
And then the driver was right up behind me again. A part of me felt like I was being herded. "Oh God, what if I am?" I whispered.
And I was. I could see a bunch of cars in the distance acting as a road block. I immediately picked up the phone. "Road block ahead," I said before Chase could even answer with pleasantries.
"Can you slow down?"
"I don't know." I took my foot off the accelerator a bit, but the Ute just got closer. "I'm trying."
"Hang in there. We're not far behind you."
Hang in here? What did he think I was doing? Having a fucking tea-party? "If you're not here in time, what should I do?"
"Drive through. If you see a gap between the cars, aim for it."
"You're not serious?"
"Deadly. Do as I say, Mack, if you want to stay alive."
I hung up and saw River's truck getting closer and closer. They must have been seriously speeding. I clenched my jaw, and against all instincts, I started to slow my car down, forcing the Ute to brake. And then he nudged me. Just. It was enough for me to force the car to leap away from him though. This guy was serious, he meant business.
And if he meant business, then so did I. I reached over, and unclipped the glove box. There wasn't a gun in there. I lifted up the centre console under my elbow, and found a little gun strapped into it. I pulled it out, and fumbled with it while I tried to check if it had any bullets in it. There were a few. Enough if I needed them.
The road block loomed as I drew closer. My heart raced. I couldn't see any gaps between the vehicles. "Fuck!" I pounded the steering wheel as River's truck pulled up behind the Ute.
There were no road exits, not even any leading up to a farmhouse of any sort. I couldn’t drive out onto the fields either due to a nasty, sizable ditch on both sides of the road.
I had to make a snap decision. Either I ploughed on through, with a high chance of severely damaging myself in the process, or I did something I should have already done.
I ripped the handbrake on.
The car spun out of control, but still continued its momentum towards the road block. I wasn't prepared for that. They never did that in the movies.
As I got closer, my eyes focussed on the group of men, all holding guns. I slammed on the brakes as hard as I could, and eventually the car slowed enough for me to gain enough control over it again. I planted my foot to the floor, and saw River and Chase right in front of me.
River was taking aim at the driver of the Ute. He let off a few shots, and the Ute veered off the road and into the ditch. They sped past me, Chase catching my eye to make sure I was all right.
While it was a relief, it wasn't enough. I now knew that no matter what happened, both River and Chase were about to get caught in a gun fight. And it was my fault.
I had to help them.
"This is bloody crazy." I pulled the car around, and drove up behind theirs. Chase pulled the truck broadside to the roadblock, and they both leapt out the other side, using the truck for protection.
Gun-fire cracked through the air. I stopped the car, and released the boot latch. I knew he would have more weaponry in there. I stuck close to the car as I slid to the back and looked in. And he did. I pulled out the sniper case, and quickly put it together. I got on the ground, and aimed under both of our cars at any feet I could see in the blockade. Then I fired. Ama
zingly, there wasn’t much throwback when I fired. No wonder River preferred this method.
I missed a few times before a couple finally met their mark. I didn’t have time to really think about River's instructions about wind factor or elevation or anything even remotely technical like that, I just went with my instincts.
When I ran out of bullets, I leapt to my feet, and threw the gun inside the boot. Then I saw the bag Chase was carrying with him last night nestled in the back corner.
"Holy shit," I muttered as I looked inside. There were a handful of grenades, and two Glocks. I was looking around the side of the boot lid to check on River and Chase when I heard something hit the car. Then I heard another one. A beam of light appeared through the boot lid, and then another. Something sparked on the ground a few feet away, and it eventually dawned on me that I was being fired at.
I ducked in behind the boot again, now fully aware that the boot was not going to stop any bullets coming through. “Stupid, Mack,” I muttered, wiping the sweat from my forehead. “Stupid.” I didn't know if I could run to get the bag to River and Chase without getting shot, but I had to try. I took one of the Glocks out and felt the weight of it in my palm. I ducked my head around the edge of the car again to look for my shooter. It was the bloody driver of the Ute. Somehow, River hadn't killed him, and neither had crashing his car down the ditch.
I swore, braced myself, and let off a bullet it his general direction. The gun in my hand leapt in the air and narrowly missed my head from the throwback. I wasn’t prepared for that. Shooting a hand gun had always looked so simple! Clenching my teeth, I wrapped my other hand around the gun, and braced myself, letting off another couple of rounds in his direction. This time I was mentally prepared for the gun to kick, and it wasn’t quite as bad. I knew my target would be scrambling along the ditch towards his friends at the blockade by now. I saw his arm waving out to someone, and I aimed again. I missed, and the dirt in the ditch flew.
I bit my lip. I now had a clear run towards River and Chase. I got as close as I could, and threw the bag of grenades far enough so that they could reach them.
I could see that Chase was telling me to go, but I was frozen to the spot. River's truck was going to be an absolute mess by the time this was over. So instead, I ran back and got behind the wheel of Chase's car and edged forward. I had to get them out of here.
A blast ripped through the air as River's grenade exploded. My ears were ringing, but I didn't hesitate. Gunfire still sounded loud and clear. Probably wasn't close enough. I threw open the passenger door and yelled to both River and Chase to get in.
It was well and truly time to get out of there. River launched another grenade in the blockade direction, and I stilled waiting for it to go off. But it didn't.
Before I knew it, both River and Chase were in the car, yelling at me to go.
As I turned the car around, River threw another grenade - this time at his truck. I floored it. River’s truck actually lifted off the ground with the blast and was thrown on its side.
"Damn," River yelled.
Chase looked at me. My heart was pounding so hard I thought I might have a heart attack. "That was a little too close!" Chase yelled at River.
I looked in the rear-view mirror. And then I saw another blast rock the blockade.
"Looks like they pulled the pin by accident," River grinned.
* * *
When we reached the house, I was exhausted, and my arm muscles hurt.
I switched the car off, and leant my head back against the rest. "God," I moaned. "How the hell did that happen?"
"Come on," River ordered. "We need to regroup and figure out how to get rid of this car."
Chase gave me a pointed look. "I actually liked this car."
"Sorry," I muttered as I followed them inside. Something inside me froze when I saw Chase's arm bleeding. I ran up to him. "Oh my god, Chase, you're bleeding."
He grunted. "Yeah. Nothing serious."
"He got clipped," River said, giving me a tired smile. "You're damn lucky we were here. Or else I have no doubt we’d be finding your body out there somewhere. Sans head." He poured himself a large a glass of water, and bought it into the dining room.
"I think you better tell us what happened," Chase prompted, as he opened up a medical kit and started laying implements out on the table.
He stripped off his shirt, and stood there cleaning his upper arm with an alcohol swab. I swallowed, not only from the ordeal I’d just put them through, but also because now Chase had been hurt. What made it worse was the lecture he'd given me before I left the house.
I told them about wanting cigarettes, and then how when I left the gas station the Ute guy stood there watching me leave.
"That's when you should have called us," Chase commented. "No. No. In fact - you should have just let one of us go and get your bloody cigarettes for you. Obviously when it comes to you, smoking has more than one way to kill you."
"What the hell were you thinking, Mack?" River huffed. "You could have got us killed. I mean, Chase got shot as it was."
"It's just a graze," Chase muttered.
River shook his head. "I don't care. It could have been a whole lot worse than it was." He pointed his finger at me, and I automatically flinched. "You. You took one of the cars, didn't let us know where you were going, and you didn't even wear a bloody wig."
"River..." Chase warned.
I gritted my teeth together. He was right. It was reckless of me to just go off and do my own thing. And now Chase was hurt. I looked up at him as he was dressing the bullet wound, and stood to help.
"Sit down," River growled. "He's fine."
I did as I was told and looked down at the table.
"So, in future, you'll know that instead of going out on your own, you'll sit tight until one of us can accompany you. You were a sitting duck out there, Mack. You gave us a hell of a scare."
I swallowed. I didn't want to cry in front of these two. I had well and truly fucked up.
"These rules we've placed are for your own protection," Chase said quietly. "Don't break them, or you could get killed. It's as simple as that."
I pursed my lips together. They were mad with me. And I could totally understand why. "I had no idea anything like that would happen," I whispered. I put my head in my hands. "I'm so sorry."
"Mack. It's okay," River said with a sigh. "Shit happens, we get it. The unexpected always happens in our line of work. We're used to it."
I shook my head. "It still doesn't make it right."
"No, but next time you'll know better."
Chase finished bandaging up his arm, and swallowed a couple of painkillers with the remains of River's water. He then leaned on the table. "Now that's sorted—" He nodded at his arm. "—we're going to have to get a new fleet of cars."
River sighed. "Yes. And we need to get rid of yours."
I groaned and looked at Chase. "I'm sorry about your car," I said in a quiet voice.
To my surprise, he laughed. "Don't apologise to me - it's his car that was destroyed."
I looked down at the table. "Sorry about that, too," I added.
Gabe came into the dining room with his laptop, and shook his head at me. "Can't let you out anywhere, can we?"
I gave him a stricken look, not knowing what to say.
He tutted at me and smiled. "Well, you're all still alive, so that's something, isn’t it?" He put his computer down. "So. New cars, yes?"
"Yes," Chase answered.
I wondered how much new cars would cost, and a pit of dread settled within me. "I'll pay for them," I said without thinking.
River laughed. "Darling - you have enough debt on your hands. This is the nature of our work. It's covered."
Gabe looked up at River. "Did you leave anything in the Range Rover?"
"Nothing important," he answered. "My identification stuff in there is for Roderick Brown."
Gabe sighed. "Well, there goes that alias." He pottered around with h
is computer for a few moments while we sat quietly. "So, now we have another problem to add to the growing list... Nicandro is dead from the Ricin poisoning, congrats Chase and Mack... however, I've gone back through the footage from his apartment, and it looks like he finally died last night while we were down in Cabo San Lucas."
"So what's the problem then?" I asked when the others groaned.
"The cameras," Chase answered. "We were meant to get back into the apartment as soon as Nicandro died and retrieve them."
"Can't we do that now?"
Gabe shook his head. "Now the place is crawling with cartel members and police." He sighed. "Actually, someone has already found one of them. I cut the live feed as soon as I could... I just have to hope that they don't have the technology to trace the signal back to us."
"Ah shit," River muttered. "Surely not. They're pretty archaic down here."
Chase shook his head. "Some might be. But remember the cartel employs a crap-load of scientists to build all sorts of advanced methods for trafficking. There is no reason why they can't do the same thing for this." He gestured at the computer, and stood to look out the window, his back to us, hands on his hips.
I didn't have to be an amateur to know that this was a bad situation to be in. My eyes kept flitting towards Chase. He was now rubbing his eyes with frustration as he tried to figure out the next move.
He turned around. "Where are we at with Alicio Mendoza?" he asked River.
River shrugged. "No sign of him at any of the usual cartel spots. Are you sure he crossed the border?"
Chase nodded. "Positive. I followed him over. He's here somewhere."
"We'll find him," Gabe chipped in.
I was pretty sure after hearing all sorts of shit about the man that I didn't want to have anything to do with finding him. "Do I have to tag along or can I have some assassination time out?"
"You'll be with me or Gabe. River's going to keep tracking him. Slippery little prick," he muttered. "Okay. Plan of action. River - work with Gabe to see if you can find any electronic trace of him. La chica—" He pointed his thumb in my direction. "—and I will take the remaining two cars and destroy them. And in the process, we'll acquire two more."
Tijuana Nights (The Nights Series Book 1) Page 12