“Need to work on that shit,” James mumbled. “Especially if I’m gonna keep traveling south of the border.”
The men had managed to stop shooting and shouting at this point. They’d all piled out of their trucks and crouched at the sides of the vehicles.
The bounty hunter chuckled. He understood their instincts. The vehicles at least provided cover, but if he were using any sort of rocket launcher or RPG launcher, he would have made short work of them.
It was their lucky day.
“Who are you?” James shouted in Spanish. He had confidence in that phrase, at least. Well, that, and “Please tell me where the bathroom is,” along with, “I’d like a beer, please.” James only barely resisted shouting that he would like a cerveza.
The men murmured quietly amongst themselves, but he couldn’t make their words out at this distance.
He’d give the men credit for not blindly charging forward. Even though he was hoping to salvage the situation without killing a bunch of them, they didn’t know that. It would have been gloriously brave—if stupid—to charge forward blazing away.
Their caution helped with the bounty hunter’s plan. If the men feared for their lives, he might be able to convince them to stand down.
James surveyed the area again, taking note of the exact path he’d have to take to close on them while still maintaining cover. Once he reached ass-kicking range, he could finish this with only a few broken bones.
He cracked his knuckles. It was time for him to move.
Shay’s heart thundered as she made her way back through the cave. She skidded to a halt at the sight of skeletons, her eyes flashing open.
“Yeah, that’s right. Fucking traps.” She sighed and reactivated the filters on her goggles. Rushing out of the cave without being careful would end with her dead and James wondering just how stupid she was.
The field archaeologist took careful technology-aided steps back toward the entrance to the cave, fear creeping into her heart. The initial burst of gunfire had been replaced by stony silence.
Her stomach tightened. Brownstone could already be dead or bleeding out. From what she’d seen he wasn’t wearing his creepy necklace, which meant he probably wasn’t bulletproof this time. That necklace was the only way she could explain how he’d taken a load of buckshot to the chest and not even flinched. She was still afraid to ask him about it.
She took careful step after careful step. The illumination from the sunlight grew brighter as Shay’s mind raced.
They were in the middle of fucking nowhere, and they only had basic first-aid supplies. There was no way she could save Brownstone’s life if he’d been seriously injured.
“Damn it, Brownstone,” the woman muttered. “If you’re dead, I’ll travel to the afterlife and fucking kill you again for being such a monumental dumbass.”
Shay finally cleared the cave, and she pushed up her goggles. She darted forward, gun in hand, to deliver some sweet, sweet vengeance.
Except, she had no reason to shoot.
She blinked as her eyes adjusted to the sunlight. She couldn’t believe what she saw in front of her. She’d been expecting a dying bounty hunter, but instead there were more than a dozen men kneeling on the ground, their fingers laced behind their heads and their faces pale from fear.
The men murmured quietly to themselves in Spanish about the Granite Devil-Ghost.
Brownstone stood next to a man with the most magnificent mustache Shay’d ever seen outside of an Old West saloon, gesticulating wildly to his phone.
“What the fuck?” Shay muttered. She kept her gun up as her gaze cut between the kneeling men and Brownstone and the other man.
“Me hunt death man,” Brownstone was saying in mangled Spanish.
The tomb raider winced. Brownstone’s Spanish sucked worse than his fashion sense.
The other man shook his head and responded in Spanish. “You don’t want to go after this man, Granite Devil. He is a god of death. Even Santa Muerte might bend her knee to Sombra.”
“This man monster,” James was pointing at the phone, then jerked a finger to himself. “I stop. Save people.”
Shay groaned and stomped forward, holstering her weapon. “Jesus, Brownstone. You’re fucking killing me with your toddler Spanish!”
The two men looked at her, and Brownstone’s conversation partner paled.
He crossed himself. “Santa Muerte, I’m sorry. I did not know Brownstone was your servant.”
She stared at him for a second, wondering what the fuck was going through the man’s head, then chuckled. She could only imagine what she looked like. She was covered in dust and scratches, her weird goggles were sticking out from her head, and the Green Dragon Crescent Blade was strapped to her back.
“I’m not Santa Muerte,” Shay told him in Spanish. She nodded toward Brownstone. “I’m with him.”
He looked back at Brownstone, then returned his attention to Shay. “I don’t know if that makes me feel better,” the man admitted.
Brownstone tapped his phone, then looked at Shay. “I just want him to confirm the area where the fucking necromancer is.”
Shay relayed the comment in perfect Spanish.
The other man sighed and shook his head. He pointed to a spot on the map displayed on Brownstone’s phone and looked at Brownstone. “Sombra kills by touch, then violates the dead by making them walk. Even you can’t win.”
“Motherfucking zombies,” Shay muttered, putting her hand on her pistol.
Brownstone nodded to the man. “Thanks,” he offered, this time in English. He waved toward the Forerunner. “I see you got what you needed, so let’s get going.”
Shay gestured to the gathered men. “And what about these guys? You gonna let them live?”
He turned to the man next to him. “Yeah. They understand the error of their ways now.” Brownstone slapped his conversation partner on the shoulder, and the man winced. “Carlos here has a satellite phone. He’ll call for a pick up, but we’ll be long gone.”
Shay cocked her head. “Who the hell are these guys?”
“Local militia,” Brownstone replied. “Apparently they thought we were drug runners.” He grinned. “Mistakes happen.”
Shay shook her head as she waved a hand at the men and headed towards the Forerunner. “It’s always fun with you, Brownstone.”
17
“That’s fucking stupid, Brownstone,” Shay said a few minutes later as they drove away from the cave. “Really stupid. Think it through at least once.”
“It’s not stupid. It makes sense. We’re close to the necromancer. It’s not a big detour.”
“Ok, think it through…twice.”
“I have. What’s your problem again? Before you didn’t seem to mind the idea.”
Shay grimaced. “Before I didn’t have a magical ancient Chinese weapon in my vehicle.” Shay snorted. “I thought I was just going to get a map or clues to somewhere else, but now I’ve got the damn thing and I don’t want to lose it.”
Brownstone laughed, waving a hand at the cacti they were passing. “We’re in the middle of nowhere, and I’m saying we should go to necromancer territory. It’s not like some kid’s gonna come and steal it from a parking lot. It’ll probably be safer sitting with you than it’d be back in Cabo.”
“You don’t know that,” Shay said. “I would have thought those caves would be safe. Well, the outside at least. Did you expect two truckloads of guys with guns to show up?”
The bounty hunter shrugged. “Kind of.”
Shay blinked and glanced over at him. “’Kind of?’”
“Look, trouble follows me around. Maybe I didn’t expect those exact guys, but I did kind of wonder if someone might show up. Shit, for all I know, the Brujos Rojos might have guys keeping an eye out for me throughout Latin America.”
“Did anyone ever tell you that you have a big ego, Brownstone?”
“Yeah, you’ve told me that several times.”
“Massive ego?�
� she clarified.
“Yeah, still you, many times,” he retorted.
The rough terrain made the Forerunner shake and Shay eased off the gas.
“You don’t know if you’ll be able to find this guy quickly,” she argued, “and do you really want to take him on his home turf when you might get caught out at night?”
“We’ve still got daylight, and based on what Carlos told me, this guy is pretty close.” Brownstone shook his head. “Why waste a bunch of time driving back to Cabo and coming back the next day? You did your job, now let me do mine.”
Shay rolled her eyes. “You’re serious? You can’t wait one day? Plus, we should be securing the Green Dragon Crescent Blade. That was the main reason we both came here, remember? You’re getting some special crap from Smite-Williams and all that. I don’t like the idea of putting the deal at risk because you’re all gung ho about going after this necromancer.”
“If I wait, there’s too much risk of Sombra hearing that I’m coming.”
“How? It’s not like the guy hangs out around a lot of people.” She clarified, “Who are still breathing.”
“Carlos and his men might say something to someone, and it might leak to Sombra. I should do this now, when he won’t be expecting me.”
“Fine. Whatever. Is this about you making those guys all but wet themselves back there? You believing your own hype about how you’re a devil? That shit shouldn’t go to your head.”
The bounty hunter chuckled. “It doesn’t, and it’s good that they’re spreading my rep. Killing is messy, Shay, and I’d rather people be afraid of me when they know I’m after them. It makes things easier and simpler.”
“This Sombra isn’t some militia-guy with a twenty-year-old rifle. He’s got his own rep, and I don’t think he’s gonna give much of a shit about yours.”
Brownstone looked at her and nodded. “Yeah, I know.”
Shay watched the road, blinking twice before asking, “You know?”
“I care about my rep for easier guys. As for this guy…” He shrugged. “Wasn’t planning on announcing myself.” He grunted. “You should be happy. I’m taking this guy seriously. More seriously than I’ve taken any bounty in a long time.”
Shay groaned. “All the more reason to wait.”
“Nope. All the more reason to take him out right away.”
Shay slammed a hand on the steering wheel. “Damn it, Brownstone. Could you be any more stubborn?”
A huge grin broke out on the bounty hunter’s face. “Yes. Way more.”
She huffed. “If we get ambushed and I lose the artifact, I’m telling Smite-Williams it’s your fault and making you pay me for the job. And that’s assuming I’m not killed.”
“And if you’re killed?”
“Then I’m haunting your ass.”
James pursed his lips. “Fair enough.”
With all the Oriceran shit around, she might just be able to do that.
An hour later, they’d reached the area indicated by the militia leader. Shay kept her mouth shut, though James could practically feel the irritation radiating off her.
He didn’t want to keep fighting about going after the guy so quickly, but he also didn’t want to waste another day. From what he’d read and been told, Sombra killed as often as he could. The guy was a monster, and he needed to be taken down.
Shay might scoff at him for it, but James also suspected that if he made too much noise announcing himself, Sombra might decide to relocate. He couldn’t take a chance on losing the guy when he had good information on his location. Early in his career, he’d had trouble landing a level-one bounty because of something similar.
James thought about his career as the Forerunner rumbled along. He didn’t much bother with anything below a three anymore. It wasn’t out of arrogance, but more because he only had so many hours in the day and wasting them going after bounties that other people could take down meant he was leaving more dangerous men free to threaten innocent people.
Huh. Maybe that is arrogance. I don’t know.
Despite what his current partner might think, James didn’t believe he was unbeatable. He just adjusted his tactics to the relative threat level. King Pyro might have presented more of a challenge if the criminal had been a little smarter.
A sick grin appeared on his face. He didn’t regret beating the shit out of that guy. The bastard’d had it coming even before he’d threatened everyone the bounty hunter loved, but the gloves had metaphorically come off when he’d done that.
“I don’t even want to ask,” Shay began, “but what are you smiling about?”
“Just thinking about assholes getting what they deserve.”
Shay smirked. “Be careful, Brownstone. Everybody’s an asshole from someone’s perspective.”
“Sure. I’m sure someday I’ll get what I deserve, but today it’s going to be the necromancer.”
For all James’ concern about fair play, he didn’t give two shits about trying to restrain himself with Sombra. A level-five bounty dangerous enough to warrant a military bombing meant that the bounty hunter didn’t have to hold back. For the first time since coming to Mexico, he wondered if he’d made a mistake not bringing the necklace.
James looked down at his phone. “This should be it. Slow down.” He gestured out the window to the right. “That’s the path Carlos was talking about.”
Shay frowned and slowed the Forerunner to a halt. When the car stopped, she looked at him. “Are you absolutely sure about this?”
“Why are you so freaked?”
“I don’t know… Maybe almost getting blown up by a dragon rocket today has made me skittish or some shit. I just feel like you’re not taking this guy seriously, despite what you’ve said. Have you looked at everything they say he can do? You being tough might not be enough. This guy literally controls life and death.”
James snorted. “You might be a kick-ass field archaeologist, but I’m the bounty hunter. Let me tell you that half the shit you read about bounties is crap they’ve made up to sound tougher.”
“If he’s only half as tough as they say, that’s still plenty tough.”
“If I don’t bring him in, who will?”
Shay muttered something rude under her breath. “I don’t know, maybe some stubborn Mexican bounty hunter who doesn’t listen when hot chicks give him good advice.”
He looked at her, his eyebrows furrowing. “I’m listening. I just don’t agree.”
The woman took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, a defeated look settling over her face. “I still think this is idiotically reckless. I want to make it real fucking clear, Brownstone, that I’m not coming on this one. This isn’t about revenge or protecting someone. This is just a regular old bounty that you don’t have to take on right now. We should be getting back to town and securing the artifact.”
James shrugged and opened the door. “I can get back to town on my own.”
The tomb raider rolled her eyes in exasperation. “It’s not exactly a one-mile stroll.”
“I’ll figure something out.” The bounty hunter grinned and stepped out of the vehicle. “Stay, go…whatever. It doesn’t change the fact that Sombra goes down before I go back to town.”
Shay crossed her arms and blew some strands of hair out of her face. “If you don’t find this guy quickly, I’m leaving. I did my job, and I want some damn tacos.” Her stomach audibly rumbled.
James chuckled, waved, and jogged away. If he could take out two trucks filled with men and not even have to kill anyone, he could take on one powerful dead-guy focused asshole.
Shay had been right about one thing. James really didn’t want to take on Sombra at night, so he needed to find the man and finish him soon. Still, he wasn’t very worried.
The more the bounty hunter thought about it, the more he believed that the man’s reputation had been exaggerated. Sombra choosing to live out in the wilderness helped with that. Yes, magic could be a pain in the ass to deal with, but he doubted the
man couldn’t be taken down via good old-fashioned overwhelming force. James hadn’t run into a bounty yet where that hadn’t been true.
Sure, someday some weird-ass Oriceran dragon or something might end up on the bounty list and James would have a little bit more trouble, but when it came to two-legged human threats James was confident he could win, even if he might end up damaged.
Arrogance or confidence? He knew what Shay would say.
James just needed to find the man. As he strode along the barely-there dirt path, he realized he wouldn’t have to put much effort into it.
One crucial fact James had learned through the years as a bounty hunter was that with power came arrogance, King Pyro being a stunning recent example of that.
A man like Sombra, who was living practically as a god and had the military too afraid to take him on, wasn’t going to hide. The bastard probably fed off people’s fear just as he fed off their lifeforce.
Confidence was a strength. Arrogance was a weakness. Hell, James suspected arrogance might get him killed someday. Not today, he hoped, but someday.
No, he wouldn’t have to go looking too hard for Sombra. The asshole necromancer would come to him. If anything, he’d probably already spotted the Forerunner via drone or magic.
Fucking drones.
James glanced around as he jogged farther down the thin dirt path. Signs of recent disturbance were all over. Maybe his bounty had buried mines and he’d underestimated the man’s arrogance, after all. He couldn’t be sure, so he’d do his best to avoid any suspicious-looking dirt piles and stay on the path for as long as he could manage.
Being killed in a fight was one thing. Being blown up by a landmine because he wasn’t being careful would be mortifyingly embarrassing.
The bounty hunter dropped into a crouch as the path faded into the terrain. The density of cacti had increased when the path ended. It was a prickly forest out there.
So, gonna fight with a necromancer in a cactus field that’s probably filled with landmines. Yeah, this is smart. I begin to see your point, Shay.
Rejected By Heaven: An Urban Fantasy Action Adventure (The Unbelievable Mr. Brownstone Book 2) Page 14