by Melissa Jane
Time had never been our friend.
Danny
Aiden was one lucky bastard. Smart enough to wear his bulletproof vest, stupid enough to get stabbed directly below it. I had Jorge and Aiden next to each other on the van’s tray floor, my medical equipment out and being put to good use. Jorge was beyond my reach of expertise. He would need direct medical attention to repair his severely fucked up knee. The best I could do was dose him up on morphine and watch as he slipped into a painless sleep.
In the front, I could hear Laila and Ethan talking. She had been quiet for most of the trip, still trapped in her grief-stricken daze.
“Danny found a pulse,” Ethan explained again.
Laila swung around in her chair as if to see to believe.
“He’s alive?” She asked, almost afraid that it was joke.
“It’s a faint heartbeat. He’s lost a lot of blood, but I think he will be ok. After we drop Jorge off at the hospital we will take Aiden back to a hotel room where I can monitor him.”
“You’re not taking Aiden to the hospital also?”
I turned to her, swapping hands holding gauze over his seeping wound. “Babe, are you forgetting he killed two policemen. He shows up at the hospital, you will never see him again.”
She nodded in understanding, the worry still etched across her tired but beautiful face.
The gauze was soaking up blood at a rapid pace, the jostling of the van as it navigated the stretch of rough road only causing the knife wound to open more. Aiden’s skin was shiny with sweat, his color a deathly grey. If we didn’t pull to a stop soon there was a very real chance he wouldn’t survive and I just couldn’t risk losing another loved one at the hands of a monster.
***
Ethan had found us a hotel forty-five minutes north of the Nevada desert. Preferably I would have liked something a little further away to ensure we had plenty of distance between us and Juan, but Aiden was not in any type of condition to travel further.
After helping me carry Aiden into the room, Ethan took off in search of the nearest hospital for Jorge. His injuries were just so extensive, his knee cap completely destroyed, it was well beyond the reach of my help.
Inside, laying on the bed with towels underneath him, Aiden began to rouse, his level of coherence low due to the drugs. Laila sat back on the couch and watched nervously as I disinfected his wound and looked at the extent of the internal damage. Whichever asshole had stabbed him, had done a good job. Once it had penetrated the skin, the knife had twisted to the side, causing a fifteen centimeter gash. We were surrounded by bloodied gauze which didn’t do much for our confidence knowing how much he was losing. Snipping the thread after the last stitch, I covered the wound and went in search of where the bullet had struck. If Aiden had woken this morning and decided not to put on a vest, he would certainly have been killed. Pulling the rest of his blood soaked shirt around his neck, I saw the purplish bruise spreading like a disease over his heart. His face didn’t look much better. While he had put up a brutal fight, six against two, he had still taken some decent punches.
Cleaning up the mess, disposing all evidence in a green garbage bag, I turned my attention to Laila. She had been behind me while I attended to Aiden, but now I could see the steady flow of tears running down her pale cheeks. Moving my medical equipment to the sofa, I sat in front of her and cupped her chin, directing her face to the light. Juan had got her good. Too good.
The bastard had taken a knife to her cheek, slicing the blade at least seven centimeters across. It would take a miracle for that to not scar her beautiful face.
“The fucker got you good, didn’t he?”
“It’s nothing compared to Aiden.”
“This is quite deep. I can’t promise that there won’t be any scarring.”
“That was the whole point,” she replied solemnly.
“I’m not sure I am following.”
“Juan wanted to mark me. A scar to serve as a constant reminder that I was his.”
“That guy is so fucked in the head.”
“That’s what I told him and he did this to me.”
She was trying to make light of the situation, but I knew she was struggling with what had happened. Juan’s obsession with her wasn’t just a fleeting one. He would rather see her dead than in the hands of someone else. We all knew it. Laila feared it.
To my surprise she didn’t even flinch as I stabbed her face with an anaesthetic syringe.
“Used to the pain, huh?” I queried.
“You could say that. A needle jab is nothing compared to the beatings I have received.” This time she wasn’t trying to make light of the situation. There was a grim darkness that hung over her words. She had been so poorly treated by the Florez family, beaten, raped, tortured and still she came out alive.
“I really don’t know how you are not going to be fucked in the head after all of this.”
“I don’t know.” She shrugged her shoulders. “I guess I have a good filter.”
“Even so.”
Threading the needle, I inched closer to her battered face. As well as the gash across her cheek, Laila also had an inflamed split lip and bruised chin. Juan had dealt her a nasty blow.
“I guess we are all fucked up in some way.” The words just fell from my mouth before I had time to think it through.
“Even you?” She asked with innocent curiosity.
“Sure. Even me.”
“Your time as a marine?”
I nodded, but said nothing. How could I tell Laila that the last woman I tried to protect was brutally killed while I stood and watched? That wouldn’t instil much confidence in her.
“Don’t worry,” I said, hoping to steer the topic away from me. It hurt too much to think of Anna, “There is a force out there that just won’t allow him to win, I’m sure of it.”
“I didn’t know you were religious, Danny?”
“Baby girl, I have seen too much shit in this world to ever be religious.”
Danny
That night while the three were sound asleep, I kept watch on the porch. The night was fresh, the sky clear with shining stars. Even with all the beauty around me I was still plagued by my dreaded thoughts. If only I had taken the shot and killed Juan, we would not be still on the run. I had allowed my own personal fear to set in and take control of my body and mind, with the realization that Laila could have ended up dead like Tomas. Between my self-reprimanding, Laila’s words were playing around in my head.
Juan had gotten to her. Just like Nicolas had with Anna. The look on Laila’s face when she told me that Juan would come back for her, that he had said he would watch every move she made and that she believed him was the very same look Anna had given me when the knife blade pressed against her skin. She knew that Nicolas would never let her go. He had already claimed her; was already obsessed with her. And in the end, killed. I had to stop Juan from doing the same to Laila. History just couldn’t risk repeating itself in this situation.
Dialling Angelo’s number, I moved away from the motel. I knew he would still be awake. The man barely ever slept.
“You’re still alive!” I heard him say above the thudding sound of the club’s music.
“Why do you sound surprised?”
“When you know all the underground bastards that roam this god-forsaken earth, each fucking day you stay alive is a blessing and you are no exception with the cunts you’re dealing with.”
“They’re the reason I’m calling.”
“I didn’t think it would be to say hello. What do you want now?”
“I need you to trace the calls made within the Florez mansion.” I knew I was asking a lot. This man owed me nothing, but I was counting on the value of our friendship to get us across the line.
“Fuck me! If you want me fucking dead already just chuck me to the fucking wolves already!”
“I know you can do this Angelo and you don’t have to worry about retribution. In a few days’ time, the Florez f
amily will be dead.”
***
Exactly three days after the almost tragedy in the desert, we were back in the car heading across the border. Aiden had been adamant that despite his injuries he would be more that capable of taking down the people he once considered family. Laila on the other hand, was not so convinced. During a practice shooting lesson she was given by Aiden as another means of protection, she had quietly encouraged me to talk him out of it.
Knowing full well he wouldn’t take any shit from me, we were now on our way to settle a score. To bring down the very people who were set on destroying us all.
That night Hector and Juan Florez were holding their monthly dinner with an exclusive guest list of past, present and future buyers. Girls would be paraded and bids held later that night. It was perfect timing to take out all who were involved in the trafficking ring.
The trip back to my house across the Mexican border was a silent one. While Aiden and I contemplated our next move, the siblings grew more fearful of what we planned to do.
Once there, I collected a few items and restocked my ammo. Laila and Aiden disappeared for quite some time as they made amends for all the wrongs.
When it came time to make a move, the sky was rapidly losing the last of its vibrant colors. We bid our farewells to the nervous pair and soon we were heading straight to the Florez mansion.
There was no denying the strange sense of de ja vu we both were experiencing. Somehow it felt like we were driving back to Nicolas’s mansion, ready for the battle that would forever change us. I only hoped this battle would have a better outcome than the last.
Danny
Perched up against the security wall surrounding the eastern side of the mansion, the car beneath our feet, we waited until our targets came into view. We were simply knocking out the perimeter security before we advanced, taking out everyone on the inside.
“Game on,” I said, lining up my first kill for the night.
As the guard rounded the corner of the servant’s entry, a cigarette hanging from his lips, I squeezed the trigger, a bullet going cleanly through his temple.
“Smooth, brother. You haven’t lost your touch,” Aiden smirked.
I looked at him through the darkness, suddenly overcome with guilt.
“I would have shot him, Aiden. I would have shot Juan that day in the desert if it wasn’t for –”
“— You don’t need to explain. It was a risk you weren’t willing to take. I get that.”
“He was using Laila as a human shield. It wouldn’t have been a clean shot.”
No one more than Aiden knew that if I ever took an innocent human life again, it would absolutely destroy me. It came so close last time, so close I could still taste its foulness in my mouth.
***
We had made it inside after only a few more kills. Aiden shut down the security system with the default code only he knew. While he navigated the middle floor, I made my way through to the ballroom where I knew the party would be taking place. According to the map, the room was in a Hexagonal shape with four doors.
Knowing that security wouldn’t be expecting anyone, I rounded the corner of the hall where the main entry was. With my Glock already pointed, finger itching on the trigger, I targeted two nonchalant looking guards. Their bored eyes widened in horror as they absorbed what was about to happen. Before they could even wriggle their fingers into motion both went down with a silent bullet each to the head. Their huge frames slumped against the walls, leaving a thick trail of gooey blood.
Dropping my pack, I squatted on the ground and unwrapped some plastic explosives. Sticking three globs around the doorframe, I lit each fuse and then took cover behind the wall.
“Three, two, one,” I mouthed, blocking my ears in time, before the massive blast. The ground shook beneath me, plaster dust falling like snow from the roof, debris billowing down the hall. What followed was a series of cries and wails as the guests within the room scattered for survival.
Ready to make my next move, Aiden’s particularly worried tone came through my earpiece. “Danny!”
“What is it?”
“Laila, is here.”
“What? How?” Surely he was confused. We had left them back at my place.
“I don’t fucking know, but she’s here. Hector has taken her through the east wing door that links to the study. I am heading down there now. Are you right to take on the rest?”
“On it.”
“Stick to the original time. I will see you soon.”
“Fuck the original time. If you’re not at the spot in twenty, I am coming for you.”
“Got it. Out.”
***
All the lights except a small floor lamp had been blown apart, leaving the room in a reckless state of abandon. Dust filtering through the air added that extra difficulty in seeing. There was chaos everywhere, the explosives having worked better than I thought. Men and women in formal attire and once sparkling jewels attempted to pick themselves off the ground. It was hard to believe that women also played a part in this debauched world of trading girls, which in my mind made them equal targets.
Then there were the ones dressed in lingerie. Aiden had warned me about them, to spare their lives for they are the innocent. Some were only here because they were convinced it was a better life. It was only once they entered that sickening and volatile world did they dream of a chance to escape.
In all the commotion no one even noticed my presence, but they soon would. Lining up my first target, his back to me, the poor bastard was none the wiser that his life was about to end. He fell face first to the floor, a neat bullet hole to the back of the head. A scream sounded from behind me and I turned to see a middle aged women dripping in jewels, with a shaking hand over her mouth. It almost didn’t seem right. I hated the thought that I could be wrong with my better judgement. But they were all criminals of the sickest degree. With a look of remorse I shot her in the chest, a small blood stain blossoming on her silk gown. Around me I could hear movement, as those who witnessed the first two killings scrambled from the floor in an attempt to escape their fate. In their hurry they stumbled and fell over each other, effectively achieving nothing at all. Starting from the left, I worked my way across watching each one fall like a domino piece until the room fell silent.
I wasn’t proud of the final tally. In truth, I hated to kill. Anna had inadvertently turned something I was deeply passionate about, protecting others, into something that I despised. Unless I was healing, I wanted nothing to do with people. But now, I felt like what I was doing was for the best. These men and women who came from afar with their disgusting desires to buy girls for their own sick sexual pleasures, which ultimately ended in the girls’ deaths, was just too much of an abhorrent notion to not act on.
Two yards away I saw something move in my peripheral. Snapping around, my Glock ready, I watched as a young women dressed in tiny pieces of black lace lingerie looked at me, her frightened eyes wide, her slender body trembling all over.
Lowering my weapon, I knew she was one of the innocents Aiden had mentioned. With long dark hair and tanned skin, she looked a lot like Anna, only a few facial differences setting them apart. She was bleeding from the right arm, her other hand nursing the wound.
“What’s your name?” I asked, gently.
She ignored me, her fear obvious.
“Come on, I’m here to help. What is your name?”
“Sofia,” she said with a heavy accent.
“Sofia, I am a friend of Aiden’s.” I noted her body visibly relax as soon as I said his name. Aiden had told me about Sofia. She had become a victim of Hector’s from the age of eighteen, after members of her family had unwillingly became involved with the drug ring. She had been a slave to the Florez household for many years and now hopefully, she would be able to walk free.
“Is Aiden still alive?” she asked, trepidation in her voice.
“Yes, he is, but I need you to do something for me.” Sofia
gave a short nod. “I need you to stay here in this very room, until the area outside is safe. Ok?”
She nodded again and I gave her one last reassuring look. Leaving her alone amongst the dead bodies wasn’t ideal, but my choices were limited in terms of safe zones.
Gun shots sounded from a few floors up, my heart rate spiking, fearing the worst. Bolting through the west wing door that would lead to the stairs, I was confronted by the fist of one hulk of a man. A set of ruthless knuckles smashed into my jaw sending me off kilter.
“Who the fuck are you?” He snarled. The man was bald with a thick tattoo of a snake wrapped around his neck, blood seeping from the corner of his eye. Judging by the white dust settled on his shoulders, he had been close when the explosion went off.
“It wouldn’t change things of I told you,” I couldn’t help but smirk. I knew exactly who he was. Aiden had spent quite some time going into details of the characters I might run into within these walls.
“Fucking smartass,” he snapped, angry I wasn’t playing ball. His hand raised, a Glock now pointed only inches from my face.
“Carlos, that’s no way to treat a stranger!” He was about to fire back another witless retort when my arm swung up connecting with his, knocking his weapon against the hallway wall before it fell to the ground. His face was a mix of anger and bewilderment, but I didn’t have time to deal with the dumbass. Kneeing him in his thick gut, he barely flinched. Instead I wrapped both hands behind his head until it came in contact with my knee. Releasing him, he stumbled back before collapsing on the ground, his eyelids fluttering with unconsciousness. Knowing he deserved more than an easy way out, I shot two bullets, one for each of his shins. Carlos released an almighty bellow, his level of pain evident.
I repositioned my Glock just as his red pleading eyes met mine. “Now Carlos, I wouldn’t normally do this, but you have placed me in a very uncomfortable situation,” I sighed for effect, “You see, I just can’t walk away. It only seems right. I’m doing it for Laila.” And just as I said her name, the pleading in his eyes turned to that of pure, unadulterated hate.