“Let’s get out of here,” he said to her huddled form.
She popped her head out from under the sheet. “What? Why?”
“Do you want to stay a slave until you die?”
“No. But I don’t want to go out and get killed running around the quad either.” She threw her sheet back over her head.
He couldn’t believe his ears. “Are you serious? Fine! Stay here. I’m getting out.” He turned to go. “It will be just as dangerous in here as out there.” He stepped to the door. Another explosion shook the building, as if to affirm his words.
Josué cracked the door open. A blurred figure rushed past the single guard standing watch over the slave house. The panicked-looking man shifted from foot to foot, glancing into the air.
As he threw the door open, the guard turned. Josué grabbed his shoulders and used a move Héctor had drilled into him on many a hot summer day. With a roll and a lift of his foot, he launched the guard off his feet and across the room, cringing at the pain from his wounded back. The man landed with a thud against the far wall, sinking to the floor upside-down.
Staggering to his feet, Josué stepped into the quad and almost jumped out of his skin when a cold hand slipped into his. He turned to see Felisa’s adamant eyes stare back into his.
Change your mind? he asked mentally.
She squeezed his hand. He led her out of the building and across the quad to the dining hall.
Despite his burst of confidence, his knees felt weak. The explosions and laze blasts reminded him all too much of the raid on his own family’s manor. Steadying himself against the grey siding of the dining hall, he led Felisa to the far end of the building.
A rocket hurtled through the air over their heads. Another explosion shook the ground. Windows rattled, his chest resonating with the blast. Through the broken glass of the dining hall, he watched flames dance on tables.
At the corner of the building, Josué paused, stealing a look at the front gate. Artillery shells leaped from under the jungle canopy, arching across the open field and landing in an uneven, lazy pattern among the buildings.
A column of soldiers on armored vipers zoomed out of the jungle and over the wall. A blanket of laser fire knocked them from their mounts. Not a single soldier got through.
A rider-less vipers careened into the ground at Josué’s feet. His heart leapt as he ran to what he hoped was another answer. His arms trembled as he reached for the handlebars.
“Come on.” He hesitated only long enough to turn the machine around and steady it. Throwing his leg over the oblong seat, he revved the engine back to life.
“Are you sure you know how to fly these?”
“Just watch!”
Once her arms held his waist, he kicked the viper into action, zooming low and fast.
Wind blew tears to the corners of his eyes as he opened the viper up for all it was worth. He headed straight for the cover of the jungle then up and over the wall.
Freedom! Josué wasn’t sure he hadn’t screamed the word at the top of his lungs.
Chapter 11, Beannie
Hernan Trevino picked his way through the wreckage of what had once been a well-kept manor grounds. He pulled his hood forward and stepped around a boulder, considering the effort of the Dominicci Family against House Omri.
The wall here was broken down in its entirety. Gutted buildings looked out onto the main gate, their blackened frames peering like empty eyes sockets.
Miguel gave Hernan a report on the battle that morning. The Dominicci Family had moved into concealed positions undetected. Their attack had possessed the true element of surprise. The advantage had been short lived, however. Dominicci fighters failed to penetrate beyond the wall and gain the higher ground. Their viper attack had been completely deflected.
Ormand had stopped the artillery attacks quickly, his soldiers storming from hidden tunnels in the jungle. Attack had been met with counter attack. Dominicci, shamefully, hadn’t even known about the tunnels.
Hernan would have thought more from a Grandee. Even Porfirio could have done better. The offensive had died as quickly as it had started.
Guy Dominicci had remained in his manor the entire time. Hernan wondered if the man felt the losses. He had only sent a small portion of his troops.
Hernan shook his head. If only Dominicci had done more!
He stepped around a crater. All is not lost, he reminded himself. Hernan clenched his fist and consoled himself with thoughts of the Syndicate. The Trevino Family can still rise, he told himself. Ormand was at bay in Sonora City. They still had a bite – manor or no manor.
Hernan thought about the last conversation with his son. “It’s a payoff to keep our mouths shut to the rest of the Galaxy,” he had told Porfirio.
“I won’t do it. It’s against my principles,” his son had responded.
“Damn your principles, it’s about your survival,” Hernan had argued.
In the end Porfirio had still refused, not wanting to compromise.
“You risk too much,” Hernan had insisted. “With the price of Trevino wine, our family is endowed – better than any of the other families. Sales are increasing. Your new weapon promises to rocket us past any other family in the Galaxy, payroll or no payroll.”
Now it was all gone and Porfirio with it. Well – not all gone. There was the Syndicate. And there was Josué.
If Porfirio had been willing to count the revenue from the Syndicate, they could have claimed the title Grandee long ago. But, in the end, it had been Porfirio’s cursed principles again.
Hernan shrugged his shoulders and rubbed the corner of his eye. The Syndicate would provide a fresh start for Josué – when he was ready. It was a base of power strong enough for any Family to re-establish itself.
Hernan considered Josué’s circumstances – a slave in Ormand’s camps. He shuddered to think of what it must be like, but knew it was for the best. Ormand needed his illusion of control and Hernan couldn’t protect Josué any other way.
Josué will learn from it, he assured himself. Captivity can do wonders for a man. His own circumstances had taught him that much.
Hernan stopped at the door of Omri manor and looked back. He took in the toppled wall, the watchtower bent over like a broken needle and the cratered pockmarks across the front of the grounds.
The door opened. Hernan entered. A servant led him down the hall toward the back of Omri Manor.
Atlantos met him halfway, dismissing the servant. “This way, Master Trevino, you’ve been expected.”
Hernan nodded and fell into step with the tall, slender man. He considered Atlantos’ full head of wavy black hair and short mustache. The man possessed presence. Hernan hated him, but had to respect him nonetheless. Here walked a man who struck fear into the hearts of every ruling family.
Atlantos led Hernan to an open room with a wall of glass looking out onto the other side of Omri Manor. Hernan scanned the horizon, another testimony to the failed strategy of the Dominicci Family. The walled-in green field and jungle beyond looked pristine. Purple mountains rose beyond bushy heads of palm trees and overgrown vines. Not one crater marred this side of the landscape.
Ormand stood in the far corner of the room, holding an ancient Earth six-shooter in his thick hands. Its unpolished metal contrasted with the green carpet and silver walls. Ormand flipped it open, snapped it closed and spun its barrel. He aimed it out onto the lawn and squeezed the trigger. The mechanism clicked. Ormand spun the barrel again and smiled. He kept his dark eyes averted from Hernan. Atlantos crossed the room to stand opposite his master.
Ormand mumbled something Hernan barely caught – “The kid got away.” The mechanism clicked again.
Hernan took a deep breath. So, that was why he’d been summoned. He steeled his expression and shoved his hands in his pockets. He hoped for Ormand’s sake the boy was still alive. The Omri Family would soon discover the true power of the Syndicate if he wasn’t.
“In Domin
icci’s attack.” Ormand wheeled to face Hernan. His round face and ruffled hair seemed apologetic, though Hernan knew Ormand would never be apologetic. Fear had brought him to this point, fear of what the Syndicate could do.
“We had a guard,” Ormand continued. He turned back to the green lawn and aimed his gun onto the grassy slope. The hammer landed with another dull, blank click.
“They should be out there soon, m’Lord.” Atlantos walked over to the wall of windows and looked down at the green lawn. “Yes, there.” He pointed his long arm down to a group of men huddled in a corner of the wall. Hernan looked into the courtyard and counted ten men.
Ormand put the gun in his belt and stepped to the window. His downturned mouth spread into a wicked grin.
In spite of himself, Hernan’s curiosity drew him to the window. He stepped to where he could see the entire courtyard.
Ormand pressed his forehead against the glass. “Is that all of them?”
“It’s all she can handle for now. Melanion has the others in the dungeon below.” Atlantos turned to Hernan and gave a wry smile. “Captives from the Dominicci’s raid.”
Atlantos turned to Ormand. “Melanion has the camera.” He put his hand in his pocket and leaned his shoulder against the window frame. “Beannie will be here soon. When she smells blood, there is little to stop her.” He had a strangely satisfied grin on his face.
“There she is.” Ormand pointed.
Hernan looked. A creature with the bone collar of a ceratopsid, the body of an elephant and the face and teeth of a raptor lumbered into the enclosure.
“She’s a beauty isn’t she? We captured her on Loreto. She’s one of a kind. Quite a hunter,” Atlantos said.
“You’re in for a treat.” Ormand licked his lips, his eyes never leaving Beannie. He rested his foot against the window.
The beast entered slowly, seemingly disinterested at first. It sat down in the middle of the enclave and opened its mouth with a wide yawn. Wicked teeth glistened white against the grass. A purple tongue flickered out of its beaked mouth.
Dominicci’s men spread along the wall. Hernan could read desperation on their faces.
Beannie stood to her feet, honed in on a man and ran with a quickening gait. The prisoner tried to escape, but the beast was deceivingly fast. Its awesome mass and sharp jaws cut the man in half before it tilted its head back and swallowed him in two bites.
Hernan caught a look of glee in Ormand’s eyes. The grin on Atlantos’ face matched it.
Hernan coughed, shifted his gaze around the room, and hoped he didn’t look sick. Was this an attempt to distract him? Appease him? Frighten him?
He stepped to the door.
“We’ll find him.” Hernan heard as he walked out. “He can’t be far.”
One painful thought occupied Hernan’s mind, Josué is out there, unprotected!
Chapter 12, The City
Lenny loosened the weapon strap on his leg and fidgeted in the darkness of the tall building. He maintained a visual on his target – an attractive woman in her mid-thirties. At the moment, she stood on her balcony and talked lightheartedly on her radiophone.
Lenny yawned and scratched the stubble on his face. He hadn’t even had time for a shower. He smelled his pits then checked himself – he was here to kill her, not ask her out.
Too bad, he thought, she would make a nice date. She was the kind he could really get to know, the type to straighten him out. He stared up at her figure, her clean apartment and her neat, quick movements and wondered if she had anyone in her life.
“Do you see her?” the radio sounded in his ear with the familiar voice of his brother.
Lenny jumped and stepped back into the shadows. “Yes,” he hissed into the mike. “Hey, how do you turn the volume down on these ear pieces?”
“I don’t know. We’ll be done before you have to worry about it. Where is she?”
“Balcony. On the phone. Wait. She just went back inside.” Lenny crouched forward and lifted his binoculars. He could see the top of her head move above the balcony ledge before it disappeared to the lower right. He referred to the map on his scanner. “Looks like she’s gone to the kitchen.”
Lenny stretched to shake the jitters from his arms. They were too deep to be shaken, though. His assignments weren’t usually this good looking. The last one had been a judge – a fat one at that. Lenny hadn’t minded the hit. Judges were usually corrupt and this judge was going to sentence one of the boss’s men.
They had tried the obligatory bribe, but the man had refused. Lenny and his brother turned out to be the only alternative to the justice system. He could understand a job like that. This one didn’t make any sense. What could a woman like this have done to make the list?
Lenny rubbed the sleep from his eyes and checked his binoculars. She had returned to the living room. Her slender back bobbed above the window line. Putting her shoes on, he thought. It was an attractive back, smooth. She wore a thin, pink sweater. Lenny noticed how it highlighted her cheeks when she stood back up.
“Hey, what’s the boss got against this one?” Lenny asked his brother. He needed something to make it go down easier.
“She wrote something in the papers, or something.”
“Or something? It must have been a whole lot of something for her to get on the list.”
“Are you kidding?” Stu’s voice sounded dry. “The boss will kill you if you look at him wrong these days. Haven’t you noticed how busy we’ve been?”
Lenny hadn’t thought about it, but Stu was right. He’d been called out to more hits than usual this past month. He hadn’t minded. It meant more cash.
“Did we do right to join?” Lenny asked.
“You mean to be sicario? Sure, we did right. Wouldn’t you rather be the one doing the killing than the one being killed? Besides, it pays well, and no one will ever bother you again.”
Lenny sighed. Stu was right. Being a member had its privileges. For one, Lenny enjoyed the popularity it brought to his life. He was a somebody now, and though he hadn’t met this woman, he had met more women than before he’d joined.
Lenny saw the door open and close. “She’s on the move.”
“Keep alert. If she comes out your side, follow her until I get there. We’ll do this together.” Stu must have noticed the tremble in Lenny’s voice. Lenny was glad his brother was along. This job was definitely giving him trouble. There was no way he wanted to pull the trigger.
He mounted his viper and brought it to life. It purred, hovering over the ground. Putting his binoculars away, he un-strapped his gun from his leg and slung it over his shoulder before checking the safety.
Giving the throttle some juice, he lurched onto the street. She would be in a covered hover lorry. He tried not to think too much about what he was doing and drove slowly along the side of her building.
When he got to the corner she pulled up beside him. Her hair was shoulder length, blond. He watched her in awed silence as she looked in the mirror and finished a stroke of makeup.
It was early. Lenny didn’t envy the hours she had to keep, though he respected them. If it were up to him he would still be asleep – for several more hours. The charts said this lady left every day at this time. Better her than him.
“She’s out.” He had to work to keep his voice steady. The jitters were in his whole body, now.
The sound of his brother’s viper came from an alley to his left. “Coming your way.”
Lenny looked in his mirror and watched his brother pull up behind her. He slowed and angled to the side of the street. He didn’t want to watch, but as she started to pass, he found he couldn’t keep his eyes away.
He caught sight of her face just before his brother’s blast tore through the back window and smashed her body into the front of the lorry. She had been beautiful.
Stu’s voice interrupted his feeling of nausea. “Let’s get out of here.” His brother’s viper zoomed around the other side of th
e street, paused then cut ahead and down a side street.
Lenny reached in and felt for a pulse. She was dead. He took the photo for their payment. What a waste! He shrugged before pushing his viper into action and cutting down an alley.
Lenny’s whole body shook by now. Sonora City had become a dangerous place.
Book 2
Sonora City
Chapter 1, Anointing
Josué steered the viper over the Omri wall and into the jungle, his tattered tunic flapping in the wind. Laser blasts ripped over his head like screaming raptors.
In spite of the fact neither he nor Felisa looked like a threat, he held his breath through the line of attacking soldiers. A warrior with the insignia of the Dominicci Family blazoned across his chest tracked their progress over the battle trench, blaster raised.
When they were past, Josué turned the viper toward empty jungle and waited for the distance to silence the battle behind them. They flew for what seemed like a lifetime before Felisa’s hand reached in front of him and pointed to a silvery shimmer in the trees.
“There,” she shouted over the whipping wind and viper engine drone. “Aim for the river.”
Josué turned his aching shoulders in its direction. They could find shelter down there, and it would be better than deep jungle. He skidded to a stop on a green patch of grass jutting out over the water.
In spite of the fact he’d turned the engine off and he was lying face down in the grass, the he could still hear a high-pitched whine. It took several breaths more before the noise of the water, the swaying of the trees and the quietness of the night seeped into him.
Turning over, he stared into the night sky. They were free!
What had he just been through? He held up a shaking hand in the fading light. Mud streaks marked the spaces between his fingers like blood. His shoulder jerked involuntarily. Hot sticky trickle burned against his tunic.
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