Chapter 54

EVEN THOUGH IT HAD ONLY BEEN A FEW DAYS, I'D forgotten what a bone-jarring ride it was to the airstrip. The sun is up, the heat heavy. Max has the air conditioner on in the car, but with so many bodies packed together, the humidity makes everything feel damp and dirty.

No one has spoken in the last hour. Culebra and Adelita awoke from their naps, Adelita sliding away from him quickly, embarrassed that she fell asleep on his shoulder. It will be a long time before she trusts a man enough to want to touch him. Even accidentally.

Max drives with purpose. His expression is both serious and eager.

I understand. I have that quiver in my gut that comes with knowing we're about to wrap this up.

"Ten minutes," he announces after what seems an eternity.

I rest my head on the back of the seat. Ten minutes. A good thing and a bad thing because when we're finished here, it means going home to face Stephen.

Or going home to find him gone.

I'm not sure which is worse.

Or which I prefer.

I haven't thought of him in how long?

I'm an idiot.

Max's voice pulls me back. He's looking at his watch. "Anna, we have about thirty minutes before my guys arrive. I don't want to wait to question Luis. I may need your special talents if he suddenly grows a pair and decides he's not ratting on Pablo."

"You expect me to object?"

He laughs. "Hardly. I expect you to exercise restraint."

"You don't let me have any fun."

He clucks his tongue. "From what I saw you do to Ramon, you've had plenty of fun."

"You saw that?"

He drops his voice. "Adelita wouldn't go until she was sure you'd kept your promise."

"But I heard you leave."

"Well, we came back. Adelita insisted."

I think of our conversation. She knew what I'd done to Ramon. She watched. "Was she upset?" I ask quietly.

"No. And we didn't stay to see it all."

I glance back to Adelita. She's looking out the window, but I wouldn't be surprised to learn she'd been listening. She must feel my eyes on her because she turns her head toward me.

"Did you say something, Anna?" she asks.

My expression says no. I turn back to the front.

Max picks up the conversation. "Culebra, you take Luis into the hangar as soon as we get there. I'll speak with the pilot. It shouldn't take us too long to get the information we need. By that time, the task force should arrive. Then you, Adelita and Luis will be on your way to the border at Tijuana."

The hangar is in sight now. This time the doors are pulled closed. "Where's the plane?" I ask Max.

"Inside the hangar, I imagine," he replies with a touch of sarcasm. "Where else would it be?"

"I thought the plane was supposed to be ready to take off. I don't see the pilot, either."

Max pulls the Explorer to a stop and peers around. "Where is the pilot," he repeats as if to himself.

That quiver in my gut clenches like a closed fist. "Max, something is wrong."

The words still hang in the air when the hangar doors swing open and the pilot steps out. He motions to us to drive forward. He's smiling.

"See," Max says, putting the Explorer in gear. "There's nothing to worry about."

His optimism is short-lived. Three black Humvees roar out of the hangar, spitting gunfire in our direction. Bullets slam into the ground around us. Adelita, Culebra and Luis cower down.

Max slams the Explorer to a stop. He starts to put it in reverse, to turn around, but before he can, we are surrounded. Men spill out of the vehicles like circus clowns from a Volkswagen, guns trained on the Explorer. The passenger door of one of the vehicles opens and a man jumps to the ground. We hear Luis shout a greeting from the back.

"Pablo. Hermano. Thank god you are here."

Chapter 55

CULEBRA REACHES AROUND AND BACKHANDS LUIS. "Shut it."

But the sight of his brother has revived Luis. He spits at Culebra. "Now we will see who is the coward."

We watch Pablo approach. Unlike his brother, Pablo is lean, tall, dressed in a tan flight suit that emphasizes a runner's build... wide shoulders, narrow hips, long legs. His face is brutally handsome with dark eyes, a straight nose more Greek than Latin and thin lips so unnaturally red, I wonder if he's wearing lip gloss. He carries himself like a soldier though he has no weapon in his hands or at his waist.

The twenty or so goons with him make it unnecessary.

He approaches nonchalantly and motions for Max to roll down his window.

Max glances at me, then does.

"Hola, my friends," Pablo says. "How nice of you to bring my brother back to me." His eyes seek out Culebra's. "And my good friend Tomas, as well? An abundance of riches. Come, get out of the car. My men will take care of it." He glances at a big, gold watch on his left wrist. "I think we don't have much time before we are joined by our DEA colleagues."

A rush of air escapes Max's lips. Pablo has already opened his door and stepped back.

I send a frantic message to Culebra. Should I make a run for it?

Culebra is looking at the guards standing with pointed rifles at the car. Too much firepower, Anna, even for you. Best wait for a better opportunity.

Pablo has sent one of his men to the back of the car to open the hatch. He helps Luis out and uses his own handcuff key to release his hands. Luis rubs his wrists and joins his brother.

They embrace, then Pablo holds him at arms length and examines his face, the bandage around his thigh. "¿Quien te hizo esto?"

"El cerdo del DEA," he snarls. He jabs a thumb at Adelita. "Y la muchacha."

Pablo raises an eyebrow and looks into the back window at Adelita. "¿La muchacha? Una gata salvaje."

"Si. Sera un placer domesticarla."

Adelita listens to the words pass between Luis and his brother, but her face betrays nothing. She's stone-faced, like their words haven't touched her. But I know, too, what they said and I want to let her know that Luis will never get the chance to "tame the wildcat" that bruised and battered his face.

I'll kill him first.

Luis has opened Adelita's door and he pulls her from the car by her arm. I jump out. A guard puts out a hand to grab me, but I push him away. I hear him ready his rifle to fire, but I'm at Adelita's side before he can take aim.

Pablo holds up a hand to stay the guard. He examines me the way he examined his brother a moment before. "And who are you?"

"I am her friend. Your pig of a brother better take his hand off her or I'll break it off at the wrist."

Luis actually drops her arm. He's already had a taste of my strength... and my resolve. I'll bet he's not aware he's rubbing at the wound on his thigh. But that moment passes quickly. "Be careful of this one," he tells Pablo. "She is tougher than she looks."

"Ah. Another wildcat, huh? Maybe we both have our pussies to tame."

They chuckle like two frat boys.

Oh please. Take me somewhere alone. It's just the opportunity I need to...

I'm so busy glaring at Luis, I don't see the blow coming. Pablo's backhand sends me back against the car. Vampire is ready to retaliate, but I restrain her. Better to play the victim until the time is right.

I straighten slowly, swipe at the trickle of blood oozing from the corner of my mouth. Luis is grinning. Adelita gasps and takes my hand.

"It's okay, Adelita," I tell her, silently begging her not to say anything that will alert them to my true nature.

She doesn't. Perhaps she realizes that the odds are too great even for a vampira.

Pablo and Luis stride toward the hangar, leaving us to be brought along by their gunmen. They frisk us in a practiced, efficient manner. Not surprising since they've most likely been trained like Culebra, in a school for soldiers and assassins. They take our weapons and cell phones.

Max positions himself next to me while they herd us toward the hangar. "I know he can't really hurt you, but it looked painful just the same."

I touch the tip of my tongue to the cut on my lip. "It was. What are we going to do? Your guys are walking into a trap."

Max dips his head so his voice won't carry. "If they don't see the plane on the runway, they'll know something's wrong. They'll pull back and wait."

I shake my head. "You can be an asshole, but you're also a pretty smart cop."

That gets a small smile. "That's me. Half asshole, half good cop."

"Any idea how Pablo found out about us?"

One of the guards pokes Max with his rifle. "Silencio. No hablen."

We're almost at the door to the hangar. The Explorer passes us, a soldier at the wheel, and disappears inside.

"Wonder what other surprises the brothers Santiago have for us?" I whisper to Max, earning myself a sharp poke in the back from the same guard.

Didn't have to wait long to find out. She steps forward the moment the hangar doors swing shut.

Maria is all smiles. "Ah. Here you are. We have been waiting."

Luis is standing next to her, his arm around her shoulders. He grins at the disbelief on our faces. "I think you have already met my lover." His tone is smug. "It was a good plan, was it not? Rid ourselves of an old enemy and a troublesome husband."

She puts a hand on his chest. "You are very clever," she says. Her eyes shine with undisguised adulation.

Stupid bitch.

Luis plants a kiss on her cheek, then reaches to a table behind them and picks up a laptop. "Maria just told me. Those security cameras you were so careful to avoid? It did not occur to you that one could monitor the cabin from a distance, did it? As soon as we entered the clearing, we were spotted. Pablo had only to wait for you to return for the plane."

Pablo joins us. He takes Maria's hand and moves her away from his brother. The expression on his face makes my blood pump faster. It is no longer the look of one relieved to welcome his brother back, but the calculating look of a predator closing in for the kill.

He picks up the laptop. "It is true. We monitored your arrival at the cabin. But we monitored something else, as well." He pushes another key on the computer.

Luis' voice fills the room.

"I'll give you everything. Supply routes, operations, dealers in the States. Help me and I'll help you."

Chapter 56

THE COLOR DRAINS FROM LUIS' FACE. "YOU WERE listening?"

"Of course. Ramon was the one paranoid about listening devices. But then he was gone. It was Maria's idea to plant a bug in case Tomas and his friends escaped and returned to the cave. She has been a great help."

Maria now looks at Pablo with the same adoration she'd shown Luis a moment before and Ramon, days before that.

I amend my assessment. Crafty bitch.

Luis is backing away from both of them. "You know I lied, Pablo. I would never betray you. I said what was necessary to get them to bring me here."

"So you knew we had spotted you?"

"Of course."

Pablo steps after Luis, closing the difference between them. "So when you said Maria just told you about the cameras, you were lying."

Luis is caught in his own web. He backtracks. "Well, maybe I didn't know. But I knew you were too smart to let them get away. Tomas, the man who killed Rojan to get back at you? I knew you'd be keeping watch."

"So then you are aware I know the last shipment of hielo is gone."

"I don't know what happened. I think Ramon..."

"Not Ramon." Pablo's tone is ice. "It was your perversion. Tu gusto por las chicas jovenes." He takes a deep breath. "You sent six of your men away to find four little girls who escaped. You left the shipment unguarded."

"But the men ran away. It is them you should blame."

"They came to me. They told me what you had been doing. How business was taking a backseat to pleasure. I didn't want to believe them. Then I got the news about the shipment. I was on my way to see for myself when Maria contacted me. When she told me who Ramon had brought here and why."

Luis turns flashing eyes on Maria. "You told Pablo? Why?"

"Why do you think?" she snaps back. "You and Ramon are weak. You should have taken care of Ramon yourself when you knew he had murdered Rojan. Instead you let him talk you into this ridiculous plan. You left Gabriella and me rotting in that cave." She turns burning eyes to me. "And Ramon left us with that puta. I don't know how she did it, but she tied me up and destroyed the door. If Gabriella hadn't smuggled a cell phone in with us, we'd still be trapped in there."

I feel a smile tickle my mouth. I was right. Good for Gabriella! Bad for us.

Not so good for Luis, either.

Pablo says, "You are my brother. We have taken care of each other all our lives. It saddens me to see what you have become."

But there is no sadness in his face. Pablo's expression is harsh, cruel. His eyes have lost all traces of humanity. They are dead.

Luis sees the change. "I will go away, Pablo," he says, breathless with fear. "I will disappear. You will never hear from me again. I can't hurt you. You know that. Let me go."

Pablo half turns to one of his soldiers and holds out a hand. The man places a revolver in his palm.

"I give you a choice," he tells Luis. "Do the right thing. End it yourself. Or I will do it."

Luis looks at the gun in his brother's outstretched hand. He looks up at Pablo. There is no reprieve there.

I know what is going to happen before it does. Luis is not smart enough to realize that the choice his brother is offering him is no choice at all. He snatches the gun and turns it around on Pablo. The soldier who has come up quietly behind him fires before Luis can pull the trigger.

The bullet enters the back of Luis' shoulder, exits in front, sending bits of collarbone and a spray of blood onto the floor. It's a wound to injure, not kill. Luis topples forward, the gun falling from his hand. Pablo reaches down and picks up the revolver. Luis meets his eyes and he opens his mouth.

Pablo shakes his head. "Ve con dios, hermano."

This time, it's a kill shot.