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John whistled from the side door. “We have to go.”
One by one, we slipped outside and made our way toward the outskirts of town. When the chopper lifted off the ground, a heaviness rooted in our chests as we returned home emptyhanded.
Eric
Twenty minutes earlier
“Where?” I cut off one of Castillo’s men who frustrated me with his wordy rundown of exactly what happened. “Just give me the street name!” He said the name, and I pointed for Alejandro to take a hard right. “I see them.” I tucked my phone in my pocket and jumped out of the car before it had even stopped. I raced over to the wreck; the Jeep had slammed into a flower shop. I knew the owner lived in the back of the shop, and he backed away once he saw who he was dealing with.
“Bitch must’ve broken the tape off,” I recognized the voice of the idiot I’d been on the phone with. “She must’ve grabbed the wheel or something, and they slammed right into the wall. She took Manny’s knife, poor shit. She stabbed Carlo, too,” he whined as another of Castillo’s men bobbed his head in agreement.
I bent down and eyed her handiwork. The driver wasn’t wearing his belt, so his head was smashed on impact. He got off lucky. His passenger must have bled out, as his legs were trapped by the crushed dash. A nasty looking jagged knife was in his hand. He must have pulled it out of his jugular himself. Ugly way to go.
I took a quick glance in the back and saw some blood on the seat. I wondered how badly she might be hurt and how much it would slow her down.
“Where’re their guns?”
“I have his.” He pointed to the passenger. “Shit, who knows where Manny’s is. Bet the bitch took it.”
I glanced at the shop owner, who looked like he might shit himself. I reached into my coat pocket and pulled out some cash and handed it to him.
“Which way’d she go?”
“There.” He pointed toward the beach.
“Good.” I smiled. “He’ll,” I pointed to the ass I’d just talked to, “clean this up. Use that cash for the repairs.”
“Thank you,” he repeated a few times as his head bobbed, then he backed inside.
“Deal with this.” The ass looked at me in disgust. Clearly, he thought he was above cleaning up such a mess.
“What about the owner?” He had the balls to question me. I knew he was itching to kill the shop owner just because he’d seen the crash and his face.
“You touch him,” I stuck my finger in the face, “and I’ll use that knife to gut you, and I won’t be as kind as she was.”
“Fuck!” he cursed.
I approached Alejandro, who had stayed behind the wheel. He knew better than to exit the car unless I said otherwise.
“She headed toward the beach. I’m going on foot, and you circle that way. Filippo, you go that way, and we’ll see if we can flush her out.”
“Got it.” Filippo jumped out of the front seat, and Ale tore off in the opposite direction.
I headed down the street and into the area where there were a multitude of alleyways. I would hide there if I was her. I was a big guy, and I’d learned over the years to be light on my feet. I took pride in my ability to track people. You just needed to be able to think like your prey, get into their head. I factored in their panic, fear, and any injuries they might have had and considered where they’d run. I wondered about this one, how she’d play it out. I was willing to bet she wouldn’t make it easy. I stopped and studied the area around me. For most, the beach would mean open water and freedom. It was too easy. I figured she wouldn’t go for the obvious.
I stopped when I heard something, I closed my eyes and listened. Footsteps. I swung my gaze to the side and heard them again, but they were louder and sturdier. No way they’d be hers. She weighed maybe a buck twenty, soaking wet. My phone vibrated in my pocket, and I squinted at the screen.
“Noah,” I answered.
“Mr. Noah, I need you please to come here.” The old guy I paid to be my ears at his shop near the beach spoke quietly.
“Is there a girl with you?”
“Sí.”
“Don’t let her leave. I’m on my way.” I took off in his direction, not caring who might be working the streets tonight. I didn’t call my guys. I wanted to get to her first. The last thing I wanted to do was alert Castillo’s guys. I didn’t need them involved any more than they already were. They’d fucked this whole situation up enough already.
I pumped my arms at my sides as I tore through the streets I knew so well. I took a shortcut and raced through an open beach bar where a sea of bodies pulsed to some crazy new-age music. I knocked over a waitress and pushed aside a drunk guy who had his hands on some young American chick. They were in my way. Fuck me, why did these girls not see that they’re just looking for all kinds of trouble? How many of them needed to go missing before they realized they weren’t safe? It was such easy money for people like me.
