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The rain soaked our clothes within a matter of seconds, and I scowled at the tiny slipper- things she had on. They barely covered her feet, and the strap looked like it would break off with barely any force. Why couldn’t Filippo have gotten her sneakers or something that had a good sole, at least? They looked like they’d dissolve within a few steps. With a huff, I scooped her up and carried her the rest of the way to the car. Her bloodshot eyes found mine for a moment, then she checked out again. Good. Stay in that mind space.
“Boss?” Alejandro nodded at Filippo, who was being pushed into a car at the front of the line. I just nodded at him to go with it. Then Alejandro was directed to get into the car in front of us. We were being separated. I tapped my head to remind him to stay alert. Then one of Castillo’s men pushed his shoulder to hurry him up, and he disappeared behind the tinted windows of the vehicle. I didn’t like what was happening any more than he did, but I was helpless to do anything about it.
I got Lexi inside and slipped in next to her, only to be hauled back out and told to get in the front. Lexi realized I was being separated from her, and she reached for me in a panic. She managed to get a grip on my sleeve. I yanked my arm away from her and hopped into the front then immediately turned to reassure her I was in the same car. Castillo’s guy grinned at me and put his hand on her leg.
“No,” I snagged his hand and snapped one of his fingers back, “no touching.” The man yelped, but when he went to take a swing at me, I blocked his arm and snapped another finger. “You’ve got eight more. You want to keep fighting?”
“American asshole,” he grunted as the car began to move forward, but he backed off and didn’t so much as look at Lexi after that. She kept her eyes locked on her tightly folded hands in her lap as I sat back in my seat and tried to assess the situation.
We drove out the gates, and soon hit the streets of Rosarito. I watched people going about their daily lives. Not many people looked up as the convoy of black tinted-out vehicles wound through the town. I knew it was in their best interest not to notice these things. Though it was pouring, it hadn’t stopped the locals from opening their shops or food trucks. It didn’t matter what time of day or night, these people lived for the hustle. Wavy tin roofing sheets were tugged out to provide some sort of protection from the rain for the customers as they ate their food.
I watched all this as we drove and wondered what they’d think if they knew that a mere six feet from where they stood there were SUVs full of savage Cartel members and one American worth eight million US dollars.
The creep that nursed his injured fingers stared out the window while his buddy behind me made sure I felt the tip of his rifle as it poked my shoulder. When we went by a streetlamp, I glanced in the mirror and noted his rifle was balanced just on the top of his shoulder. I knew if I was to jam the barrel of the gun backward it would smoke the side of his neck. I moved my attention to the driver. He had his eyes glued to the road as the rain poured harder now. The wipers fought to clear the steady stream that cascaded down the glass.
We slowed for a light. Some areas were totally flooded now. A bunch of drunk kids began to cross in front of us. The girls had on what looked like napkins for dresses, and a few of the guys had their shirts off. The driver made a disgusting comment about the girls’ breasts as the kids took their time and danced along in the rain without a care in the world.
The radio in the driver’s ear suddenly crackled, and I saw him glance back at Lexi then over at me. He turned his head away when he responded, and the sound of the rain made it so I couldn’t hear him.
“You do that again, and I’ll rip your balls off and shove them down your throat,” Lexi hissed. I whirled around to both guys, who looked at her, confused. She latched eyes with me and motioned with them to look at the rooftops ahead of us. I had been so busy with the guys in the car that I hadn’t paid attention to what was going on outside. I didn’t look right away. I didn’t want to be obvious, but when I chanced it, I strained to see any kind of movement. I suddenly caught a glimpse of what she had. We were being followed, but by who? I slowly gave a nod, so she knew I saw them.
“Crazy bitch,” the guy behind me snarled to Lexi.
“You have no idea,” she shot back. Christ, she had balls at the worst of times.
Boom!
A bright fireball lit up our car. The heat seared my skin, and for a split second sucked the air from my lungs.
I blinked and immediately assessed myself then spun around and checked out Lexi. The man behind me shoved his rifle in my face. I smacked my hand against the barrel and forced it toward the driver as he pulled the trigger. Blood sprayed from the driver’s neck all over the windshield. Pandemonium broke loose as Lexi went for the mangled fingers of the man next to her, and he screamed as she squeezed with all her might. I shoved the butt of the rifle that just shot the driver back into the shooter’s face with all my might. I knew how hard it was to aim a rifle inside a car. It was a stupid choice of a weapon.
“Ahh!” the man yelled from the pain in his hand as he tried to grab Lexi by the hair. I drilled my fist into his face, and he went limp.
Shots from the car ahead of us rang out. I knew Alejandro was in that car. We had to move fast. The rain had finally let up, and I was able to get another look at the movement ahead of us.
“Stay low,” I yelled at Lexi, who tried to reach the door handle. Her knee was pressed into the unconscious guy’s face.
“We need to get out of here!” She got the door open and dropped onto the street. I opened the driver’s side door and shoved the guy out and dove over him onto the ground.
Zip! Zip! Zip!
Lexi screamed, and I threw myself on top of her. Bullets pinged around us as I lifted my head to try to figure out where the shots were coming from. A bullet hit the windshield but only cracked the bulletproof glass. I caught a glimpse of the shooter. He was on the right side above us on the roof top. The left side seemed to be clear, at least for the moment. I angled myself behind the door and lifted my weight off Lexi.
“Can you see the shooter? He’s up there.” I pointed, and she nodded and turned to reach for something. She’d snagged a gun from the floor of the SUV, and I eyed her nervously for a moment.
“Here, you take it.” She handed it to me. “See if you can take him out.”
I took careful aim and fired, the guy’s head disappeared, and I didn’t wait to see if I’d hit him. I snagged her hand, and we raced between two buildings.
Shots were being fired everywhere, and we ran blindly away from the vehicles.
“Follow them!” I heard Castillo scream after us.
Lexi’s feet slipped in her ridiculous slippers as she tried to run on the uneven pavement of the alleyway. Luckily, I had practice running in loafers.
“What’s happening?” she cried as I tugged her along. “Who are these people?”
“No fucking clue, but they want us dead.” I nearly picked her up as I dove down another street. Bullets nicked the plaster on the corner just as we flew around it. Lexi yelped and gripped my arm as she tried to keep up. There was an open door up ahead, and I raced us toward it. I didn’t care what was inside and used my body as a shield as we burst through it. An old man was hunched down against a chair. He looked terrified, and his hands shot up in the air, but when he saw Lexi, he relaxed a little. I held my finger to my lips, and he bobbed his head, his eyes wide.
