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Blitz crouched down and felt for a pulse. “Yeah, what a shame,” he said. “He should have suffered more.”
* * *
The gunfire faded into the background as Mari, pulling Carmen with her, ran full out, the instinct of self-preservation spurring her to keep her feet moving. The jungle on this part of the property was thick and overgrown. She lunged through the vegetation without thought, tripping over exposed roots and fallen branches. Brush grabbed her clothing and clawed at her face with stinging fingers.
Sobs of fear caught in her throat and choked her, and she swallowed air in great gulps. Her lungs were burning. They broke out into a clearing and she stopped. Pointing Carmen toward the south, she rasped out, “Run and don’t stop for anything.”
“I’m not leaving you!”
“Yes, you are. Go, now!”
She watched as Carmen took a step back, then, her eyes full of anguish, she turned and ran toward home. Mari heard Santiago crashing through the trees. She ran across the clearing and waited for a moment. When he broke through, his face contorted in rage, he saw her and fired. His aim was wild, and the bullet thunked into the tree near her. She turned and ran away. Her only thought was that Carmen was safe. That was all that mattered.
She would have a life, even if Mari had to give up her own.
She ran hard, even though her limbs felt leaden. She heard Santiago’s loud footsteps as they got closer and closer.
He fired at her several more times, but they missed, until finally the gun clicked. Empty. She could hear his screaming curses.
She didn’t stop or slow. Adrenaline pumped through her, driving her forward.
Something solid and heavy slammed into her back, and the impact sent her forward onto the hard ground. Then he was on her, crushing her to the damp dirt. Shrieking in anger and pain, twisting like mad, she felt a stone beneath her hand, and in a frantic move, she swung it at his head. It collided with a hollow sound, and he grunted, dazed. She pushed him off her, and got up to run, but he caught her foot before she could fully gain her feet. She kicked back at him, and he let her go.
She glanced at him as his lips pulled back against his teeth in a feral snarl. “I’m going to kill you, you little bitch!”
He scrambled up and dove at her, hitting her with the full force of his big body and knocking her down to the ground. The back of her head banged into the earth, blackness swirling around her. His fist slammed against the side of her face, snapping her head to the side, deepening the darkness, the taste of blood in her mouth.
The sky swirled above her, as he pushed her legs apart, reaching between them. She came to when she felt his hands on her jeans. She howled and went for his face, her fingernails clawing at him. He grabbed her around the neck and squeezed, cutting off her air. She beat at his shoulders and fought like a wildcat, but with each moment, she was fading.
Just as the gray edges of unconsciousness beckoned, she was free. She coughed and pushed herself up on her elbow, the sounds of thrashing and fists pounding flesh registering. She saw Buck and Santiago battling on the ground. Buck twisted and threw Santiago off, then quickly got to his feet.
Santiago rose, his eyes narrowed, and she saw him for the street fighter he was. Buck saw it too. Buck waited for Santiago to make his move, then blocked it, driving his fist into his rib cage. Then he spun the bastard, got him into a headlock from behind, and squeezed until the light went out of Santiago’s eyes and he dropped to the ground. She fell back in relief, a weakness stealing over her.
She felt a hand against her jaw. She opened her eyes, her heart contracting when she saw Buck’s concerned face. He was sweaty and dirty, but he was such a sight for sore eyes. His voice was rough and uneven. “I’ve got you, darlin’.”
Professor broke through the tangle, stopping to look at them, then at Santiago on the ground. “I’ve got this dirtbag,” Professor said, zip-tying him and heaving him up on his shoulders. He listened for a moment and said, “Zorro has Carmen. She ran back to the warehouse for help.”
Buck shifted his position, sliding his arms around her, gathering her up to lift her. Hearing that her sister was safe, she broke into tears. Overwhelmed by a mixture of sharp relief and unbearable love, Mari wrapped her arms around his neck, hanging on to him for dear life. She pressed her face against his neck, sobbing.
Feeling as if she was the luckiest woman on the planet, she knew her life was going to change, and with a sigh, she accepted it, knowing that she was right where she wanted to be. In Buck’s arms.
17
Buck paced outside of Mari’s door as Zorro and Sofia gave her a checkup, having the nerve to bar him from her room when all he wanted to do was make sure she was all right. He rubbed his breastbone, his chest tight.
Russ, Kat, Buck, and the team had spent the last four days crushing Nacho’s and Santiago’s Sombre network, dismantling every single cog in the wheel. It had been tough not seeing her, making sure she was okay for those four days, but he had to do his job. Using the laptop intel to take down every stash house, corrupt official, and gang member here in Costa Rica while the DEA worked with officials in Venice, Dublin, Barcelona, and Miami to apprehend the international contacts for the cartel’s cocaine pipeline. There were a massive number of arrests, including tons of confiscated cocaine. As Nacho fell, so did the cartel with a raid in Colombia.
Santiago was in custody, along with his partners in crime from Venice, Barcelona, and Miami. The drug trafficker from Dublin was killed in the raid. They were awaiting sentencing, and Nacho was on his way to the US to face the charges of murder for the two pilots and DEA agent killed in the chopper crash.
Diego had been cleared of any charges. Kat’s recommendation to commend the family in the wake of Mari and Carmen’s help in bringing down the whole organization went a long way with the DEA and the Costa Rican authorities.
Just when he was going to break the damn thing down, Zorro and Sofia emerged.
“She’s waiting for you.” Zorro lifted his chin, his eyes narrowing. “Don’t glare at me like that. Cowboy up, and damn well get in there.”
Sofia smiled and touched his arm as she passed.
“It’s a good thing you're a medic,” he growled, nodding at Mari’s sister. “You might need to heal yourself.”
