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He wasn’t listening, goddammit. “Gunnar,” I yelled again but he was someplace else. In the dark place a man had to go when he had to take a life. It was never easy, definitely not for soldiers who had to kill people who didn’t look like they expected you to. But we weren’t at war. Not yet. “Goddammit Gunnar, stop it!”
He pulled back the gun, letting the man drop to his knees before he sent a size thirteen boot crashing down on his cheek. Then he turned to me, rage burning in his blue eyes. “What the fuck?”
My gaze slid to Marisol who trembled with fear. Her brown skin was tear-streaked and dirty, her hair matted like she’d been in another dark room for as long as we had. Gunnar nodded reluctantly and aimed the gun at the ground. It was the only fucking sign I would get.
“What’s in the truck?” I asked Carlito.
He looked at me with fire in his eyes. “That’s not your business.”
“Bullshit,” I spat at him, feeling helpless still strapped to the fucking chair. I let my gaze fall on Marisol who looked resigned to her fate and I knew then that it didn’t matter what was inside.
Carlito laughed triumphantly. “I thought you would see things my way.”
“He might but I don’t.” Gunnar took a step closer, slowly lifting the gun until it was trained on Carlito. “What’s in the goddamn truck?”
The bastard gripped her hair tighter and Marisol released another tortured cry. “I could break her beautiful neck right now.”
Gunnar shrugged, finger slowly moving to the trigger like it would mean nothing to him to kill Carlito. “She doesn’t mean shit to me, Carlito. But I was trained by the good ol’ U.S. government which means I could kill you and all of your men before they even get their finger on the trigger. So, go on, test me.”
Marisol looked at me, fear shining in her eyes and making her body shudder, pleading with me to help. She squeezed her brown eyes shut and clenched her jaws against the pain of Carlito’s tight grip. “Please,” she mouthed to me.
Carlito loosened his grip but not before yanking Marisol back to her feet. “Fine. Maybe a few more days will make you more agreeable.” He grinned but it looked more like a grimace, showing off teeth that looked like they’d been bleached so many times they might crumble at the slightest pressure. “You can handle a few more days, can’t you Marisol?”
She kept her eyes closed and said nothing, but she didn’t have to because I knew. Whatever he’d put me and Gunnar through over the past few days was nothing compared to what he’d done to her.
“Contestame!!”
She nodded but her eyes never opened and her body shook even harder. “Yes,” she squeaked out.
“Good. Because until you agree, she will get enough punishment for three.” The room fell silent beyond Marisol’s sniffles and Gunnar and I both heard the telltale click of a gun.
He turned a half a second before I did, squeezing the trigger three times until the other armed guard was nothing more than a memory. Then he turned to the other guard he’d choked earlier and put one round in his leg before he faced Carlito. “Or I could just put a bullet in you now and all three of us just walk out of here. What’s it gonna be, Jefe?”
Carlito swallowed hard at the lethal look on Gunnar’s face, slowly moving Marisol between them but he miscalculated because Gunnar didn’t let the gun fall, not one fucking millimeter. “You would kill me over a woman?”
“Hell no. I’ll kill you for plenty of reasons but never for a chick. But,” he raised the gun over Marisol’s head so it was trained right on Carlito’s forehead. “If it makes you feel any better, we can say it’s because of her.”
“Or,” Carlito added with a nervous grin. “I could pay you for your trouble and if you complete the job, I’ll return Marisol to your friend. And,” he added nervously when Gunnar adjusted his grip on the firearm, “no further harm will come to her.”
Gunnar dropped the barrel with an annoyed sigh. “If she’s not in Reno when we get there and unharmed, I’ll blow up the fucking shipment no matter what it is. And I’ll kill everyone in sight.”
Carlito grinned, impressed. “It’s too bad we met the way we did, I could use someone of your caliber.” Gunnar grunted but I didn’t miss the angry glare Carlito slanted at Guapo, coming to on the ground. “Good help is impossible to find.”
Marisol’s brown eyes met mine and I gave her a quick wink before Carlito pulled her away. Despite his rough treatment, I relaxed because I knew something Marisol didn’t. He cared more about his shipment than he did about her. She was worth nothing to him in comparison to whatever was in that fucking truck.
When the door closed, Gunnar growled. “You’re dead fucking meat, kid. Dead fucking meat.”
I did the only thing I could in the situation. I grinned.
Chapter Fourteen - Jag
After spending the past four days digging into Reed Henderson’s background, his life and every fucking person he’d ever crossed paths with, I’d come up with nothing. “Not one goddamn thing,” I said to no one in particular, even though Vivi sat less than five feet away from me with her pretzels, diet root beer and fingers flying over the keyboard.
“Poor baby,” she said with her trademark snark and a sexy little smirk on her face while she continued digging into…something. “Guess you better stick to ink.”
“Yeah?” I poked her in the side and she laughed, smacking my hand away. “What did you find?”
“Plenty,” she said with the same confidence she always had when it came to digging through people’s digital footprints. “And in a few minutes I’ll wow you with my cyber prowess.”
