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He seemed surprised, his eyes flickering although he tried to hide his reaction quickly.
Willow was trembling, struggling in his hold. “Leave him alone!”
“This is about power, Viper. Nothing more,” he answered.
“No, this is about extorting Jennifer Cavanaugh, attempting to force her into doing what you want her to do. What happened, Deangelo? Did she change her mind? Did she come to her senses when she found out you sell little girls to old men? What?” I was taking a huge risk, but I had to do something.
Willow almost jerked out of his hold, and he snapped, backhanding her. As she tumbled to the sand, I didn’t hesitate, lunging forward, able to tackle him to the ground. Even though the soldiers rushed forward, I had my arm around his neck, squeezing to the point if I jerked slightly, I’d snap his neck. God, how I wanted to, but as soon as I did, I was a dead man.
Two of the soldiers grabbed Willow, yanking her onto her feet, one lifting his weapon as if to strike her.
“No!” Castillo hissed. “Stop. Now. I suggest you let me go, Viper, or my soldiers will likely not follow my orders not to harm the lovely young creature. They have loyalty to me alone.”
Hissing, I dragged him to his feet, throwing Willow a look. While she was terrified, I could tell she was holding her shit together. I would crush the man’s skull between my fingers when we were finished. As I heard a rumble through the trees, I let him go.
“You should kill him,” one of the soldiers said.
“Not yet. He could be useful to us. Get them in the boat.”
As soon as the rumble of approaching vehicles became obvious, one of the assholes tossed Willow over his shoulder, racing toward the boats. Within seconds, shots were fired coming from the direction of the house. I headed toward the water, able to tackle the son of a bitch who had her.
Willow moaned but scampered away, her soft cries fueling the rage that was at the point of no return.
The soldier hissed, jumping toward me. We struggled and rolled. I was able to punch him hard in the jaw, breaking the hold. Although he aimed his weapon, I was too quick for him, smashing my rifle against his face, dodging a series of bullets as another soldier raced in my direction. “Run, baby. Keep running.” She took off racing toward the trees, heading away from the carnage. I wasted no time, pulling the trigger then pitching my body away by several feet, firing off several others.
Castillo was down eight men, and it was time for me to take him out. Where the fuck had he gone? The rumble continued and I huffed. The cavalry had arrived, although this was still going to be a bloodbath.
Jameson and several unknown men jumped out of Jeeps and trucks moving immediately into combat formation, two of them taking the position of allowing Willow to escape.
In the matter of little more than a few seconds, dozens of rounds of ammunition were fired, Castillo’s remaining soldiers dropping first, but there were two additional boats coming. I raced toward Jameson. One of the fallen enemies roared up, his body shaking yet he managed to get off a single shot, striking Jameson.
“Fuck!” he hissed, immediately slapping his hand over the top of his chest as he fell to his knees.
“How bad?” I called, gasping for air as I calculated how long before the other boats arrived. Seconds. Jesus Christ. There had to be fifteen more.
“I’ll live,” he roared, trying to shake it off.
I searched for Castillo. If he was dead, it would solve a significant part of the problem.
“Where is he?” I hissed, scanning the woods then shooting another look toward the beach. The enemy soldiers were already in position, prepared to fire. “The chopper is through the trees. The fucker has a yacht.”
“Yeah? Well, my buddies got enough firepower to light up Hawaii. Go find Willow. We got this,” Jameson instructed.
“Take this. If anything happens, I think you’ll know what to do.”
He eyed the communications system I offered, shaking his head before grabbing it. “You’re not dying on me.”
“Not today.” If the fuckers thought they could capture me, they had another think coming.
I wasted no time, heading in the same direction she’d gone, pumping the muscles in my legs. Blood seeped through my shirt, but I was numb to the pain, refusing to allow Castillo to get his hands on her. As I swung the rifle back and forth, doing everything I could to keep running, I heard her screaming again and turned, changing my direction.
As with any mission, my brain was constantly working, trying to figure out the enemy before I got myself into a perilous position. I stood, resting against a tree then jamming my hand into my pocket. While I hadn’t intended on using the tracking chip, I had a very bad feeling I’d have no choice. Yanking open the lid, I tossed the metal piece into my mouth, praying to God I wouldn’t regret it.
Then I crouched down, remaining quiet as I moved through the trees, finding Willow standing by the river she adored so much.
As soon as she saw me, she threw her arm out, her eyes opening wide. “No!”
My sixth sense rushed into the back of my mind, but it was too late. I’d fucked up. I’d underestimated the enemy. I felt another sharp pain in my head and as I started to go down, I screamed out her name.
