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A scream cut through the air and I knew it was Emily. Anger coursed through me, pure rage at the idea of one of those assholes so much as laying a hand on her. I closed my eyes, forcing a moment of calm. I knew the fastest way to end up with a bullet in the head would be to run headlong into the fight like an idiot.
“Over here! Hurry, before the guards come!”
I recognized the voice right away as Marta’s. I cursed myself for allowing her onto the island. I’d known deep down that inviting her was a terrible idea. But part of me had hoped that her presence would make things easier for Emily.
It’d be the last time I didn’t trust my gut.
Gun in hand, I made my way up the bluff, taking cover behind one of the towering palm trees at the top. From there, I was able to get a good view of the beach. I saw Emily, and Marta nearby waving her arms for the men. Three black-clad goons were in the process of wading through the water. They were armed with rifles, which would be more than enough to do some serious damage.
The men stepped out of the water, making their way slowly toward Emily and Marta. They were a good hundred and fifty feet from me. I was a decent shot and could handle myself in a fistfight, but three men armed with automatic weapons was no joke.
The trio continued toward Emily. Marta rushed to them.
“What the hell took you so long?” she asked. “Youidiotaswere supposed to be here thirty minutes ago!”
One of the men replied in Spanish, his tone suggesting that he didn’t care one bit for the way he was being spoken to. Themen formed up, preparing to gather around Emily and take her to the boat.
No way I was going to let that happen. Emily screamed as the men drew near.
The distance between the trio and me was less than ideal. However, it was what I had to work with. I raised my pistol slowly, holding it with both hands as I took aim. I pointed the weapon at the man farthest away from Emily, hoping to hit him but not wanting to risk harming her. After expelling all of the air from my lungs, I pulled the trigger slowly.
Apopsounded from the pistol, the bullet casing launching from the side and landing in the sand.
“Pinche puta!”
I looked up to see that my shot had hit home. The man had fallen onto the sand, his hands wrapped around his thigh where the bullet had struck. The other two men stood confused.
This was my chance.
I sprang from behind the tree, letting out a roar as I ran down the bluff, pointing the gun into the air above where the men stood and firing a shot. The gunshots and the screaming did the job of scaring the hell out of them. Their discipline broke, one of them turning tail at the sight of me and running back toward the water.
The man on the ground continued to cry out in pain as the sand around him turned red from the blood spurting out of his leg. Marta, having seen what was happening, hurried to his side to help him up. Once his arm was wrapped around her shoulders, the pair started in the direction of the boat, moving as quickly as a hobbled man and a middle-aged woman could.
The other man remained. He stood still, clicking off the safety of his rifle and preparing to fire.
He wasn’t fast enough. I quickly closed the distance between us, raising the pistol into the air and bringing it down hardonto his face. The connection pulverized his nose and sent blood streaming down the bandana covering his features. He let out a cry, his hands going from his gun to his face. I finished the attack with a quick kick to the gut, knocking the air out of him.
“Aye, cobarde!” Marta shouted, now moving through the water with the wounded man. “Haga algo!”
The third man, the one who’d taken off running, stopped at her words. He began to fiddle with his gun with nervous hands, but I wasn’t about to let him fire so much as a single shot. I quickly glanced down at Emily.
“You OK?”
She nodded, her hands still wrapped around her ankle. “I think so, just twisted something.”
“Good. Give me a sec.”
I tossed the gun aside, breaking out into a full sprint toward the final man. He managed to raise his gun right as I closed the distance between the two of us, and I quickly grabbed the end and shoved it up and out of the way, a quick shot firing off. The barrel of the gun was hot as hell, my skin burning like mad as I held the gun up.
Ignoring the pain, I drove my other hand into his side, avoiding the armored plating of his carrier vest. The strike hit home, my fist slamming hard enough into him to break a rib or two. He tried to pull off a kick, but it was easily grabbed. His foot in my hands, I yanked him off his feet and into the water. From there, it was a simple matter of pulling the gun from his grip.
“All of you!” I shouted, taking aim at each of them in turn. “You have thirty seconds to get the fuck off my island before you die!”
Marta and the men paused for a moment, my words sinking in along with the fact that their kidnapping operation had been foiled in less than three minutes. I held the gun aloft as the wounded men scrambled to the boat. Once the four of them wereon board, I kept the gun pointed in their direction as the engine roared to life and the boat turned.
The second it was over the horizon and the danger had passed, I clicked the safety on the gun and slung it over my shoulder, running toward Emily. She was already in the process of standing back up, but the wince on her face was a sign she felt pain.
“Stay off it!” I called out as I approached. “If you broke something the last thing you want to do is put weight on the injury.”
