AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Since they still didn’t know where my bullets were coming from, I kept shooting them, clearing the path for me to get to Mia and the other girl. Taking advantage of my approach that left them distracted, Mia attacked as well. From my point of view, I could see the two women inside the storage. Mia pushed the girl behind her and fired against the new members who were coming our way.
“If I leave through the place where I came from, we’re sitting ducks.”
Mia was right. “Find the other entrance. I’ll attract them to me so you can run. Then we meet at my original spot.”
“They’re coming from two sides; we need to eliminate one of them.”
I considered what she was saying. “You see that clearance near the other building? Can you access it there?” At her confirmation, I instructed, “Let’s get your left side out. I’m close enough to explode the space, and so are you. After that, you run with the girl, and I cover for you. Can she run?”
“I’ll have to carry her, but it’s doable.”
It wasn’t ideal, but that was all we had. “On my count. One.” I picked the grenades from my gear. “Two.” I pulled the pins. “Three.”
Two grenades from each of us flew to the men at Mia’s left. Since it was dark, they didn’t notice them at first, and by the time they realized what was going on, it was already too late.
I’d heard a lot of explosions in my life, way more than any person should ever hear. Dozens were too much, and so was one. No matter how many times I heard them, I never got used to the sound of death and destruction.
I saw Mia running with the kid over her shoulders like she was carrying a hockey stick behind her head. She rounded one of her arms over the girl’s torso and the other one between her legs, leaving her hands free to shoot. It wasn’t a good angle to kill anyone, but she was doing a good job slowing the men down.
I covered them both, firing in their wake to let them escape as we headed into the woods surrounding the place towards our truck.
“What the fuck is going on?” Ben sounded distressed, and I didn’t blame him.
“We’re almost out,” Mia panted.“Danny?”
I was about to answer when I felt something close around my throat. It took me a while to realize someone was tightening a rope around my neck. Then I heardhisvoice. “So, we meet again,hijo de puta.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Matias carried the same hatred that moved me, but he had the upper hand.
“Danny? Where are you?”
I didn’t plan on calling for Mia’s help, even if I could talk—which I couldn’t. She needed to leave with the girl, and I’d find a way out. At least I hoped so.
It was getting hard to breathe, and Matias took advantage of that to punch me in the head from behind. The son of a bitch invaded my town, slept with my ex-wife, was in cahoots with the man who almost killed Mia and Izzie—and that was successful in taking Zach away—and was then attacking me from behind.
I had zero patience for cowards. Letting my body go limp so Matias would have to support my heavy weight, I fished a knife from the case on my ankle and stabbed him where I could reach.
His roar of pain echoed in the night as I pulled the knife out of his leg and jabbed again. He let go of the rope, and I gulped, trying to fill my lungs and oxygenate my brain again.
I pulled the rope away from my neck and turned around to fight the bastard. He was still howling, bent down in pain when I kneed him in the head. I wasn’t as fast as I wanted, still trying to recover my breath, but it was satisfying feeling the crack of his nose.
I was about to kick him when I felt unsurmountable pain against my ribs. Coming out of nowhere, another cartel man joined us, holding an iron bar. It bothered me that the new guy looked like a kid, he seemed to be barely eighteen. But I was in survival mode. If I didn’t act on it, I couldn’t get out of that alive.
I advanced against the younger one, pulling the bar from his hand. He wasn’t expecting that, yet he acted on instinct, punching me in the gut. He wasn’t professional, but he was strong and slowing me down. I watched a new man coming from the corner of my eye. Still far but heading our way. I was wasting time on the kid when Matias took advantage of my distraction, stood up, and pointed his gun at my head.
There was no way out for me.
The combustion was loud, and I was waiting for the pain to make an appearance, or maybe darkness, but it never did. Another shot was fired, and only then did I notice it was a friend, not a foe.
Mia jumped on Matias, tackling him to the ground. He punched her on the side of the head, but she kept going. She was entranced, moved by hatred and grief. When she noticed his knife wound, she hit the area and used his cringing of pain to punch him in the face. Her moves were sharp and fast, but her energy would dwindle soon. She wasn’t ready for that kind of activity yet.
As she wrestled with the man who was keeping me from sleeping soundly at night, I fought off the kid and the third guy who attacked us. I heard her grunt as Matias kicked her in the ribs. I shot the man sparring with me—one lessalacránto worry about—pushed the younger one aside, putting an end to it, and marched to Mia to do the same to Matias.
I was so entranced with my goal, I didn’t notice the younger kid had pulled out a gun and aimed it at me.
“Danny, look out!” Mia shouted, distracted on my behalf.
