Chapter Thirty-Eight
S traight T -bone, a SUV slammed into the driver side of the Escalade.
I was out of my seat yanking her down before Luna had control of the vehicle. Her bulletproof window shattered but was still holding as the first shots rang out.
“Down, down, down!” Holding her in the footwell, I aimed out her window and unloaded.
The driver ducked, but not before I saw who it was.
“ Motherfucker ,” I cursed. “I’m out.”
Luna fired out of his half-open window. “Thigh holster.”
I grabbed his second piece and fired off three more rounds as another SUV flew at us. Braking at the last second, the driver spun the wheel and came to a stop inches in front of the Escalade, blocking us in.
Goddamn it . “Get us the fuck outta here, Luna!”
“Collins,” Luna clipped into the comm, ignoring me. “Passenger side, grab her now !” He ducked. “Reloading, cover.” He reached for a magazine on his vest.
I fired off more rounds as bullets fucking sprayed into the Escalade from the front and side.
Fuck this . “Where the hell is Collins?”
“Five seconds.” Luna aimed out his window at the new SUV.
“Ludeviene, stay down,” I ordered, shoving my door open. “Luna, cover me.”
“Copy.” Luna fired off a new burst.
That motherfucking pussy Addis was gonna die. I got out of the Escalade as Collins ran up in a half crouch with two rifles.
I took half a second to grab the front of his shirt. “She dies, you die, you fucking hear me?”
He shoved the M16 and an extra magazine at me before slinging the other rifle’s strap over his shoulder. “End this.” Opening the door, he reached for Ludeviene. “Keep your head down and crawl out. We’re getting you out of here.”
Face down, her body prone, she didn’t move.
My heart fucking stopped. “Ludeviene!”
Collins flipped her over.
Her eyes open, her stare vacant, her arms were crossed over her chest.
My fucking ears rang, and my shit tunneled. “ Ludeviene .”
“She’s breathing. She’s good,” Collins clipped as bullets flew past us. “She’s not hit. She’s in shock.”
“Get her the fuck out of here!” Luna yelled.
Collins yanked her out of the Escalade and threw her over his shoulder. “Cover us.”
I stared at her.
“Ty,” Collins barked. “COVER.”
I fucking snapped out of it. Stepping on the running board, letting out a roar of rage, I fired the M16 over the top of the vehicle. Round after round, I fucking unloaded into Addis’s vehicle until he fell out the driver door and slumped to the pavement.
Stepping down, I pounded on the roof of the Escalade as sirens sounded in the distance. “Pull up, pull up!”
Still firing at the vehicle in front of us, Luna floored it, using the weight of the bulletproof Escalade to ram the other SUV.
“Cover me!” I ran around the rear of the vehicle and grabbed Addis, dragging him back behind the Escalade as Luna continued to ram the other SUV.
Hit in the chest and the arm, blood coming out of his mouth, Addis looked up at me with a look I’d seen more times than I could count.
He knew he was a dead man.
“I had no choice.” Addis sputtered, coughing up blood.
“Where the fuck is Dante?” I had no fucking sympathy for him.
The sirens got louder
“It was her or me.” He tried to laugh but only coughed up more blood. “Guess it’s me.”
“Where is he?” I yelled, holding my gun to his head.
“Asher!” Luna yelled as the other SUV floored it and took off. “We have to go, now .”
I pressed my muzzle into Addis’s forehead and got in his face. “You fucking tell me where he is right now or I’m gonna find your bitch girlfriend, and I’m gonna make her fucking beg for death.”
His eyes went wide and his mouth opened, but he choked on his own blood.
“ Where, motherfucker? ” I shook him.
“ASHER,” Luna yelled as the sirens got closer.
“Tell me now or I’ll kill your girlfriend,” I barked at the asshole.
“Sun-sunrise Marina.” He wheezed. “Don’t... don’t kill her.” He went limp.
Letting go of his shirt, I ran to the passenger side of the Escalade and jumped in. “Sunrise Marina.”
“Dios fucking mio,” Luna cursed as he floored it.
The Escalade had taken a beating, but it lurched forward and the tires gripped as Luna spun us around and took off in the opposite direction of the approaching police cars.
Luna hit the comm in his ear. “Collins, report… Copy that. Hold.” Luna used the Bluetooth to dial his cell.
Three rings and Christensen’s voice came through the line. “Ja.”
“How far out from your place are you?”
Christensen said something in Danish.
“We got ambushed, we’re separated. Collins is with the chica, and they’re potentially dragging a tail as they head your way. I’ve got heat on me and a damaged vehicle that stands out like a fucking beacon.”
Christensen switched to English. “I am thirty minutes from docking at the Key Largo house. Tell Collins to come to me. Pull straight into the garage.”
“Copy that.” Luna glanced at his watch. “You need backup?”
“No. Preston and I will handle it.”
“Gracias.”
Christensen said something in Danish then hung up.
Luna spoke into his comm. “Head to Christensen’s in Largo and pull into his garage. He and Preston will be there. I’ll be on my way when I can.” He glanced at me as he took a turn into a residential neighborhood and cut the lights. “We’re fucking lucky they hit us on that stretch of road. I didn’t see any security cameras to catch any footage.”
I didn’t give a shit about fucking security cameras or footage. I had a much bigger problem. I glanced behind us for any sign of the cops. “Is the other SUV following Collins?”
Luna parked on a darkened street behind a line of other cars. “Not yet, but there’s only one way in and out of the Keys.” He cut the engine. “All they’ll have to do to catch them is head north.”
Adrenaline pumping, I tried to rein it in. I knew why we were parked. Half the vehicle was tore the fuck up, and we needed to not be in the line of sight of the cops. But we didn’t have fucking time for this. “Drop me at Sunrise Marina, then go after Collins.”
“No,” Luna clipped without hesitation. “We’re working another angle.”
“What fucking angle? Dante dead is the angle.”
“I’m working on Loic. I’ll convince him to pull the Feds in on this.”
Was he insane? “To what end? Set Dante up and catch him red-handed with a cool billion of cartel drug money? That’ll make Loic an even bigger target.”
“The Feds can relocate him.” Luna leaned back in his seat. “His money will protect him.”
“Bullshit.”
“It’s the best option. We got the chica out. We keep moving forward.” He dropped his voice to a mutter. “We don’t start a fucking war with the cartel.”
Jesus fucking Christ. “It’s already started, and I’m the goddamn poster boy for enemy number one.” Fuck this. “Take me to the fucking marina. Loic won’t need witness protection. His daughter will be safe, and I can eat fucking pancakes with my nephew tomorrow because this bullshit will be handled.”
Luna leveled me with a look. “There are over a hundred slips at that marina. Security, cameras, civilians—you can’t go in guns blazing and fucking level everyone. Dante’ll see you coming a mile away, and so will a hundred other witnesses.”
I didn’t give a fuck. “I’m dead if I don’t go.”
Luna stared at me.
“And so is she,” I added. We both knew it.
Turning to look out the front windshield, Luna didn’t say shit.
“I’m out of time. Whoever was in that second SUV has already reported back to Dante. Drive me to the marina, or don’t. Either way, I don’t give a fuck. I’m finishing this before he finishes me. We both knew it would come down to this.”
Sighing, Luna dropped his head. “No, I didn’t.”
“Then you’re stupider than you look.”
He laughed without humor, but he started the Escalade back up. “And you’re fucking trigger-happy, amigo.”
I had been. For years. But if I was being honest with myself, I’d admit I didn’t want to go after Dante and whoever the fuck was left of his team. Yeah, I wanted him dead, I wanted all of those fucks six feet under, but I didn’t want to pull the goddamn trigger.
I just wanted to undo the bullshit I’d said back at the house and I wanted a classy brunette in my arms who made it possible to fucking breathe.
But I didn’t have that luxury.
I scrubbed a hand over my face. “Just drop me off at the marina.”
Luna checked the rearview mirrors and scanned the street then pulled out. “You’ll need backup. I’m coming with you.”
“No.” No fucking way. “I’m doing this solo,” I warned him. “You’re not getting on their radar.” Someone needed to be left to look after my sister and Nash… and Ludeviene.
“Shut the fuck up.” Luna flipped the SUV around and pulled back out on the main road heading south. “Check our ammo supply. Bag’s behind your seat.”