Chapter Twenty-Two #2
She kept repeating the mantra as the SUV drove through the hills and eventually pulled up to a guard booth outside of a wrought iron gate.
The driver lowered his window and two men appeared.
After a brief conversation in Spanish, they scanned the underside of the vehicle.
Once they were satisfied, they opened the gates and motioned for the car to drive through.
It began to roll up a large hill lined with palm trees and other desert shrubbery.
Barrera must have a ton of enemies, she thought. She wasn’t a news junkie, but she imagined the conflict and turf wars among the Mexican cartels must be epic. A constant raging battle to gain control of the drug trade. It explained the tight security and high walls surrounding the home.
And now she was on her way into José Barrera’s private lair.
According to Corey and his crew, Barrera was the head of the Lazaro snake now that Fernando Lazaro had been murdered.
Someone needed to chop his head off. But she feared another replacement was already waiting in the wings, ready to step up and take over.
It was probably a vicious, never-ending cycle.
The car stopped and she sat there, frozen, wondering how she was going to get out of there. The men stepped out and, a moment later, Snake opened her door. “Out,” he ordered.
He held his gun by his side and she didn’t want to provoke him.
Running was out of the question unless she wanted a bullet in the back.
Whatever slim options to escape she may have had seemed to disintegrate.
But each moment alive was potentially a chance to escape and survive.
She had to remain aware of her surroundings and be ready to jump into action.
Refusing to show fear, she lifted her chin and followed the men up several stairs to the large front door. The house reminded her of the wealthy real estate she’d seen in the nicer areas of San Diego—very modern, stone, a lot of windows and a Spanish tile roof.
The guards escorted them across a marble-floored foyer with soaring ceilings. Everything appeared gilded, from the furniture to the fixtures, and she wondered if all the accents were really made out of actual gold.
It was a tacky display of wealth, meant to impress and overwhelm visitors with awe, but Sera only felt nauseous.
A set of sliding glass doors stood open, and she and Joel were herded onto cobblestones.
A fountain bubbled in the center of the garden courtyard and tropical flowers bloomed all around them.
It would’ve been a nice place if it weren’t the home of a mass murderer who made his living making, transporting and selling drugs.
“Where’s Barrera?” Joel asked.
Unease slid through her body as she looked around the area, searching for an escape route. Just as it had done when bullets started firing in the mall and people began falling in front of her. Trying to contain the panic rising fast, her fight or flight response kicked in hard.
You’re not a victim any longer, Sera.
Then why did she feel like one?
“Hello, Joel,” a voice said, and they both spun around to see a man who seemed to have materialized from some secret garden path.
“José, how are you? I came all the way down here to apol—”
“Who’s your friend?” Barrera interrupted, his dark gaze sliding down Sera’s body.
Her first instinct to call Barrera a snake had been spot on.
The man’s eyes were cold, hard and black like obsidian.
Wearing a fancy suit and too much gold jewelry—the man definitely liked his gold—he was younger than she’d expected, maybe mid-thirties.
He could’ve been fairly attractive if it weren’t for the slimy feeling he gave her.
She had no doubts about what he’d do to her if given the chance.
He also radiated a ruthless energy that immediately put her on alert.
“This is Sera Darling—my gift to you,” Joel announced, standing taller, as though he was proud to hand her over to the drug kingpin. She felt sick to her stomach.
Barrera turned his full attention on Joel, searing him with a scathing look. “Am I supposed to thank you, Joel? Be grateful to you for bringing this woman to me against her will?”
For the first time, Joel looked uneasy. “I-I heard you had a penchant for blue-eyed blondes and—”
“Shut up, Joel,” Barrera said calmly. The man didn’t appear angry, just deadly. Like he was tired of dealing with the annoying gnat buzzing around his head. “You fucked up, mi amigo , and you know I can’t have that.”
Joel lifted his hands, attempting to placate the other man. “It wasn’t my fault—it’s hers!”
Joel pointed at her like a tattling child.
“You shot and killed Jeremy, not me,” Sera pointed out, emboldened by Barrera’s attitude toward Joel.
“But your former military friends sicced the CIA on—”
“Enough!” Barrera snapped, causing both Sera and Joel to jump. He adjusted his gold watch encrusted with diamonds. “I accept your gift.”
Barrera rattled something off in Spanish, then Snake walked over and grabbed Sera’s arm.
“Take her up to my room,” Barrera ordered, and her heart fell.
As the guard tugged her back into the house, she heard Joel start to talk about setting up a new base of operations, but Barrera cut him off.
“Our partnership is over, mi amigo .”
A moment later, a single gunshot split the air.
Sera cried out, whipping her head around to see Joel drop to his knees then topple face first onto the cobblestones.
Blood began pooling beneath his head as Barrera lowered a gun.
Then he handed it off to his other thug and adjusted the cuff on his suit jacket.
Oh, God, no. Her knees threatened to buckle and tears began to spill from her eyes.