Chapter Twenty-Nine
“We’ve got incoming. One black SUV.”
Ford’s voice crackled through Caleb’s earpiece, tight with tension. “I’m bringing in the drone.”
“Roger that.” Caleb stepped out of the Charger with Gia.
Her hand in his, they strolled around the hogan.
The muscles between his shoulder blades twitched—that familiar itch.
Good.
It meant Zach’s rifle scope was trained just past him.
Four men.
Too easy.
Unease crawled up his neck, whispering of bad luck in this place of death.
He shoved it down.
Superstition.
Old Joe was long gone.
With Zach on overwatch, and Danny, Roy, and Ford concealed in the arroyo, the odds were stacked in his favor—unless the bastards showed up spraying bullets.
He was betting his life that Lopez wouldn’t give that order until he’d secured Gia.
“Danny, when the vehicle pulls up, you and Zach train your rifles on the doors facing me. If you catch a barrel rising, you know what to do.”
Gia, the only one without comms, tensed beside him and squeezed his hand hard. He rubbed his thumb over her knuckles in a soothing gesture.
“Jennie’s in that SUV.” Zach’s terse voice rasped in his ear. “Don’t fire unless you have a clear shot—and you’re good enough not to miss.”
“I’m good enough,” Danny answered, calm and cool. Mission mode.
Caleb turned to Gia. “Stay behind the hogan. Close enough to hear us. Out of sight. When I give the signal, get Jennie and run for the car.”
The key fob was on the console. She just had to gun it out of there.
He didn’t want her or Jennie sticking around to see what happened next.
She nodded once, then surged forward to press a hard, desperate kiss to his lips. “Be careful.”
As she jogged off, she turned back and mouthed, I love you, before disappearing.
He swallowed the words he wanted to say in return. Not with four men listening on comms.
Dust plumed in the distance, the incoming SUV’s growl filling the silence.
Caleb stood his ground, arms loose at his sides like a big, juicy target, waiting.
The vehicle rolled to a stop. Dark tinted windows obscured the passengers inside.
His pulse slowed, muscles primed.
The front passe nger door opened first. A man stepped out—brown hair streaked with blond, white slacks, a pale blue striped shirt with a white collar beneath a gunmetal gray blazer.
Juan. The cousin.
“Where’s Gianna?”
The sneer in Juan’s voice made Caleb’s jaw tick.
“Where’s Jennie?”
The rear door opened.
A burly man stepped out next, dressed in jeans and a tight black tee that showed off thick, veined muscle, a brown leather shoulder holster and 45-caliber handgun nestled beneath his armpit.
The man who emerged behind him was in his thirties, with neatly groomed, dark brown hair, tailored beige trousers and a white linen guayabera shirt.
He removed his sunglasses slowly, revealing a cool, assessing stare. “Senor Varella.”
Vincente Lopez Garcia.
“Lopez.” Caleb resisted the urge to reach for his weapon. “Where’s my cousin?”
The bodyguard yanked Jennie from the SUV by the back of her scrubs, jamming a gun to her temple as she stumbled to find her footing.
Caleb’s temper flared. “That’s unnecessary.”
Jennie’s right eye was darkening into an ugly bruise, her lip freshly split.
“You okay?” He gentled his tone for her.
“Yes.” Her gaze darted past him, searching.
Lopez flicked his fingers. “We’ve kept our deal. Where’s Gianna?”
“Gia, come here,” Caleb said, his eyes never leaving Lopez.
She stepped from behind the hogan.
He recognized f ear when he saw it—and it clung to her now like a second skin. He ached to reach for her, offer comfort. But he couldn’t. Not yet.
Not until she and Jennie were safe.
“Jennie.” Gia’s voice cracked at the sight of her friend.
“Don’t—” Jennie started, but the bodyguard silenced her with another jab of the barrel.
Caleb’s fingers twitched.
That bastard dies first.
Lopez stared at Gia, his expression twisting in displeasure.
“Take off the sunglasses, querida. ”
Gia lifted them slowly, resting them on the brim of her cap. She met his gaze without flinching.
Lopez gave a single nod and turned his attention to Caleb.
“I’m still surprised you returned her to me.”
Caleb let his face go flat. Cold.
“Gia makes her own decisions. Jennie is Diné. What would you do to protect your family?”
“I’d make the necessary sacrifices.” Lopez’s smile didn’t reach his eyes. “Come, Gianna. We’ll put this behind us.”
“Not so fast.” Caleb gestured to the marked spot he’d shown Gia earlier. “Gia waits there. As soon as Jennie reaches her, then she’ll walk to you.”
A flash of irritation tightened Lopez’s jaw. He glanced at Juan, who gave a nod.
The bodyguard shoved Jennie forward.
“Slowly,” Juan warned.
“Go,” Caleb murmured to Gia, “and remember what we talked about.”
Every cell in h is body screamed to pull her back. Shield her. Order Zach to take out the armed bodyguard while he dealt with Juan, then Lopez, and then the driver. Dump the bodies in Old Joe’s hogan and let the scavengers feast.
Instead, he let Gia go.
Jennie reached her. The women embraced, Gia whispering apologies.
“Come, Gianna.” Lopez’s voice cracked like a whip. “Our business here is finished.”
“We’ve got a helo.” Zach’s sudden warning crackled through the comms, sharp in Caleb’s ear.
The whop-whop-whop of rotor blades thundered, closing in fast.
“Incoming!” Zach shouted.
A helicopter crested the ridgeline. Two men dangled from the sides, AR-15s leveled, raining gunfire down the slope where Zach lay positioned.
“Gia, now!” Caleb roared, drawing his weapon.
He couldn’t focus on the threat from the sky.
His vision narrowed to the bodyguard pulling out his .45.
Training took over.
One shot.
Crimson burst against the SUV’s window.
He didn’t wait to see the man drop.
Gia.
She was dragging Jennie toward the car.
Not fast enough.
The SUV’s driver jumped out, closing the distance.
Caleb raised his weapon again.
Fired.
Two down.
“I’m pinned ,” Zach gritted out. “Dammit.” A sharp grunt of pain followed.
“Fuck!” Danny’s voice over comms. “Taking fire from above!”
A bullet whizzed past Caleb’s shoulder like an angry bee.
Gia and Jennie hit the dirt, arms covering their heads as gunfire shredded the air.
Caleb sprinted toward them.
Almost there.
Something slammed into his back—hard.
He dropped to a knee, spun as he fell.
Juan.
The son of a bitch.
Rotor wash churned the sand into a blinding haze as the helicopter descended, obscuring the field.
Another round smashed into Caleb’s chest.
The impact crushed the air from his lungs.
His back hit the ground.
Matteo Ortega jumped from the helo, spraying bullets and keeping Danny and the others pinned as Lopez scrambled aboard.
“ Caleb! ” Gia’s panicked face hovered above him.
A boot came down—hard—crushing his hand and sending his gun skittering.
Juan grabbed Gia by the ponytail, knocking off her hat and glasses.
She screamed, kicking and flailing, as he dragged her toward the waiting helicopter.
No.
Caleb rolled to his stomach, body throbbing, vision swimming, lungs seizing.
Gia.
She was all that mattered.
Weapon .
He dug his boots into the ground and lunged, fingers closing around the stock.
Jennie appeared beside him. “Let me help—”
“Get down,” he wheezed.
Gia fought for all she was worth—until Juan raised his hand and struck her.
Hard.
She slumped.
Caleb’s heart thundered.
No shot. No fucking shot.
The bastard was using her as a shield.
All his training. All his combat experience. And he couldn’t do a damn thing.
Emilio, Ortega’s sidekick, rounded the helo, laying down cover fire while Juan and Ortega hauled Gia aboard.
Then the bird lifted.
“Got a bead on the rotors.” Zach’s voice was faint, slurred.
“Don’t take the shot.” Caleb slammed his fist into the dirt. “They have Gia. Dammit!”
Defeat, bitter and tasting like ash, coated his throat as he watched the helicopter streak across the sky.
How many times had he sworn she’d be safe?
His vision blurred.
She’d trusted him.
Heavy footsteps pounded the dirt. Danny dropped to one knee beside him. “Bro, you okay? I’m so sorry.” He extended a hand.
Caleb gripped it, let Danny haul him upright.
A grunt tore from his chest.
Jesus.
Getting hit in the vest felt like taking a sledgehammer to the ribs.
He dropped back to his knees.
But it beat being dead.
“Take Jennie,” he rasped. “Go to my cousin.”
Jennie’s face drained of color. “Zach?”
“I’ll live,” came Zach’s voice through the comms—strained but steady. “Plugged in the shoulder. Think I stopped the leak.”
He coughed, followed by a grunt. “Just need a ride.”
“Go,” Caleb growled. His control hung by a thread.
Danny hesitated, eyes flicking over Caleb like he wanted to argue.
He turned to Jennie. “Come on.”
“My truck’s got four-wheel drive,” Roy called. “I’ll get as close as I can. Ford will help you get Zach to the ridge.”
Danny glanced back at Caleb. “I’ll be back for you.”
Caleb didn’t answer. He stayed where he was, kneeling in the dirt as the others moved out.
The afternoon sun mocked him, bright and clear.
It should be dark. Storming.
To match his heart.
On your feet, soldier.
Gia needed him. He had to get his shit together.
He scrubbed a sleeve across his face, swallowing the roar rising in his throat—the one that threatened to echo through the canyon and split him apart.
Gia was gone.
He’d sworn he’d protect her.
And he’d failed.
Gia blinked back furious tears as she sat wedged in the back of the helicopter between Juan and the cartel soldier with the thick, drooping mustache—the one who’d found her in Lucero’s Lounge.
The roar of the rotors, the thrum of vibration through the cabin, the stink of sweat and cologne from the men boxing her in.
Her face throbbed from Juan’s backhand.
Caleb.
Juan had shot him. At least twice.
How badly was he hurt?
And Zach?
Danny. Roy. Ford. Jennie.
Had any of them survived that hail of gunfire?
Her gaze, veiled beneath her lashes, swept the cabin.
She wouldn’t cry.