Chapter 16 August 22, 2024
Daleyza
“Daleyza.” He touched her shoulder, his voice barely a whisper in the darkness. “We have to go.”
Her stomach lurched. She hadn’t pulled the covers over her, not wanting to waste the precious seconds when every single one counted. Despite being fully dressed, a cold sweat broke out, and she shivered. “Fanso?” she questioned.
“We have twenty minutes.” He pulled her to a seated position, then knelt at her feet, sliding her sneakers on and quickly lacing them. “Grab our bag. I’ll get Tobias.”
Rising from her feet, he quickly kissed her on the lips and took off into the living room of their suite and across it to their son’s room.
By the time she’d done as he asked, hoisting the pack onto her back and moving into the living room, he was already returning with a sleeping Tobias in his arms, the boy’s sleepy head on his shoulder.
“Mijo, we’re going to play a game, okay? We’re playing hide-and-seek with Abuelo and your uncles. You have to be absolutely quiet. No sound, even if you see them. Can you do that?”
“Sí, Papá.”
“Good boy.”
Suddenly, they were outside on the estate, hiding at the far edge of the compound in the garden. Fifty feet away was the shrubbery-covered door that led out to the back road where his friend was to be waiting for them.
He made some sort of bird call, something she didn’t recognize, and the gate swung open on quiet hinges he’d made sure to oil two days earlier.
Whispering to her, he said, “Run as fast as you can. Don’t stop. No matter what you hear, sí?”
“Sí.”
Taking a precious second, he removed one hand from beneath Tobias’ once again sleeping form. He reached to clasp her around the nape of her neck and pulled her close. His lips pressed against hers, and she could feel the desperation in them.
This was it. Their freedom lay on the other side of that door.
“Salir!”
She ran for the gate. She didn’t think she’d ever run so fast in her life, hell-bent on getting to the outstretched hand of the man he’d called Ka-Bar. She’d made it!
Yelling. Two shots were fired. Tobias began to cry, scared at the sudden, loud noises.
In fear, she turned. The only thing holding her back was Ka-Bar’s arm around her waist, hauling her off her feet and toward the waiting truck.
“Fuck,” Ka-Bar whispered. “He’s pinned down.”
“Tobias!”
“Get in the vehicle. I need to go help Ildefanso.”
Ka-Bar drew his weapon and returned fire on the men aiming at Ildefanso. She knew she should do as instructed, but she froze in horror, watching the scene play out in front of her.
Once Ka-Bar reached her husband and son, he handed his gun to Ildefanso and swept Tobias up in his arms, allowing his friend to cover his path to the door.
Then it happened.
A series of shots from a single weapon echoed across the grounds.
Ka-Bar went down, Tobias underneath him.
He didn’t get up.
Tobias wasn’t moving. He wasn’t crying. All she could see of him was one arm, outstretched from underneath Ka-Bar.
She screamed and screamed and screamed.
She felt someone touching her, and she sat up in bed with a gasp. “Daleyza, we have to go.”
Darkness. Ildefanso’s voice, once again, a whisper. A look at the clock showed it was just after two thirty a.m.
“Fanso?”
“They found us. We’ve got maybe two minutes to get out of here before more of my father’s men are here.”
Déjà vu. She’d fallen asleep after a tense dinner with the men. Just like that night so long ago, she was on top of the covers. Once again, he was at her feet, putting her shoes on and tying them.
When that was done, he whirled around, grabbed her backpack and his duffle bag, then reached for her hand and half dragged her out into the main room. The men were waiting, weapons drawn, their balaclavas once more pulled down across their faces.
“Medusa’s waiting in the truck,” TB said.
“Let’s go.”
Quickly, they exited into the garage, where Medusa waited, starting the truck as soon as they appeared.
Ildefanso led the way, opening the door for her as Demon slid in on the opposite side, caging her in from behind.
While Nemo and Scheherazade climbed in the back, TB hopped into the front seat, then Medusa lifted the garage door and sped away.
TB hit a button on the dashboard, and the navigation turned red around the edges. He punched in a series of letters and numbers. A ringing filled the airwaves.
Midas picked up mid-ring. “Nova’s tracking three vehicles. Black. Humvee style.”
“Who’s Nova?” she asked Ildefanso.
“An AI Midas built. Helps him run our tech.”
Marveling at the rapid changes in the world, she sat silently.
TB answered, “Copy that. We’re already a few blocks south.”
A small boom sounded in the distance, and she turned around to see a tiny fireball. She guessed that was the house.
“Oops,” Nemo said, a tight smile on his face. “Guess I left the gas on.”
“Shit happens,” Midas said. “Medusa, I’m sending coordinates to the GPS for an airstrip in Lake Geneva. Contact there is a guy named Equinox. He’s one of Cosmos’ guys.”
Medusa looked in her rearview mirror. “Fuck a duck,” she muttered. “Humvees behind us,” she advised her passengers. “Weapon up. Midas! Where’s Loki?”
“He should be right behind you. They switched vehicles. Dark-purple Charger.”
The three men began drawing their weapons, so she rooted around in her backpack and pulled her gun and ammunition from inside.
Ildefanso smiled. “Glad to see you haven’t lost what I taught you. Something goes wrong, you fire at anyone who isn’t us.”
She nodded, her head spinning. How was this her life?
A week ago, she’d lost the only person in her life who kept her anchored.
Less than twenty-four hours ago, she’d been plotting how to flee her own home.
Now she was back in the company of the husband she’d believed dead and gone, chased by Colonel Cartel members, and probably fighting for her life in the near future.
Her thoughts were finally starting to become less confused. She turned to Ildefanso. “Lake Geneva doesn’t have an airport.”
“There’s a small community there that has its own airstrip.
Gonna be a small plane, but we’ll be switching out after about an hour when we can meet up with our jet.
We didn’t plan for them to find us, or at least not this quickly, so we had to go to plan B.
We’re taking you to Los Angeles… to our headquarters. You should be safe there.”
The silence in the vehicle was oppressive as they sped back toward Wisconsin and the busy tourist town Wisconsinites often referred to as Little Chicago.
Being woken from a sound sleep and hustled into the vehicle with no preparation had been completely disorienting.
Only by closing her eyes and focusing on her senses one at a time could she get herself back on track.
A soft voice from lips against her temple roused her. She’d somehow fallen asleep as they drove. “We’re here. Get ready to hustle. As soon as we’re inside the plane, they’ll shut the door, and we’re off. We couldn’t shake them, so we’ll be exposed for a few seconds.”
A glance around her showed that everyone was once again checking their weapons. A hand rested on top of hers as she went to do the same.
Ildefanso’s silver stare froze her actions. “You run. Do not stop to defend yourself. Your only job is to get on that plane. If that door closes without some of us inside, you buckle in, and you go. No arguments.”
The last time she’d run without him, her whole world had shattered with a single shot. “Yeah, unlikely I’ll be following those bullshit instructions.”
He switched to Spanish. “Why is everything always an argument with you?”
“Everything is not an argument with me!”
An eyebrow rose, his gray irises flaming to molten metal.
“Mom, they’re fighting again!” Nemo yelled.
“Maldito idiota,” Steel muttered.
“That did not sound complimentary.”
“It wasn’t.”
“Fuck.” This came from Medusa in the driver’s seat. “Loki, we’ve picked up the blue line.”
Sure enough, a siren sounded behind them, the red and blue lights swirling as they came up behind them.
A voice with a slight Nordic accent came over the speakers. “We’ve got you, Medusa. We’ll draw them off.”
A roaring engine came up from behind them, drawing side by side with the cop for just enough time to draw his attention.
A swift lane change followed, and Loki pulled away fast, increasing his speed.
Goaded into frying bigger fish, the officer behind them swerved into the next lane and took after the speeding sports car.
TB complained, “Told ya you speed too much. Fit in, I warned you. But no, you need to bust out your Autobahn moves. As if we don’t have enough bullshit already to deal with.”
“Drive yourselves next time,” she threw back.
“I would, but I was ordered otherwise.”
“Then sit back and leave your logistics to me, T-Rex.”
“You know, I used to think you were hanging around Waters too much. It’s obvious Nemo has tainted Mythos with his dumbassery.”
“Just our tail left now,” Nemo called from the back.
“Hang onto your seats. Making a quick exit.” Medusa yanked the wheel to the right, careening through two lanes at breakneck speed and exiting the highway.
“We surprised them!” Nemo yelled from the back. “They couldn’t make the lane change in time. Next exit is seven miles. If they want to catch us, they’ll have to find a place to do an illegal U-turn. Grassy median is too steep to just drive across.”
“How long until the airstrip?” Demon asked.
“Four minutes.”
They were the longest four minutes of her life. She kept turning in her seat, scanning the cars behind them, convinced the cartel members would be behind them. Nothing looked out of place, but she didn’t trust it.
“Be ready,” Steel advised. “I only saw two of the vehicles keep going past the exit. If they’re worth anything, they’ll be looking ahead to see where we might be headed. The only thing that makes sense is that airstrip.”