20. Sergio
CHAPTER 20
SERGIO
W e sit in silence for the next few minutes, and my body is torn between wanting to stay and wanting to find Becerra so I can cut his throat.
I realize that having a thought like that in front of God probably isn’t ideal, but maybe He’ll see things my way and agree with ridding the planet of that sick and twisted scumbag.
The candles on the mini altar flicker and go out in the next second.
I lift an eyebrow.
And then again, maybe He won’t.
Eh.
Either way, I’m gonna do it.
I just hope God doesn’t snuff me out the way He just did those candles.
My phone buzzes and I pull it out to find a text from Matteo.
I drop a kiss on the top of Jaelyn’s head. “Hey,” I whisper. “That’s Matteo. Time to roll.”
She nods, wrapping her arms around me. “Okay. Be careful, Sergio. Please.”
“I will. Believe me, I’m not gonna let anything stop me from coming back to you. We have a lot of unfinished business.”
“Tons,” she whispers, her mouth trembling.
“I want you to stay here, okay?” I say, cupping her chin. “Lay low. I’ll find you when I get back.”
“Hurry,” she whispers. “And good luck.”
I brush my lips against hers one last time and rush out of the chapel and down the quiet hallway. Matteo and Dante are waiting for me right outside of the waiting room and Bruno is with them.
“How is she?” Matteo asks.
“Hanging in there,” I say. “I told her to stay in the chapel. Out of sight, just until we handle all of this. Just give me a second. I want to let the nurse know where she is for when Nate gets out of surgery.”
I push open the door and walk into the far side of the waiting room just as a man walks through the revolving doors. He has a dark red stain covering a gray t-shirt, not that it seems to impact his movement at all. There’s only one nurse at the desk. I roll my eyes, knowing I’ll need to wait for him to be processed before I can let her know Jae’s location.
“I’m looking for a Nate Torres,” the man says, his voice tight. “Where is he?”
The nurse looks at him. “I’m sorry, I can’t give you any information unless you’re immediate family.”
What the fuck?
I stop short and flip around a column, peering out at them but staying out of sight. I give a quick look at the entrance but see nothing but an orderly loitering outside smoking a cigarette.
The man nods. “Right, because that’s your job.” He opens his jacket and pulls out a Beretta. “Now I’m gonna do mine.”
Crack!
One single shot explodes into the air and the nurse crumples to the floor in a blood-soaked heap.
A collective scream ripples through the group of people scattered around the waiting room and I watch the man walk toward the red doors, kicking them open, his hand extended and clutching the gun. As soon as he’s out of sight, people flee the room like their lives depend on it.
And they fucking do.
I slam my fist against the cinderblock wall as the guys burst through the door.
“What the hell was that?” Dante says.
“Gunman,” I say, pulling out my own gun from the back of my pants. “He was looking for Nate,” I say through clenched teeth. I grab Bruno’s jacket. “Go and get Jaelyn. She’s in the chapel. Get her the fuck away from this area, now!” I give him a push and he runs down the hallway, leaving me with Matteo and Dante.
More gunshots erupt into the air as the guy no doubt continues his hunt for Nate.
Three other men shove past the panicked people, making their way into the waiting room wearing black masks and carrying AK-47s in their gloved hands. They stomp toward the double doors firing at the lock that flipped as soon as the first gunman got inside.
I pop out from behind the column, not thinking, not breathing, just aiming.
Crack! Bang!
Gunfire erupts as one of the men goes down hard on the tile floor. The remaining two twist around, spotting me out in the open and they point their weapons at me, peppering the wall behind me with bullets as I dive to the floor. I point my gun up at them, firing off the remaining shots in my clip. Matteo and Dante crouch low to the ground, firing their guns at the one guy who’s still standing.
“Fuck!” I yell, scrambling to my feet. “I’m going after him!”
I run through the doors, my brothers on my heels. The corridor is lined with bloody bodies, and I can hear gunfire in the distance. “He’s in the operating room. I have no fucking clue where that is, though. We need to take these guys out fast.” I smack in a new clip and jog down the hall. Anyone who was unlucky enough to be walking down the hall is now sprawled on the ground. Muffled screams and pleas for help come from behind the closed doors as more shots are fired. I tear down the hall, finding a few people huddled behind blood-splattered desks, and my throat tightens to the point where I can barely suck in a breath.
“Where the fuck is security?” I mutter, holding out my hand. “Doesn’t anyone see what the hell is happening here?” I round a corner, following signs for Emergency Surgery. I pass an office tucked into one of the maze-like hallways. The windows have been shot, shattered glass is scattered all over the floor. I creep closer to see a big, burly man in a uniform slumped over a set of monitors.
My shoulders deflate as Matteo stops next to me.
“I guess that answers your question about security,” he says.
A high-pitched scream nearby jolts me. “Jaelyn!” I yell, tearing down another hallway.
I run so fast, my feet skid along the polished tile floor and I race around a corner in the direction of the scream.
Pop! Crack! Bang!
I squeeze off as many shots as I can when I see the shooter with his gun pointed at a tall, blonde woman. I catch him in the leg and the arm and he pitches forward into the wall, his gun clattering to the floor. “Kick it!” I scream at the woman. I leap at him when I’m close enough, pulling off his mask and launching my fist at his pock-marked face until I’ve sufficiently smashed his nose and jaw to bloody bits.
Matteo pulls me off of him. “Find Jaelyn. I’ll take care of this piece of shit.”
I stagger to my feet as Dante leads the shaking woman into the operating room.
Nate’s operating room.
One of the doctors is slumped in the corner, a red stain spreading over his chest.
The other doctor is still standing over Nate. I can see a gash in his leg, but he continues to work.
I grasp the woman’s hands. “Call someone. Anyone! I don’t know how many others there are, but they took out the security officer. And keep this door locked!”
“Go!” Matteo yells.
I take off again, only to stop a short time later. I strain my ears, the silence is deafening. At this point, I’m so off-course that I don’t even remember where the hell the chapel is. But I have to find it.
I have to find her.
Jesus Christ, Becerra planned this whole thing.
He knew we’d all be here. That’s why he didn’t show up at his compound after shooting Nate.
He came here and fucking waited.
I swallow hard, running in a different direction in search of the chapel. I sent Bruno to stay with Jaelyn. He’ll keep her safe until I can get there.
If I can fucking get there!
I make a mad dash down another corridor and stumble as my foot stutters against the floor. I grab onto a metal cart, taking it down with me when I lose my balance. My gun skitters across the floor as I fall on my knees. The cart crashes to the floor just as the man in the gray shirt steps out from around a corner.
I push the cart out of my way, shoving it at him as I dive for my gun.
Crack!
“Ah! You motherfu?—”
Pop!
I roll over onto my back, blood and fire coursing from my body. Bastard clipped me in both arms, rendering me and my fucking gun completely useless.
“Where’s your fucking boss?” I rasp. “Sending in his peons to do work he should be doing himself!”
The guy leans over me. “I don’t work for anyone, asshole. I’m here to settle a debt. You’re just the annoying little fuck who was stupid enough to get in my way.”
I stare at my gun a few feet away, clenching my teeth as he grabs me by the back of my shirt. I flex my fingers and I bite back the scream threatening to escape my lips.
I’ve been hurt before, but fuck.
How in the hell am I gonna so much as grab my gun, much less fire it with two dead hands?
He must know exactly what I’m thinking, too, because he lets me go long enough to bend down and grab my gun. I slide my left hand into the pocket of my jacket and pull out a small knife, hiding it in my sleeve. When his hand tightens on my collar again, I grip the knife as tight as I can without managing to cry out in agony. I swing my arm around and drive the blade into his thigh. He drops me, grunting in pain as he grips the handle.
I jammed it in pretty deep, deep enough where it buys me time to jump up and body slam him into the wall. I shove my leg against the knife, driving it deeper and making his yelps shatter the still air.
I kick him square in the throat as he doubles over, grabbing my gun from his hand. Sonofabitch, it hurts to hold it! I squeeze the trigger, my fingers trembling like crazy, and he drops his own gun as the bullet blasts his hand.
“Where the hell is Becerra?” I hiss.
“Fuck you. You’re too late anyway. You thought you could protect her by sending your buddy to look after her,” he pants. “She needed to die for what she did, that fucking whore.”
I grab his hair and slam his head back against the wall. “What are you talking about?” I scream. “Who the fuck are you?”
“I’m the one whose brothers were killed by Nate and Jaelyn Bennet. And I came here to collect!” He lets out a psychotic laugh. “I did, too. I got the bitch and her bodyguard. And Becerra is gonna handle the rest. I told him I’d clear the way for him to get to you.”
I let out a thunderous roar and point the gun at him, shooting him three times in the head. He slumps over immediately, falling face-first into the floor.
I drop to my knees, my finger shaking as the gun clatters to the floor.
Jaelyn. Bruno. Dead.
I try to draw in a breath, bringing a hand to my heart.
Becerra.
Fuck!
My fingers shake as I dial Matteo’s number.
When the call connects, I don’t even wait for him to speak. “Becerra…is here. For me. For us. I got another one of the shooters. But he…he got Jaelyn and Bruno.” My voice cracks. “I won’t let him get anyone else.”
“That’s good. I like that kind of confidence.” An accented voice assaults my ears, and I clench the phone tight, searing pain racing up my arm.
“Becerra,” I hiss.
“Very good, Sergio.”
“Unpredictable as always,” I hiss.
“Yes, well, I can say the same for you. Attacking Javier like you did, disrespecting me and my offer for partnership, and then finding yourself in bed with our enemy while you plotted to eliminate me.” He sighs. “I should kill Matteo, but it wouldn’t be fair to him. After all, it was you who concocted this plan, yes?”
“Let him go,” I growl. “Come for me, Becerra. You’ve got a problem with the way I do business? Handle me your-fucking-self.”
“Oh, I will. Make no mistake. But was it really worth it? We could have ruled this city. Me, your whole syndicate. We’d have owned every last inch of the place.”
“We have a very strict ‘no shit heel’ rule for new members,” I seethe. “So it wouldn’t have worked out.”
He chuckles, a low, sinister one that boils my blood. That fucker has my brothers, and Bruno and Jaelyn are already dead.
What the hell am I gonna do?
How the fuck can I win?
I stagger to my feet, still holding the phone to my ear.
“Come to the chapel,” he says. “Say a prayer. And then, when divine intervention doesn’t work because it won’t , you can take it up with your maker.”
Footsteps pound on the floor behind me and I spin around to find Dante holding a finger to his mouth. I click to end the call. “Jesus Christ, I never thought I’d ever be so happy to see you,” I say. “How the hell did you get away from him?”
“I told Matteo to hang tight until backup got here, but he went looking for you. Dumbass managed to get snatched by that short, fat ass.”
“He killed Jaelyn and Bruno,” I say, my voice hitching.
“Fuck,” Dante says, scrubbing a hand down the front of his face. “Are you sure?”
“It’s what he said.”
“Goddammit, Bruno,” Dante says in a low growl. “Fucking guy! How?”
“I don’t know. But he’s waiting for us in the chapel. Says he’s got Matteo.”
Dante looks at my bloody arms. “You gonna be okay to shoot?”
I nod, my jaw tight. “If I had nubs for arms, I’d find a fucking way to fire this gun,” I grunt. “What about Nate?”
“Still being worked on. I guess Becerra assumed one of his other guys would clip him.”
We run in the direction of the chapel, slowing down as the doorway comes into view. I creep up to it, pulling open the door and staring inside.
It’s fucking empty.
I walk into the small space. “I don’t get it. Where the hell?—?”
“Shit,” Dante mutters, running past me to where an arm peeks out from the pew.
I rush to the front of the chapel where I left Jaelyn…where she now lies. I turn her over to see a huge, angry-looking red bump on the corner of her forehead. I run my fingers down the front of her black shirt, but there’s no blood.
Just holes…where the bullets lodged into the Kevlar vest she’s wearing?!
I press my head to her chest.
Oh, holy fuck!
“Jae,” I whisper, smoothing her hair away from her face. “Jae!”
A few seconds later, her eyelids flutter lift. “Sergio?” she moans. “Oh my God, are you okay? What happened?”
“You were shot, but you’re wearing a vest,” I say. “How? I didn’t give you one.”
“Bruno,” she murmurs, lightly grazing her head and wincing. “He made me put his on, just in case. The last thing I remember is someone coming in here and shooting at us.”
“You must have hit your head after you got shot. I guess they figured you were already dead with the number of bullets lodged in this thing,” Dante says.
“What about Bruno?” she whispers. “And Nate?”
Dante gets up and walks toward the altar, dropping to the carpeted floor. “Christ,” he mutters. “Bruno’s hit.”
My heart damn-near stops as I wait for him to drop the bomb. “Is he?—?”
“I can feel a pulse!”
I let out the breath. “Fuck, but we have to find Matteo. What if Becerra sent us here to?—?”
Dammit! That’s exactly what he did!
I help Jaelyn onto the pew. “Dante, stay here. I’m going after Becerra. Give me your gun!”
“Dude, you can’t hit shit with those bum hands. Let me go!”
“No, this is my problem to fix.” My words to Matteo come rushing back. I did this to our family. I brought him in, brought all of the shit in.
It’s up to me to blast it all the fuck out.
I backtrack toward Nate’s room, the sound of sirens getting louder and louder with each second that passes. I don’t understand how they haven’t made it here yet, but there’s no way Becerra walks outta here in cuffs.
He’s gonna be dragged out in a fucking body bag!
My legs pick up speed as I round corners in the direction of the emergency surgery room. At least they still work the way I need them to. I skid to a halt outside of the closed door and kick it open, to find Matteo standing right inside, next to Nate’s gurney.
Becerra is standing right behind my brother, guarded by Matteo’s massive chest.
“Glad to see you could make it to this meeting,” I say, holding the gun in my outstretched hand. “Looks like we have business to handle after all.”
“Not much, actually. Just one decision. You’ve seen what I can do, what my men can do. Bring me into your syndicate and Matteo walks out of here without a single bullet wound. I may cut off his hand though. You know, an eye for an eye and all of that shit.” Becerra smirks from his position behind Matteo.
Matteo’s jaw twitches as Becerra shoves his gun into his back, making it arch. “I don’t give a shit what you cut off, but you’re not getting near our organization, you cocksucker!”
“We’ll see about that,” Becerra says with a shit-eating grin on his face. “I have other tricks up my sleeve if the other families need any more convincing. I’ve come a long way to make this arrangement work. Killing the rest of the Torres family was just icing on the cake. I knew I’d need to hit it big to be considered by your syndicate.” He snickers. “Pun intended.”
So taking out Jaelyn and Nate wasn’t his real play?
This guy is a twisted motherfucker.
Becerra nods at me. “Make the call and your brother lives. You’ve already lost plenty.” He looks at Nate lying on the operating table, the sound of bleeping machines piercing my brain as I search for an out.
Any out.
Becerra reaches over and pulls the plug on the machine helping Nate breathe.
I pull out my phone and hold it up.
“Nice,” Becerra says. “Now make the fucking call or I kill you and Matteo!”
I dial a number and a second later, Becerra’s phone rings. He pulls it out of his pocket and clicks to accept the call.
“Hey, it’s Sergio. You want a piece of me? You can suck my fat cock!” I fire a single shot at Matteo’s left shoulder and he crumbles to the ground just in time for me to fire off a round of shots into Becerra’s chest.
And one between the eyes.
Just because.
I rush around the gurney and dive over Becerra’s body to plug Nate’s machine back into the wall, letting out a breath as the bleeping picks up speed.
“Goddammit!” Matteo thunders, clutching his shoulder.
I kneel down next to him. “You know, I always wanted to do that.”
“You’re a real prick.”
‘And a damn good shot, if I say so myself.”
“So this is how you fix shit, huh? You shoot your boss? Don’t ever put that on a resume. Nobody will hire you.” He rolls his eyes and falls back onto the floor.
“Eh. I’m not going anywhere. I’m after your job, bro. And in the meantime, just call me Mr. Fucking Fix It.”