Chapter 22
Chapter twenty-two
Manuel stepped off the motorboat, yanking Essie onto the dock with him.
She could feel the fury vibrating through him as they trudged forward, but she didn’t care.
Because of him, Xander was dead. Her heart felt shredded, and she swiped away tears that refused to stop falling.
God, she still had his blood on her hands and clothing. A sob choked free.
“Why’re you back?” She glanced up and saw José marching toward them. “What the hell is going on?”
“My brother is dead!” Manuel yelled. “And then you give me a woman who loves another man? A man who boards my boat and kills Joaquín.” He spat on the wooden planks.
“What?” José sputtered, looking over at Essie. She lifted her chin. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“She’s fucking the American! You dare give me tarnished goods? And expect me to join you? Give you my men and my resources?” Manuel shoved Essie, sending her flying into José. “Keep the whore. Whatever deal we had is over.”
Manuel turned to leave and panic twisted José’s features. “No!” José pushed Essie away, and she stumbled, barely catching herself from falling. God, she was so sick of being manhandled. “You can’t walk away—”
“Watch me!” Manuel flung over his shoulder. “I have to bury my brother.”
Wrath like she’d never seen before flashed across José’s face.
Taking a single step forward, he pulled out a gun and shot Manuel in the back.
Essie gasped, covering her mouth with her hands, as Manuel’s knees buckled and hit the dock.
José stalked forward, pulling the trigger over and over until Manuel fell face forward and lay dead in a pool of blood.
“No one walks away from the Barrera Cartel.” José stopped and spat on Manuel’s corpse before slowly turning back around, his hateful gaze landing on her. Rage contorted his features.
Without a word, Essie spun and ran.
“You can’t get away!”
José’s plans just imploded, and Essie knew he blamed her. Now his only goal would be to punish her. Maybe even kill her. Racing as though her very life depended on it, which it probably did, she took off down the shoreline. Maybe she could outrun him and hide in the jungle.
“Don’t make me shoot you!” he screamed.
She didn’t stop or slow down. Didn’t even dare to look over her shoulder.
Just kept her legs and arms pumping, feet kicking up sand.
She was pretty sure he’d emptied all his bullets into Manuel’s back, so hers should be safe.
But her frazzled mind couldn’t be sure how many times he’d fired, so she put on a burst of speed and planned to head toward the tree line.
“I’ll kill Tomás!”
Essie skidded to a halt and turned to face the monster closing in on her. “He isn’t a threat. He’s just a child.”
Breathing hard from running, he waved the gun as he spoke. “Then stop running.”
“I—” Her shoes sank into the wet sand as she faced him.
When she tried to pull them free, she couldn’t move, and her feet began to disappear into the sucking sands.
Realization and horror washed over her. Madre de Dios.
In her haste to get away, she’d been too focused on her escape to recognize where she was.
And she’d wandered directly into a quicksand pit.
The moment José noticed, his lips twisted into an evil smile. “Looks like you won’t be going anywhere.”
Her absolute worst nightmare was unfolding. She was sinking fast, already up to her calves then knees. She clawed at the sand, but it kept pulling her deeper. Logic eluded her panicked brain, but she dug back through her memories, trying to hear her father’s voice. A voice she missed so very much.
“If you ever get caught in a quicksand pit, don’t panic or struggle. That will make it worse. Remember, your body is far less dense than the sand and water.”
“But I’ll sink and drown!” she’d argued.
“It’s impossible, mija. You might sink up to your waist, but that’s all. Just call for me, and I will always be there to get you out.”
But he wasn’t there. Her handsome, kind, loving father had been blown up into a million pieces, alongside her mother.
Then Miguel had been murdered. Now José was threatening to kill Tomás.
And Xander was gone too. When would it ever end?
Why did the people she loved most end up dying horrible deaths?
“Help me. Please.” Her fingers kept clawing through the wet, shifting sands, trying and failing to find a hold.
Instead of aiding her, José watched her sink, looking so satisfied, so damn smug, she wanted to throw her head back and scream.
But, no, she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction.
Steeling her facial features, locking down her emotions, she swore she’d go out just as bravely as the people she loved had.
The viscous mix climbed past her thighs, dragging her down to its grainy depths. Pulling, pulling, pulling her further. Until it reached her waist. She let out a desperate cry, on the verge of hyperventilating.
And then she stopped moving. Her feet didn’t touch any kind of bottom, but at least she stopped sinking. Suspended, unable to move, she forced herself to breathe and calm down. Maybe she wouldn’t die after all. Maybe she could maneuver onto her back and work her way out. Maybe—
Water flowed past her, splashing her face and arms, then flowed back. Oh, God. Her heart sank. The tide was rolling in, rising fast, and she was trapped, unable to move.
If she didn’t get out soon, she’d drown.
Maybe if she tried a different tactic. If her brother had any bit of his heart left, his humanity, he would grab her hands and pull. “José, Papá and Mamá would want you to help me.”
But he made no move to do any such thing. “I needed your help, Estrella, and you refused. So why would I help you now?”
“That was—” A wave hit her face and she sputtered. “Different! You wanted me to marry a cruel monster who would’ve abused—”
“Shut up,” he hissed. “You had one job, and you failed me. All of my grand plans have come crashing down because of your selfish behavior. You’ve ruined everything! And I will never forgive you.”
The water kept rising at an alarming rate, until it was hitting the side of her face.
The sea spray stung her eyes and got into her nose and mouth.
“You’re the reason Miguel and our parents are dead!
” she fired back. “You destroyed our family! It was your insane desire for money and control and power and—” A wave hit her in the face and she coughed.
Pushing wet strands of hair back, she tried to twist free.
José wasn’t going to help her. He wasn’t going to do anything except stand there and watch her die.
“And I will never forgive you,” she gritted out.
Essie fought against the pull of the sand, but it was like trying to move a car all on her own. Impossible. The incoming tide washed over her head and she let out a scream of fear and frustration.
At least death would release her from José’s control and manipulation. She would see her parents and Miguel again. If she was destined to die, she could join her loved ones.
Xander would be waiting for her. Once again, he would hold her and kiss her.
With that consoling thought, dying didn’t seem so scary. And as the sea water rushed over her head, so did a strange, enveloping sense of calm and peace.
Waiting for the Motley Crew to pick him up felt like forever.
His paranoid mind kept envisioning sharks circling just below the surface, closing in to attack.
Staying calm was hard when he imagined something beneath the waves bumped him every other minute.
Was his mind playing tricks on him? Or was that a fin that just whispered against his hip?
Even worse, the fact that Manuel might be hurting Essie was almost more than he could bear.
It was the harshest, most unforgiving kind of torture.
And then he really fucking felt something move past him. “Fuck!” He hit his comms. “Where the fuck are you guys?”
“Now don’t freak out—” Wes began.
“Too late!” Xander yelled. “Something bumped me!”
“We spotted some whitetip reef sharks in the area,” he finished, and Xander’s stomach dropped right out of his ass and sank to the bottom of the ocean.
This was it. After all the hell he’d been through, now he had to deal with Jaws trying to eat him.
“They’re harmless, but pretty curious,” Corey added.
“We see your light,” Brand said, and Xander finally heard the motorboat approaching. Relief poured through him. Waving his flashlight to guide them over to his position, he’d never been so happy to see Chaz and Brand lean over, offer their hands, and then hoist him onto the deck of the small craft.
“How was your swim?” Corey asked, grinning from ear to ear.
Goddamn, annoying SEAL. Xander could’ve kissed him. Fucking French-kissed them all for saving his ass. “Awful,” Xander croaked. “Anyone who enjoys that shit is nuts.”
They laughed then immediately turned serious. “You said you got shot,” Brand said, back to business.
“On it.” Wes unzipped his med kit. Before his injury, he’d been his team’s medical guy. And Xander had never been happier to see him. “Lean back, Hawke. I need to take a look and see what kind of trouble you got yourself into this time.”
“A helluva lot.” Xander grimaced as Wes lifted his wet shirt and inspected the damage. Gritting his teeth while Wes prodded the wound, Xander looked up at the others. “We need to track Essie. Manuel took her, and I think he’s going to confront José. She’s in trouble.”
Brand frowned. “The tracker stopped moving. We found her necklace in the sunroom.”
Xander cursed, his stomach sinking. “Head back to the island,” he gritted between clenched teeth.
“Cor, take us back,” Brand called. At the wheel, Corey tossed him a salute and turned the motorboat back to the island.
“Looks like the bullet went through and through,” Wes reported. “Cold water and that fabric clinging to you probably saved your ass. You’re a lucky sonofabitch, Hawke.”
“Did you find Tomás?” Xander flinched as Wes cleaned the wound then sealed it up with some surgical glue.
“Yeah, we got him,” Chaz said. “Jayson took him back to the plane.”
Good. That would make Essie happy. Now they just needed to find her and they could get the hell outta there.
They quickly discussed possible options concerning Essie’s location and how best to extract her. Wes placed a large bandage over Xander’s wound and handed him a couple of painkillers. “Too much exertion, and it’s going to tear open,” Wes warned. “You need stitches.”
“It’s gonna tear open,” Xander predicted with a wince, then popped the pills into his mouth and swallowed.
There was no way he wasn’t jumping off that boat, guns blazing as he took down anyone who got in his way.
He would turn the island upside down searching for Essie.
Injured or not, he was giving it all he had, and then some.
Because the woman he’d decided he couldn’t live without was in danger, and he was leading her out of it no matter how much blood he had to spill.
They pulled up to the dock, hopped out and nearly tripped over Manuel’s body lying on the planks. It was fairly easy to determine he was dead, and they kept moving.
The air seemed strangely and uncomfortably quiet. “Where the hell is everyone?” Chaz grumbled.
A shadow stepped from the foliage and all guns turned on the intruder. “It’s just me,” Lex whisper-hissed, glancing down at the corpse. “Jayson’s with Tomás on the plane and I figured you guys could use some help.”
“Did you kill him?” Xander asked.
Lex shook his head. “It wasn’t me. But, hey, one less asshole to worry about.” His gaze raked down Xander. “You look like a drowned rat, Hawke.”
“Thanks, Battle.”
“No problem.”
“Okay, let’s go,” Brand said, cutting the reunion short, and they split off into pairs, each duo heading to the designated areas they’d already discussed while on the boat ride back. Lex joined Xander, while Brand and Chaz hurried toward their search zone, and Wes and Corey went toward theirs.
“Heard you got shot and tossed into the ocean,” Lex murmured as they started down a jungle path. “Glad a shark didn’t get you.”
“Me, too.” Xander stalked forward, completely focused on the mission. He ignored the dull throb in his side, pushing forward, operating on sheer grit, relentless determination and, the biggest surprise of all, his love for a woman.
Love. Suddenly, the word didn’t sound so foreign anymore. Instead, it sounded comforting. Warm and welcoming, just like Essie.
“Shit,” Xander murmured under his breath, warming up to the realization. Lex looked over at him as they continued to march forward. “I’m in love with her.”
Lex smirked. “You’re just realizing that now?”
“I knew I was falling, but… Ah, fuck. I really love her.”
“Well, I hope so since we’re all putting our asses on the line to rescue her.”
“Thanks for that.” Xander stepped over a fallen tree, then glanced toward the beach on his right. “I know I haven’t always been easy to deal with.”
“Who? You?” Lex mocked, then he turned serious when Xander didn’t smile. “I’m sure you had your reasons, and I’m the last person in the world who’s going to stand here and judge you.”
“I do have my reasons, but now—”
A scream pierced the air, and Xander’s attention shifted back down to the shoreline. Scanned the gloom. “Essie!” he hissed. Up ahead, he saw a dark figure, but no sign of her. “That’s José,” he growled, picking up his pace.
“I’ve got your back,” Lex assured him, splitting away and moving deeper in the jungle. Meanwhile, Xander burst out of the tree line and jogged forward, searching for Essie.
Where the hell is she?
He nearly stumbled when he realized José was talking to someone buried in sand up to the chest. The tide was coming in and when it rolled back, he caught a glimpse of Essie struggling, coughing, spitting up seawater. No. He needed to pull her out of there before she fucking drowned.
José looked up and saw him. He swung his gun up, pointing it at Xander, but he ignored him.
“Essie!” Their gazes locked, and relief poured over her beautiful face. “Hang on, I’m gonna get you out.”
“No, you’re not,” José snarled, moving around the sandpit, and stalking closer. “You’re going to watch her drown, watch her die. And then I’m going to carve you up into pieces so small, not even the fish will find them.”
More waves rolled in, covering Essie’s head and she thrashed, caught in the quicksand and being pummeled by the waves. In less than a minute, the water would be above her head, completely submerging her, and she’d drown.
“Fuck. That.” Xander launched himself through the air, straight at José who lifted his gun and fired.