Chapter 25
CHAPTER 25
AMALIA (PRESENT)
I was seated in a car with Noah, Nassim, and Jamal, parked onto a side road that led to the Barrera compound while Kai and Valentina were posted on the opposite side of the property to give them a better vantage point to guide us.
Daniela ended up staying behind despite her countless protests after Nassim discovered earlier today that she was pregnant after she’d thrown up for the majority of the morning.
They got into an argument right before we’d left because she insisted she would be fine since it was still early in her pregnancy, but he’d ended up somewhat convincing her to stay put.
Some of Nassim’s men were scattered around different corners of the property while the rest of them were packed into an off-road vehicle that was set to run straight through the front barrier in exactly seven minutes to provide us with a distraction so we could infiltrate the riad from the back.
Unintelligible mumbles cut through the comms, but I could tell who it was despite the muffled sound of their voices and that I’d just met them a few days ago. They must have forgotten that their line of communication with us hadn’t been muted.
“Kai, Valentina, cut the shit. We don’t have time for your bickering,” I said through gritted teeth as we all got out of the car.
I checked my gun, slamming the clip back before slipping the gun into my waistband, and grabbed my dagger while the others strapped their own weapons.
Kai cleared his throat, offering a brief apology. “Right, so on your way to the back, there are currently four of Barrera’s men on what appears to be their breaks. Valentina is now on her way to take care of them, so you’ll know when to move in.”
The sun was already down and provided us with more coverage as we headed toward the back of the property. We took cover behind vegetation and spotted the four men Kai was referring to.
One moment they were engaged in an animated conversation, cigarettes in hand, and the next, a bullet sliced in the air, taking two of them out. Their bodies slumped to the ground and before the other two could reach for their weapons or even realize what was happening, another bullet brought them down.
Eerie silence hung in the air before a roaring crash reverberated near the entrance, followed by shouting and gunfire cutting through the air.
This is our cue.
“Let’s go,” my voice roared over the sound of the ensuing chaos.
We ran, closing the distance between us and the pile of corpses splayed on the ground. I crouched down, swiftly rummaging through their pockets until I found the set of keys I was looking for.
I motioned for the others to follow and guided them toward the side where a large metal door stood.
Only the guards used it for their smoking breaks since Barrera didn’t like people doing so in the house or anywhere near it since it ‘polluted the air.’
Like that’s what was polluting the space.
“Clear,” Kai informed us. “Everyone is rushing toward the front. I count about twenty men and they’re packing.”
Using the keys, I quickly unlocked the door and pushed it open. We trickled into the courtyard, the screaming and crackle of gunfire much clearer now.
I whipped around to face them, my voice cutting through the cacophony. “We need to split up,” I ordered.
“No,” Noah said through gritted teeth. “It’s better if we all stay together.”
“There are too many men out front and Nassim’s guys will need help,” I explained in a hurry. “You and Jamal take the front, Nassim and I will take the house.”
“Amalia, no,” he protested. “I’m not letting you out of my sight.”
I placed a reassuring hand on his arm and met his gaze. “We don’t have time to go back and forth. Just trust me, okay?”
He groaned. “Fine, but just know I’m pissed that you’re making me do this.” He slammed a harsh kiss to my lips. “You better not let anything happen to you.”
“I’d like to see them try,” I huffed out, attempting to lighten the mood and defuse the apprehension radiating from him.
He managed a small smile, shaking his head before aiming a glare at Nassim. “She can handle herself, but I’ll shoot you if anything happens to her.”
Nassim gave him a curt nod, but just before we split, Noah grasped my elbow and leaned down to whisper, “My father won’t be out there with his men; he’ll be hiding inside like the coward that he is.”
“I had the same thought.”
“When you reach the top floor, push the oil painting with his portrait,” he instructed.
My brows furrowed at that.
I knew what he was referring to, but I didn’t understand why he was telling me about the large oil painting of Barrera that was at the end of the hallway on the same level where my room and some of the other guards’ rooms were located. I always found it quite obnoxious that he had such a large portrait of himself, but not surprising.
“That’s the main entrance to the concealed passageways that span the house.” Noah clarified, seeing the confusion on my face. “Use them to hide, and you might even find him somewhere in there.”
I nodded. “Meet us in the basement cell when you guys are done.”
There was a moment of hesitation before I said, “Be safe. I?—”
“Listen, we don’t have all day,” Nassim interrupted, urging us on.
Noah shot him a look above my head before he briefly kissed me. “Save it,” he replied. “I love you, too, but you can tell me later because you’re not allowed to die. I’ll see you soon.”
As we parted ways, I headed for the right side of the house with Nassim while Jamal and Noah headed for the front.
Adrenaline coursed through my veins as Kai fired instructions in my ear. I drowned his voice to a low dull at the back of my mind and concentrated on moving faster as I led Nassim into the house.
We moved quietly, our senses on high alert. We made it down the first hallway toward the stairs without difficulty, but as we carefully climbed them, two shadows loomed closer, but their steps weren’t in a hurry.
We paused at the edge of the staircase, listening closely. “It’s a disaster out there. Can’t we just stay here and pretend we didn’t hear anything?” one of them said.
I peered over the corner, just enough not to draw attention, only to see the other guard had paused in his steps. “If you want to get slaughtered by Hamza or even worse Barrera himself, be my guest. I’m not risking their wrath.”
The moment he turned back around, I emerged from behind the wall that was hiding me and drove my knife across his neck, blood spattering over my hands.
The dead body dropped at my feet, and I pushed the body down the stairs and out of my way.
Noah had moved behind me while I took care of the man now slung across the steps, just in time to aim two bullets into the other guard in the chest before he shot me, his body slumping to the wall and his gun skidding across the floor.
Nassim mumbled, “You’re welcome,” as I reached for the dead guy’s gun on the floor and headed down the hall with Nassim following right behind.
I checked the chamber to find it full before tucking it under the waistband at my back since both my thigh and shoulder holsters were already full of weapons.
We cleared the floor, room by room, before moving to the floor above and doing the same. We hadn’t encountered anyone else as we finally made it to the top floor.
With no one in sight, I beelined for the painting at the end of the hall, Nassim right on my trail.
I sheathed the bloodied knife back into the strap around my thigh and pushed against the ornate golden frame, my gun drawn up.
A strong musty and damp smell wafted out. I scrunched my nose as we slowly ventured into the dimly lit space, navigating down the narrow hall with caution.
We eventually rounded a corner, only to be met with another long corridor that eventually fed into numerous pathways, each one identical to the last.
Dread swept through me at the sight, knowing we couldn’t waste any more time. In my three years here, I’d heard whispers about hidden halls and tunnels but never actually found them to explore them and find out where they led.
I glanced back at Nassim. “We’ll need to split up.”
“Oh, absolutely not,” he countered, shaking his head adamantly.
“We don’t have time to check each of them together.”
“I don’t care. I’m not particularly looking to get shot today,” he insisted.
I sighed. “Noah won’t actually do it.”
“I’d rather not test the theory.”
I groaned. “Fine, then you choose, so I can blame you if we get lost.”
Nassim began muttering under his breath, pointing his gun down each corridor as he followed the melody. “ A jrada malha, fine kounti sarha ? 1 ,” he recited softly.
My brows furrowed. “Are you seriously basing your choice on a nursery rhyme?”
He ignored me and quickly finished singing. “That one,” he announced, gesturing the corridor to the far left with his barrel. He looked at me and shrugged. “I have to start practicing for the little one, and this made the decision faster.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose in exasperation. Por el amor de Dios ? 2 .
With no better plan and already enough time wasted, I sighed and stepped into the hallway he’d randomly chosen.
But as we made our way down the hall, Nassim spoke again. “Besides, I already knew which one to take,” he admitted in a hushed tone.
I halted in my tracks, nearly causing Nassim to collide with me. “Please tell me you’re kidding,” I groaned. “How and why didn’t you say anything earlier?”
“My father used to work here, remember? And besides, it was quite entertaining seeing your face when I started singing,” he said, amused.
If only shooting him were an option…
“Just… fucking lead the way,” I whisper-shouted gesturing with my gun for him to walk ahead of me.
After a few minutes, he stopped short and faced the wall.
My eyes narrowed on Nassim’s back. “What are you doing?” I questioned, frustration licking at my veins if he was stalling us again.
“Just wait,” he replied, his fingers brushing against the wall as if he were looking for something.
I was on the verge of leaving him behind to continue searching for where Barrera was hiding when the faint echo of voices sounded behind the concrete wall.
I listened closely, straining my ear to eventually discern that both Barrera and Hamza were on the other side. “We could have saved precious minutes if you’d just told me you knew where he’d be.”
He peered at me over his shoulder with a grin on his face. “Where’s the fun in that?”
“If your wife wasn’t pregnant, I would have shot you myself,” I said, the grip on my gun tightening.
He shrugged off my comment. “Ready?” he asked, reaching for something strapped to his thigh. He then stuck it onto the middle of the wall and stepped back, examining it.
My eyes widened. “Is that C-4?” I asked, my voice a mixture of shock and disbelief. “You’ve been carrying C-4 this whole time?” I whispered-yelled at him.
He faced me. “Yes, now let’s move back before we get blown up with it,” he said, guiding toward the end of the hallway where we came from.
Once we were both shielded behind the wall, he retrieved a small remote from his pocket and pressed on a small button, detonating the bomb.
The force of the blast blew the wall, shocking the ground beneath us, and I reached out to steady myself against the wall. A thick haze of smoke billowed out of the wall, shrouding the corridor in a ghostly veil.
Quite poetic for what we were about to do.
We swiftly made our way back, weaving through the debris, their acrid smell stinging my nostrils. As the dust slowly settled, it revealed a clean hole through the wall.
The room inside, one I’d never seen before, bore the scars of the explosion, the surfaces charred and marked with debris. The furniture lay strewn about haphazardly, some of the pieces overturned from the impact.
I could count about ten or so men scattered around on the floor, shielding their faces and disoriented from the sudden explosion.
Nassim and I each took a side, immediately getting to work before the haze from the impact dissipated and they realized we were intruders.
Gunshots and screams rang through the air from my left while I scanned the room on my side and spotted Hamza, cowering in a pressed suit in the far corner of the room. He was hunched with his hands above his head to protect himself.
Jodidamente patético ? 3 .
I headed in his direction, executing every guard on my way to him before they could reach for their guns, leaving a trail of corpses in my wake. I’d almost made it to him when Nassim’s voice thundered above the gunfire.
“Watch out.”
I looked just in time to duck behind a chair as a bullet came straight at me. It whizzed right past my head, so close to hitting me that it moved my hair from the closeness.
I lay flat on my stomach and shot the bastard in both of his kneecaps. He collapsed to the floor and I aimed my gun at his face, pulling the trigger and shooting him between the eyes.
That’ll serve you for trying to fucking shoot me.
I sensed movement in my periphery and turned just in time to fire at Hamza, who had attempted to take me out.
The bullet hit him in his shooting arm, which made him drop his gun. He tried to reach for it, but I quickly got to my feet and rushed to close the distance separating us.
I crushed his hand under my boot and stood above him. “I would say it was nice knowing you, but…” I let my sentence trail as I pointed my gun at his head.
Hamza barely had time to look up, his groans of pain cut short when I shot him, his head evaporating into a crimson void, the collateral painting my clothing.
“Didn’t take you for one fond of theatricals,” Nassim remarked, his voice calm despite the chaos we’d just created.
I looked over at him to see him standing above a sea of bodies, a proud smile on his face. He was also holding Barrera by the back of his collar with a gun pressed against his temple.
“Sometimes it makes the kill a little sweeter,” I replied with a nonchalant shrug. Then I met Barrera’s gaze with a smirk. “Nice to see you again, boss. Miss me?”
Noah and I had only left a couple of days ago, but with the state in which Barrera currently was, you’d think he hadn’t slept in years.
His skin was even more weathered, the wrinkles around his eyes and on his forehead even more pronounced. Deep dark circles marred beneath his bloodshot and unfocused eyes.
Anger flashed across his face, his jaw twitching with fury. “Fucking traitor,” he spat through clenched teeth. “I knew a woman should never be trusted, you fucking b?—”
But before he could hurl the insult my way, Nassim swiftly silenced Barrera with a blow to the back of his head using the butt of his gun. As Barrera slumped into Nassim’s grip, he let go of him, his body tumbling to the ground.
“Always so charming, isn’t he?” Nassim said with a smirk.
I huffed out a laugh and holstered my empty gun into its compartment, then reached for another one. “You’re ridiculous. Let’s go,” I ordered. Pressing a finger to my ear, I spoke to Kai, “We have him. We’ll meet you guys at the rendezvous point.”
I heard a grunt as Nassim pulled Barrera’s body up. With his body now slung over his shoulder, Nassim said, “All right, let’s go before I pull my back carrying him.”
I led us to a large oak door and pushed it open, realizing that we were stepping into the far left side of the mansion on the bottom floor.
How many fucking secret doors does this place have and why have I never seen them?
I quickly checked for any other guards, and when the coast was clear, I held the door open for Nassim to come through it.
And as we walked across the courtyard and toward the building at the back where our meeting point with the others was, one thought was at the forefront of my mind.
I might not be the one pulling the trigger in the end, but I was looking forward to this bastard’s final breath.
1 ? This is the start of a famous Moroccan nursery rhyme called “A Jrada Malha”.
2 ? For God’s sake.
3 ? Fucking pathetic.