Chapter 39
Alonzo
I floor the gas and head west to Jacob’s ranch. It’s twenty minutes away, but if I drive fast, I can get there in under ten.
“What’s going on? Where’s Alex?” Isabella asks. She grips the seat and door, her eyes wide on the road.
“She was taken,” I say. “But I’m going to get her back.”
I can’t let the past repeat itself. Esmeralda was taken and killed while I was halfway across the state on a mission. This is different. Alex is only ten minutes away. I can save her!
“Should we call the police?”
“No. The cops can’t do shit. They’ll only get in the way.”
I tap the gun at my waist. “Only I can do this.”
“I don’t understand,” she says. “Who are you?”
I ignore Isabella and call Santiago. His voice comes up in the speakers. “Santiago, change of plans. Jacob took Alex to his ranch in Wimberly. I want you to meet us there.”
“Shit,” he says. “Okay, what’s the address?”
I toss the envelope with Jacob’s address to Isabella. “Read that out for him.”
“What?” Isabella asks. She grabs the envelope from her lap and looks at it as if the words are in another language.
“I need to focus on the road. Read that out to my brother,” I command.
“Someone is there with you?” Santiago asks.
“Yes. One of Alex’s friends. Come on, Isabella, read it out to him.”
“Okay,” she says, flustered. She reads the address on the paper twice to make sure Santiago got it.
“Okay, I’ll meet you there in fifteen minutes,” Santiago says.
“Make it ten. Hurry.”
I speed down the empty country road leading to Wimberly, driving as fast as I can. We’re in the Texas Hill Country, and the road we’re on hugs the side of a steep hill. If I make one wrong move, Isabella and I will end up at the bottom of the hill.
But that’s not going to happen. I’m going to get to that fucking ranch and save Alex.
I have to.
Regardless of Alex’s feelings for me, I can’t afford to lose her.
???
Some minutes later, I park under a large tree just outside the entrance to Jacob’s ranch. From what I can tell, the ranch isn’t too big. There is a two-story house in the middle of the property and a few smaller sheds on the side. But other than that, there doesn’t seem to be any security in place.
After inspecting the ranch from afar, I get in my car again and dial Santiago to ask him where he is.
“Right behind you,” he says.
Looking through the rearview mirror, I see his car pull up behind mine.
“Stay here,” I tell Isabella.
I get out and walk to Santiago.
“What’s the plan?” Santiago asks as he gets out of his car.
“We fight our way in and rescue Alex. Simple as that.”
“Simple, huh? Do you know if Jacob has any men in there?” Santiago asks, turning to the ranch.
“No clue. We’ll have to be careful.”
“We could be outnumbered,” he says. “We should get some men here. You still have plenty of friends in Nuestra Casa . I’m sure Gustavo can help us, too.”
“There’s no time for that. It would take them forever to get here from Austin or San Antonio. We have to go in now.”
I’m getting anxious just talking to Santiago right now. I don’t want to imagine what Alex is going through at this very moment.
“Fuck,” he says. “And here I thought she was just another booty call.”
“She’s more than that,” I assure him. “Are you with me or not, hermano? ”
“Fuck it,” he says. “I’m in. Por la familia. ”
For the family .
I walk back to my car and tell Isabella that Santiago and I are going to the ranch to get Alex. “Stay put.”
She nods and looks over my shoulder at Santiago. Her face blushes when she sees him. Santiago has that effect on women her age. Alex gave me that same look when I first met her.
Alex. I need to get her now .
Without wasting another minute, we hop into Santiago’s car and drive into Jacob’s property.
“Keep your eyes open,” I tell him as he parks his car a few feet from the house. If there is anybody in the house with Jacob, they should have seen the car by now…and are running to grab their weapons.
As we exit the car, two bikers brandishing the reaper logo appear at the door of the house. They step out onto the porch, one holding a shotgun and the other a pistol.
“Who the hell are you?” one of them asks.
“I’m here for Alex,” I say. “Hand her over, and I’ll consider letting you live.”
The taller of the two laughs a throaty laugh. “She’s Jacob’s girl. You’re not taking her anywhere.”
A lie. She’s not Jacob’s girl. She’s my girl.
“This is your last warning,” I say. “Step aside or die.”
Loud bangs sound beside me as bullets hit Santiago’s car. We dive behind the car to avoid the bullets raining down on us.
“Shit, my car!” Santiago says. “I just bought it a few months ago!”
“Stay alive, and I’ll buy you a dozen new cars,” I say.
We return fire at the two reapers, hitting one square in the face, instantly killing him. The other one—the one with the shotgun—keeps shooting at us from behind a column on the porch.
“Keep your eyes open,” I whisper to Santiago. “I don’t know if there are more reapers here. As soon as we take them out, we run ins—”
Santiago grunts and collapses on the ground beside me. He clenches his jaw as he places both hands on his thigh. Blood pools over his fingers on the leg. “ Hijo de puta! A fucking pellet got me!”
“Are you okay?” I ask him. I don’t have time to inspect his leg because the other fucker keeps shooting at us.
“It’s nothing,” Santiago says. Sweat gathers on the side of his face, which he promptly wipes off with the back of his hand.
I have to end this now. For Alex and my brother.
“Fuck it,” I say.
I peek over the car and unload my entire magazine at the guy still shooting at us.
I pause when he stops shooting. There’s a moment of silence.
When the adrenaline leaves my body, I notice the man who was shooting at us is lying on the ground. His hands are on his bloody throat.
“Looks like I got him,” I tell Santiago. “I need to go find Alex. Do you think you can get back to my car? I should have a first aid kit in the trunk.”
Santiago nods. “Go find her. I’ll be okay.”
I rush to the first reaper we killed and take his pistol, then I walk to the one I just shot. He is staring at me as the blood gargles at his throat. Instead of putting him out of his misery, I grab his shotgun and toss it as far as I can.
I’m going to let him drown in his own blood.
“It’s over, Jacob!” I yell as I walk into the house. It’s quiet inside, but I can’t let my guard down. If there were other reapers around, they would have appeared by now. It’s unlikely there are others in the house. Still, Jacob is probably armed.
I inspect every room as I make my way to the back of the house. My adrenaline is kicking in again, and my heart is racing in my chest. I can almost feel it pulsing in my throat.
It’s not me I fear for. It’s Alex.
If she’s dead… I think to myself, but stop the thought before it can poison my mind. She can’t be dead.
My heart drops when I look out the screen door at the back of the house. Outside, Jacob stands behind a tearful Alex. His arm is wrapped around her throat, and the other holds a gun to the side of her head.
My fingers tense around the drip of the gun when I see bruises on her face and blood on her shirt, and my vision turns red.
“You decided to play the part of the white knight,” Jacob laughs. “But you’re outnumbered, Alonzo.”
“Your two men are dead,” I say. “It’s just you and me. If you have any balls, you’ll let Alex go and face me like a man.”
Alex is visibly shaken. I want her out of here as soon as possible.
“I don’t have to do shit,” Jacob says. “I assume you spoke to Ben if you knew to find us here. It’s only a matter of time before the cavalry shows up. And then you’re really gonna be fucked.”
A laugh escapes my lips, causing Jacob’s eyebrows to dip.
“What’s so funny?”
“First of all, I’m not afraid of your little boy band. And I hate to break it to you, but there is no cavalry coming to save you,” I say, slowly opening the screen door and stepping outside. “Ben sold you out for a continued working partnership with Nuestra Casa . I may not be an enforcer anymore, but I still have a pull there.”
“I don’t believe you!” Jacob says. “Ben would never sell me out!”
“Well, he did.”
“Bullshit!” His face sours. “Even if it’s true, I’m sure the rest of the reapers will come soon. They’re more loyal to me than to Ben. I’m the one they see every night at The Den.”
“I guess you were too stupid to realize how many reapers Ben has recruited in the past couple of years. They’re more loyal to him than to you.”
“I don’t believe that,” he says.
“I don’t care what you believe,” I say. “But it’s true. It’s just you and me now. Only one of us is walking out of here alive.”
“You don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about, you fucking beaner,” he says. “You came to save Alex? And for what? She doesn’t even like you. She was just using you!”
Here it is. I’m about to learn whatever Alex and Jacob have been hiding from me.
“What do you say, sweetheart? Should I tell him the truth?” Jacob whispers into Alex’s ear. She recoils.
Sweetheart . Is Jacob the reason Alex hates that word?
“Alonzo…” Alex sobs.
“She was working you to win your trust and rob you blind. She knows about your former life, who you worked for, and the kind of man you are. Do you honestly think someone like her can love someone like you ?”
“Is that true?” I glance at Alex.
Her gaze drops. It is . Then she looks up at me.
“It started like that,” she says. “But I changed my mind because…because I love you.”
Jacob laughs behind her. “She’s playing you again. Can’t you see? You were protecting this rat, but you’re nothing to her, noth—”
Alex startles at the sound of the gunshot. Behind her, Jacob collapses to the ground with a bullet between his eyes.
If he had known me better, he would have known how fast and accurate my aim is. That’s what made me great at my job and kept me alive all these years. Poor bastard was dead the moment I stepped outside.
Alex puts her hands to her eyes. Tears flow down her cheeks.
“I’m sorry,” she says, taking a step back and almost tripping over Jacob’s body. “I didn’t know you back then. I thought you were a bad person. But when I got to know you, I changed my mind. I decided I didn’t want to rob you. I didn’t want to hurt you.”
“You don’t have to explain anything to me,” I say, stepping forward. She takes two steps back. “I’m not going to hurt you, Alex. I came to save you because I love you.”
Her face brightens at my words.
“I never thought I could love anybody after Esmeralda was taken from me. I didn’t trust myself after I failed to protect her. But you proved me wrong.”
The muscles around her eyes relax, and she runs into my arms.
I hug her tightly. Her tears coat my shirt, leaving stains behind. “I’m so sorry,” she says. “I didn’t want to hurt you.”
“You don’t have to say another word,” I say. I’m not letting her go. Not now, not ever.
“I do,” she says, pulling away. “When I changed my mind about robbing you, Jacob sent reapers to my mom’s house. He threatened to kill her if I didn’t return to The Den.”
So that’s the reason she went back to that fucking place . And here I was, thinking the worst…
Remembering how I spoke to her that Sunday night hits me like a punch to the heart. She must have been under so much stress having Jacob and me pulling her in opposite directions.
“What I told Jacob is true. Ben is now the leader of the reapers. The only reason he’s still alive is because he wasn’t aware of what Jacob was up to. Ben owes me his life, so as soon as we return to The Den, I’ll have him call off the reapers threatening your mom. Okay?”
She nods and collapses into my arms again.
“I got you,” I say. “I got you.”