40. Take Me
Take Me
Chris knew Diego was slowing down on purpose.The realization hit him halfway down the deserted industrial road.Diego’s SUV was still ahead.Still moving.Still close enough to make Chris believe he could catch him.Too close.
“Something’s wrong,” Chris said.Logan glanced over.
“Besides everything?”“He wants us behind him.”
“Maybe his driver’s just running out of road.”
“No.”Chris eased off the accelerator.For the first time since the pursuit began, he wasn’t trying to close the distance.He was watching.Road.Mirrors.Buildings.Hands.Patterns.
Everything he’d unknowingly taught Camila.Logan noticed the speed drop.“What are you doing?”
“Thinking.”
“That’s reassuring.”Diego’s SUV turned sharply through an open gate ahead.Chris’s eyes narrowed.An old industrial property sat beyond it.Warehouses.Storage buildings.Rusting equipment.No workers.No civilian traffic.One entrance.High fencing.Chris’s stomach dropped.
“Trap.”Logan reached for the radio.“Mercer, Walker. Diego has entered an industrial property approximately—”Chris saw the gate.Men.Weapons. “BACKUP!”
Gunfire erupted.Chris jerked the Charger sideways.Rounds struck metal.The windshield cracked.“DOWN!”Logan ducked.Chris fought the wheel and brought the Charger behind a concrete barrier.“Son of a bitch.”Logan grabbed his weapon.“You were right.”
“I know.”
“I hate when you’re right.”Chris reached for the radio.“Mercer, we’re taking fire. Multiple armed suspects.”
“Fall back.”Chris looked toward the gate.Diego’s SUV had disappeared behind the warehouse.“Negative.”
“Walker, wait for tactical.”
“Diego’s here.”
“And so are armed men who were waiting for you.”Chris checked his magazine.“Then we’d better introduce ourselves.”Logan stared at him.“Your girlfriend is rubbing off on you.”
Chris almost smiled.Then another transmission cut across the radio.Urgent.“Walker.”
Chris recognized the voice of the agent transporting Camila.His blood went cold.
“Go.”
“We’ve got a problem.”Everything inside him stopped.“What problem?”Silence.
Then—“Protectee vehicle diverted after shots were fired near the federal perimeter.”
Chris’s face emptied.“No.”
“Walker—”
“Where is Camila?”
“We’re trying to—”
“WHERE IS SHE?”Then he heard something behind the warehouse.A vehicle.Chris turned.A black federal SUV rolled into view.Passenger door open.Two agents forced out at gunpoint.And then—Camila.Chris stopped breathing.
“No.” Minutes earlier, Camila had been safe.Or everyone had told her she was.Federal agents surrounded her.Diego was running.Chris was pursuing him.She’d escaped.It should have been over.Then someone opened fire near the convoy.One agent shouted.Another vehicle appeared.Everything happened too quickly.And now Camila stood in the middle of another abandoned property with a gun pointed at her back.She looked across the yard.Chris.Even from fifty yards away she recognized him.FBI vest.Gun raised.Blood still dried near his temple.His entire body went rigid when he saw her.Camila closed her eyes.Diego hadn’t simply trapped Chris.
He’d trapped both of them.“Chris!”His eyes found hers.“Camila.”Diego stepped from behind the SUV.He was smiling.Chris raised his weapon.“Let her go.”Diego laughed.
“Again?”Chris’s jaw clenched.“You’ve already lost.”
“Doesn’t look like it.”
“You’re surrounded.”
“Eventually.”Diego glanced around.“But eventually isn’t right now.
”Chris assessed everything.Five armed men.Maybe more inside.Camila near the SUV.Two federal agents disarmed on the ground.Diego approximately ten feet from her.Too far for Chris to guarantee the shot before someone fired on Camila.Logan whispered beside him. “Don’t.”
Chris didn’t move.“I didn’t say anything.”
“I know you.”Chris’s eyes stayed on Camila.“Cover the agents.”
“Chris.”
“Do it.”Logan swore quietly.Then shifted position.Diego smiled.“You’ve been very difficult to kill, Walker.”
“I get that a lot.”Camila almost laughed.Of course.Even now.Diego raised his weapon.
Not at Chris.At Camila.Chris’s humor vanished.Instantly.
“Don’t.”Diego pointed the gun directly at her.Chris lowered his weapon.
“Chris, no.”He didn’t look at her.His eyes remained on Diego.“Take me.”
Camila stared at him.“No.”Diego tilted his head.“What?”
“You want somebody?”Chris slowly placed his weapon on the pavement.
“Take me.”
“Chris!”
“Camila.”
“No!”He finally looked at her.One second.Blue-gray eyes meeting hers.She knew exactly what he was doing.“Don’t you dare.”His expression softened.Then he looked back at Diego.
“Let her walk.”Diego laughed.“You think this is a negotiation?”
“Yes.”
“You don’t have anything I want.”Chris spread his hands.
“You’ve spent days trying to kill me.”Silence.
“You attacked a federal safe house to get to me.”Chris stepped forward.
“You kidnapped her to get to me.”Another step.
“You led me here.”His voice dropped.“So stop pretending.”Diego stared.
“I’m who you want.”Camila shook her head. “No.”Chris ignored her.
“Let Camila walk out that gate with the federal agents.”
“And you stay?”
“Yes.”Logan whispered:“Absolutely fucking not.”Chris didn’t acknowledge him.Diego studied Chris.“You know what happens if you stay.”
“Yes.”
“You think I’ll arrest you?”
“No.”Diego smiled.“You think you’ll walk away?”
“No.”Camila’s eyes filled.“Chris, stop.”He looked at Diego.“Take me.”Her voice broke.
“No!”Chris didn’t turn.Because if he looked at her again—
he might not be able to do it.Diego laughed softly.“You’d die for her?”Chris answered immediately.“Yes.”No hesitation.No bravado.One word.Truth.Camila’s breath caught.
“Chris.”He finally looked at her.“It’s okay.”
“No, it fucking isn’t!”Despite everything, Chris almost smiled.“Don’t.”Tears streamed down her cheeks.“You promised.”
“I know.”
“You said always.”
“I know.”
“You said you’d come back.”Chris swallowed.“I came back.”
“Then don’t leave again.”His face cracked.Only slightly.But Camila saw it.Diego did too.
“Touching.”Chris’s eyes snapped back to him.“Let her go.”Diego walked toward Camila.
Chris immediately stepped forward.Every gun around the yard lifted.“Stop.”Chris froze.
Diego smiled.“See?”He looked at Camila.“One step toward her and everybody gets nervous.”
“I’m warning you.”
“You’re unarmed.”
“Still warning you.”Diego laughed.Then he turned toward Camila.She instinctively backed away.
“Don’t touch me.”Diego reached for her arm.Camila jerked away.
“Get your fucking hands off her!” Chris shouted.Diego stopped.Then looked back at him.There was something almost fascinated in his expression.
“I’ve never seen you lose control.”Chris said nothing. “Roman never did.”
“Roman wasn’t real.”
“Parts were.”Diego looked toward Camila.“Apparently this part.”Camila glared at him.
“You’re going to prison.”
“Maybe.”
“Mateo will testify against you.”Diego’s smile disappeared.Good.She’d found another nerve.“He won’t.”
“You abandoned him.”
“Shut up.”
“You ran.”
“Camila.”
“You left him in that warehouse.”
“Shut the fuck up.”
“And Chris caught him because you ran.”Diego stepped closer.Chris saw it.“Camila.”
Her eyes flicked toward Chris.A warning.Stop pushing.She didn’t.Of course she didn’t.
“You’re not a cartel king.”Diego’s jaw tightened.“You’re the man who ran when the FBI showed up.”
“Enough.”
“Mateo lost because of you.”Diego raised his hand.Camila flinched.And her hand moved instinctively.Not toward her face.Toward her stomach.Protective.Immediate.Small.
But Chris saw it.His heart stopped.No.Diego saw it too.His raised hand slowly lowered.
His eyes moved toward Camila’s stomach.Then her face.Then Chris.A strange smile appeared.“Oh.”Chris’s blood turned cold.“Don’t.”Diego looked at Camila again.
Her hand was still over her stomach.She realized.Too late.
She slowly lowered it.Diego’s smile widened.“No fucking way.”Chris took a step forward.
Three weapons immediately turned toward him.“Don’t fucking look at her.”Diego ignored him.His eyes remained on Camila.“She’s pregnant?”Silence.Camila’s face went pale.
Chris’s entire demeanor changed.No shouting.No threats.Nothing.He became completely still.Deadly calm.“Diego.”Even Logan looked toward him.That voice was worse than yelling.
Diego looked at Chris.
“You fucked Mateo Vargas’s little sister?”
“Don’t.”Diego laughed.“Don’t fucking look at her.”Diego’s smile grew.“That’s why.”
Chris’s jaw clenched.“At the safe house. The way you were protecting her.”Nothing.“The way the FBI moved her.”Nothing.“The way you’re looking at her right now.”Diego glanced toward Camila’s stomach.Chris moved.Logan caught his vest.“Chris.”
“Let go.”
“Don’t.”Chris’s eyes never left Diego.“If he looks at her like that again—”
“You’ll get both of you killed.”Chris knew.He hated that Logan was right.
Diego stared between them.“How far?”Camila said nothing.“How far along?”
“Go to hell.”Diego laughed.“There she is.”Chris’s voice lowered.
“You don’t ask her another question.”Diego turned toward him.
“Or what?”Chris stared.Diego had seen Roman lie.Seen Chris manipulate Mateo.Seen him undercover.Seen him fight.Seen him drive.But Diego had never seen this.A man who had nothing left between the enemy and his family except himself.
“You wanted leverage,” Chris said quietly.Diego smiled. “I already had leverage.”
“No.”Chris shook his head.“You had Camila.”His eyes hardened.“Now you know about the baby.”Diego’s smile confirmed it.Chris continued.“And that’s going to make you think you have more power.”
“Don’t I?”
“No.”Diego’s smile faltered.Chris stepped forward.Guns rose.He stopped.“You just made yourself more dangerous to her.”Silence.“And that changes the FBI response.”Diego scoffed.
“Bullshit.”
“Kidnapping. Attempted murder of federal agents. Firing on law enforcement. Cartel trafficking. And now you’re threatening a pregnant hostage.”Chris stared directly at him.
“You aren’t negotiating from strength.”Diego’s face hardened.“You’re desperate.”
“So are you.”
“Difference is I’m not afraid to die.”Chris smiled faintly.Neither was he.That terrified Camila.“Chris.”He looked at her.She shook her head.No.He understood.Don’t sacrifice yourself.Don’t make her watch him die.Chris looked back at Diego.“Let her walk.”
“No.”
“Then take me and release her.”
“No.”Chris’s eyes narrowed.Diego smiled.
“Why trade one piece of leverage for another when I can have both?”There it was.Chris had expected it.Still hated hearing it.Diego pointed toward Chris’s badge.
“Kick that away.”Chris did.His FBI badge scraped across the pavement.Camila stared at it.The badge she’d found hidden inside his dresser.The secret that had nearly destroyed them.Now lying between them in the dirt.
“Vest.”Chris unclipped his body armor.“Chris, don’t.
”He removed it.Dropped it.“Gun at your ankle.”Camila’s eyes widened.She hadn’t known about that one.Chris slowly removed the backup weapon.Placed it down.Kicked it away.Diego smiled.
“Chris Roman really was bullshit.”Chris straightened.
“Mostly.”
“The guns?”
“Federal.”
“The driving?”
“Federal.”
“The scars?”
“Real.”Camila’s eyes filled.The same conversation they’d had at the safe house.Diego nodded toward her.“And her?”Chris looked at Camila.His expression softened.“That was real.”Camila covered her mouth.Diego watched them.Then his expression changed.
Cruel.“Maybe that’s how I destroy you.”Chris looked back.Diego pointed his weapon toward Camila again.“Not by killing you.”Chris went utterly still.“Maybe I make you watch.”
Camila’s breath stopped.Logan raised his weapon.Every cartel gun immediately moved.
Chris spoke one word.“Logan.”
“Chris—”
“Lower it.”
“I’m not—”
“Lower it.”Logan slowly complied.Diego smiled.Chris stared at him.“You touch her and this ends one way.”
“Which way?”
“You die.”Diego laughed.“That’s a threat?”
“No.”Chris’s voice was almost quiet.“That’s the last thing I’m ever going to promise you.”
Then—sirens.Distant.But coming.Diego’s head turned slightly.That was all Chris needed.
Not to attack.Not yet.To look.Camila.Their eyes met.Chris glanced toward the white pickup.Then toward her.Once.Camila understood.Vehicle.Escape.Her eyes moved toward Diego.Then the armed man nearest her.Hands.Gun.Keys.Keys clipped to his belt.She looked back at Chris.His face didn’t change.But she knew.He’d seen them too.Diego thought he had more leverage now.He thought learning about the baby had made Camila weaker.Made Chris easier to control.He had it backward.Because Camila wasn’t standing there waiting for Chris to save her anymore.She was watching.Thinking.Planning.Exactly as he’d taught her.And Chris Walker wasn’t surrendering.He was buying her time.