41. Hold The Line
Hold The Line
The sirens kept getting closer.Diego heard them.Chris saw the exact second he realized they weren’t simply passing on the highway.Federal vehicles.Multiple.Coming directly toward the property.Diego grabbed Camila by the arm.“Move.”Chris stepped forward.
“Take your fucking hand off her.”Three weapons immediately swung toward him.
Diego smiled.“You’re not in a position to give orders anymore, Walker.”Chris’s eyes dropped to Diego’s hand wrapped around Camila’s arm.Then lifted.“I’m asking once.”
“Or what?”Chris didn’t answer.That silence was worse.Camila knew it.Logan knew it.
Even Diego’s men seemed to know it.Then a voice boomed from somewhere outside the property.“FBI!”Diego’s head snapped toward the gate.“WEAPONS DOWN!”
More vehicles poured onto the access road.Black SUVs.Armored tactical vehicles.
Local law enforcement behind them.Agents moved into position.Diego swore.
“How the fuck did they find us?”Chris smiled faintly.“You kidnapped an FBI agent’s girlfriend and thought nobody was coming?”
“This property isn’t on any fucking file.”Chris’s smile faded.He hadn’t known that.
Neither had Mercer.Then his radio—lying near his discarded vest—crackled.“Walker.”
Mercer.“Stay down. Teams are moving.”Chris looked toward Diego.“Copy.”Diego stared at him.Then at the arriving federal vehicles.“What did you do?”
“Nothing.”That was true.And Chris suddenly understood.Someone else had given them the location.
EARLIER — FEDERAL HOLDING
Mateo Vargas sat across from Mercer with his cuffed hands resting on the steel table.
Mercer placed a photograph in front of him.Diego.“Where?”Mateo said nothing.
“Your sister is missing.”Mateo’s eyes lifted.“I know.”
“Diego has her.”Nothing.“He used her to draw Walker out.”Mateo’s jaw tightened.
Mercer leaned closer.“We’re running out of time.”
“You think I give a shit about your agent?”
“No.”Mercer pushed another photograph across the table.Camila.“I think you give a shit about her.”Mateo stared at his sister’s photograph.His expression remained hard.But his hands tightened.“He won’t kill her.”Mercer didn’t answer.Mateo looked up.“He needs her.”
“For now.”That landed.Mateo looked away.Mercer waited.Finally Mateo spoke.“There was an old transport property.”
“Where?”
“Outside Calder.”Mercer went still.“Address.”Mateo didn’t answer.“Mateo.”
“Diego used it when he wanted somewhere even I wasn’t supposed to know about.”
“You knew anyway.”
“I knew everything.”Mercer almost smiled.
“Apparently not everything.”Mateo’s eyes hardened.Chris.The FBI.The infiltration.His empire collapsing around him.Mercer leaned forward.
“If Diego hurts your sister because you sat here protecting cartel secrets, that’s yours to live with.
”Mateo stared at him.Then slowly gave him the address.Mercer stood.
Mateo spoke before he reached the door.“Agent.”Mercer turned.Mateo’s expression was unreadable.“Bring my sister back.”Mercer nodded once.Then left.Mateo sat alone.For once, the cartel king couldn’t do anything.Except hope the FBI agent he hated loved Camila enough to keep his promise.
NOW
“CAMILA!”Chris moved the instant the first tactical team breached the outer yard.Chaos exploded.Agents shouted.Diego’s men scattered.Weapons came up.Chris dove for his discarded vest.Gunfire erupted.Camila dropped.Chris grabbed his backup weapon from the pavement.
“DOWN!”He fired toward an armed man moving on their position, forcing him behind cover.Logan reached the two disarmed agents.
“Move! Move!”Diego yanked Camila backward.She fought him. “Get off me!”
“Camila!”Chris started toward her.Gunfire struck the pavement.He dropped behind a concrete barrier.“Chris!”
“I see you!”Diego dragged her toward the warehouse.Chris’s entire world narrowed.
Camila.Nothing else.Then she remembered.Hands.Balance.Movement.Patterns.
Diego’s injured shoulder.His right leg.Everything she’d noticed earlier.She stopped fighting backward.Instead—she moved toward him.Diego wasn’t expecting it.
His balance shifted.Camila drove her elbow into his injured side.Diego cursed.
His grip loosened.She twisted.Ran.“CAMILA!”A cartel gunman turned toward her.
Chris saw him.“No!”Chris moved from cover.Two shots.The man dropped his weapon and went down.Camila ran.Chris ran toward her.Twenty feet.Ten.Five.Then she hit him.
Chris caught her so hard they nearly went to the ground together.“I’ve got you.”
Camila wrapped both arms around him.“Chris.”
“I’ve got you.”A round struck the barrier beside them.Chris immediately turned his body around hers.“Move!”He rushed her behind a concrete retaining wall.Camila crouched.Chris checked her quickly.Face.Arms.Torso.“Are you hit?”
“No.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“Baby?”
“I don’t know.”His face changed.“I’m okay, Chris.”He touched her cheek.“You stay here.”
Her eyes widened.“No.”
“Camila.”
“No more leaving me!”
“I have to—”
“Let the FBI do it!”
“I am the FBI.”
“Then let the other FBI do it!”Despite the gunfire—Chris almost laughed.“There are approximately forty agents here.”
“Excellent. Let thirty-nine of them chase Diego.”His expression softened.
Then someone shouted:“DIEGO’S MOVING!”Chris turned.Diego was running toward the rear loading area.Of course.Camila saw Chris’s face.“No.”
“Camila.”
“Chris.”
“He gets away tonight, he comes back.”Federal agents were moving after him.But Diego knew this property.Chris saw him disappear behind the warehouse.He looked back at Camila.Fear filled her eyes.Not for herself.For him.Chris crouched and kissed her.“I love you.”
“Don’t make that sound like goodbye.”
“It isn’t.”
“Promise?”Chris touched her stomach.“Always.”Then he looked toward Logan.“Stay with her.”Logan nodded.“Go.”Chris ran.Camila closed her eyes.“Goddammit, Chris Walker.”
Logan crouched beside her.“For what it’s worth, we tell him that a lot.”Diego reached the loading yard.An SUV sat near the far fence.He ran toward it.Almost there.Then—
“DIEGO!”
He stopped.Turned.Chris stood twenty yards away.Gun raised.FBI vest back on.
Blood dried across his temple.Diego laughed.“You really don’t fucking quit.”
“No.”
“Where’s Camila?”
“Safe.”Diego’s smile faded.“You sure?”Chris’s weapon remained steady.“Yes.”
“What about the kid?”Something flashed across Chris’s face.“Don’t.”Diego smiled again.
“Boy or girl?”Chris’s voice dropped.“You’re done.”
“You don’t know yet, do you?”
“Hands where I can see them.”Diego slowly lifted his hands.“Special Agent Walker.”Chris stepped closer.“On your knees.”
“You really think you’re arresting me?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t.”Diego suddenly reached toward his waistband.Chris reacted.
“DON’T!”Diego stopped.His hand hovered.Chris’s finger tightened against the trigger.
“Do it and this ends differently.”For several seconds, neither moved.Then Diego laughed.Slowly, he removed the handgun with two fingers.Dropped it.Metal hit concrete.
“Kick it away.”Diego kicked.Chris moved closer.
“Turn around.”Diego obeyed.Then suddenly spun.He hit Chris’s weapon arm.
The gun flew across the pavement.Chris drove into him.They crashed against the SUV.
Diego hit Chris in the injured ribs.Pain exploded through him.Chris staggered.Diego punched him across the face.Chris went down on one knee.Diego laughed.“This is the great Chris Walker?”Chris wiped blood from his mouth.“Was expecting taller?”Diego kicked him.
Chris rolled.Got back up.Diego came again.Chris blocked.Hit him.Once.Twice.Diego drove him into the SUV.Chris’s head slammed against metal.His vision flashed white.Diego grabbed his vest.“You destroyed everything!”Chris slammed his forehead into Diego’s face.
Diego stumbled backward.Chris hit him.“You built it.”Another punch.“You poisoned it.”
Diego swung.Chris ducked.Drove a fist into his ribs.Diego staggered.“You were supposed to destroy the Vargas family!”Chris froze for half a second.Then he looked at Diego.“No.”
He hit him.Diego stumbled.Chris grabbed him by the shirt.“You did.”Another hit.
Diego went down.Chris followed.Months of lies.The warehouse.The safe house.Camila screaming his name.Finding her gone.The baby.Diego pointing a gun at her.Everything crashed through him.Chris hit him again.And again.“Chris!”Someone shouted behind him.
He didn’t hear it.Diego laughed through blood.Chris grabbed him.“You want to kill me.”
Chris’s fist pulled back.Diego smiled.“Do it.”Chris froze.Gunfire continued somewhere in the distance.Agents shouting.Sirens.His breathing.Diego’s blood on his knuckles.
“Do it, Walker.”Chris stared at him.Diego wanted it.Wanted Chris to cross that line.Wanted the FBI agent to become the criminal he’d pretended to be.Chris looked at his fist.Then slowly lowered it.
“No.”Diego’s smile faded.Chris grabbed his arm.Rolled him onto his stomach.
Diego fought.Chris drove him back down.“You’re under arrest.”“Fuck you!”Chris pulled one arm behind him.Cuff.
“You have the right to remain silent.”“Get off me!”Second arm.Cuff.
“You should seriously consider using it.”Click.Done.Diego Serrano lay handcuffed on the pavement.Alive.Defeated.And furious.Chris stood.Federal agents poured into the loading yard.Mercer arrived first.He looked at Diego.Then Chris.Then the blood. “You good?”
“No.”Mercer nodded.“Fair.”Two agents hauled Diego upright.Diego looked at Chris.
“This isn’t over.”Chris stared.“Yes, it is.”
“You think Vargas disappears because you put me in cuffs?”
“No.”Chris looked around.Seized vehicles.Federal agents.Cartel men being arrested.
Evidence everywhere.“Mateo’s in custody.”He stepped closer.“Your warehouse is gone.”
Closer.“Your distribution network is compromised.”Diego said nothing.
“Your money is being seized.”Nothing.“Your people are talking.”Diego’s face hardened.
“And you’re wearing federal handcuffs.”Chris smiled faintly.
“Looks pretty fucking over to me.”Agents pulled Diego away.Chris watched.For months he’d wanted this.The arrest.The collapse.The case.
Proof.He felt almost nothing.Because none of it mattered until—“Chris!”He turned.
Camila.She was running toward him.Logan behind her yelling:“Camila! You’re supposed to stay—oh, fuck it.
”Chris ran.They met halfway.Camila threw herself against him.He caught her.Held her.Everything inside him finally gave.His face disappeared against her neck.Camila wrapped herself around him.
“You came back.”Chris closed his eyes.“Always.”
She pulled away and immediately saw his face.“Oh my God.”
“I’m fine.”
“Don’t.”
“Right.”She touched his split lip.His bruised cheek.The blood.“You look terrible.”
“Thanks.”
“I’m serious.”
“So am I.”She started crying.Chris’s humor disappeared.“Hey.”His hands cradled her face.
“It’s over.”
“Is he—”
“Alive.”
“Arrested?”
“Yes.”Camila closed her eyes.Relief.Not because she cared what happened to Diego.
Because Chris hadn’t killed him.He’d come back as Chris Walker.Not the man the cartel had tried to turn him into.A medic approached.“We need to look at both of you.”
Chris immediately pointed toward Camila.“Her first.”Camila rolled her eyes.
“Chris.”
“She’s pregnant.”The medic stopped.Camila looked at him.“You’re just telling everybody now?”Chris blinked.“Oh.”Despite everything, she laughed.The medic smiled faintly.
“How far along?”
“Maybe five weeks.”
“Any abdominal trauma?”
“No.”
“Bleeding?”
“No.”
“Cramping?”
“No.”
“Nausea?”Camila looked at Chris.Chris looked at her.She sighed.“Very.”
Chris frowned.“That’s normal, right?”The medic looked amused.
“It can be.”
“Can be?”Camila touched his chest.“Special Agent Walker.”
“What?”
“Stop interrogating the medic.”
“I’m asking questions.”
“You’re interrogating.”
“Occupational hazard.”The medic began checking Camila.
Chris stayed beside her.Of course.His hand never left hers.
Then Mercer approached.“Walker.”Chris looked up.
“What now?”Mercer almost smiled.“Thought you’d want to know how we found the property.”Chris frowned.“How?”
“Mateo.”Camila froze.“My brother?”Mercer nodded.“He gave us the location.”Her face changed.“He helped you?”
“He helped you.”Camila looked away.Tears filled her eyes.Mateo had built an empire that destroyed lives.He had made choices she couldn’t excuse.He was still going to prison.
But somewhere underneath everything he’d become—he was still her brother.
“He knew Diego would bring me here?”
“He suspected.”Camila nodded slowly.Chris squeezed her hand.She looked at him.
“My entire family is a disaster.”Chris smiled faintly.“Technically I’m part of that family now.”Her eyebrow rose.“Are you?”Chris realized what he’d said.Mercer looked away.
Logan suddenly became extremely interested in the sky.Camila stared at Chris.“You want to try that sentence again?”Chris cleared his throat.“No.”
“Interesting.”
“Can we discuss it when I’m not bleeding?”Camila’s mouth twitched.“Absolutely not.”
“Camila.”
“You said family.”
“I did.”
“You said you’re part of mine.”
“I am.”
“How?”Chris stared at her.Then at her stomach.Then back.His expression softened.
“You really need me to explain?”Her teasing disappeared.“No.”His hand moved over hers.
Over their baby.For the first time that night, Chris allowed himself to breathe.Camila was alive.Their child was safe as far as they knew.Diego was in handcuffs.Mateo was in federal custody.The Vargas organization was collapsing.Roman was gone.Chris Walker remained.
Bruised.Bleeding.Exhausted.And standing beside the woman he loved.Camila rested her head against his shoulder.
“Take me home.”Chris kissed her hair.“We don’t technically have one.
”She looked up.“Your Apartment.”He smiled.Together.Behind them, federal agents led Diego Serrano toward an armored vehicle.Ahead of them was a future neither of them had planned.A federal agent.A cartel king’s sister.A baby neither had expected.A relationship built beneath an identity that never existed.And a love that somehow had.Chris took Camila’s hand.This time, when they walked away—he didn’t look back.