Borderline

by D B Steward

  “What did you do to them Arturo? What did you monsters do to them?” Kelly screamed, her anger boiling over.

  Arturo grinned. “You want to know what I did bitch?” He chuckled. “I shot the dude in his face and then I had Ramon dump his body in a barrel of acid. There wasn’t even a toenail left.” Arturo was enjoying the pained look that sprang onto Kelly’s face. “Then me and the boys raped the bitch. We ran a train on her for like a day. Then we strung her out and put the bitch to work. She lasted for about a month or so, then one day they found her. She hung herself. Guess she didn’t like her new line of work.” He puckered his lips and kissed the air toward Kelly. “Hopefully you and your friend last longer than she did.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN

  Kelly shot up from her seat and started to lunge forward at Arturo. Ramon pointed the shotgun barrel at her and it stopped her cold. Her eyes were ablaze with fury, if it was possible they would have burned a hole through him.

  “I’m going to love breaking you bitch.” Arturo laughed at her. “I get to pick first and you and me are going to have some fun. Once I have your heels up behind your head you’re going to be screaming my name bitch.”

  “Fuck you.”

  He laughed again. “In a minute, hold your horses. I have to deal with my brother first.” He turned his attention back to Hector. His little brother looked like he was going to pass out any minute. Arturo motioned to one of the two thugs in the room. “Hey get my brother a chair. He looks dead on his feet.”

  The way Arturo said it chilled Hector to the bone. “Please. We’re brothers.”

  “Brother’s?” He chuckled. “This is business. Business is more important than family.” He nodded to Ramon. “Hey Ramon, did the family stop Angel from stealing from us?” Ramon shook his head. “No, our big brother didn’t care about anybody but himself. He showed us how much family meant.”

  Hector’s red and sweaty face twisted in confusion. “What are you saying? Angel never stole from us.”

  “Of course he did! He thought he was better than all of us just because he was the oldest!” He screamed and Ramon nodded in agreement. “We didn’t tell you because we don’t tell you a lot of stuff.”

  Hector’s mind seemed to be floating in syrup, everything he believed seemed to be melting in front of him. “Did you…?” He couldn’t finish the sentence.

  “Of course we killed him! Angel was costing us money! He didn’t even deny it! He said that it belonged to him! He said MH4 was his and we were his soldiers!” He sneered in contempt. “So we shot him. Both of us.”

  Hector had tears in his eyes. “But he was our brother.”

  So were you.” Arturo nodded at Ramon and the large man pointed his shotgun at Hector. His hands shot up in front of him as he cringed and turned away as if that would protect him.

  “No Arturo don’t!” His plea was drowned out by the boom of the shotgun. Kelly watched as Hector’s face exploded into a red mass. The force of the blast knocked him over the chair and sent the headless corpse crashing to the floor.

  From her computer, Trace could only hear muffled voices. They were mostly male voices but she did hear a higher tone of one voice which had to be one of the two women. But now she had an eye on the whole scene. Once she GPS located the phone, she found Arutro’s house. From there she searched for his wifi and found it. Then she could identify his smart home system and she cracked into his hardware. Now she had control over everything on his wifi, including his security cameras. There was one in the big room that they were all gathered in now.

  Kelly was standing near a sofa where Sonny was stretched out on. Trace hoped she was only unconscious. They were in trouble. There were five men in the room and she recognized three of them; Arturo, Ramon, and Hector. They were outnumbered. But it appeared to Trace that Hector was the center of attention right then. Hector was sitting down and taking what looked like a ton of heat from Ramon. Trace was trying to work out a way that she could help them when Hector’s head exploded.

  Trace gasped. She had never actually seen someone killed live on screen. Her heart raced, she realized that Sonny and Kelly were next. She could not see that on screen and do nothing about it. She used her connection and cut the lights in the house. She then sent an emergency call to the police and prayed that the two women could find a way to save themselves.

  The lights went out and plunged everyone into total darkness. For an instant, everyone froze in place. “Do something! Get out of there!” Trace screamed into their ears through the earpieces.

  “Sonny.” Kelly snatched the blade from her shoe and tossed it to Sonny’s ready hand. The assassin snapped into action; on her feet now, she snatched the blade out of the air and with a quick flick of her wrist it rocketed through the air. Like a bullet, the knife speared the right eye of one of Arturo’s goons. He dropped to his knees and screamed in the darkened room.

  Suddenly hip hop music blared all through the house, piercing the eardrums of everyone inside. Kelly charged forward, lowering her shoulder and tackling an unsuspecting Arturo, driving them both to the floor. She heard the wind explode from his lungs. Kelly pinned him under her weight and slammed her knee into his groin.

  At the same time Sonny had bolted toward the man with the blade in his eye. As he wailed in agony she snatched the gun from his waistband. She chambered a round quickly then pressed the pistol into the center of his back and fired three times. Dead and broken, he fell to the floor. She quickly aimed in the direction where the other thug had stood before the lights went out. Her shots flashed in the darkness and she saw the rounds hit dead center between his eyes. A huge hand grabbed her wrist and squeezed hard. Ramon’s grip felt like a vice and the pain forced her to drop the gun.

  “You’re going to die bitch.” Ramon pulled her close to him and she could smell the stale cerveza on his hot breath. In a flash she punched his throat and felt something give way inside his neck from the blow. Ramon choked and his eyes filled with water. He released her hand and she took the chance and grabbed the shotgun. Ramon held onto the shotgun with an iron grip. They struggled to gain control of it between them. He was stronger and was starting to win. Sonny shifted her weight and stepped inside his hips so she could toss him over her shoulder. He went over and his back hit hard onto the marble floor.

  Sonny pumped the shotgun and fired. Her aim was off and the blast hit his outstretched left arm. The shot cut his arm off at the elbow and left a bloody stump spurting dark blood. She pumped it again but somehow Ramon was back on his feet and charging towards her. With his only remaining hand he snatched the shotgun from her with inhuman strength.

  Across the room, Arturo was seeing stars in his periphery. Kelly was straddled on his chest and was slamming the back of his head onto the floor. He was losing consciousness and flailed his arms. One of his fists caught the side of Kelly’s jaw and knocked her off him.

  Trace couldn’t see anything from the cameras except the flashes from gunshots. She had to know what was happening. She activated all the house lights and turned them up as high as they could go.

  Bright light filled the house, illuminating the carnage in the room. Sonny and Ramon could see each other now. He looked like a wounded animal to her. He was bleeding heavily from his ruined arm. The wrath in his face made him look even more like a beast than before.

  Sonny hefted the shotgun in her hand while Ramon stood in place like a tiger waiting to pounce on his prey. She remembered the stories of his brutality that she had read in his file. Ramon needed to pay for the sick things he had done. Sonny decided that she would get the revenge that his victims cried out from the grave for.

  Through the red that clouded his vision, Ramon watched as the assassin pointed the barrel to the ceiling. She pumped the shotgun again and again, the unspent shells fell to the ground until the shotgun was empty. Puzzled, he looked down at the shells and then up to Sonny. He saw in her eyes a mirror image of the rage that burned inside his own. He watched Sonny’s hands s
queeze the shotgun and the taunting grin that spread on her lips. He snapped and charged at her in blind fury.

  Sonny pivoted and Ramon charged past her like a rabid bull. She slammed the butt of the shotgun hard into the side of his right knee. A loud sickening crack came from Ramon’s leg and his weight crumpled underneath his shattered knee. Ramon howled in pain like a wounded wolf. Sonny flipped her grip on the shotgun so she could hold the barrel like a baseball bat. She wound up and smashed it into his face like she was hitting a home run.

  A cloud of blood spray spurted from the ruined mass of Ramon’s face. His teeth rocketed from the bloody black mass that used to be his mouth. His jaw was broken into jagged pieces and

  blood poured from it like a waterfall. Sonny changed her grip again. She drove the butt of the shotgun into the ankle of his uninjured leg, preventing him from standing.

  Ramon’s was bleeding out from his stump of an arm and the gaping maw of his mouth. Deep down in the darkest pit of his soul, the realization that this was the end for him made Ramon feel real fear for the first time in his life. So many people had died at his hands. He had caused the light to darken from more eyes that he could remember. Now as he faced his own end he understood the terror that his victims had felt.

  Sonny could see the horror rising inside Ramon and paused to savor it. It was a mistake. With a lunge of his good hand and a terrible shriek his giant hand clamped down hard on her throat. She felt the crushing power of his hand and knew that she only had seconds before he killed her.

  CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT

  Kelly scrambled to her feet quickly after Arturo’s blow knocked her across the floor. He was trying to regain his senses. Kelly decided that it was in her best interest not to let that happen. She set herself and kicked him hard in his temple. He yelped and bent backwards from the force of the blow.

  “Bitch!” He shouted. “I’ll kill you!”

  Kelly’s scowl was powered by her rage. “Many have tried, but few have succeeded you dick.”

  He scrambled to his feet, pulling himself up on a table. On top of the table his hands searched frantically for a weapon. He grasped a huge letter opener that looked more like a Bowie knife, and slashed at the air wildly. Kelly dodged it easily.

  “I’m gonna cut you bitch!” He lunged at her again with the dull blade, but again she stepped away from the danger.

  “With a letter opener?” She chuckled as she kept her guard up, searching for an opening to attack. “I’m not the electric bill Arturo so you’re going to have to do better than that.” She watched his eyes to try to anticipate his move. He slid one way and she countered, both moving in a circle.

  Suddenly Kelly’s concentration was broken. Sonny was making a choking noise and the redhead instinctively turned her head to see Sonny being choked by a bloody Ramon. Arturo was momentarily forgotten as she broke toward Sonny to help her. She was stopped by a hand clamped down on her forearm. Arturo pulled her back with one hand and raised the letter opener high above his head. Without thinking, Kelly blocked with her free arm in time to catch the dull letter opener in her forearm. The long blade shot through cleanly until it pierced through and tore out the other side of her arm. Kelly screamed in pain.

  Arturo was smiling as he pushed the letter opener into her arm until the handle stopped him. His expression changed fast from twisted elation to confusion. The pain was blinding but Kelly stood strong despite it. Spittle flew from her mouth as they both struggled. The letter opener was stuck and Arturo was trying to pull it out. Kelly grimaced in pain.

  “Problem?” She chuckled and then raised her knee hard into Arturo’s groin. He doubled over in pain, releasing his hand on the letter opener. Kelly grabbed the handle and shouted as she pulled the blade out of her arm. With shaky legs she twisted around to see Sonny still being choked. Both of Sonny’s hands were clawing at Ramon’s hand, tearing into his flesh but doing little to release his death grip.

  “Sonny! Catch!” Kelly tossed the letter open with her good hand toward the assassin.

  Sonny was losing consciousness, her eyes were dimming fast. Her thoughts were swimming into incoherence. She was finding it harder and harder to concentrate on her peril. Then through the fog of her mind she heard Kelly cry out. A renewed vigor coursed through her body at the sound of Kelly’s voice and her mind cleared. She saw the letter opener spinning

  toward her and snatched it out of the air. Sonny plunged the opener deep into the carotid artery below Ramon’s ear.

  His blood red eyes went wide as saucers and his fingers slackened around her neck. Sonny gritted her teeth and twisted the blade, tearing through flesh and muscle. Ramon now tried to pull her hand off but his strength was draining fast, he had lost too much blood from his stump.

  Sonny gasped and gulped air into her deprived lungs. She continued to twist the blade and watched as life fled from Ramon. Her throat felt like it had been burned with fire but she somehow summoned enough strength to spit in his face. His twisted face froze in horror and she felt his huge body rattle as his life ebbed away.

  Sonny’s thoughts had cleared and she saw Kelly standing near Arturo with her back turned to him. He was struggling to get to his feet behind her. Sonny could see that Kelly was focused on her right now and not paying attention to Arturo. Sonny yanked the blade out Ramon’s neck and flung it to Kelly.

  “Kelly!” Sonny’s scream came out hoarse. “Behind you!” It was the redhead’ turn to grab the blade out of the air. And she caught it with her good hand.

  Arturo had watched Ramon die while he staggered to his feet behind Kelly. He was trying to ignore the pain radiating from his groin. He couldn’t believe that two women had done this to them. Women were weak. They were only useful for holding his cuml. Now his brother was dead, MH4 was in shambles and it was all because of these women. He was going to tear them apart with his hands. But when he jumped up to his feet he felt the cold blade slide into his abdomen.

  Kelly had turned and without thinking had plunged the blade into his stomach. He grunted in pain and grabbed her wrist. But she was stronger. She dragged the blade sideways across his body. Pushing it deep and trying to tear as much of his insides as she could.

  Blood bubbled from Arturo’s mouth, and just like his brother, his eyes went wide with shock. He staggered back and away from her until he toppled into the table behind him. He slid down the wall, his butt hitting the floor. He looked at the red stain on his shirt bloom larger and larger. His mouth worked up and down, but no words came out, only gurgling moans.

  Kelly looked down upon him in disgust, ignoring the pain from her arm. She felt Sonny next to her and drew strength from her presence. “This is for agents Galler and Simms, and for anyone else you and your brothers killed. When you get to Hell tell them two women sent you.” She grinned at him in contempt as they watched him bleed to death on the floor.

  Sonny pulled Kelly into an embrace and squeezed her hard, the redhead melted in her arms. Their earpieces crackled.

  “Well that was the most horrifying thing I’ve ever seen.” Trace said into their ears.

  CHAPTER TWENTY NINE

  It was a little after 4 AM when Trace finally rested her head on her cheap pillow in her cheap motel. Her body was exhausted, but her mind was still too keyed up from the night’s activities. She stared up at the ceiling in the dark, trying to erase the hellish scene she had seen. Even through the poor quality definition of the security cameras, she had seen the dark pools of blood covering the room. The place looked like some kind of slaughterhouse.

  She still couldn’t believe that Kelly and Sonny had survived. They were as good as advertised. Seeing them in action was terrifying and impressive at the same time. They had also made it out alive relatively unscathed. Kelly had a pretty ugly wound in her arm and Sonny might have a concussion but otherwise they were okay.

  Kelly and Sonny had gotten out of Arturo’s place before Trace alerted the Mexican authorities. She found an emergency walk-in clinic that was c
lose enough for Kelly to get her arm taken care of. She might need more medical attention once they got back to the US, but they were able to stop the bleeding and close the wound there. Now they were back in their safe house and resting, she gathered.

  Trace groaned when she realized that she should check in with Timmerman. She didn’t feel like she had the energy. But work was work and Timmerman said she wanted to be notified as soon as the mission was completed. Still groaning, she groped in the dark for her phone sitting on the nightstand. In the darkened room the light from the phone was like a spotlight in her face. She keyed the number by memory and waited for the ring. Trace figured it was after five with the timezone difference while the line rang. Timmerman would probably be waking up.

  “Timmerman here.” The clear voice answered after one ring, surprising Trace. But someone who was a type A personality like Nancy Timmerman most likely never slept. She most likely stood in a corner waiting for the sun to rise. “Trace?”

  Trace’s tired mind snapped back to attention. “Yeah, uh mission accomplished.”

  “Have they eliminated the targets?”

  Trace yawned into the phone. “Yep, all the brothers have gone to that great gangland in Hell. MH4 is no more.”

  “Very good.” Timmerman said without emotion. “And the asset?”