Too Far Gone: A Grey Justice Novel

by Christy Reece

  Heaven help her.

  Chapter Four

  She woke to darkness, head pounding, stomach roiling, arms and legs bound. A cloth covered her entire head. Her mind felt fractured, her thoughts so chaotic that for a moment she feared she had amnesia. Did she know her name? Yes, yes. She was Gabriella Mendoza. Her parents, beloved and long dead, had been Javier and Meredith. The evil and powerful Luis Mendoza was her grandfather. Carlos, her brother, was rapidly following in their grandfather’s wicked footsteps.

  So she didn’t have amnesia. Where was she? What had happened? Her memory was still blurred. Men had attacked them. The bodyguards had been knocked out. She and Carlos had been abducted. Was her brother here with her, too?

  She struggled against her bonds. Even as her mind told her to stay quiet until she figured things out, she couldn’t stop the whimpers of distress.

  “Relax,” a gruff male voice said. “You’re safe.”

  Two observations hit her at once. She was in a vehicle—she could feel the vibration of movement beneath her back. She was lying on a cushioned seat, likely the backseat of the car. And she didn’t know the voice of the man. He’d spoken Spanish, but his accent held a slight oddity to it. He was an American. Why would—

  If her hands had been free, she would have slapped her forehead for her stupidity. The truth of what was going on finally penetrated her fogged brain. She hadn’t been kidnapped for nefarious reasons. This was her rescue. The deal she’d made months ago. The abduction she had arranged and anticipated had finally taken place.

  She moved her shoulders to ease the tension and then stiffened again. Her purse. When she’d walked out of the building, her purse had been draped over her right shoulder. Where was it now? With her hands bound and her eyes covered she had no way of searching.

  “Do you know what happened to my purse?”

  “It dropped on the ground when we grabbed you. Did you have medication inside it? Something you have to have?”

  “No…no. Nothing like that.” Behind the hood, Gabby squeezed her eyes tight but tears seeped out anyway. The photos of her parents, her mother’s necklace. Getting them back would be impossible. It had been all she’d had left of them.

  She drew in a breath, then another one. Crying over what could not be changed was pointless. Her parents were in her heart. The memory of their love would remain within her forever.

  She had to look to the future. Everything would be all right. No, she didn’t know the name of the man who’d spoken. No, she didn’t know where she was going. And no, she had no clue what her future held. But one thing she did know was that she now actually had a future. One that didn’t involve her grandfather’s autocratic rule or his cruel schemes.

  She was free from the Mendoza curse. At last.

  Even though she was lying in the backseat and he couldn’t even see her, Wyatt sensed the tension leave Gabriella’s body. They’d had to make the abduction as realistic as possible. When witnesses were questioned and the guards found, all would report that masked men with powerful-looking guns had abducted Gabriella and Carlos Mendoza. No one would suspect that Gabriella had been the one to instigate the event. Carlos was headed back to the United States, where he would finally face justice. And Gabriella? He didn’t have a clue, but if he knew Grey Justice, the man had an agenda for her, too.

  “Could I know your name?” she asked in perfect English, with only a trace of a British accent.

  “No.”

  She drew in a sharp breath and didn’t breathe for several seconds. His answer had startled her, but having her fearful was all right for now. She needed to be alert and on guard. Just because they had come this far didn’t mean they were out of danger. She needed to be wary—even of him. He was not her savior.

  “Could I at least remove the hood?”

  “It’s best for both of us that you can’t see. Be assured you’re all right.”

  “I’m having difficulty breathing.”

  “No, you’re not.”

  “Shouldn’t I be the judge of whether I’m breathing fine or not?”

  He grinned, pleased. She didn’t sound scared anymore. She sounded decidedly aggravated.

  “We’ll be at our destination soon. You can take it off then.”

  “Where are we going? How do I know you are who you say you are?”

  “I didn’t say who I am.”

  She went silent, and he knew he had made her afraid again. Strange, but he felt bad about that. Couldn’t be helped, though. He was doing the job he’d been paid to do. Mollycoddling his captive wasn’t part of the op. When he heard a slight noise that sounded like a soft whimper, he relented. “You’re going to be fine. No one will hurt you.”

  “Thank you.”

  Wyatt wasn’t known for his kindness, but he was human enough to want to reassure her. Besides, the last thing he needed was for her to panic and try to escape.

  This time of night, with the exception of the occasional trucker, the two-lane highway was empty. He was making good time and should be at their destination ahead of schedule.

  What lay ahead for his passenger once they reached the drop-off place wasn’t something he would speculate about. She would be out of his hands and someone else’s responsibility. The fact that Justice had advised him to take extra care with her was an indicator that she was under the man’s protection. Despite the need to distance himself from any kind of softness, Wyatt was glad she would be safe. The instant before he’d covered her head with the black hood, he’d glimpsed a surprising vulnerability in her dark brown eyes. Surprising, since her family was some of the worst scumbags in this world. Had Gabriella Mendoza managed to escape from that evil? Or was that, like everything else in this world, just a lie?

  Headlights in his rearview mirror barely gave him a warning. A loud speaker blared the dire words, “Pull over or die.” A blast of piercing light exploded, almost blinding him.

  Wyatt slammed his foot to the accelerator and growled, “Stay down.”

  He kept one eye on the road, another on the rearview mirror as he pressed a button on his steering wheel. The moment the call was answered, he said, “I’ve got trouble.”

  “Where are you?”

  “Route 23. About ten minutes away from the drop-off.”

  “I’ll head your way.”

  The call ended. Wyatt knew not to go to the original destination. Best he could do was outrun them until backup arrived.

  “Are you going to pull over?”

  The soft, quivering voice coming from the backseat barely penetrated Wyatt’s consciousness. His concentration lay on staying alive and on the road.

  “No. Just stay down and keep quiet. You’ll be fine.”

  “That voice belongs to a man named Horatio Powers. He’s in charge of my security. He won’t give up.”

  “Yeah…well, I’m not big on giving up either.”

  Wyatt adjusted the rearview mirrors to block out as much of the piercing light as possible. If he could elude them, he would. He had his doubts that would be possible, but he’d do his dead-level best.

  Luis Mendoza would not want his granddaughter injured, of this he was sure. They wouldn’t shoot at them while the Jeep was moving, and since he wasn’t about to pull over, he figured they’d just follow him until he had to stop. The man coming would take Gabriella to the safe house, and Wyatt could leave her in the capable hands of her protector.

  The SUV behind him lightly bumped the Jeep. Wyatt cursed. They might not be willing to kill Gabriella, but that didn’t mean they wouldn’t try to run him off the road. If that happened, he was a dead man. No way would they allow him to live.

  “Do you have a gun?”

  The question startled him. “Yes, but shooting while driving on an icy unfamiliar road isn’t—”

  “I can shoot.”

  “You?”

  “You needn’t sound so surprised. I am proficient in many things.”

  “Okay, sit up and lean forward so I can uncover y
our head.”

  She popped up, and Wyatt reached back and jerked the hood from her head. He didn’t have to look at her to see the relief she must feel.

  “Turn around so I can untie you.”

  It was a little tricky with one hand, but he had her hands loose in a matter of seconds. Pulling his secondary weapon from his ankle holster, he handed it to her. “This is a SIG Sauer with a—”

  “No need for instruction. I know its capabilities.”

  Impressed at her calmness, he put both hands back on the steering wheel and glanced in the rearview mirror. “Hopefully, you won’t have to use it.”

  “I don’t care what they try. I am not going back. I’ll take death over returning.”

  Gabby took a brief second to look around and get her bearings. They were on a two-lane, winding road. It was midnight dark, but the spotlight from the truck behind them cast a brilliant glow. Her vision wavered. She squinted at the vehicle, cursing the drugs she’d been given. She had bragged about her proficiency with a gun, and while her claim was true, she wasn’t sure she could hit the broad side of a slow-moving train in her condition.

  The interior of their vehicle was so bright that she knew if anyone had been trying to kill them, they’d be easy targets. Fortunately, her grandfather’s men wouldn’t shoot for fear of her getting hurt by a stray bullet or a car wreck.

  “How much farther to our destination?”

  “Doesn’t matter. I can’t lead them to where we’re going. We’ll keep going until we—”

  As abrupt as a light switch, bright lights exploded from the opposite direction. A cellphone buzzed. The man behind the wheel pressed a button. A voice that was gravelly low and hard as steel said, “In three seconds, switch to the other lane. Three. Two. One. Now!”

  Before Gabby could ask what was going on, the man behind the wheel had switched lanes and the oncoming car was now heading straight toward the SUV carrying her grandfather’s men.

  Kneeling on the seat, she looked out the back window, watching in horror. “What is he doing?”

  “Playing chicken.”

  “He’s going to get himself killed.”

  His eyes on the rearview mirror, he growled a low curse. “Probably someday.”

  The two vehicles came closer and closer to each other. Seconds from crashing head on, the SUV swerved off the road and disappeared down a steep embankment. The car with the daredevil driver jerked to a stop and made a U-turn in the middle of the road.

  The voice spoke again. “Let’s go ahead and make the exchange up ahead.” This time, he sounded bored, maybe a little annoyed. She was supposed to get in the car with him? This man who’d had the nerve to play chicken with her grandfather’s men?

  They traveled a few more yards and then pulled into a clearing on the side of the road. The other man pulled in behind them.

  The adrenaline rush now draining from her body, Gabby felt the world whirling around her. Drugs, along with fear and exhaustion, were rapidly taking their toll. She told herself she couldn’t let go. She didn’t know these people. Just because they had helped her escape didn’t mean they didn’t have their own agenda. She needed to stay alert and wary.

  The door beside her opened, and she looked up into eyes the color of dark green moss. A memory hovered, just out of reach. Her blurred brain reached frantically for it, as if letting her know this was important information.

  Without a word, the green-eyed man extended a hand. Gabby took it, vaguely noting how warm, large, and rough it seemed as she was pulled from the backseat.

  Her feet touched the ground, and despite her self-lecture about staying awake and aware, she collapsed into the man’s arms. She was conscious only long enough to hear the man say, his gruff voice sounding slightly amused, “Hello, princess.”

  Chapter Five

  Colorado Mountains

  Jonah stuck his head inside the bedroom. This wasn’t normal. She was still out. When she collapsed in his arms, he had assumed she’d fainted and would wake soon. During a ten-hour flight, plus an hour of traveling to get to the safe house, she hadn’t made one single indication of consciousness. Something wasn’t right.

  Closing the door, he punched speed-dial on his phone. The instant it was answered, he said, “What the hell did Kingston give her?”

  “A mild knockout drug. Nothing dangerous. Why?”

  “She’s still out of it.”

  “Kingston said she looked a little glassy-eyed when she came out of the building. If she had something already in her system, that might account for it.”

  “She have a drug problem?”

  “My intel says no. Maybe whatever she had done at the doctor’s office required a sedative.”

  “Could be. Her breathing’s okay, as is her pulse.”

  “A double dose of sedative, plus the anxiety of the abduction, might’ve put her system in a tailspin.”

  “Yeah.” He glanced at the closed door. He hoped that’s all it was. Babysitting the granddaughter of a notorious crime boss was bad enough. Having her die in his charge would be a damn sight worse.

  “You haven’t seen anyone suspicious?”

  Striding to one of the small windows on the second floor, Jonah looked out at the stark-white landscape.

  “No. We got handed a full-on blizzard a little after midnight. Even if they knew where she’s stashed, anyone looking for her would have a helluva time getting here.”

  “Yeah. I heard the area was hit hard. It’ll be a few days before I can pay her a visit.”

  There were worse things than staying holed up in a luxury mansion in the middle of a large forest while winter raged around them, but Jonah felt the restrictions like a tight chain around his neck. The noise he made was meant to sound like a nonverbal affirmation. It came out more like the growl of a rabid wolf.

  As if he hadn’t heard the frustration in Jonah’s response, Justice went on. “That’ll give you time to ease into the questions. If she knows something about her grandfather’s activities, it’s best we find out before the feds find her.”

  The minute Jonah had boarded Justice’s private jet, he’d been handed a thick file filled with facts, suppositions, and suspicions of what the Mendoza family had been involved with over the last thirty or so years. Murder, drug trafficking, and arms dealing were just a few of the suspected activities.

  Having had a father and brother mired in a multitude of illegal and sickening crimes, Jonah was way past being shocked by another man’s evil ambition. He was, however, more intrigued than he’d planned to be.

  Unable to stop himself, he went back to the bedroom and opened the door. Even though he’d gotten only a brief glimpse of her before she’d lost consciousness, her eyes had gleamed with both determination and vulnerability.

  She was beautiful, too. The file had been filled with multiple photographs taken over the years at the events the woman had attended. She reminded him of a young Catherine Zeta-Jones. It was her eyes that struck him the most. Even when she was at her most glamorous and smiling, the sadness in them told a different story.

  If he was going to do the job he’d been tasked to do, he was going to have to ignore that vulnerability. When word spread that the granddaughter of the notorious Luis Mendoza had been taken, every alphabet law enforcement agency in the US, along with agencies from numerous other countries, would be working to find her. They’d want to know what she knew. Jonah intended to find out first.

  “How long do we have before the feds come calling?”

  “Luis Mendoza will try to keep the abduction a secret as long as possible while he searches for her. Unfortunately, the event was somewhat public, so it won’t be a secret for long. Good thing is, only three people know your location. You should be safe, but best not to take anything for granted.”

  Jonah grunted again. He’d learned the hard way to never take anything for granted. If shit was going to find you, it’d seep into any crack or cranny it could find.

  With the promise to
notify Justice when he learned anything of value, Jonah ended the call. He turned away from the sleeping beauty on the bed and went to the window facing the back of the house. The pristine purity of the snow was in direct contrast to the darkness of his thoughts. While he was locked up in this wood and rock mansion, watching over a crime princess, Teri’s killer roamed free. The bastard was out there somewhere, breathing, eating, and sleeping. Every day he was allowed to draw breath was a day he never should have had.

  Her killer hadn’t known her. Teri had been nothing more than a job to him, a contract to fulfill. To Jonah, she’d been everything good and fine. If not for her, he would have been alone, looking for a way to bring his father and Adam, his oldest brother, to justice. In the end, their plan had destroyed them both. Jonah had been framed and imprisoned. Teri had been murdered. A hit, ordered by his own father, Mathias Slater.

  The instant he was released from prison, Jonah had been on a quest to bring her killer to justice. So far, all he had were odd, vague leads that had led him nowhere. A man named Peter who resided up north was not much to go on. And if not for Grey Justice, he might not even have had that. He had known going in that getting justice for Teri would be slow going. While he waited for a lead to pan out, he worked his ass off conducting various missions for the Grey Justice Group. But in the downtime, when all he had were his thoughts and his demons, guilt sliced through him like a fiery knife. Teri had died because of him.

  So yes, there were worse things than being holed up in a fortress protecting a beautiful woman.

  The sooner he got the info they needed and Gabriella Mendoza went on to start her new life, the sooner he could get back to gaining justice for Teri.

  ***

  Gabby frowned at the unpleasant sensation. She’d been existing in soft, dark oblivion, surrounded by brilliant emerald stars. But now an irritant, like a buzzing gnat, threatened her peace. She batted her hand to shoo the thing away and made contact with something much bigger than a gnat. Something that growled a curse.