by Apryl Baker
It took him a minute before he regained his feet and shook his head. His hearing would take more than a minute to come back, but he motioned for the men to advance. They put men down as they inched their way to the front. He motioned for Cole to hit the main gate. Two of MPD’s gang unit went with him, while Kade and the rest advanced on the house.
He hugged the side of the house and looked through the window. An empty sitting room. Where was Tomás? He wanted to destroy that fucker like he’d never wanted to hurt someone in his life. He inched his way to the front porch and saw the men waiting there, guns aimed straight for him. Kade barely had time to duck and roll behind the closest tree before the volley of bullets rang out.
Shit. He looked for Cole, who had slithered close to the front gate. He’d have to get inside, and that would mean putting himself out in the open for every hired gun to take aim directly at him. Fuck.
Dylan had come to the same conclusion. He pulled out several canisters and tossed them to Kade. Smoke bombs. It would be harder for them to see as well, but it would give Cole the opportunity he needed. He uncorked the first one and tossed it as close to the porch as he could. Smoke began pouring out of it in midair, and he dived for the porch railing, tossing one in the middle of the men waiting and the other over the railing and into the yard in front of them, obscuring the vision of everyone involved.
Bullets whizzed at him, and he dodged, feeling one hit him in the back. The Kevlar vest took the brunt of it, but it still fucking hurt. He barely managed to keep from falling on his way back to his tree.
“Fire!”
He heard the shouting coming from inside the house and had to wonder if that was Conner’s doing. He’d found the underground tunnel that served as an escape route. It was how he’d planned on getting in to get Matthew, and Angel if he found her first. Kade hoped it was Conner cutting off Tomás’s escape route. That fucker was going to die today.
He and Dylan worked their way back around the porch, keeping low and staying quiet. They could barely make out shapes, but it was enough to shoot. They started firing. Kade emptied three clips before retreating to his tree. Dylan rolled just as a barrage of bullets hit the place he’d been hunkered down.
“Cole needs to get that fucking gate opened.” Dylan spat blood. Kade wasn’t sure how he’d managed a busted lip, but he didn’t put too much thought into it. He raised his gun and fired at the man stumbling toward them. He fell, and another took his place. Kade kept firing while Dylan snuck out and collected guns. They would need them when their ammo ran out.
“We need to get inside.” Dylan checked the window closest to their cover. “It’s still clear.” He motioned Kade over to help him. Kade hoisted him up. The window must have been locked because glass rained down on top of Kade, and then Dylan pushed himself through the window. He heaved Kade up and into the room.
“Where the fuck are they?” Dylan asked, taking stock of his weapons. “They had to have heard that.”
Kade brushed the glass off his pants, ignoring the small cuts all over his hands. The pain was pushed into that dark place where nothing bothered him. He gripped the gun Dylan handed him. “Let’s go find my wife and kill that son of a bitch.”
Kade and Dylan flanked the doorway and looked out. No one. They moved toward the back of the house where voices drifted down the hallway.
“We can’t get out that way,” one voice said. “The basement fire has spread like wildfire. It stinks of gasoline.”
“Then we need to make it to the garage. We can drive through the men shooting at us and go out the back exit. No one’s disturbed that, have they?”
Kade recognized Tomás’s voice.
“It’s blocked from the outside. We’ve tried to budge it, but it’s no use.”
“Fucking idiots. How did you let this happen?” Tomás roared, his anger getting the best of him.
Silence met his outburst.
“Get me Kincaid’s fucking whore, and bring the boy.”
“Sir…they’re both gone.”
Tomás let fly a string of Spanish. Somewhere in the part of himself he’d locked away, Kade felt relief and triumph. His family was safe. It wasn’t a lasting moment or emotion, though. He was too locked down to really feel it. His focus was Tomás.
“Took your time, motherfucker.”
Conner’s whisper startled Dylan, but not Kade.
“Where the fuck have you been?” He leaned around the corner, looking to see if there were guards. Six stood in the hallway.
“Hunting.” Conner wiped his knife’s blade across his knee. The black material of his slacks wouldn’t show the stain. “Fuckers touched her. They died for it.”
“They touched her?” Rage built so hard and so fast, it burst through the lock he’d placed on his emotions, and they spilled out all at once. Conner gripped him hard enough to leave a bruise.
“Yes, but just touched. No one raped her, but they died for touching her. All except for Tomás. I thought you would want that honor.”
“What did he do to her?”
“You sure you want to know?” Conner didn’t look like he wanted to elaborate.
“Yes. Tomás will delight in telling me about it. If I hear it first, it won’t be such a shock, and I might be able to control my temper.”
Conner still looked doubtful.
“I need to know how much he needs to be tortured.”
“I don’t think you’ll have long.” They all heard the gunfire explode outside. “I’m guessing Cole got the gates opened. Whatever we are going to do, we need to do now.”
The men in the kitchen must have heard it too, because they grew quiet.
“There’s nowhere left to go.”
“I’ll be out on bail by tonight. I want you to find my beauty and my boy and bring them to our safe house in Santa Monica.”
“We’re retreating to the west coast?”
Whoever that was did not sound pleased.
“Not retreating. I just want them taken there and kept until all this blows over. It’s business as usual here.”
Conner growled, and Kade nudged him. It was time. He and his brother charged down the hall, firing as they ran. The six men went down. He’d forgotten how good a shot his brother was. Conner had been a sniper in the military. He was just as good up close as he was far away. Three men waited in the kitchen. Tomás, his second in command, Javier, and a guard.
Kade smiled when Tomás raised his gun. His own bullet found its mark in Tomás’s gun hand while Conner took care of the guard. Javier had thrown his weapon down. Kade stopped Conner from killing him. He had other plans for him.
“Hello, Tomás.”
“Agent Kincaid.” Tomás’s own smile came out. “It is good to see you.”
“Oh, I don’t know about that.” Kade leaned back on his heels while Conner disarmed Javier and kicked Tomás’s gun away from him. “You may not think so once you realize what I have planned for you.”
“And what would that be?” Tomás smirked. “Twenty years in prison? That is nothing. I can run my organization from inside as well as outside.”
“No. You’re going to die today.”
“You’re an agent of the law, Kincaid. You can no more kill me and get away with it than I can you.”
“I’m not an agent anymore.” Kade’s grin widened. “I’m not bound by the rules of law. You took my son and my wife. What do you think I’m going to do?”
“Ah, yes, my beauty.” He cupped his balls. “She was a good ride.”
Kade felt the rage build, but he pushed it down. “I know you touched her, but that’s all you did.”
“Are you sure?” Tomás leered at him. “She and I rode here together. Hours in a car with nothing to do but get acquainted with each other.”
“If that’s true, then what I have planned for you is all the more satisfying. On your feet.”
Tomás’s eyes narrowed. When he didn’t move, Conner gripped him by the scruff of his shirt collar and heaved
him up.
Kade grabbed a kitchen dishrag and pulled open the door leading to the basement. The flames had made it all the way up the stairs, and when he opened the door, flames shot out, the oxygen feeding the fire. Dylan had moved before he opened the door, and the door itself shielded Kade from the flames.
“You’re going to burn in hell, motherfucker. For every person you butchered, you are going to feel the flames eat you alive.”
“You can’t…” Tomás shouted even as Conner pushed him toward the door. “You’ll be arrested…”
“Who’s going to tell anyone about this? These are my men, and if Javier wants to live, he’ll keep his mouth shut.” Kade grabbed one arm, Conner gripping the other, and together, they threw Tomás into the fire, his screams echoing up the stairs. They watched as the flames licked up his body, molding to his skin like a passion-starved lover. Once Kade was sure Tomás would burn and not escape, he closed the door.
Javier stared at him, horrified.
“If you want to live and take over the cartel as is your right, you need to understand two things.” Kade got in his face. “One, Tomás got trapped downstairs, and two, my family is off limits. This feud is done. The price will be removed from our heads. If you cross me, we will hunt you down in the middle of the night, skin you alive, and feed you to the dogs. Do you understand?”
The whites of Javier’s eyes ate away the dark irises. “Sí, señor. This is done.”
“Kincaid?”
“Back here.” Kade moved out of Javier’s face and stepped aside.
Jeremy burst in, followed by a small horde of officers. He surveyed the kitchen and turned curious eyes to Kade. “Where’s Tomás?”
“According to our friend here, Tomás got trapped in the basement. Once the fire spread, there was no getting him out.”
Jeremy stared hard at Kade, and he stared right back, unblinking. Conner stood beside his brother, daring Jeremy to question their recounting of events.
“Is that true?” Jeremy moved his attention to Javier, his hazel eyes troubled.
“Sí, señor.” Javier took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Tomás tried to get out through his escape route. I was to stay here and make sure our men got out before you stormed the house. I don’t know how the fire started, but Tomás, he said the door was blocked, and the flames, they got him before he could get out. It was so fast. I’ve never seen fire spread like that.”
Jeremy didn’t buy it. Kade knew he didn’t, but there was no evidence to say that wasn’t what happened. When Jeremy nodded and officers took Javier into custody, a sense of relief spread through him. Only one thought remained.
“Now where the fuck are my wife and kid?”
***
Angel stumbled out of the tunnel into the night air. She wasn’t sure how late it was, but it was dark enough she could barely make out the path that led to the road. No moon lit the way, and she gripped her son’s hand tightly.
“Okay, baby boy, we’re out. We just need to get to the road.”
He didn’t say anything, just held onto her hand as tight as his little fingers could. She wanted to fling the knife from his hand, but Angel also knew he might need it if they ran into any of Tomás’s goons.
She stuck to the shelter of the trees and moved slowly, careful of the rocky terrain. She heard the beach but didn’t move toward it. She needed the road, not the sand. They walked for another ten minutes before she spotted the road.
“Okay, we’re almost there.” Angel crept toward the road, gun in one hand and her son’s in the other. Please God, don’t make me shoot anyone tonight.
“Where’s the damn exit?”
She knew that voice. Dropping the gun, she picked up Mateo and ran. She spotted Kade a second before he saw her. He rushed her, and the moment she fell into his arms, all the pain and fear fled. Kade was here. He’d keep her and Mateo safe.
“Are either of you hurt?” He pushed her back so he could look over her and their son. “Conner, call the fucking ambulance over here. I want them checked out.”
“No, we’re fine.” Angel reached up and pulled his head to hers, needing to taste him after everything she’d been through tonight. She needed him like the air around her to make all the bad memories go away.
When she let him up for air, she smiled down at their little boy. “Mateo, this your papa.”
Kade didn’t know what to feel when those cat eyes shined up at him with curiosity. His face was small, but he was definitely a Kincaid. It was in the stubborn tilt of his jaw and the fierce protectiveness he saw in the way the boy clutched the knife. Conner told him he’d told the boy to protect his mother, and he was still doing that.
“Hi.”
Kade saw the smile break out on Angel’s face. He knew what she was thinking of. That day on the beach when he’d found her lounging with her friends. He’d said it then, and now their son was saying it in the exact same confident swagger he had that day.
Kade cupped the little boy’s face and felt the prickle of tears. “Hi, yourself. I’m so happy to finally meet you.”
Mateo reached up and brushed the tears away that were slowly falling down his cheeks as Kade stared into the face of the child he’d grieved over for almost seven years.
“¿Por qué estás llorando?”
“He’s asking why you’re crying,” Conner informed him. Kade didn’t speak Spanish. Something he’d start remedying today. “Mateo understands English, but he can’t speak it so well yet.”
“I’m crying because I’m happy. I thought you were gone, and now you’re here, safe and sound. No one is going to take you away from me or your mama ever again.”
“Even Juan?” Kade wanted to get his hands around Juan’s throat when he saw the dead look that entered his son’s eyes.
“What did I tell you about Juan?” Conner came over and tousled the kid’s hair.
“He would die.”
“He will.”
The little boy finally nodded, but the dead look remained. Kade suspected it wasn’t until he saw proof of Juan’s demise that Matthew would start to recover from whatever he’d been through.
“Can I hold him?” Kade asked Angel, unsure if she’d give him up. Not that he’d blame her if she refused.
Her arms tightened around Mateo, but she finally nodded. Kade took him from her and hugged his son to him, unabashed tears streaming down his face. His son. Kade fell, holding the little boy so close it might be choking him, but he held on.
He was finally holding his son.
Kade sent up a prayer of thanks. For this, he’d haul his ass to church every Sunday for the rest of his life. God had done him a solid and brought them both back to him.
He sat there for a long time, Mateo clasped against him, and breathed in the scent of him. He smelled of the beach, of sand, and salt, and that unique smell that was all little boy.
He’d been conceived here, and it was right that he smelled of the things his mother loved the most. Everything was right with the world.
He just had one more thing to take care of before they could go home.
Angel glanced at her son to make sure he was safe before letting her attention center on the gravestone in front of her.
Peter Marcus Lemoraux.
Kade promised she’d be able to come say goodbye to her brother, and he’d done exactly that. She brushed the dirt away from the headstone and placed the flowers over the grave. Daffodils. It was their mother’s favorite flower. She didn’t know if Peter liked them, but she’d put identical flowers on her parents’ gravestones a few minutes earlier.
“Hey, big brother.” She squatted beside the gravestone’s header that read beloved son and brother. “I missed you.”
The wind kicked up, and she let it wash over her. Who could say it wasn’t Peter listening and letting her know he heard her and missed her too? She would believe it was him.
“I just wanted to let you know I forgive you. If you hadn’t made Kade promise to leave m
e, maybe you would still be here. I’m mad as fuck about that, but I forgive you. You were only trying to keep me safe.”
She traced his name with her finger.
“I want you to know I’m happy. I found Kade again, and we found our son. He’s a little damaged, but we’ll help him. I need you to know I’m good, big brother, and I know you’ll always have my back. Me and you…” She used her index finger to gesture back and forth between the stone and herself. “We always got each other’s back.”
Kade’s arms went around her, and she let the first sob out. It hurt so much to be here, to say goodbye. She hadn’t let herself do it when she’d buried him. She’d been too pissed, and then she’d buried every emotion she had in regard to Peter and Kade.
“It’s okay, moye serdste.” He hugged her close, and she cried harder. “He knows you forgive him and how much you love him. He knows.”
“I know.” She hiccupped and leaned into him. “I just miss him so much. Did I tell you I had a dream about him last night?”
“You did?”
“He was sitting in the living room at the old house watching My Little Pony, of all things. There was a little girl sitting in front of the TV. They were having a tea party. She was wearing an Ariel princess costume, and her red hair was glinting like fire in the sunlight.” Angel twisted so she could see her husband. “I think it was his way of saying we’re having a girl.”
“Fuck that.”
She laughed at the horror that spread across his expression. Kade and his brothers all agreed the one thing that kept them all sane was that they’d never had a sister to worry about growing up. Give them a niece, and their lives would turn into a living hell of fierce protectiveness.
“It’s a girl. I know it.” She let him help her up, her tears starting to dry as the dream made more and more sense to her. “Arielle Patricia Kincaid.”
“I’m not having it.” Kade shook his head, his eyes wide as saucers. “There will be no girls born into this family.”
