Cowboy Boots and Uncensored Behavior

by Acres, Natalie

  Cade nodded. “I’ve got her.”

  Scott balked at that but backed away. Before he left the room, he said, “Maria, if you do this thing and you get yourself killed, I’ll follow you to the grave.”

  “Scott—”

  “Don’t Scott me! I’ve waited two years to finally be with you again and I’ll be damned if I’ll hold you in my arms today and lose you tomorrow. It ain’t happening, lady. If you want this job and you’re determined to do things your way, then you remember who and what you’re fighting for when you go in there tonight, because you aren’t just fighting for the Underground Unit. You’re fighting for me!”

  She was stoic for a few minutes after Scott left. She couldn’t look at Cade and was only vaguely aware of the tugging at her midsection, the way he hurriedly wrapped her torso region with a variety of weapons.

  At the bottom of the stairs, Jett yelled, “Two minutes. Shadows are in place. Technology is set. We’re rolling everywhere else. Let’s go!”

  “You okay?” Cade asked.

  “You mean you aren’t going to add to the spiel about how I’m not cut out for this?”

  “He loves you, Maria.”

  “He should’ve remembered the advice he gave me once.”

  “Which was?” Cade pulled her fancy dress shirt down over her weapons and carefully affixed the ruffled layers of the garment.

  “He said love and war have consequences. Deciding if you can deal with all scenarios beforehand allows you the time to think about how you will handle the situations you never thought you’d have to face.”

  “So have you?”

  “Yes.” She brushed by him then. “Maybe he should do the same.”

  Cade turned and followed her downstairs. Before she exited the house, he grabbed her arm and said, “I’m not against you, Maria.”

  “You’d be the only one in the mix.”

  “That’s not so. Riley believes in you. Scott, well, Scott has faith in you. He’s just so crazy in love, he can’t see past his own fears to support what you need right now.” Cade paused before he added, “Maria, he’d die trying to save you, but just so you know, he’s not the only one.”

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  The quiet had always driven him mad. It was one of the reasons why he’d always enjoyed working with Manny and Drew. They kept the conversation moving along, chatted about different things—sports, current events, the women they’d enjoyed, or more precisely, loved.

  Scott stopped right there and checked his side mirror, watching the little sports car fall right in behind them. Maria was the reason why the silence was deafening. This wasn’t just another mission. This operation could take away the only woman Scott had ever loved.

  The seven-passenger SUV was loaded down with weaponry and operatives. Jett was behind the wheel. Scott occupied the passenger seat. One row back, Riley, Ace, and Drake adjusted the settings on their weapons. Cade stayed low in the very back working with communications.

  “We have a signal,” Cade announced.

  Jett turned on the secure transmission and hit a few buttons. Brock appeared on the monitor above the GPS a few minutes later.

  “We’re set here,” Jett told him.

  “Maria?” Brock asked.

  “Following behind.”

  “ETA?”

  “Two minutes, forty-three seconds.”

  “Hang back.” Brock glanced off to his right. “What do you have, Kevin?”

  “Side road to the left, two hundred and fifty yards.”

  “Got it,” Jett said.

  Scott went rigid. They’d changed the plan!

  “Don’t even think about it.” Riley leaned forward and rested his palm on his shoulder.

  Scott remained calm. Cade was locked in with communications. This was not the way it was supposed to go down. They were supposed to drive by the compound, unload about fifty yards from the main gate, not a damn mile from the place!

  “What’s going on?” Cade leaned forward from the back.

  “The drop changed.”

  “This is fucked up!” Scott slammed his fist against the dashboard. He turned around in his seat and glared at Cade who shook his head once.

  Had he been in on this? No, he shook off that ridiculous notion.

  Drake cleared his throat and gained Scott’s attention. They locked in a knowing exchange, an exchange operatives were taught when they couldn’t rely on anything more than eye contact.

  Count.

  Maria sped by them. They took a sharp left.

  Ten-nine. Eight-seven. Six-five. Four-three. Two-one!

  He pressed his lips tightly together. Drake did the same.

  Drake gave a hard nod. They opened their doors, rolled to the ground, shook off the shock from the fall, and ran like hell.

  The screeching of brakes and clamoring of horns rang out behind them.

  “Damn you, Zelmore!” Riley’s rage pounded in his ears.

  “Good to know the lines of communication are functional,” Drake said, running at his side.

  “What’s going on?” Brock yelled.

  “Zelmore. Davenport. They’re on the fly.”

  “Fuck! I told you this would happen!” Brock’s fury resonated through Scott’s earpiece.

  “Come on, Papa Bear. Let the boy have some fun.”

  “Who is this?” Brock demanded. “Manny is that you?”

  “Surely you didn’t think I’d stay all doped up and miss out on the fun.”

  “Where the hell are you?”

  “Close enough to smell the enemy’s blood,” Manny said.

  “Manny, this is Scott. Stand down, man. We got this.” Surely to God, he wasn’t there in Texas.

  “Chill, buddy. I’m still in bed, but I got your logistics covered.”

  “In that case, rock on, brother,” Drake said, turning to Scott. “He’s the best in the business and we need him.”

  “You don’t have to tell me.” Scott sprinted toward the Rodriquez compound.

  “Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.” Brock’s cursing collided with Jett’s empty threats of flying to Vegas just to kick Manny’s ass.

  “As long as he isn’t on meds, we’re good to go,” Drake teased, pausing behind Scott as he used a small pair of pliers to cut a manhole in what would soon become a boundary marker for the others. “We probably need to worry about the bedside entertainment he ordered.”

  “Psht!” Scott laughed. “She’d have to be some kind of woman to distract him when a mission is in motion.”

  “Shouldn’t you worry about someone other than me, Davenport?” Manny asked.

  “Crue, Gabe, are you still with us or did you turn tail and run after you caught wind that the great Manny Mancini was on board?” Brock’s sarcasm filled the line.

  Crue, one of two shadows from the US-West division, said, “That’s affirmative. We were giving the boys time to work out their differences.”

  “Manny, don’t intervene unless you catch something Crue and Gabe miss. Got it?” Brock’s firm voice came across loud and clear.

  “I’m starting to think you wrote me off as dead because I was too much trouble when I was alive.”

  “What are you now, some kind of supernatural creature?” Brock snapped.

  “That’s what the women tell me,” he said in that raspy Southern voice.

  Laughter filled the lines of communication and Jett grumbled, “This coming from the man who is still using a bedpan.”

  “Get focused now!” Brock yelled. “Maria’s ETA?”

  “I’m here, Brock.”

  Scott crawled under the fence and came to a sudden halt. He whipped around and strained to see her headlights at the driveway. “Maria, are you at the gate?”

  “Stay off the line, Zelmore,” Riley said. “Maria, what do you see?”

  “Two guards just waved me in. They’re watching television.”

  “No stops?” Riley asked.

  “Isn’t that unusual?” Scott asked.

  Broc
k groaned. “This is a plane crash waiting to happen.”

  “Answer me, Maria. Is it unusual for them to wave you right on in?”

  “Scott, no! Damn it!” She released a hard breath. “I can’t do this. Let the authority handle communication. If you don’t, you’ll get me killed!”

  “Fine, I’ll ask the questions. Maria, this is Cade. You shouldn’t have been waved in. Look around. Pay attention to your surroundings, baby. Tell us what you see out there.”

  “We’re callin’ her ‘baby’ now?” Manny laughed.

  Crue’s and Gabe’s muffled chuckles filled the lines, too.

  “Brock, do your damned job and keep my team off my back!”

  Drake mouthed, “That could get her fired.”

  “I could only be so lucky,” Scott mumbled.

  The lines then were eerily quiet. Scott took off at a dead run. He dashed between bushes, leapt over an electric fence, rolled around a tree, and sidestepped his way through an advanced electronic infrared red-line security system designed to pick up body heat.

  Drake stayed right with him until they met their match with a couple of Dobermans and he fell behind crossing the back lawn.

  “Shoot the damn bastards,” Scott said, annoyed because he couldn’t hear anything more than the barking.

  “Your landlord is stirring.” Manny was all business then. “Lights in the third bedroom, top floor, four over from the left. Shadow in room two, ground floor.”

  “How’d you see that off-site before we caught the signal?”

  “I’m good, Candy,” Manny boasted. “That’s why I’m backing up my team tonight. I trust no one with their lives.”

  Scott smiled to himself at Manny’s revelation. Truth told, Scott felt a hundred percent better going into a warzone with Manny working logistics.

  “I’m in,” Maria whispered.

  She was already inside the compound? Scott came to an abrupt halt and checked over his shoulder. Drake stayed a few steps behind him.

  “Something is off. Somebody should’ve stopped her before now, if for no other reason except to announce her arrival or at least make a little small talk.”

  “Oh my God, no.” A very agonized voice filled the line. “Brock, Riley, Jett, we’ve got a major problem here.”

  “Affirmative,” Manny snapped. “What the fuck is that?”

  “You seeing something, Manny?” Scott asked.

  “This ain’t good, man.”

  “What do you have?” Scott glanced at Drake and motioned him to the rear of the house.

  “Brock, you there?” Manny asked.

  “Go ahead.”

  “Crue, Gabe, are you getting this yet?”

  “What the fuck is going on?” Scott snapped, trying to keep his voice down as he crept past the guard gate.

  “We’re getting an image,” Gabe said. “I can’t make it out.”

  “Maria, you need to vacate the premises,” Manny said.

  “The hell she does!” Brock screamed. “Maria, you will stick with the plan. That’s an order.”

  “You’ll fucking get her killed!” Manny screamed.

  Scott’s chest tightened. He ran up the sidewalk, pumping his arms and legs as hard as he could.

  “Brock?” Her voice was laden with fear. “I don’t know if I can do this.”

  “Damn it, you knew what was at stake!” Brock bellowed.

  Jett said, “Take a minute and regroup, Maria. Then, enter cautiously. Maria, do your job the way you were trained. Do not vacate the premises. Are we clear?”

  “This is bad,” she whispered.

  “Manny! Talk to me!” Scott screamed.

  “Do your job, Maria,” Brock said once more.

  “If you’re in question about her safety, pull her out!” Cade yelled.

  “She knew what she signed on for, Livingston,” Brock said steadily. “As did the rest of you. Maria, you’re cleared to move.”

  The line filled with static and a loud beep resounded. Manny was cutting through the lines of communication!

  A second later, Manny’s voice echoed across the line, “Scott, you don’t have time for Donovan’s bullshit. Don’t listen to the authority. Maria just walked in on a bad scene, man. You have to get her the fuck out of there. And you gotta do it now!”

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Maria stopped short of entering the room adjacent to her brother’s private quarters. She stood out of view watching as two men dragged their victim to a straight-back chair and tied his arms and bound his legs.

  “How many weeks have you been here, soldier?” A large fellow with scars up and down his bare back leaned over the man. “How much more can you take, boy? Huh?”

  One of Marvio’s men held up a pitcher of water. The other one tilted the chair back. When the chair rocked, Maria gasped. “Oh my God.”

  “Maria, what do you see?” Brock asked, seemingly calm. “And, Manny, if you cut these fucking lines again, I’ll break whatever bones you have left to snap.”

  “Threats at a time like this, Donovan? Come on, man, focus. Maria needs us right now.”

  Maria blinked, trying to make heads or tails of what was unfolding before her. The man in the chair held up his hand, waving his assailants away.

  “You ready to talk, Dahvide? You want to tell us what you were doing in our warehouse, son?” The thick dialect sent shivers down her spine.

  Maria stilled, watching as her evil family member took hold of the man’s chair and leaned him all the way back.

  “What’s that?” Her cousin leaned over his victim. “Did you say something to me?”

  “Que te jodan.” Their hostage released a muffled response.

  “Fuck you,” she whispered, translating.

  “What’s happening, Maria?” Crue asked.

  Cursing resounded. Santiago kicked the chair and it rocked backward, throwing his prisoner to the floor.

  “Get him up!” Her cousin was enraged.

  “Who’s there, Maria?” Scott asked, clearly breathless.

  The thumping sounds of heavy steps pounding against the ground rang out.

  “My cousin, Santiago,” she whispered.

  “Who the fuck is Santiago?” Scott demanded.

  A long blade was pulled out and another voice from the corner of the room said, “Finish him.”

  “We got a clear image!” Crue yelled.

  “Maria, get back!” Manny yelled. “It’s the machete guy from the warehouse. Maria, he’s dangerous, deadly!”

  The perpetrator with the sword came forward, swinging the blade in an unsteady fashion.

  “Wait!” Maria rushed in the room.

  “Maria, don’t!” Scott yelled into her earpiece.

  “She’s in,” Manny said, regret clear in his announcement. Manny quickly gave her coordinates, instructing the others on the best route to the third floor.

  Her cousins and their friends turned to face her.

  “Santiago? What are you doing here?” She tried to play dumb, but the stupid act probably wouldn’t work there. She’d entered a room where torture was king and a killing was clearly on the agenda.

  “Keep the line quiet and that’s an order!” Brock’s demand nearly shook her to her core.

  “Maria!” Santiago sang, dropping the machete he held and approaching her with his arms wide. “Where have you been, my dear cousin?”

  He hurriedly motioned to the men and they returned the chair to its upright position. Before he could embrace her, she sidestepped and avoided the contact. “What are you doing, Santiago?” She eyed the slumped body. She recognized the victim, though weakened, by the tattoos marking his shoulders, and left forearm.

  “This doesn’t concern you.”

  “If something like this is happening in my brother’s home then it concerns me.”

  “Marvio is aware of the procedure.”

  She stalked the chair where a hooded man sat. “Were you trying to drown him?” She whipped around and faced her cousin,
aware of the dangers if she kept her back to him. “You’re clearly torturing him.”

  “Ah no, Maria,” Santiago drawled.

  “Who is he, Santiago?” She bit out every last word, disgusted by the mere sight of her family member.

  “No one you know, sweet cousin,” he replied, trying to steer her back to the door.

  “I said ‘who is he’!” She yanked the hood away from Santiago’s victim.

  The man’s head fell back. Swollen flesh marred by bruises and cuts left her gasping for air. He was barely recognizable, barely breathing, but alive. David was alive!

  “Oh my God,” she whispered.

  “What do you have, Maria?” Brock asked.

  “What have you done, Santiago?”

  “I have done nothing, my dear cousin,” he said, twirling around like a little girl and walking away to fetch a cigar from a nearby table. Lighting his stogie, he blew out a cloud of smoke. “It is not your business.”

  She marched toward him and away from David, trying to still her temper.

  “What do you have, Maria?” Brock’s voice was so loud, it nearly damaged her eardrum.

  “I am not your sweet or dear cousin!” she screamed, trying to decide how to let Brock know who she’d stumbled upon.

  “Hang on, baby,” Scott said. “We’re just about there. Stay calm. Buy us some time.”

  “Maria,” Cade’s pained voice filled her ear. “Who is it, Maria?”

  He knew. God help her and him, too. Cade knew who she’d found. He didn’t want to ask outright, but he had to have known. No one else would’ve affected her this way. No one else except the men she’d fought beside, the men who’d become more than fellow operatives, more than friends. She’d shadowed them. They were her guys, her team. In her mind, they were her real family!

  Maria slipped her hand behind her back and freed one of her weapons. She secured the small gun at her belt and glared at Santiago. “I’ll ask you one more time. Who is he?”

  Santiago took a long drag from his cigar. “This man betrayed our family—me, Marvio, Marianna, even you, Maria.”

  “How?” She bit back the urge to draw on him then. “How did he betray our family, Santiago?” Instead of retrieving her gun, she took a sudden leap and shoved her cousin against the wall. “You tell me why any man deserves something like this!”