Tijuana Nights (The Nights Series Book 1)

by Leigh K. Hunt

  Sure, I didn’t know if I was the right person to do it, but I would make a damn good start. I just couldn’t believe this was happening, and why River, Chase, and Gabe were just standing by and watching it take place. The only way I could think of stopping the slaughter beneath us was to surprise them. Surely if that happened then they would at least postpone their initiation… right? Something told me that the captives now had a death warrant on their heads regardless.

  Unless we took out all of the cartel members in the warehouse right now… then they might at least have a chance of survival. Me included. And as much as I loved and respected these men I was with, I didn’t think waiting around on a roof was going to help us.

  And in that moment, I made a completely irrational decision against all my better judgement. I pulled out the two Glocks from the small of my back, and shot through the skylights.

  Glass splintered and shattered to the floor below, and while the mayhem started, I trained my sights on Alicio Mendoza first since he was the closest cartel member that I knew. He smiled as his eyes met mine, but it wasn’t warm. It was cold. And I pulled the triggers, letting off a couple of rounds, before River and Chase both slammed into me, pulling me down onto the iron of the roof.

  Shots rang out in the evening air around us. “What the hell are you doing?” River shouted at me. I struggled to get up, but they had me pinned.

  “What you should have done ages ago.” Heat flared in me, and I knew that we didn’t have much time.

  “She’s right,” Chase shouted to River over the noise. He pulled out a gun and a grenade from his jacket pocket. “She just took out Alicio Mendoza for us. Now’s our chance to take the rest of these fuckers down.”

  River shook his head. “So be it.” He extended his hand to me, helping me get up, and gave me a tired smile. “I hope you know what you’re in for.”

  I shrugged. “I don’t have a choice.”

  “No, you don’t,” he said to me just before I watched him fling himself through the shattered skylight, and onto a number of stacked wooden pallets before he expertly rolled off and joined the fray below.

  I didn’t have time to dither about now, but I also didn’t exactly know what to do. I had basically called an all out war on the El Diablo Cartel, on their turf, and I seriously wasn’t qualified. Chase had already shot through the next skylight, and was taking calculated shots at people. I watched him shoot one of the innocents in the head, as they dangled from their chain, having been half gutted. It was the most humane thing to do. I was grateful that they wouldn’t have to suffer any more than they did.

  Out of the corner of my vision I saw something move on the roof. It wasn’t Gabe, as he was in front of me. I turned to see an arm, reach up and over the warehouse roof parapet, gun in tow. “Shit,” I muttered. I lifted up my gun, and took aim, releasing the trigger after a heartbeat. I missed. A face stared back at me as he raised his gun toward us. I fired off another shot, and it hit his arm, forcing his weapon to clatter onto the roofing iron. I ran across the roof, and took a sweeping kick at his neck, trying not to lose my balance. Gabe grabbed my arm, just before I accidentally killed myself. The man’s young body was twitching on the ground below us, with his head and neck at an impossible angle.

  Chase ran up to us on the roof. “We have to get off here. We need to get to River.”

  I didn’t need to be told twice, but I also knew that once we were down on the ground, with the rest of the psychotic cartel members, we were fair game. I gave him a sharp nod, and picked my way over to the rickety scaffolding. Chase grabbed my hand as he caught up to me, causing me to grin, and making my heart flutter.

  “Mack.” The tone of his voice immediately told me to stop and pay attention. “Thank you.”

  I shook my head. “For what?”

  He shrugged, suddenly looking shy. “For everything.”

  I spluttered. “I may have just signed our death warrant, and you’re thanking me?”

  “No, not for that. Thank you for being you, when you’re with me.”

  I stared at him, speechless. My mouth was dry, and I licked my lips as his jade coloured eyes bore into mine. A shout from below broke the connection, and I turned my attention to the ground. Gunfire ripped through the air, and Chase pulled me to the rough roofing iron. Bullets pinged against metal.

  “Thank God we weren’t on the scaffold,” Chase muttered. “They would have picked us off.”

  We shuffled towards the edge and peeked over. There were about thirty odd people down there, all looking up at the roof, watching, waiting, with a few of them taking pot shots at our general location.

  “Move back,” Chase murmured. “I’ll get us out of this.”

  I didn’t hesitate, but moved back towards Gabe. Chase took a grenade out of his pocket and pulled the pin. He waited a moment, and then threw it directly among the mass of people below. He covered both me and Gabe with his body as the explosion ripped through the air, and shook the building violently beneath us.

  I heard screams, felt the heat from the blast and I hoped and prayed River wasn’t anywhere near that.

  “Come on,” Chase said to us. “Coast is clear – we need to move.”

  We got to the scaffolding, and leapt onto it. I didn’t even worry about the height or my safety as I made my way down as quickly as I could. I knew that both Chase and Gabe were fine, but I had the sudden urge to make sure River was still okay. Common sense told me that he was, because he was trained for this sort of covert combat. But I still had to make sure with my own eyes. People were scattering to the wind – getting into their cars and roaring out of the parking area towards the city. I grabbed both my guns, and crept along the building, taking shots at anyone that looked threatening.

  I reached a door, and slowly opened it, waiting to be shot at, but nothing came. Chase and Gabe caught up to me. “Go,” Chase ordered Gabe. “Get the car, and make sure we have an out.” He grimaced. “If we get out.”

  Gabe gave him a quick nod. “See you soon.” I watched him as he took off through the darkness towards the road, and I looked up at Chase, who was also watching Gabe’s retreating figure. After a moment, he looked down at me and smiled. “Come on.”

  I tucked one gun into the holster, hoping that by using both hands on the one gun it would improve my aim.

  Weapons at the ready, we made our way through the open door and into the darkness. Someone had shot the lights out, or flicked the switch, but judging by the amount of glass crunching under my boots, I guessed it was the former.

  We made our way through another door and saw two figures struggling on top of a reclining dentist type chair. River was one of them, and when we slammed the door open, they sprang apart.

  The other was Alvarez. He turned at looked at me, covered in blood, his lip split, and his clothing torn, revealing the tattoos covering this chest. My eyes fixed on the panther tattoo, and I just knew without a shadow of a doubt that it was the cartel brand. “Ciara,” he said as pleasantly as he could through ragged gasps. “How nice of you to finally join us.”

  I shrugged. “Oh, you know me. I never turn down an invite,” I said flippantly through gritted teeth and forced smile.

  Alvarez moved closer, causing Chase to bristle beside me, but I stood still. My eyes cut towards River’s, and I saw he was watching this exchange with curiosity. I knew what he would do in this situation. He would stand strong, and proud, but always at the ready. Having both of them in the room with me made me feel more confident.

  “I had such high hopes for you, Ciara… or should I say Rachel? Or is it McKenna now?” Alvarez gave me a lazy grin as my stomach dropped. They knew all of my aliases, and I felt my confidence start to drop away.

  “How long have you known?” My voice was quiet and wavering slightly.

  Alvarez shrugged. “I have known you weren’t who you said you were since the night you slept on my sofa.”

  I swallowed, and he raised his eyebrows with amusement.

>   “I also knew at the ball that something was off about you, but…” He mused for a moment. “I just couldn’t put my finger on it. I knew that the odds of you being in the same place as me on two occasions wasn’t a coincidence. Have I mentioned that I don’t believe in coincidences? And then of course, the next morning I saw you with your ‘brother’.” His eyes cut to Chase and then back to me. “And then I really knew you weren’t who you said you were.” He took another step closer. “So when you were at my house, I drugged you, and ran facial recognition software. Aquí está, McKenna Carmichael – a research historian based in the U.K. Both parents deceased.”

  I cleared my throat, narrowing my eyes at him. “Well. It seems you know everything about me then, huh?” I held my head high and glared at him. I was not going to let this thug get the better of me. He may have fooled me once, but he wouldn’t again.

  “Just about,” Alvarez sneered. “Your boyfriend Luke is a charming young man, might I add. He’s proven to be of spirit and cowardice while we have been holding him.”

  Luke? “You have Luke?” I clenched my jaw and tensed. I may have hated Luke, but this wasn’t the fate he should have.

  Alvarez looked at me with a coldness that caused my muscles to quiver. “Oh yes. Your aunt has been harder to track down, but we’re not far away now.” He scratched his chin thoughtfully as if he was trying to get a read on my reaction, and I cast my eyes to the ground. They had found my friends and family. This is what I had been afraid of. River, Chase, and Gabe had all warned me that this is what the Cartel did to those who went against them, but I guess I’d never thought they would do it to me.

  I didn’t know if I should take him seriously or whether he was just trying to wind me up. As I looked up at him, he lurched towards me, spinning me around, causing me to drop the gun in my hand as it whacked against the doorframe, and he wrapped his arm tightly around my neck. I felt the sharp blade nick my throat, forcing me to freeze. He pulled me backwards across the room, and I made a desperate attempt not to trip over anything that might cause the knife to bury deeper into my neck.

  A bead of warmth dripped down my neck, and I knew that it was my blood. My lip trembled as I looked at both Chase and River, who were both staring wide-eyed back at me. Chase rearranged his features, and gave Alvarez a cold stare. He lifted his gun, and aimed it at Alvarez’s head. “Really?” Chase said. “You still want to kill her even with both of us in the room?”

  Alvarez laughed. “Trust me. All it takes is a little twist of my knife, and I’ll slit her jugular. Nothing you can do after that, especially not in this country. Medical services here are under our directive and I doubt they’ll respond.”

  I felt the warmth of his breath, tinged with the scent of alcohol, brushed against my neck. I couldn’t believe I had been so stupid as to ever think that there was something good about him. He was just like the rest of the cartel. Cold. Callous. Cruel. I licked my lips, trying not to squirm. I took in my surroundings properly, wondering what I could do to get the hell out of this position. Tattooing tools were on the benches, the reclining dentist's chair, which I thought I could probably kick to create a distraction. But then I still had the issue of the knife at my neck.

  I looked over to Chase, and he gave the slightest shake of his head at me. Confused I looked at him again, trying to decipher what the hell he was saying. He looked pointedly at the chair. He was telling me to stay still and not do anything rash. I inhaled deeply. I had to trust him. My arm throbbed with the sharp pain from when my forearm had hit the doorframe. The dribble of blood was now making its way down toward my cleavage. Unless it was sweat. I had no idea, and there was no way I could look down to see what it was anyway.

  “You killed your nanny,” I rasped to Alvarez.

  He gave a light laugh. “My governess, and yes.” He cleared his throat. “And I bet the morbid curiosity inside you wants to know how she died. Well, if truth be known, I skinned her alive. Much like what I could do to you right now if I chose. Afterwards, I cut out her organs.” He paused, letting that little fact sink in.

  I didn’t feel well. I felt too hot all of a sudden, claustrophobic, like I couldn’t get enough air.

  “You remind me of her,” he whispered in my ear. “Strong-willed. She didn’t even fall unconscious when I skinned her. She still cursed me for what I was doing, right to the bitter end without ever begging for her death. She didn’t want to me to live the cartel life, but what could I do? It was in my blood. It was my legacy to follow in my parent’s footsteps. She hindered that.”

  “She cared,” I stated simply.

  From where I was standing, I could just see the glint of light reflecting off my gun through the doorway. And then I remembered. The other gun was holstered at the small of my back. It was my option out as long as Alvarez stayed well and truly distracted.

  Alvarez chuckled. “Yes. She did.”

  “If you kill Mack, you know you’ll die anyway, don’t you?” Chase stated. “I will shoot you if that knife gets any closer.”

  “Ah, yes. You take me for a fool. You see, I would never have done this without thinking this idea through. McKenna is my ticket out of here. I know that neither of you will endanger her life – you have both spent too much time protecting it so far.”

  I couldn’t argue that point. They had. I pushed the panic down knowing my time was running out. I slowly dropped my arm, watching Chase’s eyes as he followed the motion. He lifted his eyes to meet mine. I knew he knew. He wasn’t giving me any signals to stop. I didn’t know if this was going to work, and chances were that Alvarez could plunge the knife into my neck anyway. I made a movement to try and readjust the way I was standing, and Alvarez tightened his arm hold around my neck.

  “You’re going to take Mack as hostage?” River confirmed.

  “I guess that would make sense,” Chase added.

  I repressed a smile, and pursed my lips together, knowing that they were both stalling Alvarez. I edged my hand up slowly, beneath my jacket, and felt the warm metal of the gun, as I tried to get a decent but slow hold on it in my left hand. Whatever happened, it was going to be an issue shooting with that hand, as I wasn’t terribly coordinated with it – not like I was with my right. My fingers shook, and I tried to slow down and inhale some sense of calmness into myself.

  The gun slid effortlessly from the holster, which in my humble opinion, was probably the only thing to actually go right this evening. I kept the gun close to my side, and used my leg as leverage to get a good grip on it. Both River and Chase’s eyes cut to it, but then quickly focused back on Alvarez.

  “Just let her go, Alvarez, and I’ll make sure your death is quick,” River said quietly. “If you take her, you will be running while we hunt you down. And then it will get messy.”

  Alvarez shook his head. “No. You killed the rest of them. I know it was you. Why should I give you what you want and make this easy for you? So you can get paid?” He spat. “No. Mack will be coming with me, and we’ll disappear. Follow me if you like… but we all have an out if we need it.” He leered at them. “You’ll never ever find us.”

  Now was my moment. I raised the gun, pressing the metal against his ear. I squeezed my eyes shut and held my breath as I pulled the trigger, praying that there were still rounds in the magazine. It was too quick for him to even register what was happening. All I heard was the shot ringing in my ears. The knife dropped to the floor next to my foot, and Alvarez’s arm went slack, which made me open my eyes. His knees buckled, and he slid to the ground behind me.

  I looked at both River and Chase, stunned. “I got him?” I whispered, more to myself than to them. River’s face broke into a smile, and Chase strode across the room towards me, gun still in his hand. I turned around and dropped my gaze as Chase reached my side. He put his arm around me, and I stepped into his warmth. Blood pooled on the floor at my feet, and I stepped back from it, swallowing my guilt. Alvarez had intended to kill me. I shot him in self-defence. To survive. I
reached up to my neck, to feel my wound, and my hand came away, slick with blood.

  I looked up at Chase, and then back at the blood on my hand. “Oh my God,” I whispered.

  Chase turned me slightly to look at it closer. “No…it’s only a surface wound. It’s not pumping out – he didn’t hit an artery.”

  Relief spread through me at his words. The sound of sirens in the distance bought reality crashing back around me. I swallowed. We were in a warehouse full of dead bodies, and possibly people still chained up against the wall alive. “We have to go.”

  River gave us a sharp nod. “Yes.”

  “We need to get those people out of here.”

  He pursed his lips in thought. “We should.”

  Chase shook his head. “Mack should go and meet Gabe – you and I will get those people out.” He pulled out his mobile, and dialled Gabe, instructing him to come around and pick me up. I knew that there were probably still cartel members around, so I appreciated the thought.

  “Go, Mack,” Chase instructed. “Run. Gabe will be here in a minute, and we’ll be out shortly.”

  I gave him a cursory smile, and a sharp nod, picking up my fallen gun on my way out of the room. As I exited the building, I saw the big black truck swing around in front of the warehouse, ran to the passenger door and threw myself in.

  “Thanks for the pick-up.” I said, short of breath, putting my seatbelt on.

  “Thanks for being here,” a woman said. The doors automatically locked around me. I looked up sharply at the driver, and froze. It wasn’t Gabe. It was a stunning looking Latino woman with a ragged silvery scar on her cheek, running from her eye, and down to her jawline. Dread filled me as I recognised her from a photo I had seen earlier this morning. Paz. She snatched the guns out of my hands before I could react and threw them in the backseat, then lurched the vehicle into gear.