“Sierra, that man is a pig. No honor in that one, nothing but greed and ego, what did your friend do to him?”
“He killed several of his men.”
“Ah, that trouble today in Brownsville, yes, I heard about that. In fact, Detective Simon Miller, a pet cop of Sierra’s, is blaming me for all of it. There were seven killed as I recall, plus, one of the dead men murdered the civilian whose home they were found in.”
“Seven?” Szabo said.
“Yes, your friend is a formidable man. Earlier today, he held a gun to Sierra’s temple as eight of his men looked on. He not only walked away from that, he also managed to get his brother-in-law to safety as well.”
Szabo placed his beer bottle on the coffee table and smiled.
“You have a spy in Sierra’s ranks.”
“Yes, and I know all about the trouble with his wife. It has him distracted, and this friend of yours, he’s weakened Sierra in the eyes of his men.”
“I came here to ask for your help and to point out an opportunity.”
“You want me to go to war with Sierra? You ask a lot, amigo.”
“I do, but as you say, he’s weakened and distracted right now. The opportunity is there for great gain, also, his territory is equal to yours, and if you win you’ll double your power.”
Jinx gestured at his office.
“Look around, do I strike you as a man who craves power, who worships money? The drug trade has always been just that to me, a trade, a way to make a living, and I’ve already made enough money for ten lifetimes.”
Szabo hung his head.
“I understand, and I know it was a lot to ask.”
“I haven’t said no, and it’s not the first time today I’ve considered it.”
“Whether you go against Sierra or not, do me a favor and find out exactly where he is. My friend’s not going to face him and his men alone.”
“You and this man are tight?”
“He, he and I are cut from the same cloth.”
“You mean that he’s a man of his own?”
Szabo smiled at De La Rosa.
“Ain’t we all?”
CHAPTER 14
He was in the city of Harlingen, at an army surplus store.
He had already passed the FBI’s NICS check, the National Instant Criminal Background check, and was currently shopping for weapons.
He bought a shotgun, a rifle, crossbow, and four pistols, along with several hundred rounds of ammo and a bulletproof vest.
When he added a Ghillie suit, a sniper’s camouflage outfit covered in loose strips of burlap, cloth and twine, to his purchases, the clerk stared at him for a moment, but then looked away.
His last acquisition was a pair of night vision goggles, with magnification capability.
As he was walking away from the counter, the clerk asked him a question.
“Hey mister... are you goin’ to war?”
“No,” he answered. “The war is coming to me.”
***
After leaving the army surplus store, he drove to a home improvement center. He was driving a sports car, a Challenger.
When he left the hotel and went to the airport, Jimmy had followed behind the pick-up truck in the car he had first rented upon his arrival; before placing Jimmy on the plane, he had returned both vehicles.
For tonight, he needed speed. When he survived his battle with Sierra and his men, he would be prudent to leave the area as soon as possible, and if he were severely wounded in the fight, the sooner he received medical care the better. Either way, he would need a fast vehicle.
If he survived,
He went up and down the aisles inside the giant warehouse store and filled his cart with various innocuous items that he would later deploy with deadly results.
His last purchases were a small generator, a sump pump, two five-gallon gas cans, and a wide bucket.
After loading his supplies into the car, he walked across the parking lot and bought a large backpack at a sporting goods store, as he paid at the counter, he added bottled water and several nutrition bars. A quick stop for gas, and he was on his way.
***
He reached the area where the abandoned motel was by nine-thirty and parked his vehicle half a mile away in a clearing.
Judging by the aerial view he saw on his laptop, the motel had one way in and out, a long driveway that fed off a lonely two-lane road. Twelve years ago, the road was well traveled and the motel was a moneymaker, then, the state built a highway a mile to the east and the traffic diverted there, and soon after, the motel went out of business.
He figured that Sierra had doubtlessly placed someone on that road to report back when he arrived, and so he approached the property on foot with the backpack, loaded and bulging, and the night vision goggles placed on his head.
In his right hand, he carried the Beretta, safety off, round chambered.
He came upon the property from the right side and took in its layout.
The place was shaped like a horseshoe. Its office lay in the middle with three rooms radiating off to the right and the left, and seven apiece on each side of the horseshoe.
The structure appeared as lifeless and silent as a grave, and yet, as he viewed it through the enhanced green optics of the night vision goggles, he looked for signs of life.
He saw none, but he had to be sure.
He stepped out from the encroaching forest, which over the years had crept towards the decaying building and swallowed up the outer edges of the parking lot, and he imagined that if left on its own, in another decade it would take over the entire property.
While edging along, he looked and listened for any sounds or signs of movement. As he approached the rear, he took note of a large shed, one that had probably contained the landscaping equipment necessary for the upkeep of the building and the grounds.
He melted back into the trees and circled around until he was at the back of the shed, then, he approached it cautiously, as mosquitoes buzzed about and the night animals scurried for cover.
There was a back door hanging open from one hinge, and after getting closer, he shined a small flashlight into the space.
Beer cans littered the floor along with other assorted garbage, and leaves had been blown in through the open doorway. The beer cans were rusted and he realized that even the local teens had come to find the place unsuitable as a hangout.
Smart kids, or was it that teens didn’t hangout any more unless it was online, or in an air-conditioned mall?
Either way, it appeared that Sierra had chosen the right location for privacy.
He finished his inspection of the property over an hour later, after having been in every room and checking for booby traps or trip wires.
He intended to lay down traps of his own and if he could think of doing it, then so could Sierra, but he hadn’t, and he would regret it.
Sierra said he would come alone to face him, but he knew that promise was as hollow as the one he had made never to harm Jimmy.
Sierra would come with his men, with many men most likely and they would outnumber him without question, and they would all die without mercy. For he knew that if he fell here tonight, if he failed to kill Sierra, that not only would Jimmy pay the price, but so would Jessica and his unborn child.
He had never been so willing to kill or so unwilling to die, but his survival depended upon his readiness, and so he continued his preparations with a cold efficiency.
He removed the backpack, hid it and its supplies in a closet in one of the rooms, and then went back for more equipment. The absent sun and the threat of rain did little to reduce the heat, as the humidity was still stifling, and he was soaked with sweat from his toil.
It took him nearly an hour to retrieve the generator, for he had driven it farther away from the motel so that he could prep it with oil and test it. Two tugs of its cable and it sprang to life with an ear-splitting roar.
He then drove back near the motel, and with the sixty-po
und generator perched on one shoulder, he walked back and finished his preparations.
When he was finally done, he donned the camouflage suit, ran a mental check of all his traps, and steeled himself for the coming battle.
CHAPTER 15
Jimmy White walked down the steps of the private jet and saw his sister’s face light up in a smile, but when her husband failed to materialize behind him, her face fell, and she closed her eyes in pain.
“Sis...I...”
“He stayed behind, didn’t he? He stayed behind to finish it by himself.”
“Yes.”
“I can’t believe he lied to me.”
Jimmy held out the envelope he’d been given.
“This is for you. He said that you were to read it right away.”
Jessica tore open the envelope and read it. When she was done, she placed it in her purse. Afterward, she spoke to her brother.
“Tell me how you are.”
“I’m shattered, Sis; I love Reina more than life and I’ll never see her again, and I can’t tell you how much it hurts to know that she’ll be spending her life with that monster, Sierra.”
Jessica placed a hand on her brother’s cheek and smiled.
“You’ll see her again very soon.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because I know my husband, and even though I’m furious with him for deceiving me, I know that he only did it to protect me, to protect us, and that he’ll free Reina once he’s handled Sierra.”
Jimmy fought the urge to cry, and with a voice choked with emotion, he attempted to prepare his sister for the worst.
“Jessie, this man Sierra, he’s got a small army of hired killers. You need to be ready to accept... I mean... as brave and as tough as he is—”
Jessica pressed a finger to his lips and stopped him.
“Donato Sierra is a dead man.”
Jimmy flinched away. He was so taken aback by her certainty and faith, by the steely look of conviction shining in her eyes that he almost began to believe.
“All right, Sis, all right.”
“Good, now let’s go home.”
CHAPTER 16
Detective Simon Miller awoke with a start as a hand was clamped over his mouth.
He was at home, in his bedroom, and lived alone. It was a three-bedroom condominium in the best section of the city, and it had been paid for with the money he received from being Sierra’s lackey.
Miller began to struggle, but once the light came on and the gun came into view, he lay back against his pillow and focused his eyes on his visitor.
“I’m going to remove my hand. If you attempt to cry out, I will shoot you, understood?”
Miller nodded against the gloved hand, and when it was removed, he spoke.
“De La Rosa? What are you doing here?”
“I need to know the exact location of your boss, Sierra.”
“I... I don’t know where he is. All I know is that he’s off somewhere to kill the man who caused all the trouble today.”
“I was under the impression that you were blaming me for that, along with the death of a civilian.”
Miller attempted to smile, but in his fear it made for a sick attempt.
“That’s just something I told the press, you know, I got to give them something.”
“He stalling,” said a second voice, and Miller jerked his head to the left, where a muscular man with short dark hair and brown eyes stood aiming a gun at him.
“I’m not stalling, I’m not; I don’t know where Sierra is.”
De La Rosa reached into a pocket and took out a phone. After reading what was on it, he turned his head and spoke to Szabo.
“My man just sent me a text. I know where the meeting is taking place.”
Szabo pointed at Miller by using the barrel of his gun.
“What do we do with him?”
De La Rosa placed his gun against Miller’s forehead and grinned.
“I’m sending my newest employee here on his first assignment.”
Miller’s eyes crossed as he looked at the gun.
“I’ll do whatever you say, Mr. De La Rosa, anything you want.”
“Yes, I thought you might.”
***
They came just after one a.m.
There were four of them. All four were young, high on coke, and heavily armed.
They were the new recruits, street thugs who wanted to prove that they had what it took to rise within the organization, that they were strong, hard, and tough.
Their plan to accomplish this was to be the systematic torture and murder of Jimmy White and the members of his family.
They arrived in a vehicle they had stolen from the long-term parking lot inside the airport, and after meeting a third-party contact who supplied them with weaponry and the targets’ addresses, the four hung out in the parking lot of a bar, snorting coke and gaining courage.
They left their car parked out on the road and crept towards Jessica’s home. When they were halfway down the twisting driveway, several lights blazed on to brilliance and a voice boomed a command.
“Drop your weapons! This is the police!”
The men spun around in shock and gawked at the police officers pointing their weapons at them from the edge of the trees.
Chief Dent spoke again.
“Drop your weapons, now!”
Two of the men attempted to comply as they began to lean forward and place their guns on the ground, the other two, however, proved to be their undoing.
They shouted obscene cries of defiance and raised their guns to fire. The first bullet caught one of the men in the chest, rupturing his heart and killing him instantly, the other man died from a bullet to the brain, thus, causing the other sixteen bullets that struck them to become superfluous.
The other two men, the ones who were willing to surrender, fared no better, as they were caught in the barrage, and within a matter of seconds, Donato Sierra’s hit squad was dead.
***
Minutes later, Jessica walked out from the house with Jimmy at her side and stared down at the sheet-draped forms. She then looked over at Dent and nodded.
“Thank you, Jack.”
“Dumb bastards left us no choice, and thank God your husband sent that warning, otherwise I hate to think about what would have happened here.”
“He knew that Sierra would send someone, that he wouldn’t keep his word.”
“He was right. We relayed what’s happened here to the police keeping an eye on your other family members, but it seems as if these four were the only threat.”
“It would make sense for them to begin here, since Jimmy was Sierra’s main target.”
“When is your husband coming home?”
Jessica said nothing, and appeared to be lost in thought as she stared down at the four bodies.
“Jessica?”
“Tomorrow, I mean today, later today.”
Traci Dent walked over to her with a concerned look on her face.
“Jessica, honey, are you okay?”
“I’m fine. I’m fine, I just miss my husband.”
Jimmy reached over and took her hand.
“C’mon Jessie, let’s go back inside.”
“All right,”
They walked back into the house and Jimmy headed for the kitchen as Jessica took a seat on the sofa.
“I might as well put a pot of coffee on; I won’t be sleeping tonight.”
“Yes, do that, and I’ll be in soon.”
Jessica sat there, absently petting the dog, as fear and doubt threatened to swallow her.
Donato Sierra had sent four heavily armed, vicious killers hundreds of miles to murder innocent people, all of which he believed would be asleep and unaware.
How many men would he deploy against a man who had proven himself deadly, a man who would be expecting him, a man armed and ready?
Jessica placed her hands over her stomach, and uttered whispered words of reassurance to her
unborn child, words that she herself desperately needed to hear.
CHAPTER 17
1:47 a.m.
Sierra arrived at the road leading to the motel and spoke to the man he’d sent there earlier.
“See anyone yet?”
“No, maybe he won’t show.”
“He’ll show.”
The sound of a gunshot came from the motel property.
“He’s here,” Sierra said.
“No, no way, I haven’t seen a car go by in hours.”
“Then he walked in, but I’ll tell you one thing, he ain’t walking out. Now go back there and jump in one of the cars. It’s time I taught this prick a lesson.”
***
After firing off a shot, he placed the gun back in its holster beneath the Ghillie suit.
Now they would know that he was here. Now it would begin.
He checked the sky. The clouds were growing thicker beneath the full moon, but the orb still lent a glow to the night, and he guessed that the rain would hold off for a while yet.
He took to the ground on the left side of the property, right alongside the motel wall and watched as Sierra arrived with his men. Earlier, while he was preparing, he cut branches and leaves off the surrounding bushes and applied them to his camouflage suit. The added foliage made him indistinguishable from the surrounding plant life once he lowered himself and lay among them.
There were four black SUV’s this time. They stopped at the end of the driveway, their headlights shining brilliantly across the front of the U-shaped building before them.
Then the headlights went out and the men began disgorging from their vehicles, and with each new man that emerged, he knew that his odds of survival dropped exponentially.
Twenty-one, when every man had gathered outside the vehicles, there were twenty-one of them.
“Mr. Brother-in-law!” Sierra shouted towards the building. “I’m here for our meeting, and oh yeah, I brought a few friends along; I hope you don’t mind.”
He remained silent, as he lay less than twenty yards away in plain view, but hidden from plain sight.
He had covered all of his weapons with a coating of mud earlier, so that an unfortunate glint of moonlight wouldn’t give away his position. He held one up now and aimed for one of the men standing before Sierra.
The TAKEN! Series - Books 5-8 (Taken! Box Set Book 2) Page 23
