Carrera Cartel: The Collection

by Kenborn, Cora

  I had no idea how he could be so calm. Not only had I told him what Bright found out about Atwood and his father, I showed him the video of his mother and the man who had his sister. Still, he sat here acting like we’d been defeated.

  Grabbing my keys off the table, I barreled across the apartment. Just as I reached the door, a shadow stepped in front of me.

  “Detente!” Stop.

  “Get out of my way, Val.”

  A flicker of emotion crossed his face before the boss in him took over. “What do you think driving around town like some idiota is going to do?”

  “I can’t stay here and do nothing. What if it were Eden?”

  “Harcourt,” he yelled across the room, motioning Brody out of his chair. “Pull your shit together. We’re chasing a rat.”

  Retrieving his phone, Brody fell in line behind us, and just as he closed the door to his apartment, it rang.

  “It’s my mother,” he said, staring at the screen.

  Val dipped his chin. “Answer it.”

  “Mom?” he asked, our eyes locking, “what’s wrong?” Lines deepened in his forehead as I heard a frantic voice filter through the line. “Wait, calm down. I can’t understand you. Who’s hurt?”

  He didn’t have to say her name. I saw it in his face.

  Leighton.

  “Fire?” His vacant eyes sharpened with one word. “Mom, leave your phone on. I can track it.” Disconnecting the call, he ran down the stairs bypassing both Val and me.

  Ten minutes into driving Val’s Land Rover north on I-69, I couldn’t take it anymore. As he texted all available nearby soldiers to meet up with us, I lost it.

  “What the hell is going on, Harcourt?”

  His hand tightened around his phone as his eyes remained glued to the dot on the GPS map we were tracking. “I don’t know exactly. My mother was hysterical. From what I could get out of her, Leighton called her and said to meet her off Lauder Road. When she got there, it was on fire.”

  “But she got out, right?”

  Brody didn’t answer. He just kept staring at that damn red dot. I hated that dot.

  “Brody,” I exploded, slamming my fist against the headrest, “where the fuck is Leighton?”

  Still nothing.

  “Brody!”

  Slamming his fist into the dashboard, he turned around, his face ravaged. “She didn’t make it out, all right?”

  Denial was a funny thing. Sometimes it drove a man to the darkest depths of depravity, and sometimes it propelled him into blissful ignorance.

  Right now, I chose ignorance.

  Because in ignorance, my angel still walked the earth.

  * * *

  Brody was the first one out of the car. His footing wasn’t stable, and if I gave half a shit to be near Lilith Donovan, I could’ve had her facedown with a bullet in her brain before he closed his door. But I didn’t. I knew she’d put on a show first.

  Ignorance still fueled me. Leighton was alive, and until I knew differently, no one would convince me otherwise.

  Lilith lay sprawled out in the middle of a deserted field like farm roadkill. Val was the first one to notice and point out the plume of smoke rising above the trees. Without a word, I headed back to the Land Rover when he stopped me with a hard arm across my chest.

  “We have men who are closer.” Pressing a button on his phone, he instantly connected with one. “There’s a fire on the Grayson property.” He held my gaze. “Get everyone out—dead or alive.”

  As his last words hung in the air, I turned toward Brody. I had to hand it to him; he played the concerned son role so well, I almost bought it.

  Squatting beside Lilith, he called her name repeatedly. “Mom? Mom? Mom!” She finally stopped moaning long enough to reach for him, but Brody tensed and pulled back. “Where’s Leighton?”

  Flailing her arm, she pointed diagonally to the right. “I couldn’t save her. He turned my baby girl into a monster,” she howled, rolling around again. “Then he killed her.”

  I’d had enough. “Who killed her?”

  “Emilio Reyes!”

  “What are you saying?” Brody asked. “Leighton would never hurt anyone. And what does Emilio have to do with all this?” He was baiting her—trying to push her buttons into slipping the noose around her own neck.

  “You,” she accused, pointing a shaking finger at me. “You brainwashed her. You brought her into your sick world, and he got in her head. You turned her against her own family.”

  “Mom, stop!”

  “Don’t believe me? She called me and lured me here. You can hear her for yourself.” Pulling her phone out of the pocket of her pantsuit, she cued up the message and put it on speaker.

  “Hello?”

  “I think we can help each other. I’m not as stupid as you think I am, but that’s okay, neither are you. It’s time to cut the crap and be who we are, don’t you think?”

  “But...”

  “I said, cut the crap. I know everything. Meet me at three o’clock. I’ll text you the address.”

  “And you went?” he asked. “Why not call the police?”

  “She’s my daughter, Brody! There was no time. If there was one last chance to save her from them, don’t you think I’d try? Plus, I had to tell her that I’d found out that...”

  “What?”

  “The San Marcos PD couldn’t get in touch with Leighton, so they called me. Your grandparents were murdered, and your niece is missing.”

  My heart seized then slammed against my chest until I thought it would explode.

  Stella...

  “Isn’t it obvious what’s happened?” she continued. “Our family has been their target since your father’s death. Emilio Reyes tried to use Leighton against me. Now she’s gone, and...” Letting out another wail, she managed to squeeze out a few tears. “God knows if little Della will ever be found.”

  I clenched my teeth. “Stella.”

  She popped an eye open. “Of course, Stella.”

  I would go insane if I thought about losing my wife and daughter right now. Brody was one question away from splintering, so I had to take control.

  Focus on Leighton now. Find Stella after. Kill everyone later.

  “Did you see her?” I asked, stepping in between them. “You don’t have a scratch on you, Mayor Donovan.”

  “If I could’ve gotten in the door, don’t you think I would’ve?” she hissed. “I suppose something didn’t go as planned. When I got there, the whole house was already in flames.” I bit my tongue as she wiped invisible tears. “I couldn’t save her.”

  I felt robotic. I saw the smoke, but I refused to believe it. Maybe the need for her to be okay had filled me with such rage there wasn’t room for acceptance.

  “No!” Brody finally shouted. “You’re wrong.”

  Climbing to her knees, Lilith reached into her pocket, pulling out a thin gold chain stained with dark brown splotches. “I found this outside.”

  As soon as Brody took it from her, the gold “L” slipped between his fingers, and his tortured wail drowned out the sound of two SUVs pulling up. Glancing over my shoulder, I watched four of our men walk up to Val, their expressions somber.

  Val wasted no time. “Casualties?”

  “We lost three men going in. No one’s called the fire department. This far out, people just assume it’s just a brush fire.”

  “Not us, idiota,” he muttered.

  The soldier nodded. “Three charred bodies.”

  “It seems we have an extra player in this game.” Val noted with interest.

  I wasn’t interested in games. I only wanted answers, but nothing made sense. Years ago, I’d warned Leighton about this place. I even brought her out here just to warn her to stay away from it. She sure as hell wouldn’t come here voluntarily—especially with Emilio.

  I couldn’t make myself believe she was in that house.

  “I told her where to go if she was ever in trouble,” Brody whispered to himself. “Why
didn’t she call me?”

  Closing the distance between us, I bent down. “What did you just say?”

  Brody glanced up, still gripping the pendant. “We had a deal. If she was ever in trouble, she was supposed to go to my apartment and wait for me. She promised me.”

  The ice in my chest melted and blood pumped through my veins again. What I felt made sense. All I had to do was trust it.

  “Yeah. Yeah, she did.”

  * * *

  When I first got out of the car, there were just a few drops. Now, the bottom dropped out of the sky, blowing sheets of rain sideways and stinging my face. I didn’t mind. The weather matched my mood—reckless and chaotic.

  It was dark, and if I didn’t know these woods as well as I did, some random hiker would probably find me in a few weeks, half-eaten by wild animals. Lucky for me, I’d combed these trails so many times, I could do it blindfolded. I didn’t though.

  But four years ago, she had.

  It was the fifth or sixth time I’d taken her this far into the woods. She’d balked at first, but I knew she’d give in. Star never fought me for long.

  * * *

  “You blindfolded me before prom, now this? I’m beginning to think you have a kink, Matty.”

  I groaned. “No, smartass, but every time you’ve come out here it’s been with me. I just need to know if you’re ever in trouble and you need to run, you know where you’re going.”

  Cocking her chin, she dangled the blindfold from her finger. “And this?”

  “So you’ll trust your gut to lead you. When you’re scared, your eyes can play tricks on you, little lamb, but this...” Pulling her against me, I placed a hand on her stomach. “...this will always show you the way.”

  “Wouldn’t it be easier just to call you?”

  “What if you can’t get in touch with me?” Frustrated, I cupped her cheek. “Look, if you’re ever in trouble, come here, and I’ll find you.”

  * * *

  Wiping my eyes with the back of my hands, I took two more turns and stopped as a hacking cough broke through the sound of pouring rain. The smell of charcoal and burned hair singed my nose, and she didn’t move as I approached. She sat huddled against a large pine tree hugging her knees to her chest, her face and clothes covered in soot and ash. Even though there wasn’t an inch of her that wasn’t drenched, she wasn’t shivering. I watched her, taken aback by her contradictory actions. It was like something in her had shut off.

  “Leighton?”

  Coughing again, she tilted her head back, gazing up at me through widened eyes. Part of her seemed shocked to see me while the rest of her silently asked what the hell took me so long. Again, the conflicting reactions concerned me.

  Then I saw the blood.

  Dropping to my knees, I held her face in my hands and inspected the dirty gash in her forehead. “You’re bleeding.”

  Her wet hair stuck to her face as she pulled away. “It’s just a cut,” she wheezed. “I’m fine. Don’t worry.”

  “You’re my wife, Leighton. Don’t tell me not to worry.” The image of Brody holding her bloody necklace blazed through my mind. “Jesus, everyone thinks you’re dead.”

  Something finally sparked to life in her bloodshot eyes, and the corners of her mouth turned down. “Emilio and Sarah are dead.”

  “Sarah from Caliente?”

  “Oh, so you didn’t know Hector sent her to steal from Emilio either? No wonder she was such a shitty bartender.” She broke into a combined fit of hacking coughs and hysterical laughter. “Although honestly, we weren’t that different,” she added, gasping for air. “I was doing the same thing she was—except the fucking Emilio part.”

  I ignored that last part and gave her a knowing stare. I preferred to have this conversation somewhere dry, but fuck it.

  “What about the third person?”

  Shifting her eyes, she licked a raindrop off her lip. “What?”

  “You talked about Emilio and Sarah, but three people were pulled out of that fire, Leighton.”

  “Were there?”

  “Cut the shit.” I’d had all I could handle for one day. “I saw Alex’s car a half a mile back. He wasn’t in it. What did you do?”

  She drew in a noisy breath. “I don’t know what you mean.”

  “Leighton, look at where we are!” Climbing to my feet, I threw my arms out wide. “We’re in a forest at night in the rain. Does this seem normal to you? Does anything about what has happened today seem fucking normal to you?”

  I saw it coming across her face like a slow-moving freight train, and when it finally hit, it took everything out in its path. “Stella’s missing!” she screamed, slipping on the soaked grass as she climbed to her feet. “Did you know that? My grandparents are dead. Your fucking cartel killed them and stole my baby. He knew it and was going to trade me for her to ease his conscience.”

  “Leighton...”

  “He knew they took her, Mateo,” she repeated, gritting her teeth. “I’m glad he’s dead.”

  “How do you know he’s dead?” The masochistic side of me asked the question, although part of me already knew the answer.

  A haunting smile curved her face. “Whose body do you think they pulled out of the safe house?”

  Chapter Forty-Three

  Leighton

  Five Hours Earlier

  “Sarah, wake up! We have to get out of here!”

  My Grandpa Harcourt had served as a volunteer fireman for the better part of fifty years. If there was one thing he was adamant about, it was teaching Brody and me every minute detail of fire safety. Because of his stubbornness, I knew I had fifteen to seventeen minutes to make it out of here rather than the usual three to five.

  Just by looking at it, I knew the house we were in was old. That worked in my favor. Solid wood walls burned slowly. Had Emilio taken me to a newer location, I would’ve already been dead.

  Forcing myself to remain calm, I checked the clock. Two minutes. I struggled as flames licked the baseboards. Watching in horror, I froze as ash and smoke began to rise, filling my lungs.

  I coughed while pressing my nose against the floor. “Sarah!”

  Jerking on my restraints again only succeeded in shaving the skin off my wrists. The flames hadn’t touched me, but that didn’t stop the blistering heat. I started to panic, and then I heard my father’s voice, reminding me of the day he decided knowledge was more important than my innocence.

  “Duct tape is a kidnapper’s favorite method of restraint because it’s quick and forces his victim into submission, Lil’ Bit. They eventually just give up. You’re not going to get out of it by fighting against it. Give me your wrists. I’m going to show you a trick not many people know.”

  “Oh, my God. I forgot.”

  Positioning my bound arms on the sharp edge of one of the chair legs, I furiously sawed my wrists up and down just like he’d taught me until the tape snapped, freeing my arms. Climbing to my knees, I shook the shit out of Sarah and glanced at the clock again.

  “Get up!” I coughed while covering my mouth. “We have less than seven minutes!”

  Shattering glass pulled my attention away as a square piece of thick metal with a huge stick attached to it repeatedly slammed through the window. As soon as all the glass disappeared, a man tumbled onto the floor in a heap.

  As fire raged around me, all I could think of to say was, “Was that a carjack?”

  Groaning, Alex crawled over to me, “Where’s the kid?”

  “She’s not here.” I coughed. “I thought you were dead?”

  “So did they,” he growled. “Damn, I had a chance! If I knew they didn’t have the kid—”

  “You wouldn’t have come back,” I finished for him.

  Darkness consumed me, and in the midst of chaos, I fell into the abyss.

  “Fuck this.” He covered his mouth and nose with the inside of his elbow. “You Harcourts have ruined my life. Burn in hell, bitch.”

  I didn’t remember pic
king up the chair. However, when I swung it, the wood splintered, and Agent Alex Atwood hit the floor with a muffled grunt.

  “You first,” I hissed.

  Then I noticed something shiny beside his pocket. Dropping to my knees, I grabbed his keys off the floor and crawled toward the window.

  Three minutes.

  Chapter Forty-Four

  Mateo

  “Jesus, Leighton, what have you done?”

  Leighton’s entire body coiled. “Don’t you dare judge me,” she wheezed, exhaustion pulling at the corners of her eyes. “He killed my father. He blackmailed me and kept my child from me. All he cared about was saving his own ass.” Finally, she shivered. “They’re all alike.”

  That shiver gave her away. Slaying her dragon didn’t stop him from breathing fire. I couldn’t extinguish a flame that burned inside of her. There would always be another dragon. Another monster. Another Finn. Another Emilio. Another Alex.

  In my understanding, I reached for her.

  “Don’t,” she said, cringing and stepping back.

  “You have blood on your hands, Leighton, and for what? Some fucked up revenge that won’t make you feel any better?”

  “Won’t make me feel any better? Are you fucking kidding me? I feel like a cloud has been lifted.”

  The way she talked sounded too familiar. Too brutal. Too cartel. “You’re in over your head. These people will chew you up and spit you out.”

  She lifted her chin. “Not if I bite first.”

  She had no clue what the hell she was talking about. Leighton was a tiny tiger fish swimming with a school of great white sharks. The high she rode right now wouldn’t last. As soon as reality set in, she’d crash and burn. Unfortunately, the blood she’d spilled would still be fresh, and the great whites would come calling.