Page 68 of Embedded
“I don’t trust you or anyone else in this house.” He locked his arms around me, and as he began to drag me out the door, Trigger’s face popped into my head. In a last-ditch effort, I kicked the ceiling light on with my foot. Maybe, just maybe the light would be left on and make the Devil’s Reach wonder if something was wrong.
I fought with all my might as he dragged me out of the house and stuffed me into a car. He slapped cuffs on my wrists and ankles, and once again a bag was jammed over my head. I felt someone get in on either side of me, and Armondo told them to watch me closely. The door slammed, and the engine started.
I’d seen the clock on the dash before they’d put the hood over my face and noted the time. I just hoped we weren’t going too far.
I was wrong.
The sun moved across the fabric, and I felt the time tick by. My mind wandered back to the maid, and tears soaked the hood over my cheeks. I’d lived through so much senseless loss in my career, but it hurt my heart. Death came to so many who didn’t deserve it. The poor woman had been there to help me.
The car slowed once, and I thought maybe we were there, wherever there was. But it was just a gas station, and before long, we were back on the road.
I wasn’t offered a bathroom break or anything to eat, and I knew something big was happening. I realized at one point that Bruno was in the front seat. I heard him speak to someone, but they had turned on some music, and it drowned out most of what was said.
I fought the numb feeling that tried to take over my head to force myself to think, but for once in my life, I felt defeated. I hadn’t been able to get anything useful and had risked my life and gotten that poor maid killed for nothing. The chance that the Devil’s Reach would understand my message was slim to none. I doubted if anyone knew I’d been taken from the house.
Once again, my life might come down to a faceoff between me and Bruno Perez, only this time I had no Sully or anyone else to help me get out of the situation.
A smack to my face shocked me out of sleep, and the bag was pulled from my head. I blinked at the guy beside me who held up the fabric with a black-toothed smile on his ugly face. If only I had a hand free.
“Morning,” Bruno chuckled from the front seat, “welcome to your new home.”
I leaned forward to see out the front windshield. I noticed we were following a long, winding drive through lush trees. We went over a hill, and below us were rows and rows of avocado trees. Workers bent at the waist sorted the fruit in baskets. Horses roamed freely on the other side, and off in the distance was a barnyard scattered with chickens. Under different circumstances, I might have thought the place was like a dream, so incredibly beautiful, but when I went to flip my hair out of my face, the handcuffs gave me a rude awakening. The farmers more than likely worked under threat of death, and no doubt the horses had belonged to some other poor family who once owned the place.
Armondo appeared and nearly ripped my arm off as he pulled me out of the car. I was tired of his rough demeaner and thought I’d try a new tactic as I remembered the maid’s words.
“Why can’t you be more like him.” I pointed my hands at the American, Archie. It turned out Teeth had been one of my seat companions. “His touch is much kinder than yours.” I smiled when I saw Bruno scowl at Archie.
SEVENTEEN
PAUL
I leaned my head against the cool brick wall and listened to the silence that blanketed the room. After we left Nicole and Chili in New Mexico, we left for Fort Echo in Texas. This place would be our home base for the next six days. It was close to the border and had all the resources we might need for a possible emergency extraction. With Nicole as a willing participant, Frank had gotten us clearance for whatever might come. It was a desperate measure, but the US was in a losing battle with the Cartels, and desperate measures were all we had.
Mark leaned forward and rubbed his eyes. He’d been suffering from a massive migraine since we left Shadows. I knew that witnessing June’s death had been a terrible blow to him. The doc had given him a shot, but nothing could touch the pain. I hated seeing him suffer so much. I knew somehow, he blamed himself.
Keith flipped his phone over with a huff then shook his head, and I knew we still had nothing. Whoever hit and killed June seemed to be a ghost in the wind. Thanks to Nicole’s description of the bumper sticker with the tiger on it, the police were able to find it and link it to June’s murder. The car had been found only a few miles away. It had been driven into a bunch of thick shrubs. It was wiped completely clean of prints, and so far, nothing had been found that could possibly give a DNA sample.
We already knew the license plate was fake; it had been registered to some guy long dead. Frank said the car was registered to a teacher at St. Augustine Elementary who had reported it missing an hour before the accident. Whoever the driver was, they knew what they were doing.
“This is so fucked up.” Mark suddenly pushed to his feet and rushed out of the room.
Cole followed, and we let them be. June had been part of both their lives since they could use a slingshot. As Abigail’s sister, she’d mothered them as if they were her own.
“Paul.” Frank stuck his head inside the door and waved for me to join him. My stomach bottomed out, but I stood. John mirrored me.
“Not you, Black,” Frank grunted, but John stood his ground.
“What you have to say to Paul you can say to all of us.” Frank had lost the trust of the guys since they found out the part he’d played in why I’d been in Mexico. Frankly, I didn’t blame them.
Frank removed his glasses as he stepped into the room. “Remember your rank, John. You take orders from me.” It was a shitty comment and didn’t go unnoticed by the others. Their faces had hardened.
“You lost our trust long ago, Frank, and you sure as hell haven’t done much to fix it,” John growled.
Frank’s white eyebrows pinched together as Cole moved closer. He glanced at John then at me.
“Is there a problem here, boys?”
“I don’t know. Is there?” Frank looked at me. I’d put a hand on John’s shoulder when Frank commented on his rank.
