Page 71 of Domino
Moving slowly and deliberately, Cosmo looks to the east. It takes him a minute before he spots it.
“Two black panel vans. Likely Zavala’s boys with their product. Looks like we got ourselves a party here,” he reports.
It takes another twenty minutes for all the interested parties to arrive at the gas station. We watch as the men dismount their bikes and pile out of the vans.
“I count thirteen,” I say, pitching my voice low.
“Baker’s dozen confirmed. And Ortega’s the one in the dark blue suit,” he says just as quietly.
“Who’s he trying to impress?”
“Zavala probably. Too bad that prick’s not here.”
“Would make shit a lot easier, that’s for sure. At least Ortega’s made it easy to mark him out.”
We watch for a minute as Ortega talks with one of the cartel men. The rest of the crews are helping unload the black vans and load it back into Warrior’s follow vans. Ortega walks away by himself, looking like he’s on his cellphone. He’s alone and isolated at the moment. It’s the perfect shot.
“We good?” I ask.
“Take him when you’re ready.”
Letting out a long breath, I settle myself and put the crosshairs in my scope right on the back of his head. My training and discipline kick in as I draw in a shallow breath and hold it, not a tremor or twitch in my body as I gently squeeze the trigger. The sharp crack of the rifle echoes across the land around us, and as the people below start reacting to it, I watch with a grim satisfaction as Ortega’s head explodes in a violent red mist that splatters the side of the white panel van. He falls to his knees, then down onto his face.
The gas station below is suddenly a hive of activity as they men scurry around, looking for the source of the shot. It’s only then one of them finds Ortega, signaling everybody else to join him. If they’re smart, it’s not going to take them long to figure out which general direction the shot came from. I don’t credit them with an abundance of smarts, but it’s a pretty simple trajectory to figure out.
And right on cue, a couple of the guys in Warriors kuttes unleash a hail of bullets from their ARs. Bullets slam into the earth all around us, with no one shot even really getting close. But I don’t want to push my luck too hard.
“I think it’s time we back out of here,” I say.
“Yeah, you’re probably right. But it sure would be nice to take a couple of more of those pricks down.”
With the sun behind me, I’m not overly concerned they’ll see my exact position. But it seems foolish to push our luck. Unless, of course, we take them all. This starts the war, and like I said, it’s going to be a war of attrition. Might as well get started.
I line up another shot and squeeze the trigger. Then another. And another. Every shot I take strikes home and adds another body to the growing pile on the ground below us. After eight of the original thirteen have been killed, the wild spray of shots from below start to get closer to our position.
“They’re starting to home in on us. I think it’s time we go,” I say.
Cosmo nods. “I think you’re right.”
I squeeze the trigger once more, sending a shot straight through the heart of one of the cartel men.
“Nine for nine. Damn, I’m good,” I say.
“Yeah, you’re all right.”
“Eat shit. You’re not going to dull my shine.”
Moving slowly, Cosmo and I both back down the rise until we’re in a spot where we can stand without being seen. I quickly break down my rifle and stow it in the case before slamming the lid and throwing it in the back seat. I swing into the passenger’s seat and slam the door as Cosmo is throwing the car into gear. Our rear tires kicking up a spray of dirt and gravel as we roar out of there.
A few minutes of rough riding, we’re on the highway, flying along as we head for the town where our switch car is waiting for us. I turn around in the seat and look behind us, letting out a small breath of relief.
“Road’s clear. I think we’re good.”
“For now,” Cosmo says.
“Like I told you, you’re not going to dull my shine today,” I say and flash him a smirk.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. The good guys finally got a W today. Go us,” Cosmo says. “All we did, though, was touch off a war that’s going to be ugly as shit.”
