Page 71 of Spyder
I close my eyes and take a deep breath then let it out. Down below, I see half a dozen men sheltering behind the gates, some of them firing at Cosmo’s and Doc’s position, some of them firing at us. I hear the bullets whizzing overhead and others tearing into the hard-packed ground around us. It was one of those assholes who put a bullet in my shoulder.
Gritting my teeth, anger flowing through my veins, I take aim and start firing at the men at the gate. Nitro and I fire shot after shot, dropping a couple and sending the rest of them scurrying back toward the warehouse. But I see Prophet and his team emerging from the shadows. They cut down the men who were retreating.
I pivot again and take aim at the men sheltering behind the SUVs, squeezing off a couple of shots. My bullets hit the SUV, but as I look through the scope, I see a familiar face. X. The man they let walk when he hit the cabin full of sicarios. Zavala’s personal sicario. He’s definitely a man I want to kill.
I blow out a breath and try to shut out the pain that’s squeezing me tight. I focus hard and try to anticipate the man’s movement. I need to be fast if I’m going to take him out. If he gives me the chance, anyway.
And then, remarkably… he does. X stands up to fire off a couple of shots at Cosmo’s team and I quickly put him in my crosshairs and squeeze off a shot. I see X’s head snap to the side and then watch him drop, feeling a flush of triumph wash over me. Despite the pain that’s gripping me, I smile and let out a laugh.
Nitro looks over at me. “Havin’ fun now, are you?”
“Except for the bullet in my wing… yeah. I am, actually.”
I look at how it’s all unfolding down below us. Zavala’s men are caught between Cosmo’s and Doc’s teams, Nitro and mine, and now Prophet’s team, who’s mopping up inside the compound and is moving up from behind. Zavala’s already lost… he apparently just doesn’t know it yet.
The realization that we’ve won sinks in and takes some of the sting out of having a goddamn bullet in my shoulder. I had my doubts, but Prophet’s plan was perfect, and we managed to execute it well enough to carry the day. Or at least, we will once they put down the rest of those animals.
“Compound is clear,” Prophet announces of the comm.
“We’re pinned down up here. Care to lend a hand?” comes Cosmo’s reply.
“On our way.”
I watch as Prophet’s team pours out of the gate and moves through the thick clouds of smoke pouring from the burning husks of the SUVs and open fire. The men turn to return fire, but it’s too late. They’re cut to ribbons in a matter of moments. And as the last echoes of the gunfire fade away, I look over at Nitro, still caught in the grips of disbelief that we actually won.
“Dude,” I say.
He nods. “Dude.”
We get to our feet and head down the rise toward the charred remnants of the SUVs and the pile of bodies around them. I lose sight of them when the wind shifts and wraps us in a thick column of black smoke. But when we emerge from it, I see our guys surrounding the last SUV in the line, weapons raised and trained on the rear doors. Prophet opens the door and points his weapon inside.
“Get the hell out here right now,” Prophet roars.
He reaches into the SUV and comes out with a fist full of Zavala’s hair. He drags the cartel boss out and unceremoniously throws him to the ground. Nitro and I stand next to Monk and Domino, watching the scene play out before us. Zavala struggles up to his knees and looks at Prophet with a cold, cruel detachment on his face. I swallow hard, not entirely sure what’s about to happen.
“What are you waiting for,puto?” Zavala shouts at Prophet. “You going to stand there and gloat? Or are you going to be a man, huh?”
“That eager to die?” Prophet sneers.
He shrugs. “It’s the business. It’s the life. I ain’t afraid to die,” he says. “But you should know that your time’s gonna come too,ese. And when it does, you should think about how you want to go out.”
“I have. Many times, already. Stared down death more times than I can count,” Prophet says.
Zavala flashes him a grin. “You and me? We’re not so different,” he says, then turns his head, addressing all of us. “You all stand there high and mighty, but you’re no different than I am.”
“We don’t kill innocents,” I say, my anger flaring.
“Maybe not. But you kill when you have to. You do what you have to do to protect what’s yours. To expand your business, yeah?” he says. “So do I. You provide for yours; I provide for mine. Two sides of the same coin,amigos.”
“Pretty fucking far from it,” Prophet growls.
My mind immediately goes to Pete and to the others we’ve run out of town and I can’t say he’s entirely wrong. I absolutely would have killed Pete for what he did to Bellamy given the chance. We do what we have to do to protect what’s ours. To protect those whom we love. And yeah, to expand our business territory when we need to. I like to think we’re the good guys, but the truth is, we’ve got as much blood on our hands as Zavala does.
The one distinction I can make, though, and the one thing I will hold onto, is that we are doing the things we do to provide a safe place. To protect a town from the ravagers and scum like Zavala. People who seek to poison others. Get them hooked on their shit and drag everybody down into the gutter. We all love Blue Rock. We’ve all shed blood to defend it. And yeah, on occasion, we’ve had to kill to protect it.
Our cause is righteous. Or maybe that’s just what I tell myself so I can sleep at night.
“Do it,ese,” Prophet says. “Pull the fuckin’ trigger. Just know it’ll be you down on your knees one day.”
