Alex POV


I drove like a woman possessed to the address in Arvada that Lupo's hacker genius had produced.

"I don't know who your source is," Mary said as she held onto the dash with both hands. "But he needs to apply with the Marshal Service."

"I'll be sure to get the word out," I replied wryly. I had no idea who Lupo's guy was either, but I was pretty damn sure that he wasn't going to be putting his name on any sort of federal application.

"Who else do you think is going to be here?" Bobby asked as we neared our destination.

"Not Valero," Talbert spoke up.

He'd offered to ride along as back-up. I think that he was just afraid Mary would arrest Valero and get the credit for it, but either way I was happy to have the extra gun.

"My guys are sitting on him," he continued. "We'll get a heads-up if he moves."

As though on cue, Talbert's phone rang.

"Talk to me," he said when he punched the button on his phone. "Uh huh...are you fucking kidding me? Find him!"

He hung up his phone and took a moment to let out a heavy, disgusted sigh.

"Your guys lost him, huh?" Mary asked. And it sounded like a smartass comment, but there was empathy in there somewhere.

"Yeah," he admitted. "But he left his place of business in a black Lincoln. And he's headed west on I-70."

"West, as in towards Arvada?" I asked.

"Could be. If he's at the house when we get there, he's my first priority."

"You mean as opposed to the innocent civilian?" Mary asked.

"He's your priority," Talbert countered.

And then the two of them bickered back and forth over professionalism and sense of responsibility, and I'm pretty sure that I heard the words narrow-minded, pea-brained and pencil dick come out of Mary's mouth.

But mostly I ignored them and focused on driving.

Within fifteen minutes of learning the address from Lupo, I turned onto Miller Street.

"Slow down," Talbert said.

"No shit," Mary replied at the same time my foot hit the brake. "She's not an idiot."

"You know, I could've just stayed back with the others and waited for the drug runners."

"Yeah, you could've. Maybe that wouldn't have been such a bad idea."

"Or I could've arrested you three for interfering in a federal investigation."

"Or I could've arrested you three for interfering in a federal investigation," Mary countered.

"Hey," I said as I neared the house. But the two of them were arguing again and no one heard me, so I said it again only this time much louder. "Hey!"

"What?"

"Black Lincoln."

Everyone in the car fell silent as we all watched four men get out of a black Lincoln that was parked in a driveway halfway down the street.

And it was parked alongside a dark blue Subaru.

"Shit," Mary said. "Your guys not only lost him, but they were slow letting you know about it."

"Uh huh," Talbert agreed. "Four of them, plus at least one already in the house. So we've got five hostiles and one innocent."

"We need to rush them," Bobby said. "They won't be expecting us. And we need to do it fast before they try to leave."

"Are we sure that your guy is here?" Talbert asked.

Good question.

Were we sure?

All we knew was that Kara had driven away from Valero's house this morning in this car.

And she had taken John from Rollins' house.

And now the car was here.

It wasn't exactly an airtight chain of events but I felt fairly confident.

"Even if he's not, we can pick up the other guys," I said. "Valero is getting arrested today one way or another, right?"

"Right," Mary answered before Talbert could say anything. "You've got guys still sitting on Valero's house, too, right?"

"Yeah," Talbert agreed.

Mary just held his gaze and gave him a knowing nod.

He pulled out his phone.

"Okay, you're right. Let's do this. I'll have my guys take the house. We'll get Valero. Let's end this whole mile high ring right now."

"Okay," Bobby said. "Good. Alex, block the car in the drive. Mary, you and Talbert take the back, we'll take the front."

"How do you know there's only two exits?"

"I don't. But with our limited personnel, I think that's our best bet."

"I'll request some back-up, too," Talbert said as he held the phone to his ear.

"That's fine, but we're not waiting," I told him.

"I understand."

He finished his call as I pulled the car sideways across the end of the driveway.

Then we got out, weapons drawn, and hurried up to the house.

At the front of the structure, we paused against the brick wall.

"Valero just got here. I think it's worth the time to take a quick look," Mary said as she looked at me and Bobby for confirmation.

He gave her a nod, so she took off running toward the back of the house.

"We'll confirm the doors and time the entry," I said.

"They'll be armed to the teeth," Talbert informed us. As if we couldn't have guessed it.

But still, I was glad he was with us. Like I said, the extra gun was worth his annoying condescension.

"Bobby was right," Mary said when she returned. "Big surprise there, huh? There's a door in the back, near the middle. It looks to be slightly offset from the front door, but not much."

"Watch out for crossfire," Talbert warned.

"We'll go at thirty seconds," Bobby said. "Ready?"

I would've liked to have a vest on for a situation like this.

I would've liked for Bobby to have a vest on. He's a much bigger target than me, and he's usually considered to be the biggest threat.

But no sense dwelling on something that wasn't going to happen.

This was our situation. We'd make the best of it.

I gave him a nod, and the others did too.

"Okay," he said. "Go."


Strathmore POV

Okay, here's the thing.

I'm not all that crazy about guns.

It doesn't bother me to be around people who carried them. In fact, everyone in my new circle of friends carried a gun.

But that didn't mean that I wanted to carry one.

But that also didn't mean that I couldn't appreciate their usefulness in a situation like this.

However, what it did mean was that I wasn't all that adept at using one.

After securing Kara, I'd picked it up off of the counter simply as a precaution. I wanted her to think that I might use it.

But I have never fired a gun before.

In fact, I'd been surprised by the heft of it when I'd picked it up. I had no idea what kind it was, or what caliber.

Hell I couldn't even swear to the fact that it was ready to fire.

I assumed that it was. I knew that Kara had the safety on, and then at some point she'd clicked it off. It was back on now.

I hoped that meant that all I needed to do was switch it off and then pull the trigger.

And as I stood frozen, watching the door handle jiggle while someone either used a key or attempted to pick the lock, depending on who was getting ready to enter the house, I flipped off the safety and aimed at the door.

But then a wave of fear went through me.

What if I fired by accident?

What if it was Alex? Or Bobby? Or Mary?

What if it was any one of them and I fired out of inexperience and ineptitude?

I couldn't risk it.

I lowered the gun.

If it was Valero, then I could raise the gun in a split second and fire.

If it wasn't him, then I'd be pointing it at the floor and any accidental slip of the trigger would be harmless.

"You're a dead man," Kara taunted in a sing-songy voice.

I ignored her, focused intently on the door as it swung open and in walked Valero, along with three other equally intimidating-looking men.

My arm felt like lead as I raised the gun and aimed it in the direction of their shocked faces.

They all reached for their guns as I pulled the trigger.

Click.

Nothing.

I pulled it again as the others started laughing and tucked their guns back into their waistbands.

Nothing.

One guy, who looked nearly like a square because he was so short and so wide, came at me with unexpected quickness while I tried, like an idiot, to pull the trigger a third time.

His fist met my face with stunning force that knocked me onto my ass.

"We don't give that bitch a loaded gun, pendejo," he mocked as he stood over me.

I had no idea what pendejo was but I could make a pretty good guess just by the way he said it.

And I had to wonder as to my sanity that I was pondering the definition at all while lying flat on my back with a guy standing over me who looked like Spongebob and hit like Tyson.

"Now get your ass up," he said as he grabbed a fistful of my shirt and hauled me to my feet. Then he stepped around behind me and put his thick hands around my wrists to keep my hands behind my back.

"Kara, what the fuck?" another guy said. Although I noticed that none of them made any move to untie her.

"Me what the fuck?" she yelled back. "What the fuck took you guys so long? You didn't say you were gonna leave me alone with him for so fucking long. Shit. He's like twice my size. What the fuck did you think was gonna happen?"

"I thought you was gonna tie his ass up and hold him at gun point," Valero said calmly from his position near the door.

"I did tie him," she argued. "Mother fucker broke through the cable ties. I thought you said that shit wouldn't break!"

"What d'ya wanna do with him?" Spongebob asked Valero. "We still need him, right?"

Valero walked further into the room until he was standing in front of me. He was a good six inches shorter than me, but he came toe to toe with me and then slowly looked me up and down.

I could say that I wasn't scared.

But that would be a fucking lie.

This guy looked like he would just as soon kill me as look at me. And I had no means with which to defend myself.

"Where is Heidi?" he asked me carefully.

"I don't know," I answered.

"I think I almost believe you," he said after a moment. "But tell me this. Who is the marshal that's hiding her?"

"I don't know," I said again.

He shook his head at me, and then nodded at the guy behind me who promptly kicked me in the back of the knees, forcing me down into a kneeling position.

Valero pulled his gun from his waistband and then looked at me with a smile before pulling back the slide.

"I'm going to ask you again" he said as he pressed the gun against my forehead. "Let's see if you can get it right this time. What's the name of the marshal?"

I thought about making up a name, but then what if that was a real person?

And I sure as hell wasn't going to give him Mary's name, so instead I kept my mouth shut, and I closed my eyes.

I've had a decent life. I worked hard and made a name for myself. I got the chance to meet my brother and to be at least a small part of his life.

I had no serious regrets.

I really didn't want to die, but if that's what was in the cards for me today, then the least I could do was die like a man.

I opened my eyes and looked straight at Valero.

"Go to hell."

"What, you think you're fucking Bruce Willis, bitch?" he yelled and then he hit me with his gun.

My head whipped to the side from the force of the blow, but I righted myself and continued to look him in the eye.

"Don't pull that macho shit on me!" he shouted as he jammed the barrel against my forehead again. "Tell me who the fucking marshal is!"

And then came the chaos.

The front door to the house burst open, and I could hear a crashing sound from behind me as well.

"Drop your weapon! Drop it now!"

"Federal agent, drop your weapon!"

Spongebob let go of my hands and Valero whirled around toward the door, so I dropped to the floor and put my hands over my head.

Gun fire rang out, immediately and continually, for what felt like forever.

I could smell the strong scent of gunpowder and my ears had long-since quit hearing any sound other than the repeated booms.

And then everything went completely quiet.

TBC...