Chapter Thirteen

"How did you do it, Jorge?" Shay asked quietly as she sat in the rocking chair by the window cradling a sleepy D.J. in her arms.

"Do what, Larissa?" He sat in an overstuffed chair on the opposite side of the room.

"Survive."

He grinned wickedly.  "You mean after you shot me?"

"Jorge..." she began, but he cut her off with a wave of a hand. 

"Larissa, Larissa, Larissa.  Do not worry, I know it was not personal," he said with a laugh.  "Roberto's men found me.  You and your friends never checked the bodies.  You just assumed I was dead.  Wounded and near death, yes, but dead, no.  Doctors were brought to the compound to attend to me and when I was able to get around on my own, I went in search of you.  That was when I discovered you were carrying my child."

Shay glanced down at D.J. who was squirming happily within her arms.  He was a beautiful baby, despite the fact that his father was a horrid excuse for a human being.  She turned her attention back to Jorge, putting back the mask of defeat and submissiveness she knew he wanted to see.

It was at that time that Jorge's Aunt chose to enter the room.  Shay had met her earlier and actually found herself thanking the older woman for taking such good care of her son.

"Ah, good.  Aunt Emilita, please watch over Larissa and Richardo carefully," he said as he rose from the chair.  He opened the top drawer to the desk his aunt stood near and removed a small snub-nosed pistol and handed it to her.  He moved over to Shay and leaned over to kiss her forehead.  "I won't be but a minute, Querida."

Shay watched with uncaring eyes as Jorge left the room.  She stretched and yawned before she stood up from the rocking chair, resting D.J. on her hip.  "No matter what anyone says," she said with a small chuckle, "wooden rocking chairs are not comfortable."

Aunt Emilita laughed nervously.  Jorge warned her that this woman could not be trusted.  She held the gun firmly in her hand as Shay moved closer toward her.  If she had to shoot her, there was a chance she would harm the child. 

Shay looked out the window and saw movement in the dusky shadows of the nearby jungle.  She shook her head and looked again.  Nothing was there, probably wishful thinking on her part.  She watched the Aunt carefully from the corner of her eye. 

Shay took a deep breath and turned quickly, catching Emilita off guard.  She threw a right hook to the older woman's jaw, sending her reeling.  Emilita crashed against the wall and slumped unconscious to the floor.  "Now's our chance, D.J.!" Shay whispered as she ran for the back door of the cottage.

D.J.'s eyes grew wide as he watched the small house behind him as Mommy ran toward the jungle.  He could hear the mean man's voice saying those words Mommy and Pappy said were bad words and should never be said around him.  The jungle closed in around them as Mommy ran as fast as she could, jostling him precariously on her hip.  He heard a slap and then Mommy say one of those words she said she wasn't supposed to say.  He held on tight as she ran until she stopped abruptly with a loud "Oomph".  D.J. looked up and smiled.  Tiger!  He held out his arms so Tiger could take him and smiled happily as Tiger embraced him lovingly.

Shay almost screamed but it was held back when a hand clamped over her mouth.  Her eyes widened when she recognized the person whom the hand belonged.  He lowered it slowly.  "Tiger," she whispered as she turned D.J. over to him.

"Mon cadeau," he replied softly. 

"Hey, run now...reunion later," Jake insisted from behind Frank.

Frank nodded and handed D.J. off to Jake.  He pushed Shay ahead of him and watched as they ran toward the Jeep and Carlita who was waiting for them to return.

Shay stopped when she realized Frank was not behind them.  She turned but he was nowhere in sight.  "Dammit!" 

Jake stopped.  "What is it?  Where's Frank?"

"He's gone after Jorge.  Alone."  She approached Jake and took D.J.'s little hand and pressed a kiss to it.  "Take him to safety, Jake."

"Don't do it, Shay."

"Shhh..." she whispered and pressed a kiss to her friend's cheek.  "Take care of him if anything happens to me."  She slipped Jake's gun from his holster, turned and ran back toward the cottage.

Jake managed to get back to the Jeep a few minutes later.  "Carlita, Carlita!" he called when he didn't see her in the Jeep.  He breathed a sigh of relief when she popped her head up from the back seat.

"I am sorry, I do not like the jungle at night," she apologized.

He chuckled softly.  "I feel the same way.  Take the baby."  He opened the door and handed D.J. to her.  "I'll be right back."

************

Donovan crept back toward the cottage the moment Shay and Jake took off at a run.  He could hear Espinosa as he approached noisily and waited until the slime ran past.  "Espinosa!"

Jorge stopped in his tracks and turned, gun raised chest high, to stare directly into the barrel of Donovan's gun.  "You!" Espinosa spat.

"Me." Donovan replied. 

"You do this for the woman?" he asked, laughing maniacally.  "She would betray you in a heartbeat.  As a matter of fact, she already has." 

"She did what she had to do to protect her son," he replied, looking at the gun Espinosa held on him.  "A Mexican standoff?"

"So it would seem," Jorge responded. 

The sound of a hammer being clicked into place behind Espinosa caught the attention of the two men.  "I would say the standoff is over, Jorge.  And..." Shay shove the tip of the gun barrel to his temple, "you lose."

"I can still kill your lover," Espinosa replied.

"Still you lose," Donovan retorted.  "Either way, you're dead."

Jake listened as the three traded threats and knew something had to be done.  He charged toward them from the side, drawing their attention.  Jorge fired his gun as Jake leapt through the air, tackling both Espinosa and Frank.

Shay heard the gunshot followed by a loud groan of pain.  "FRANK!" she screamed.  She aimed her gun at the pile of tangled torsos and appendages.  She could not tell where one man began and the other ended.

"I'm...ah...okay, Shay," he assured her, throwing a punch and connecting with Espinosa's jaw.  He untangled himself from the pile and rolled Jake off Espinosa.  "Jake's been shot."

"Sweet Jesus!" she exclaimed as she fell to her knees beside Jake.   She glanced over at Jorge, who lay motionless, as Frank retrieved all three of the men's guns.  She did a cursory examination of Jake's wound.  "Took a hit in the shoulder, just above his heart."

Frank removed his sweater and pressed it to Jake's wound.  "We need to keep pressure on it."

Shay nodded, only momentarily distracted by the sight of Frank shirtless.  "Damn sexy bastard," she whispered under her breath.

He hid a grin as he tended to Jake's wound. 

Shay stood and glanced around the area.  "What...where's D.J.?"

"Jake must have taken him back to the Jeep and left him with Carlita," Frank assured her.

"Carlita is with you?" she asked as she turned back to face him. 

Frank stared at Shay in disbelief as she raised her gun on him and pulled the trigger.

He opened his eyes seconds later when he realized he hadn't been shot, although Shay did fire her gun.  When he looked up at her, he saw the rapid rise and fall of her chest as the adrenaline pumped through her.   From behind him he heard an audible gurgle.  He turned to see Espinosa, clutching his chest and blood running from the corner of his mouth.  A bowie knife was clutched in one hand. 

"He...he...he would have..." Shay trailed off as the blackness swept over her.  She said no more before she hit the ground hard.