A New Hunt

An El Cazador de la Bruja Fanfiction

Chapter 4: Enter The Bounty Brothers

Author's Notes: Hello everyone! I think this might be my first update in over a month. Sorry for the delay. I've had a lot going on in my life, but I won't get into that right now. For now, just enjoy the story!

Flashback

"Is all of this really necessary?" Juan Miguello asked from the back seat of Ricardo's brown Acura Legend as he writhed a little bit in his chains.

"The gas station didn't have any rope." Ricardo said. "It was either tow chains, or I break a few limbs. I thought the chains would be a less noisy option." He said with a smirk. "Don't give me a reason to change my mind."

Juan gulped nervously. "Understood." He said meekly.

"Just consider yourself lucky that I decided not to gag you too. After all, putting up with your crap isn't in the bounty description."

"I get it!" Juan groaned.

"Ooh. Struck a nerve, did I?"

"Just shut up and keep your eyes on the road." Juan sighed.

"Yes sir. Anything else?" Ricardo asked. Juan was silent. "You know, we don't have to hate each other."

"Piss off." Juan said just before Ricardo slammed the brakes, sending Juan face first into the back of the front seat. "AIE! (Spanish for 'dirty bitch')"

"We're here." Ricardo said as he turned the engine off and got out of the vehicle. He opened Juan's door and pulled him out into the dirt. "Stand up." Ricardo said as he pulled Juan to his feet, spitting sand out of his mouth.

"You aren't seriously leaving me here, are you?" Juan asked, already knowing the answer.

"You aren't seriously asking me that, are you?" Ricardo asked as he started pushing Juan in front of him.

"Well, well, well. Look who it is." An angry looking blonde woman said with her hands on her hips when she saw Juan Miguello.

"Hola, Maria." Juan said, averting his eyes in the process.

"So tell me." She said, grabbing Juan's chin and forcing him to look her in the eyes. "How much money did you make off of your pilfered gifts?"

Juan responded by spitting in her face, causing her to recoil. Ricardo quickly kicked out one of Juan's knees and forced him into the dirt. "Don't disrespect a lady." Ricardo said as he rested his boot on the side of Juan's face.

"Learn your place, puta!" Maria growled as she kicked Juan once in the ribs.

"I'm sorry to be so forward, but when can I expect my payment?" Ricardo asked.

"You brought him here alive, so I suppose that means you had to put up with his mouth the whole way." Maria said. "I appreciate that."

"It wasn't so bad." Ricardo shrugged. "But I do look forward to washing my hands of him. I've delivered him, so he's your problem now."

"Oh, trust me. He's been my problem for a long time now." Maria said. "I'll send your payment to the bounty office along with a little bonus for any inconveniences I'm sure he caused you."

"Thank you kindly." Ricardo said as he removed his foot from Juan's cheek, tipped his hat, and walked back to his car.

End flashback

"And you think that he's the one behind this?" Nadie asked.

"I wouldn't doubt it." Ricardo said. "Juan seemed the type to hold a grudge."

"Wasn't he the guy from yesterday?" Nadie asked.

"Desert flower man." Ellis said, nodding her head.

"Desert flower man?" Guy asked.

"It's nothing." Nadie said quickly.

"Anyways, whoever it is probably knows we're coming early." Ricardo said.

"What makes you say that?" Nadie asked.

"Because they've been tracking us since the hotel." Ricardo said as he pulled a small metal clip out of the brim of his hat and crushed it between his fingers.

"A tracking device!" Guy exclaimed. "Why didn't you bring this up sooner?"

"Calm down." Ricardo said. "They already know we're here. Now that they can't track us, they might make their move sooner."

"But that gives us less time to prepare for them." Guy said, already looking from warehouse to warehouse for any sign of movement.

"The sooner they show themselves, the sooner I can find Lirio." Ricardo said, walking ahead as if nothing had changed.

"How can he stay so calm about all of this?" Guy asked, turning to Nadie and Ellis.

"He's always been a bit… Difficult to read." Nadie sighed.

"He's cool." Ellis said, looking directly at Guy.

"That look…" Guy thought. "I get the feeling she's trying to imply something about me." He thought as she turned away and shrugged.

"Maybe, maybe not." Ellis said as she walked away with Ricardo and Nadie.

"Huh?" Guy said. "Did she just read my… No, that's impossible." Guy thought as he followed at a slight distance.

"The tracker isn't giving any more readings." A tall man said as he pulled up a map of the warehouse district on his laptop. "Marco, go out for a walk. Make sure to keep an eye out for our friends and say hello if you see them."

"Sure thing, bro." A somewhat shorter, yet significantly more muscular man said as he hefted a large machine gun and walked out of the warehouse.

"He's such a good boy." The taller man said with a smile. "A bit dim, but a good boy nonetheless." He said as he touched a blinking green icon on his computer screen. "I'd better make sure he at least has a little bit of help out there." He said with a chuckle as a window with a crosshair popped up on the screen.

"Hey Guy, why are you hanging so far back?" Nadie asked as she turned around to face Guy as she walked.

"Huh? Oh, no reason." Guy said. "I just don't want to get in the way or anything."

"Okay." Ellis said as she continued walking.

"Ellis." Nadie sighed as she stopped and let Guy catch up with her.

"She really doesn't seem to like me." Guy said as he caught up with her.

"I'm not sure what's going on with her lately." Nadie said. "She's usually much cheerier than this." She said, looking visibly saddened.

"Maybe me tagging along wasn't such a good idea." Guy sighed.

"Well, I can't really say I fully trust you myself yet either, but I think you seem like a good person so far." Nadie said.

"For what it's worth, you're really pretty." Guy said.

"What? Y- you think so?" Nadie said with a blush.

"Of course." Guy said. "I've never seen someone quite like you before."

"Um… Thank you." Nadie said, blushing a bit more brightly now.

"What's the matter? Not used to getting compliments?" Guy asked with a smile.

"No. It's just that people usually pass me up in favor of Ellis for some reason." Nadie admitted, scratching her face nervously.

"Well they're missing out." Guy said just before he noticed a glint of metal on a rooftop over Nadie's shoulder. "Enemy sniper! Get down!" Guy yelled as he lunged forward and pulled Nadie behind a stack of crates just as a hailstorm of bullets flew down the alleyway towards them. At the same time, Ricardo picked up Ellis under his arm and dove into adjacent alleyway.

"What's going on?!" Nadie exclaimed.

"Sorry. That isn't a sniper." Guy said as the bullets stopped momentarily, allowing Guy to peek over the cover and try to spot their attacker. "I don't see anybody." Guy said as he got his rifle ready and looked down the scope. After a short search, he spotted what the problem was. Through his rifle's scope, Guy saw what looked like a large gun and a camera mounted on a tripod. "Uh oh." He said as he lowered his rifle and got back behind the crates just in time to avoid getting himself shot. "Damn it! A mounted gun!" Guy yelled. "You two go ahead! I'll see what I can do back here!" He called to Ricardo and Ellis.

Ricardo didn't respond, but he continued down the new alley.

"Nadie!" Ellis yelled as she went to go back for her friend before being stopped by Ricardo.

"Come on, Ellis." Ricardo said. "Nadie's tough. She'll be okay."

"But…" Ellis said, looking toward the torrent of bullets and back to Ricardo again.

"Ellis, go on! I'll be fine! I promise!" Nadie yelled.

After a bit more hesitation, Ellis followed Ricardo as he ran down the alleyway, away from Guy and Nadie.

"So now what?" Guy asked Nadie. "Got any ideas?"

"Yeah. Follow my lead!" Nadie said over the hail of bullets as she got ready to run. As soon as the bullets stopped, she was off like a rocket with Guy stumbling a bit behind her. She ran directly toward the direction the bullets had come from before diving behind another set of crates on the opposite side of the alley. Guy had just ducked in behind her when the sentry started firing again.

"I don't think there's any cover further up." Guy said. "What now?" He asked as he turned and saw that Nadie was gone. "Nadie?" He asked, looking around with concern.

"Up here!" Nadie called from a window as she put her hand down to help Guy up.

"Oh!" Guy exclaimed as he grabbed hold of her hand. "Good thinking." He said as she helped him jump into the warehouse.

"Are you okay?" Nadie asked as both of them sat up against a shelf.

"Yeah. I'm fine." Guy said, catching his breath. "Just been a while since I've been under fire is all."

"Come on. We should keep moving." Nadie said as she stood up and offered a hand to Guy. Guy gratefully accepted the help and got up as well. "We'd better keep an eye out for any more traps."

"Agreed." Guy said with a nod as the two of them began carefully navigating the dark warehouse. "So." Guy said in the darkness. "You don't get many compliments?" He asked.

Nadie sighed. "Not compared to Ellis." She said. "It's kind of frustrating sometimes."

"She really seems to like you a lot." Guy said.

"Yeah. She's almost like a little sister to me." Nadie said.

"Almost?" Guy asked.

"Well, she's important to me like I think a sister would be, but… I don't know." Nadie sighed.

"She's cute, I'll admit." Guy said. "But she just doesn't have the same kind of womanly appeal that you do."

"Thanks." Nadie said. "I appreciate that. But you don't need to try to flatter me."

"Does that mean my masculine charms have gotten through to you?" Guy said with a chuckle.

"Nope." Nadie said simply, causing Guy to almost fall flat on his face.

"Well that was blunt." He said.

"It isn't you, really." Nadie said. "I just… I just feel like it wouldn't be fair to Ellis, you know?"

"Fair to Ellis?" Guy asked. "What does that mean?"

"I… I don't really know." Nadie said. "I just don't think I can consider myself available anymore. Not after everything we've been through."

"So wait… Are you and her-"

"I don't know." Nadie said. "Maybe. It's kind of hard to tell sometimes."

"Huh." Guy said.

"What is it?" Nadie asked.

"And here I thought the big guy was my competition for you." Guy chuckled. "I never even considered the other possibility. I guess I'm out of luck."

"Sorry." Nadie said. "To be honest, I'm not completely sure what I feel about all of this yet." She sighed. "But either way, we have more urgent things to think about right now."

"Right." Guy said as he saw a ladder through the darkness of the warehouse. "I'm gonna go up there and see if I can get to the roof."

"Okay. I'll try to get to the others." Nadie said as Guy started climbing the ladder.

"Be careful, okay?" Guy said. "I may not have a shot with you, but I couldn't live with myself if a pretty lady got hurt on my watch."

"Right." Nadie said. "You watch yourself too. I'm not catching you if you fall off a roof."

"Understood." Guy said as he hoisted himself onto the landing at the top of the ladder and made his way towards a nearby window.

"Nadie. Please be okay." Ellis thought as Ricardo stopped to check around a corner.

"Come on." He said as he rounded the corner at a brisk pace. Halfway down the alley, a large, imposing man rounded the opposite corner carrying a very large machine gun.

"Good to see ya again, pal!" The man yelled as he opened fire, just barely giving Ricardo enough time to grab Ellis and dive through a nearby window.

Author's Notes: Well, there you go. Hopefully I'll get back into a good updating pace considering how close to the end I am to several of my stories. My next update will be to Lucky Temptations.

Look forward to it!