“Okay. Okay,” I mumbled as I stumbled to the door.
Enrique pulled up his pants without fastening the buckle. Then, he stomped by me pointing his gun at my face. “Follow me and don’t do anything stupid.”
We walked up a narrow set of concrete stairs. Light flooded the main floor of the house. I shaded my eyes with my hand as I sucked air into my lungs through my nose. I couldn’t fill my lungs fast enough to clear the stench of death from my body. I’d been breathing through my mouth since Enrique shot Raul and left his body in the room with me.
“Are you sure you want her upstairs?” Enrique asked Juan, pausing at the base of the rust-colored tiled stairwell.
“Yes.” Juan nodded. “Put her in the last room on the left and don’t waste any more time.”
Enrique spun around with his lips pursed. “I’m not an idiot. I heard you the first fucking time.”
“If you heard me the first time, I wouldn’t have walked into the room with your pants around your ankles and your cock hanging out.”
“Gilipollas,” Enrique murmured as he started walking up the stairs. His heavy boots thumped against the floor.
“Enrique, you’re my oldest son. I love you, but don’t talk back to me or second-guess me again. Do what you’re told and shut your fucking mouth.”
Enrique’s shoulders tensed, but he kept walking. I followed him. I didn’t have a choice. The only thing keeping me from throwing myself down the stairs was Ryker’s promise he’d find me tonight. A few more hours and this would be over. One way or another.
Enrique flung open the light brown wooden door. I halted, unsure what to do.
“What are you waiting for? A fucking invitation?” His rancid breath washed over my face.
“No.” I shook my head as I stepped through the opening.
“Take a fucking shower. You smell like shit. I don’t want to have to tie a bandana around my face when I come back for you tonight.”
He slammed the door and locked it. The room was better than the basement. Almost anything would be better than being chained to a wall in a room with a dead body. I shivered.
The room had a twin-sized yellowed cot on a metal frame and a barred window on the far side of the room. I opened the door next to me. It was a small bathroom with floor to ceiling square sky blue ceramic tiles. A showerhead came out of the center of the ceiling with a rusted floor drain directly below it. A white wall-mounted sink and a toilet with a cracked seat were located on opposite walls.
Briefly, I considered refusing to shower so Enrique would leave me alone, but in the end I turned on the shower and stripped off my clothes.
My blood and Raul’s blood mingled, staining my hands and clothes. Sweat and dirt coated my skin. I couldn’t comb through the snarled strands of my hair. I needed to scrub the memory of the last few days from my skin. Maybe then I could gain some much-needed clarity and perspective.
I stepped under the shower and cranked the rusted lever. The pipes banged against the wall. Icy russet colored water poured from the ceiling. My breath hitched and then evened out when the water warmed. I stood under the weak spray longer than I should have, given my circumstances, but a shower had never felt so good.
Chapter Eight
Ryker
“This is it. We’re here,” I said.
I pulled the black SUV over to the side of the road. As planned, the two SUVs behind us followed suit. I had divided us into three teams. Noah and I would hike up the side of the mountain and enter through the back door. Rick would wait here until I contacted him. He and his team would neutralize the men guarding the driveway. Eric and his team would hike up with Noah and me, and enter the safe house through the front door. Eric would engage and kill anyone in the building. Noah and I would find Hattie.
We had less than thirty minutes to accomplish everything once we broke down the doors. If we didn’t make it out by then, we were fucked. Juan’s reinforcements would show up, and the helicopters lifting us out of the remote location would flee or risk being shot down.
I picked up my gun from the center console and slid it into the holster around my chest. I slipped on the tactical headset. Then, I opened the car door and looped an X95 assault weapon around my shoulder. The X95 had quickly become my go-to gun. Israel Weapon Industries created the gun to combat modern terror threats.
“Ready?” I asked, tipping my head in the direction of the hill in front of us.
“Yep,” Noah answered as he slipped a grenade into his black vest.
“Let’s move.” I motioned to Rick’s SUV. He saluted. Then, I waved Eric and his team forward. “No talking on the headsets until we’re inside.”