Right now, it is just a matter of waiting until Jaime gets the girls back to us. I am grateful the little girl won’t be traumatized. With any luck, she will have slept through the whole ordeal. Latin Americans are big on family and taking care of their women and children. All they wanted was Steven and I have no problem giving them just what they are after.
Johnnie
All this time, all this time, I thought she was dead and now the one flicker of hope I held is being extinguished by that bastard sitting in his foyer and staring off into space. As if that isn’t bad enough, I have a niece and now I am never going to get the chance to meet her.
I want to know what is going on in there and Thorn won’t let me go see. The man is like a brick wall with a face etched in stone and, right now, that face is clearly letting me know I am not getting past him and into that house.
I begged Cash to give me a gun for this mission and he forbade it. Now, I know why. He knew that if I had a gun, I would kill that bastard. Steven Taggart has taken everything that ever meant anything to me.
“What’s going on in there? Thorn, please let me go.”
“Never gonna happen.” His voice comes out in a laid back growl and even though he has a rough demeanor, right now, I feel an odd sense of protectiveness and compassion exuding from him. I can see why these guys are as tight-knit as they are. This is only the second job I have been on and already I feel the camaraderie. This time, I am part of the unified front and it feels good. I have lived most of my life as a loner amongst the crowd. Thrown into groups where I was the different one and being a constant target was a way of life for me up until now. I had learned to keep to myself to avoid trouble. It didn’t bother me and it didn’t hurt because it was all I had ever known.
This is the first time I have ever felt like I am a part of something that is bigger than me. I want Rhonda and Talia to be part of it too. I want them to feel safe and secure and if it means the death of Steven Taggart, then so be it.
Thorn pulls me close in a protective embrace as we both look up to view a motorcade of standard, gangster, cliché black cars pull in. My eyes scout the cars, frantically searching for Rhonda and Talia, but the darkened windows prevent me from being able to see inside any of the vehicles.
When I finally see her, Thorn makes me wait until the other men enter the house. I grab Rhonda and hug her. It’s true! She’s alive! I gently pull back the blanket she’s holding and get my first glimpse of my niece. My draw drops at the discovery that she looks more like me than she does Rhonda.
Thorn grabs us and pulls us over to one of the Hummers where we sit, unable to stop hugging each other as we catch up. I find myself eyeing the door with an urgency bordering on panic. I want Cash to get his ass out of there before those fucking crazy ass Colombians start shooting up the place. I can just imagine some shoot out with him being in there.
I sure as hell don’t want to see any of the team hurt. No matter how much of my life I spent trying not to care, I know that I do now and it scares the hell out of me.
Cash
I don’t like the anxiety twisting my gut as I wait on these guys to show up. Each tick as the seconds pass only increases my trepidation in these situations. A mixture of release and unease comes over me as I view a band of Colombian men making their way through the door. They are all armed. Some of them are dressed in suits with just holstered guns but there is one man who looks more like he’s going to war. He’s wearing camouflage and carrying a large machine gun strapped over his shoulder.
I eye the man who starts speaking to me. He’s a very large man with pockmarks on his face. He has the look of a killer and carries himself with an authority that tells me he’s the leader of this band of criminals.
“I’ll honor the peace treaty my boys and I have with the Ramirez brothers. You need to take your boys and go. This thief stays with us.” He nods in Steven’s direction.
I’m not going to argue with him. Whatever they do to Steven Taggart has nothing to do with me or with Undercover Elite. I am concerned about the girls witnessing something that would traumatize them anyway. Getting them out of here safely is first and foremost on my mind.
I nod at Hunter and Axle and we back our way out of the door to meet up with Harley who had been standing guard. We quickly make our way out to our vehicles. A gunshot rings out through the air as we’re driving down the estate’s long driveway. I breathe a sigh of relief, knowing that Talia is asleep and Rhonda is too overwhelmed to even hear it. Johnnie eyes me, shaking her head. An unspoken communication passes between us. Neither of us addresses the issue that Steven Taggart was just shot to death. With the end of his life, the girls would gain their freedom. They will finally have the stability and safety they deserve.