The space was devoid of life; pieces of dead men littered what was left of the floor, the body parts too scattered to determine how many had died. I wasn’t certain if it was the carnage that had shocked Carmen or the fact that the exterior wall was gone.
“Move,” I ordered, impatient to get her out of this graveyard.
She jolted to action, moving quickly across what was left of the room and stepping directly outside. I stuck as close to her as possible, my chest brushing her back as we hurried onto the ruined lawn; the well-manicured, lush green grass had been churned into a muddy mess.
Now, most of the gunfire was concentrated outside the walls. Rodríguez’s attack helicopter would suffice to destroy the house—and anyone left inside—at this point. Everyone who was still fighting on the ground wouldn’t be defending the estate. They would be trying to fight their way free, to escape into the surrounding jungle.
“We could try to get to the garage,” Carmen suggested. “I can use a code to open the main gate and drive us out.”
“No,” I countered. “Rodríguez’s people are covering that side of the property. They would kill us before they realize who I am. We’ll have to go south. My men flanked the property.”
“You all arranged this together,” Carmen accused, but she changed directions and kept moving while she berated me. “You planned this assault all along, but you let me believe you would leave me in peace. You tricked me into helping you.”
“We didn’t trick you into anything,” I snapped back, not caring for the way she was twisting the facts. “Your brother chose to kidnap Sofia. He knew that meant war with Rodríguez. And you can’t possibly be surprised that I would assist Rodríguez in decimating your organization. We’ve been rivals for over a decade.”
“Nothing you do could surprise me now. I’ll never make the mistake of underestimating how evil you are ever again.”
“I saved your life,” I barked, distantly amazed and more than a little irritated that Carmen was arguing with me while we were fleeing a firefight. “When you called Rodríguez and offered to sneak in a team to assassinate your brother—an offer you made to help us—we were already in position. Tonight was always going to end this way. I secured the deal to get you out alive. You would be safely outside the walls with me by now if you hadn’t been so difficult.”
“If I’m so difficult, you could just cut your losses and leave me here,” she seethed.
“Not happening,” I growled. “Stop sniping at me. I have to make a call.”
I released Marisol’s arm so I could retrieve my phone from my pocket and keep my gun in the other hand. The woman kept pace with us and didn’t utter a single word of challenge, apparently in no need of my urging to get the fuck away from the crumbling estate.
I put in the call to Raúl Guerrero, who was commanding my forces outside the defensive walls.
“Where the fuck are you?” his gravelly voice rasped in my ear.
“I’m so glad you’re alive, too,” I drawled. “We’re headed your way. We’ll be at the southwest security entrance in less than three minutes. Make sure we don’t get shot.”
“I’ll meet you there with a team, and we’ll escort you back to the convoy.”
“Good.” I ended the call, confident that Raúl had it handled. The jungle was too dense to navigate with a vehicle—part of the estate’s natural defenses—so we’d been forced to approach the property on foot. My Jeep was waiting about half a mile back, parked on the closest dirt path. Once we reached it, I could take Carmen away from her family’s isolated stronghold on the west coast and begin the journey to my own home base in Mexico City.
As fire engulfed the mansion behind us, we finally arrived at the massive wall that used to protect the Ronaldo Cartel. It was still solidly standing, but it no longer defended anything of value.
Carmen led the way to a reinforced steel door set into the structure. Her fingers flew over the keypad beside it, and the lock disengaged.
I grabbed the handle before she could fully turn it, maneuvering her to the side, so her body wouldn’t be the first one exposed when the door opened. I trusted that Raúl would have secured the area for us, but I wouldn’t take any chances with Carmen’s life. She’d already gambled with it far too many times for my comfort, and I intended to get her safely home with me, where I could enjoy her fire and defiance. But right now, those delightful qualities were a liability.
Bright lights immediately flashed in my eyes, making me squint after navigating by moonlight for hours. I blinked against the slight burning sensation, focusing on the shadows behind the lights.