Page 109 of Sovereign Oaths

I expected remorse. Guilt. Anything.

He simply lifted his eyes to Cruz. “I held up my end.”

“Those were all who were loyal to him?” Cruz gestured to the other dead men.

“Yes, these are the men that follow me.” Martin tilted his head to the group over his shoulder.

Cruz chuckled. “Not exactly the numbers you used to boast of.”

Martin frowned. “There have been complications lately, but they’ve all been taken care of.”

“Good for you.” Cruz stepped forward until he was in front of me. “Anyone else we should know about?”

“No. All of our enemies are dead, and we’re ready to rise back to power.” Martin smirked, and the men surrounding him grinned. “We now control southern Florida and Cuba.”

“You’re forgetting one key piece.” Cruz crossed his arms.

“Am I?” Martin tensed.

“The Velez family doesn’t play well with others, and we don’t work with traitors.”

Martin’s eyes widened as more gunshots rang. Before any of the men could reach for their sidearms, they were down. All of them.

I wasn’t sure what I expected next. Some sort of closing speech? Lights turning on? A curtain falling? Something that marked that this was really over.

Rod strode out, with Javi, Marco, and Derek trailing as men appeared from their sniper positions and the other rooms.

“Well done.” Rod helped Cruz get me free before taking a step back. “You guys are finished here. Head back and start packing. The plane will be ready to take you home in the morning.”

That was it?

The five of us looked at one another.

Javi held out his hand and helped me stand. “You heard the man. Let’s get out of here.”

“We don’t have to…” I trailed off, not sure what we could be doing. Cleaning up?

“Nah, the other teams have this part handled.” Marco waved for us to follow.

It was surreal to walk out, the guys calling out their goodbyes as we reached the back door, where our car was parked.

Should I thank them? Tell them bye? I hadn’t worked directly with anyone else, but they all had a part in keeping me safe.

Derek escorted me outside before I could decide. He held the car door open, and I got into the middle seat, with him on one side and Cruz on the other.

Javier pulled away from the building and Marco turned up the radio, a vaguely familiar rock song playing.

“This is too weird,” I voiced my thoughts.

“Anticlimactic?” Derek asked.

“Yes, exactly.” I finally had a word to describe the odd feelings.

“That’s how most of our cases go.” Javi met my eyes in the rearview mirror.“It’s all work, work, work, and then suddenly, you’re done. Rushing toward a finish line just to cross it and casually walk away.”

“It doesn’t feel right.”I admitted.

“Give yourself a day or two, and it will sink in.” Marco assured.

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