Page 36 of Javier

“Saddle up, Angel.”

His voice startled me out of the haze. A glance at the nunsshowed me that Sister Elsa wore her most serene expression, but if Sister Janet’s frown was any indication, I was going to have some explaining to do once this was over.

Javier stood up, clipped his carbine to the front of his vest, grabbed my shoulders, and turned me toward where the nuns waited for me.

“Go.” He gave me a gentle push. “Don’t look back and no matter what happens don’t come back here. Just… go.”

I put one foot in front of the other. The docile donkey followed my tentative footsteps. Since Javier had briefed the sisters on the urgency of our situation, they beckoned. As soon as I parked the animal, the nuns went to task trying to mount it. In any other circumstances, the sight would’ve been funny. This wasn’t the case today. They struggled a bit, but once seated atop the donkey, they urged me to hurry. I led the creature to the road, but could I really walk away and leave Javier behind?

Thunder grumbled in the distance. An ominous gust of wind rustled the grasses and the leaves, driving the night’s humidity deep into my bones. A chill rumbled through me, weighing down my strides and pulling on my heart as if it was attached to Javier with chains.

I couldn’t leave him behind and all alone to face my enemies.

I whirled around.

Javier was gone, disappeared without a trace.

It was as if he’d always been a dream and we’d never met in real life.

***

Javier

The fuckers docked their boat by the river mouth and stole south precisely as I’d predicted. Bunch of dicks. Trying to sneak up on me. Well, I was gonna teach them a lesson. You didn’t fuck with Javier Guzman.

Focusing my binos, I tracked their thermal images as they advanced toward the camp using the tall grasses and the tree line for cover. They were geared up exactly like the thugs that had attacked the compound, down to their KLT assault rifles and the PC-9 Zoafs.

These assholes were hyenas from the same pack.

Concealed behind a cluster of pines, I hooked my carbine to my vest and waited for the turd in lead with my blade at the ready. As he passed me by, I reached out, slit his throat, and left him behind, gasping and thrashing.

Sorry, Missy. I couldn’t spare this one if she was gonna stay alive. I needed a noisy death.

His friend came looking for him. These guys didn’t learn from each other’s troubles. I did a rewind and replay and sent him to chase his colleague in hell. I needed to give Missy enough time to get away and end the threat to her life.

I also needed to gather as much intel as possible for our team, mostly who, how, and why. Wiping my bloody knife on my pants, I moved to intercept the next group. Turds number three and four were flanking another fucker, ostensibly the leader, who was commanding from the rear, allowing his scouts to take the brunt of any attack.

Coward.

Neither the legendary Dashiell Dagger—my current CO—nor Phoenix Astor—my former CO—would’ve ever compromised the lives of his men for their own safety. Nix died for this very reason. To protect me. The least I could do was protect his little sister, no matter what it took. I couldn’t save Nix, but I would save Missy.

With a flash of lightning and a clap of thunder, the skies opened up, and the rain began to fall. I couldn’t get a good visual on the turd or his wingmen. The high-density droplets interfered with the infrared signal, limiting my binocular’s thermal range. Itucked the binos away.

Time to get up close and personal.

Moving low and slow, I inched closer to the enemy. The three remaining tangos huddled around their radio, trying to reach their scouts.

Bad news, mates. The number you have reached is no longer in service. Your scouts are fucking dead.

A closer look showed me the tangos, checking out the screen of a tablet. I couldn’t see the details but I spotted a moving balloon.

A tracking device?

My heart gave an extra kick. What were they tracking and how?

It was imperative for me to get my hands on that gadget. I was also gonna have to have a heart-to-heart with the leader of this sorry bunch. My decision had everything to do with our team’s efforts to learn more about the NWO and nothing to do with Missy’s request to spare as many lives as possible.

Poor Goofman. A snort echoed inside my head.The little witch has you caught by the balls—your blue balls, I should add.

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