Page 71 of The Perfect Stranger

Chapter Twenty-Five

My arrival was timely as three men entered the convenience store. Three men who could easily have belonged to Los Santos or Baja. They were all inked, the shirtless man more so than the others. One looked edgy and hyperactive, as though he was on an extreme high, while the third looked like he was about to enter a war zone. They were all packing heat and made no effort to conceal the weapons.

Positioning myself over behind the trunk of a car, I watched through the scope of the assault rifle. The same assault rifle given by Santos men when they retrieved Jair Ruiz.

Nina was there, her back to me.

In a literal blink of an eye, it all happened.

The situation had escalated, tattoo already pointing his gun at her head while another had his semi-auto lined up to the store clerk who was wielding his own sawn-off shotgun.

Although I couldn’t hear what was being said, there was a heated exchange between almost everyone in the store. The crack-head jumped from foot to foot eagerly waiting for the all-out war to begin.

And then it started.

The convenience store erupted in a fiery battle, the peppering of the semi-automatic destroying everything in sight and shattering the westbound windows, with the cracking boom of the sawn-off smashing anything its wake. With the windows broken, shouts in both English and Spanish were exchanged followed by further rounds. Nina came back into view, her Glock pointing at tattoo man. If she joined in, it would be three against one and her Glock stood no chance.

I fired, the bullet catching her right arm. She fell backward and out of view. I felt a pang of guilt, but I could live with that over seeing her get sprayed in the cross-fire. The shooting continued for quite some time until everything fell eerily silent.

I waited, my breathing heavy, fearing the worst and hating that I hadn’t acted sooner—yet, in reality, only a few seconds had passed.

And then, almost in unison, they rose to their feet appearing back in view. Except one. The store clerk with the sawn-off was no match for the aggression of a semi-automatic. The crack-head tilted his head and howled like a wolf. He was crazy, loose and dangerous.

Tattoo man had Nina by her ponytail violently yanking her about.

It was time.

Lining up my next target, I fired a clean shot obliterating the north facing window. With an explosion of red, the bullet sunk into the head of the man with the semi-auto. The crack-head looked to his fallen comrade before disappearing from sight. Tattoo turned my way, firing a round from his Glock and missing entirely. His face was badly cut, courtesy of the broken glass frontage.

Crack-head now lined me up, his twisted smile gleeful as he prepared to take his first shot. I beat him to it with a clean bullet hole between the eyes. It was an unusual sight. He still looked high as a kite, wearing a peculiar smile, blood trickling down his face and yet completely dead. He finally fell, tattooed man roaring with anger at another slain comrade.

One to go.

He was out of view and as I inched closer to the now destroyed convenience store, I could hear the hostile exchange between him and Nina. I came to rest behind the external waist high ice freezer.

“Who the fuck are you and why are you following me?” I heard her say.

“It doesn’t matter how far you run, puta,” tattoo started, his voice laden with an accent. “There’s too many after you and high dollars for your head.”

Pulling the Beretta free, finger caressing the trigger, I fired. I caught tattoo mid-snarl, his throat exploding upon the bullet entering and exiting. A hideous mass of blood, flesh, and gore sprayed over Nina’s face and covered her chest.

She screamed, unsure of what had just transpired. Her knees gave way, and she sank to the floor, her Glock dropping to the tiles.

I walked to her, the doorbell chiming when I crossed the threshold. Pretty, scared eyes traveled slowly from my feet to my face.

Hooking a hand under her uninjured arm, I brought her to her feet.

“We need to get out of here,” I murmured, gently, fully aware of her fragile state. “The local authorities won’t be far behind.”

Moving my hand around her waist, we navigated the debris and lifeless bodies. The return journey to the hotel seemed to take longer than it should have. The manager eyed us both with disgust. His wish for peace resulting in a bloody gun battle, with four dead, at the local convenience store. Instead of helping, he flicked the open sign to closed.

Opening the passenger side, I lowered Nina onto the seat before retrieving her belongings from the motel room. Upon return, I threw the duffle bag in the trunk before climbing into the driver’s seat.

I felt a wave of guilt as I turned to her. She looked like shit. Blood had congealed on her face and her hair was mattered with gore. Still, she was beautiful. Throwing the car in reverse, we shot down the highway bypassing the obliterated convenience store along the way.

Nina was the first to break the silence. “Thank you,” she said, appreciatively, though still in shock.

Casting her a reassuring glance, she caught my eyes and I wanted so desperately to tell her the truth.

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