Page 54 of Ranch's Resolve

“My guess is they are after my territory. However, I don’t know if they realize the extent of my reach now. Not many do. My contacts have reported that Carlos has bragged about takingover the Cortez Cartel. The Cortez Cartel is only a small piece of my enterprise.”

“Do you know what they’re planning?” I ask.

“I don’t know the specifics, but ultimately, they plan to either capture or kill me,” Angela says. Dante’s jaw tightens.

“Then you should go into hiding,” Dante grounds out.

“No. I need to face them and come out on top. If I don’t, then I’ll risk others coming after me in the future. I need to send a message. The only way to do it is to defeat them and ensure they can’t regroup and come after me again. I have a plan. It will work.”

“What plan?” Dante asks.

As Angela lays out her plan, I begin to understand why she has achieved the power she wields.

“Huh,” Dante says once she finishes. “That might work, but only if we know when they plan to attack.”

“My guess is they’ll attack tonight. Carlos won’t want to waste time, and he probably thinks you all are busy either dealing with Crossroads or searching for him. I have people watching them. He has gathered several men to his location and is arming them. He won’t wait long. My people will warn me when they move. We’re ready here at the ranch.”

“We’re on our way,” Dante says. “Let’s hope your plan works.”

“It will work,” Angela says before ending the call.

“Feral, Penny, and Torch, I want you to stay here to guard the clubhouse. The rest of us, let’s head out. We’re going to Angela’s ranch.”

Dante pushes back in his seat, but I stop him with a question. “With the prospects helping out at Crossroads, who is watching Fenhua?” I ask with a glance at Ghost.

“Mia is watching him,” Babe says. “I called her when I heard you were pulling in Izzy and Axel. We might want to consider getting more prospects.”

“What about your ranch manager, Max?” Carver asks me.

I shrug without responding. I need to have a conversation with Max over how Carlos slipped into Athena’s car without him noticing. Carlos was his to watch, and yet he didn’t see the asshole had disappeared.

“We’ll discuss adding more prospects later,” Dante says. “Have Mia contact Simon or Cole if she needs assistance or someone to take over her observation of Fenhua.”

Babe nods as he takes out his phone to call his Old Lady. He follows us outside as he waits for her to pick up. After relaying Dante’s message, Babe mounts his bike, and we speed through the gate.

Dusk is falling as we arrive at Angela’s ranch house. I’ve never seen her spread, and I’m in awe of its size. She has more than twice the land I do, and her house resembles a resort hotel rather than a home. Multiple archways encircle the building, offering hints of a luscious garden. Dante leads us inside. Vast open spaces greet us inside. Tile flooring and light-colored walls make the home inviting and cool. The few walls boast massive paintings that should crowd the space but somehow don’t. We take seats on the leather couches and chairs as we wait for Angela to join us. Dante refuses to sit but paces the room.

When Angela arrives, we all do a double take. When Angela is working, she usually dons a silk skirt and matching jacket. When she’s relaxing, she wears a peasant skirt and blouse. Angela enters the room as if she’s leading an army into war. In this case, I guess she is. The dark brown cargo pants and black turtleneck will provide excellent camouflage. She has a pistol in a holster on her leg and a semi-automatic strapped over her shoulder. I spot a knife in her military-style boots. She has herdark hair pulled back into a tight bun. On her face is a look of fierce determination. Behind her is her bodyguard, Maia, who is wearing a similar outfit. Only she’s carrying her weapon of choice, a sniper rifle.

“I’ve heard from my contacts. Carlos is on the move. They haven’t spotted Cruz. Carlos and his men are headed in this direction with approximately fifteen men. I have twenty men following them in case they decide to double back. I’ve given the order to capture Carlos and Cruz, if he’s with them, but to kill everyone else. Maia is staying here and will patrol the roof. She’ll shoot only if necessary. As for the rest of us, let’s go.”

We follow Angela outside. She leads us to a barn between the house and the Blanchard Ranch. Inside, she opens a hidden panel and enters a code. The door slides open to reveal steps leading down. In silence, we follow Angela a few hundred yards before we reach a flight of stairs leading up. Angela turns on a monitor on the wall and uses a joystick to view the surrounding area. None of us speaks, but we all share looks as we wait for Angela to dictate our next move. When she turns off the monitor, she turns to us.

“Okay, Carlos and his men are past us and almost to the ranch. My men are waiting outside for us to join them. Border Patrol should be at my ranch and waiting to arrest anyone who crosses the border onto my property.” She points to a box under the monitor. “Everyone take one.”

We follow her up the stairs, and using the binoculars she provided, we spread out and watch the show. Twenty or so men creep onto Angela’s property. They scan the property. When they see no movement, they focus on the big house. As if they flipped a switch, bright lights shine on their position as dozens of Border Patrol agents encircle them. They end the attack without a single shot fired. Angela thanks her men who arrived to backus up and leads us back through the tunnel. The whole thing is somewhat of a letdown. At the same time, it’s hysterically funny.

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO: ATHENA

“Wait a minute, you’re saying that Border Patrol agents arrested Carlos and his men while you guys watched?” I ask.

Ranch chuckles as he snuggles me closer to his body. We were catching our breath after an intense round of mattress gymnastics. Raising my chin, I kiss the underside of his rugged jaw.

“Yeah, it was the most boring gunfight I’ve ever been in. We didn’t even have to be there, but Dante wanted to make sure Angela’s men had backup if they needed it.”

“What’s going to happen to Carlos? Did they arrest Cruz, too?” I ask.

“I don’t know if they arrested Cruz. Angela doesn’t have the identities of each man arrested. As for Carlos, he’s wanted for crimes on both sides of the border. The two governments will tag-team him. I doubt we’ll see him again.”

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