Page 8 of Ranch's Resolve

“We’ll take the tunnel. I want to make sure no one has infiltrated it,” Dante says.

I led the way to the tunnel entrance and opened it so Dante and the others could pass through.

Once we’re all through, I close the opening behind us. The lights flick on as we pass through the tunnel and then turn off behind us a few minutes later. We created this particular tunnel using a combination of rocks and adobe bricks, so even if border control or others used a scan to locate it, they’d have a hard time. The materials blend into the environment. The composition means the tunnel requires more maintenance than a cement tunnel would, but keeping it hidden is worth the effort.

We quickly cover the miles until we reach the end of the tunnel. I retake the lead and unlock the opening so we can pass through. The opening is behind a small outcropping of rocks. We find the rest of the club when we circle it before sliding down the gradual slope to where two bodies lie at the bottom of a crevice. Manuel acknowledges our arrival, but I don’t see signs that he suspects we came a different way than the one they took to get here.

Scar is leaning over one of the bodies and looks to be treating his wounds.

“What have we got?” Dante asks as we approach.

“One dead. The other is badly injured. Scar’s trying to stabilize him so we can transport him back to the ranch,” Chaos explains.

“Is this where they ambushed you?” Dante asks Manuel.

“No, we were up on that ridge,” Manuel says, pointing in the opposite direction of the side we slid down.

“Show me.”

Manuel leads the way up the slope. Dante, Feral, and I follow. He leads us to an outcropping splattered with blood.

“We were hiding here when the other men opened fire on us,” Manuel explains. I study the ground until I find the drag marks from where the attackers dragged the bodies before rolling them into the ravine. There are some boot marks, but the indentations are hard to distinguish. There’s no telling how many men trampled the ground. Not that it would take more than one or two men to dispose of the bodies.

“Any idea how many of them there were?” Dante asks.

“At least three, maybe more. One there, there, and there,” Manuel says, pointing at different spots around us. “My men stayed back while I rushed the group forward. The shooting is what caused Angelica to go into labor. It was a struggle getting her to safety before she collapsed. It’s why we ended up on your land.”

“Where were you headed?” I ask. When Manuel snaps his mouth shut, we all draw our guns. “Don’t be stupid.”

He sighs before pointing to a location west of my ranch. I frown as I try to remember who owns property in that area. The property beside mine belongs to Roger Blanchard and his daughter, Adele. Further west is Angela’s spread.

“There’s an abandoned building that sits on a spit of land west of here. A dirt road cuts through the land and leads to another road that hooks up with the highway.”

“I take it this is your regular route? You’ve never had trouble before?” Dante asks.

“No. Never. We’ve made the trek a hundred times without any issue.”

“Why do you think you had trouble this time?” I ask.

Manuel shakes his head. “I don’t know. I figured we just crossed paths with the cartel that runs this area.”

I share a look with Dante. The cartel that controls this area works for Angela. They wouldn’t attack a group containing women. Not unless they had a death wish. Angela doesn’t tolerate innocents getting hurt. They might not have helped, but they wouldn’t have opened fire.

“Take us all the way,” Dante orders before calling Grimm to let him know where we’ve gone and that we’ll meet them back at the ranch.

Manuel sighs but leads the way across the desert until we spot a run-down house and barn ahead of us. We walk through the buildings as Manuel shows us where their customers hide and wait before transport arrives to take them to their new lives.

“How much do you charge them?” Dante asks.

Manuel licks his lips as he studies Dante. I know he’s trying to figure out a number that Dante will believe but won’t get his ass kicked.

Dante growls at him. “Don’t fucking lie to me. I’ll ask them.”

Manuel sighs heavily and nods. “Okay, we charge $5K per person. We give breaks to families.”

“Where do you find them?”

“We switch out our locations often so the authorities and cartels can’t locate us. We’ve been going through Santa Ana for about a month. This was our last trip from there.”

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