Page 78 of All Twisted Up
“That’s Calder,” Turley said from behind me. “Just like I promised, Rojas. Didn’t I tell you I had a present for you?”
Rojas?So, this was the man who’d taken over the Sanchez Cartel…the same man who’d sent killers to murder my family. And somehow now, I was nothing more than a present to him, a sacrificial offering.
The Mexican nodded and smiled; I felt my stomach do a slow roll at the sight of rotting, brown teeth. He stepped close, breathing fetid breath in my face as he reached out to touch my cheek. I flinched, ducking away as I realized he was trying to brush tears from my face.
He let out an ugly snicker. “Muy bonito, Turley. My sicarios will have fun with him before he dies.”
“Let’s go. You still need to pay me, and I don’t want to hang around this area. Once they realize he’s missing, they’re going to search the entire neighborhood.”
“Si, amigo,” Rojas said. He looked at me and smiled again. His grin was twisted and ugly, making me want to run. “Come on, it’s time to have some fun,pajarito.”
Little bird. Something so sweet and delicate, it could be crushed in a cruel hand. I hated Rojas using the Spanish I understood, to terrify me. I stumbled after Turley on shaking legs as he led the way across the neighbor’s back yard and around the side of the house, much like Nash and I had done the day we’d escaped from the men at the gym. When we reached a side gate, Turley started to move past us to take the lead, when Rojas suddenly rounded on him. “One more thing,amigo.”
When Turley stopped and turned to him, I saw the gun in Rojas’ hand. He pointed it directly at Turley’s face. Hiseyes opened comically wide. “What the hell are you playing at, Rojas?” he bellowed.
“You said you wanted payment, Turley. Here it is.” A split second later, Rojas shot him right between the eyes. I watched in horror as Turley’s lifeless body dropped to the ground in front of us. I stared at the dead man for several seconds, then dragged my gaze away from the horrific sight, glancing back at Rojas.
He waved the gun toward the gate. “Open the gate,bonito. I don’t want to keep my men waiting.”
I shivered in revulsion at the implication of his words, feeling utterly devastated as I remembered how Nash had been there to save me the last time I was threatened with rape or something worse.
He wouldn’t be able to save me this time.
I was shaking as I stepped over Turley’s body and opened the gate to the pool with Rojas pressing the gun muzzle into my back. As I stepped out onto the path, my heart raced when I saw the BearCat.
Clifford had parked the vehicle in front of the safehouse about fifty feet from me. Agents Snow, Prince, Clifford, and Dr. Reeves stood beside it under a streetlight, looking alert and searching, obviously having heard the gunshot but they weren’t looking in my direction. I didn’t know why. The urge to scream for help was almost overwhelming, but Rojas must have anticipated it. Before I could open my mouth, he pressed the gun to the base of my skull. I stopped where I was and closed my eyes waiting for my life to end.
Instead, he shoved me hard and I stumbled, barely missing a statue without tripping.
“Apurate!”Rojas hissed, grabbing my arm as he ordered me to hurry, yanking me through two neighboring yards and toward a Land Rover parked around a corner in someone’s driveway.“¡Entra!”he said the moment we got close enough for the electronic key chip to unlock the doors.
I opened the front passenger door and slid inside, half tempted to relock the doors before Rojas could climb behind the wheel. My fear of being shot through the window was the only reason I chose not to.
He climbed into the car and looked over at me with a lizard grin. I shied away from his hand when he reached for my face again and was stunned when he punched me instead of wiping away tears this time. Blood spurted from my nose as pain exploded in my head, making me see stars. The laughter that followed was cruel.
“¡Límpiate!”Pain was all I knew as he ordered me to clean myself. Tears poured from my eyes joining the blood and mucus dripping onto my sweater. I reached under it and grabbed the hem on my tee to staunch the bleeding with it. As I pulled the shirt free from my pants, I touched the waistband of the jeans, instantly remembering the slim knife Nash had slipped into a sheath. I knew that using it now, was the only way to survive, even if the man I loved hadn’t.
I felt bile rise into my throat at the very idea of taking another person’s life but knew Nash would want me to fight. I needed to become a warrior like he’d been. Right now, I wasn’t the teacher or the father figure. I was the captive of a madman who made millions selling poison to children, murdering indiscriminately, and enslaving desperate addicts to the drugs his cartel sold.
I lifted the hem of my shirt to my nose doing my best to control the bleeding, thinking about how I was going to get to the knife without the Mexican stopping me. I almost jumped when he started the car. He drove down the driveway and leaned forward slightly, looking left to check for traffic, and I took that opportunity to slide the knife from its hiding place. I only had one shot at this. My aim had to be true.
I raised the knife just as he turned to see what I was doing. Before I could think…or he could raise his hands to defend himself, I brought the knife down, plunging it into his eye as hard as I could. The sickening sound of wet flesh and the feeling of the knife scraping over bone, made me want to vomit.
He let out some sort of strangled noise as he stomped down onto the gas pedal reflexively, losing control of the car. It swerved wildly across the street before slamming into a parked car, setting off a deafening car alarm. My body jerked forward as the interior of the vehicle filled with the airbag cushioning my face and chest. The alarm continued blaring as I sputtered, pushing the airbag away as I turned toward Rojas.
His head was thrown back against the headrest, the knife buried to the hilt in his face. He didn’t move, hands and arms limp at his sides. I stared at the grizzly sight, coming to the slow realization that he was dead. I’d killed a man and lost the only man I ever loved…all in the most hellish night of my life.
I pitched forward and vomited on the floor in front of me, bringing up the coffee and cake I’d shared with Nash only a half hour ago. I retched several times then sat back as I heard another sound. Heavy boots on asphalt came pounding toward the car seconds before my door was wrenched open. I turned, instinctively cowering back toward Rojas, until I saw…a ghost.
NASH
I reached into the car and gathered Joshua into my arms, crushing him to my body as I pulled him out of the vehicle, flanked by my brothers on both sides, while the others checked the driver. Joshua stank of sour vomit and blood, and was shaking so badly, all I could do was hang on and whisper in his ear.
“I’ve got you now, Joshua. You’re gonna be okay.”
He looked up at me, disbelief and shock in the expression painted all over his features. “Nash?” He reached up, cradling my bruised face in shaking hands. “You’re alive?” His eyes filled with tears. “You’re alive?”
“Yes, baby. I’m alive.” I nodded, noticing his swollen nose for the first time. Anger washed over me as I reached up to cup his cheek. “Christ…look at your poor face. What did that bastard do to you?” I cursed the fucker who’d hit him and leaned down to gently kiss his forehead, trying very hard not to hurt him. “Are you hurt anywhere else?” I held him back, letting my gaze rake him up and down. A puddle of blood stained the hem of his T-shirt. I frowned, reaching for it. “You’re bleeding.”
