Page 70 of Jack of Hearts
“I didn’t offer you a choice.”
“You’re hurting me.” There was no warmth in her cousin’s eyes, no affection for her on the face of a man who had lost his soul. He scared the living hell out of her. She still held the thumb drive—her evidence—tight in her palm, and, not wanting to drop it, she kept her hand fisted. But she wasn’t going without a fight, so she lowered her face and clamped her teeth down on the flesh of Ramon’s upper arm, while aiming for his shin with the heel of her shoe the way Alex had taught her.
“Bitch,” he snarled. “You’re going to pay for that.”
When he let go of her wrist, she took advantage of her freedom to run for the door. She’d made it halfway down the hallway when Ramon grabbed her hair, yanking her to a stop. Tears stung her eyes, both from the pain radiating down her skull, where he twisted her hair hard around his hand, and from the defeat sinking into her heart. He walked past her, dragging her along behind him. She shoved the thumb drive into the pocket of her shorts and then grabbed on to his arm, trying to ease the pull on her hair.
“Stop it, Ramon! You’re acting crazy.”
Ignoring her, he kept dragging her, forcing her to bend over and stumble sideways. If she’d had any doubt that he’d had a hand in her father’s death, the cruel hands of her cousin vanquished it.
“FBI! Open up.”
Ramon froze. “Fuck.” He turned back the way they came, not letting go of her hair. “Did you call them, Madison?”
The door burst open before she could answer, and she heard the pounding of feet and the yell of men’s voices as Ramon dragged her back into the office, kicking the door closed behind them.
He pushed her against the wall, lowering his face to within inches of hers, his eyes blazing with fury. “Did you?”
“No. I swear it.”
Cursing, he jerked her around, snaked his arm around her throat, and backed up to the bookcase. From a humidor, he pulled out a gun, putting it to her head. With his arm squeezing her throat, and the barrel of the gun digging into her skull, Madison feared this was the day she would die.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Because he knew the layout of the Alonzos’ house, Alex was the first in. Movement in the hallway caught his attention, and his heart stuttered painful beats. He would know that flash of red hair anywhere.
“Ramon’s got Madison,” he growled.
“You sure?” Nate said from beside him.
“Yes. Jose’s bedroom is up there, second door on the left.” He lifted his chin toward the stairs. “Court, you take some men and get him. Nate, just you and me are going after Ramon. We go busting in there, guns blazing, God knows what he’ll do.” As Court and a handful of men made their way up the stairs, Alex told Rand and Taylor to split the remaining agents between them and start searching the house.
“I don’t know if the housekeeper’s a live-in or not. Her name’s Mrs.Gutierrez if you run across her.” He forced himself to do his job as lead on this operation instead of racing down the hallway and killing Ramon for touching Madison.
When he reached the door to Ramon’s office, he glanced at his older brother. “If he hurts her, I’m going to kill him.”
Nate put a hand on his shoulder. “Understood, baby brother.”
“Let’s do this,” Alex said. He flattened himself against the wall on one side of the door, while Nate did the same on the other. Because he worried about Madison’s reaction to hearing his voice, Alex used his mimicking skills to make his voice sound like Rand’s.
“Ramon Alonzo, it’s the FBI. We have a warrant for your arrest. Come out with your hands on your head.” When there was no response, he chanced turning the knob, pushing the door open. Peering around the doorjamb, his blood turned to ice at seeing Madison held against Ramon with a gun at her head.
“He’s got a gun on Madison,” he whispered. What the hell was she doing at Ramon’s at this time of the morning? “Give it up, Ramon. You’re not getting out of here.”
“Back away from the door, and I’ll come out.”
Nate shook his head, and Alex gave a nod that he understood they couldn’t let Ramon control the situation. A commotion sounded from the living room, and he heard Jose Alonzo demanding a lawyer.
“Papa!” Ramon yelled.
The team pushed Jose out the front door, and it got quiet again. Rand and Taylor came down the hall, stopping a few feet away. Nate backed up to them, quietly bringing them up to speed. When Nate returned to his position, he nodded, and Alex slipped around the doorway, Nate at his back, both their weapons pointed at Ramon.
“Drop your gun,” Alex ordered, still using Rand’s voice. Madison furrowed her brow, giving him a hard look. Although he wore a black ski mask, he saw the recognition hit as she stared into his eyes. He gave a slight shake of his head when she opened her mouth. Ramon would probably go crazy if he realized the man he’d thought was his friend was actually FBI.
She pressed her lips together, and the betrayal in her eyes was a punch to his gut. But he’d expected it, thought he was prepared for it. There was so much fury in her expression that he wasn’t even sure she remembered there was a gun to her head. Whether she would ever forgive him didn’t matter at the moment. Getting her to safety was all he could allow himself to think about.
Alex took another step into the room. “You’re not getting out of this. Lower your gun to the floor, nice and easy.” He kept his gaze on Ramon. “Do it now.”
