Tijuana Nights (The Nights Series Book 1) (26 page)

"So you just walk through any open door, not even knowing where you are?"

I grimaced, partly because of my cock and bull-crap story, and partly because of the smell of him. This was not going the way I planned. I hoped that he was just going to let me go, but I didn't think that was going to happen, no matter how innocent I looked. Or hoped I looked.

"Yeah." I choked. "I'm sorry, I didn't realise."

He leered at me, and roughly grabbed my arm, hauling me towards the back of the warehouse. "Well, now you will understand the consequences of walking into private property."

Despite my tripping and stumbling, which much to my horror, I wasn't faking, I was still taking in my surroundings in the dim light of the warehouse. I could see all sorts of different contraptions that I had never seen before. Some were different types of tools, others looked like machinery. If I were to guess I would say that they were constructing the sculptures inside the warehouse.

We stopped at a metal bench, and he threw me against it. I cried out in pain as it lanced down my back. Now I was fucking mad. This was not going the way I had intended. Playing innocent and nice obviously wasn't working for me.

He looked me directly in the eyes, and released my arm. "I have men all over this place that will shoot you on sight. Run, and you're as good as dead."

He stepped back, assessing me once again. Sweat ran down my back, not only from the heat, but from the stress. My mind raced. River and Chase still hadn't shown their faces, and I was beginning to question what the fuck they were waiting for.

"Do you know what we do to pretty girls like you?"

"What?" I whispered, looking down at the concrete ground.

He smirked. "We teach them lessons..." I wanted to correct his crappy English, but he stepped closer to me, running a grubby finger over the curve of my breast. I stopped breathing. I understood every intention he had for me; it was written all over his face. That was not going to happen. Not in a million years.

He pushed me hard against the bench again, almost crippling me in the process, but he wrenched me up and started unzipping his fly. My breath caught with dread as he leered with delight at me, grabbing at my jeans to try and yank them down. I held onto my belt-loops with all my might, until he pincered his hand into my wrist, hitting a nerve, forcing me to let go. Before I knew it, his rough hands had managed to pull my jeans down. White hot fear pummelled my senses as he stepped back to survey me and pull his cock out. I moved a little. Guns dug into my back, and I instantly reached around for one.  There was no way I was going to be raped or killed by him, and if River and Chase weren’t going to help me out, I was going to help myself. I took aim, and pulled the trigger.

All hell broke loose. It was my hell. I had missed. Sort of. I shot his ear off. He lunged for me, screaming. I’m not entirely sure what he was shouting. It sounded incomprehensible. I tried to get away, but he caught my arm and grappled me back down to the bench. I was pinned by him, his bloody ear dripping on my face. I looked sideways, repelled by the stench of his breath and what I suspected was rotting teeth, and saw my gun lying about six feet from me.

“I will tie you to this bench and fuck you till you scream for me to kill you, and then you will die a very slow death,” he said through gritted teeth. I didn’t doubt it, not if this guy had anything to do with it. He released one of my arms and began to get off me, reaching for some rope to restrain me with. It was the opening I was looking for. This guy wasn’t too smart. It gave me enough time to reach around and grab the second gun from my back.

He was still kind of on top of me. When he saw the second gun, his eyes went wide as I pulled the trigger. I let lose a bunch of rounds into his body, and he slumped back on top of me. There was blood everywhere and I couldn’t breathe. His dead weight was too heavy, and I felt like I was being crushed and suffocated at the same time. I struggled to get him off me, yelling for help. River and Chase both came into view instantly, and hauled the body off me, rolling him to one side.

River picked me up as if I weighed nothing and planted me back onto my unsteady feet, pulling me behind a truck that was parked close by. I stared down at the body a few feet away as I struggled to pull my jeans up properly. I couldn’t tell how many bullets I had used because there was so much damn blood everywhere. I grimaced, feeling the still warm and sticky liquid all over my clothing, rapidly growing cold. I swallowed, tears threatened to come.

“Look at me, Mack,” River instructed, clicking his fingers in front of my face. I did as I was told, breathing hard. “Focus. We still have a job to do,” he said softly.

I shook my head, trying to clear the bloody mess from my thoughts. “The others,” I whispered, looking around the warehouse.

“Have been disposed of,” River said quietly. “Now, follow me.”

I strained to slow my breathing down and calm myself at the same time, and nodded silently. I couldn’t believe that I’d just killed somebody, even if it was in self-defence. My body tingled with fear, dread, and something along the lines of exhilaration. We moved silently around the truck, and I noticed that Chase had disappeared somewhere. As we rounded a corner, I saw the guy’s mobile phone lying on the ground. I looked closer at the screen, and saw that a call was openly connected. I tugged at River’s arm, pointing to it.

River gave it an assessing look, and then stomped on it with his boot. By the time I looked back at the phone, the screen was mangled and dark. “I suspect we’ll have company shortly.” He bent over and picked something up, turning towards me. He handed me my gun, causing me to smile.

My thoughts went to the roadblock we had faced, and I pursed my lips. This was not ideal. A shadow caught my eye as I looked out across the warehouse. I saw Chase on the other side, making his way towards the back. I looked up at the office, wondering where exactly this chap, Osvaldo, was, and why the hell he hadn’t come out to investigate the earlier commotion.

Echoes of shouts from the front of the warehouse alerted us that we were soon to have more unwanted company. As I met River’s steady gaze, he shoved me towards the metal staircase. Reluctantly, I began to climb, Chase following me, and River bringing up the rear. When we reached the top, Chase put me in a darkish corner so I was partly obscured by some metal framing.

I watched the scene below us unfold. The warehouse was suddenly swarming with a bunch of people, all shouting in Spanish. They came across the body of the guy I’d shot, and new orders were given to some of the men.  Some of them started towards the trucks, climbing in the back, obviously searching for someone, or checking their stock. Once they jumped out the back, a driver got into the front, and they started the engine and left the warehouse.

I could see Chase carefully scrutinising the man who was giving instructions, a dark glint in his eye. He mouthed something to River that I didn’t understand, and I saw River acknowledge him with a quick nod.

River then raised his gun, aimed it precisely at the man, and fired. He dropped dead instantly. I didn’t see the full shot because of my vantage point, but I did see a huge amount of blood splatter hit a number of the pure white sculptures behind him. My mouth went dry as a swarm of men suddenly started looking around the warehouse for the shooter, and I sank back as far as I could behind the warehouse framework. I looked over towards Chase, but he had disappeared. I assumed he’d slipped into the office since he was quite close to the door that we had seen Carmen come out of earlier.

River signalled for me to follow Chase, and I didn’t hesitate. I ran. Behind me, I could hear River opening fire on the floor below. Bullets pelted into the walls and pinged off the framework around me, but I didn’t stop. Adrenaline pounded through my veins, forcing me to move. As I reached the door, Chase grasped my arm and pulled me through, slamming the door shut behind me.

“This is not my idea of fun.” I breathed heavily, his hands steady on my shoulders.

“You’re doing well,” he whispered. “Come on, we have to find Osvaldo.”

I looked behind him and saw a relatively short hallway with three doors leading off it. Chase pointed to one. “Toilets.” Then to another, “Storage and server room… and that—” He pointed to the third, “I assume is the main office.”

I swallowed, fear reigning. “So I guess we’re trapped.”

Chase frowned. “Observant. Only way is forward, Mack. Let’s get going.”

I stayed behind him as we moved silently down the corridor, with one gun drawn, and the other tucked into my holster at the small of my back. I could still hear shots being fired in the warehouse area, and bizarrely, it reassured me that River was still alive.

We edged closer to the door and Chase stopped, lifting his finger to his lips. His eyes twinkled with mischief, and I realized that this was the part he really got a thrill out of. Me? Not so much. I just wanted to make it out of here alive, and I knew my best chance of that was with either Chase or River.

Chase silently turned the handle, and slipped into the room, leaving me standing there. I could hear shouts from the warehouse, and more gunfire. I imagined that the warehouse was going to be a total mess, and I couldn’t help but worry about River. Even if he was a commando type dude, he still wasn’t invincible.

I looked back at the door, and slid through the opening.

The room was empty. Of people, that is. There were a number of desks with computer systems set up on them. The place looked like a completely different building compared to the warehouse downstairs. If I was going to call it anything, I would say it looked corporate, in a rustic sort of way. Companies paid designers craploads to achieve this sort of look with exposed pipes, wooden floors, and halogen pendant lights over each desk. I looked at Chase, who was eying up the room critically. He caught my eye, and gave a quick shake of his head, warning me not to speak. I understood, loud and clear. He thought that someone else was in here.

I could see another room off to the side, and when I moved closer, I saw that it was an industrial kitchen set up, complete with a couple of sofas and a high table with stools. I heard something move, and our attention immediately snapped to the area where the sound came from.

There was definitely someone else in this room.

Chase dropped to the floor, and looked around the room under the desks. He aimed his gun, and let off a round. I heard a squeak and a groan and tried to identify where the noise had come from. Someone was on the other side of the room, over by the window.

I waited till Chase stood before moving slowly towards it. My heart thudded violently in my chest, and I was holding my breath as I focused. I didn’t want to trip over anything as I made my way across the room, nor did I want to make a sound. This was multitasking at its finest as I held the gun out in front of me with both hands.

Chase dropped to the floor once again and shot at a desk. Wood splintered from the impact, and so did a man. He scrambled out from under the desk, eyes wide, as he sharply looked up at us.

“Nice to meet you, Osvaldo,” Chase said looking directly at him.

Osvaldo shook his head. “Do I know you?”

Chase gave him a cold smile “Does that matter?”

Osvaldo turned his attention to me. “But I do know you,” he said as he looked me over. “Yes …” He mused.

I watched him, my lips pursed. He was right. He did know me; as Rachel White. I looked down at him. He was stocky looking, clean, his corporate white shirt marred by the bright red blood seeping from the gun wound to his arm. The last time I had seen him he had two women flanking him when he met with Javier in a private club. I was, naturally, Javier’s companion that night. Most of what had been said I hadn’t understood as they spoke Spanish, and I was more distracted by the finger that Javier had been trailing up my bare thigh.

“You look different, Rachel,” Osvaldo said, amusement lacing his tone. He looked pointedly at my hair and licked his lips. “Red suits you.”

“Thanks,” I muttered. Osvaldo had been pleasant the last time I met him. He still maintained that air about him, despite the situation.

A scuffle in the hallway diverted our attention, giving Osvaldo the chance he needed. He stood up and launched himself at Chase. Chase reacted instantly, turning to deflect the blow. The pair of them crashed into the desk. I didn’t know what to do, but I knew I had to do something. I don’t know why Chase hadn’t just shot him to begin with.