Hidden Prey (Lawmen) (35 page)

And found Diego watching her.

Landon looked through the scope of his assault rifle at the front gate and the eastern perimeter. He checked his watch. Seconds left.

Joe’s voice came over the earpiece. “Go time in 5…4…3…2…1.”

Through the scope, Landon saw guards at the gate and along the perimeter drop as Joe’s snipers took them down. The silenced weapons made sounds no louder than a soft
thwat, thwat.

Landon’s muscles tensed as he waited for Joe’s command, when all the guards would be down.

“Now.”

Landon and Dylan charged toward the compound wall. From the images gathered by the drone, they knew the area they were breaching would be far enough from the party to keep civilians from getting injured, but should cause a good amount of panic.

As he approached the wall, Landon removed an explosive device from his belt. He exposed the adhesive, clicked the device once to the left, and stuck it to the wall.

He ran, joining Dylan on the ground as they plugged their ears.

The explosion rocked the night. Debris blew sky-high as the device blew a hole the size of a tank into the compound wall.

Screams came from within the compound.

A second deafening explosion drowned out the screams and took out more of the wall.

One more explosion breached a third location in the wall. The bastards wouldn’t know which way they were coming from or how many of them there were.

“Go, go, go!” Joe shouted into the earpiece.

Landon and Dylan ran through the dust and smoke to the wall and peered around to make sure it was clear of men with weapons.

When they looked, Landon saw what he’d expected to. Utter chaos.

People ran for cover, screaming. Others had fallen and were being trampled.

The dust and smoke started to clear as Landon and Dylan made it into the house to take cover behind an archway, in front of a door. Before Diego’s men charged out into the melee, assault weapons in hand, Landon and Dylan had their handguns drawn.

Guests continued to scream, running and trying to find someplace for cover or a way to get to their vehicles. People saw the men with the weapons and ran screaming from them, too.

Some guests tried to come to the door behind the archway that Dylan and Landon were stationed at, but anyone who reached them turned and ran the moment they saw the guns.

One of the tents went down, collapsing onto guests who struggled to get out.

The plan was to find Alejandro or Diego Jimenez, or both.

They would take the men hostage in exchange for Tori. The place was so huge, and Landon and the rest of the team just didn’t have enough intel to figure out where the bastards could have hidden her.

If she’s still alive.
The unwelcome thought went through his mind.

No. Tori was alive. She had to be.

Terror ripped through Tori as Diego dragged her from beneath the tent and onto the lawn. He had her by her neck and kept the barrel of a pistol against her side where guests wouldn’t see. He had taken the gun from an inside pocket of his suit right before he’d grabbed Tori.

People were running. Screaming. Smoke and dust particles floated in the air. Gunfire cut through the night. Her ears rang from the explosion.

Could it be possible that someone was here to rescue her? Was Landon here?

Or was she in the middle of some kind of drug war?

When Diego had looked at her in the tent, he had just stared. But she knew that he had recognized her. He clearly hadn’t wanted to create a scene during the party. But the moment things started exploding, he’d lunged for her. She’d tried to run, but her dress had tangled up around her ankles and she’d stumbled.

And then he’d had her, gripping her tight. She’d struggled, but he was too strong.

Everything had gone insane. Explosions—first one, and a second, and then a third. People panicking, fleeing, or getting trampled. Diego and Tori had been jostled and she’d almost blacked out from pain a couple of times. She might have fallen if Diego hadn’t been gripping her arm so tightly.

And now here she was, held hostage by one of the most ruthless cartel leaders in all of the world. Diego Jimenez. El Demonio.

“Angelina.” Diego sounded almost panicked as he held onto Tori while he turned his head, looking for the girl.

“I have her.” Alejandro’s voice came from behind them.

Diego appeared relieved when he saw his son and granddaughter. “I will take care of our problem.” He’d clenched Tori’s upper arm tight enough to bruise it.

“Grandfather, please.” Angelina looked horrified. “Do not hurt Tori.”

“You know her name?” Diego’s expression went from relieved to angry. “Did you help her escape,
mija
?”

“Let her go, Grandfather.” Tears in her eyes, the girl looked from Diego to Tori and back. “Please.”

Diego’s grip on Tori intensified. “Get Angelina to the house and lock her in her room. I will deal with her later.”

“Grandfather?” Angelina could barely be heard over the commotion around them, but she looked as if she might be sick.

“Go.” Diego wrapped his arm around Tori’s neck and dug the barrel of his gun into her side.

For one wild moment, Tori thought he was going to shoot her then and there.

When Alejandro didn’t move, Diego shouted, “Go! Do as I tell you.”

Tears rolled down Angelina’s face and she sobbed. “Grandfather, no.”

Alejandro grabbed Angelina by her arm and jerked her toward the house.

“Your American agents have done this.” Diego growled the words. “They will die tonight, as will you.”

Landon ground his teeth and put a bullet into a man carrying a machine gun, taking him down. Landon and Dylan picked off as many of Diego’s men as they could amid all the commotion.

Searching the crowd with his gaze, Landon’s sights found a familiar face.

Diego Montego Jimenez. El Demonio.

“Diego. By the tent.” Despite the pain in his shoulder, Landon kept his weapon trained on Diego. Landon narrowed his gaze as he saw the man controlling a woman in a yellow dress. “He’s holding a woman hostage.” Diego had his arm around her neck, his gun to her head.

When Landon saw the woman’s face, his body went tense.

Tori.

Relief that she was alive hit him for one moment before fear for her life followed.

“He has Tori.” Landon’s voice was flat.

“Motherfucker.” Dylan snarled the words as he saw Diego, too. “Got any ideas?”

Diego met Landon’s gaze and pressed his gun barrel so hard against Tori’s head that her neck bowed to the side. He could read the pain in her expression, but something other than the fear he’d expected to see.

Landon saw anger in her eyes. Hot, hard anger.

Good. He could work with anger, as long as she didn’t do anything that might put her in danger.

Gunfire continued to erupt across the compound. With absolutely no fear in his expression, Diego pulled Tori with him toward Landon and Dylan.

Landon never took his aim off Diego. Dylan continued to cover them, making sure none of Diego’s men got close.

Diego’s gaze bore into Landon’s as he got within ten feet. The cartel leader spoke in perfect English. “I will put a bullet into her brain unless you lay your weapons down. Now.”

Landon didn’t even twitch. “If you don’t let her go, I will kill you, Jimenez.”

The man’s voice was cold, as harsh as an ice storm. “Do not try my patience.”

Landon remained steady. “Don’t try mine.”

The hard bite of the gun barrel pressed into the side of Tori’s head. She winced involuntarily as it cut into her flesh when he dug it further in. It stung and caused pain to shoot through her head, but it was nothing compared to the pain she felt in her chest and the rest of her aching body.

She had done her best not to let Diego see by her expression or actions that she was injured. Instead, she ground her teeth and tried to think of a way out of this. She was so tired of being afraid and not being able to defend herself. She had to do
something
, and not wait for Landon to be her knight in shining armor.

Neither Diego nor Landon appeared to blink as Diego pressed the gun against her head while Landon kept his weapon trained on Diego.

Alejandro came into view and Tori caught her breath. Alejandro had Angelina at gunpoint.

“What are you doing?” Diego sounded confused when he saw his son with his granddaughter, yet Diego was furious, too. “Why do you have a gun pointed at Angelina?”

Alejandro’s smile was pure evil. “Tonight I will be rid of you and the spoiled little bitch.”

“Mijo?”
Diego was so distracted that his grip on the gun pressed to Tori’s head faltered.

She grasped both her hands together and swung them up. The gun flew out of Diego’s hand and she pushed away from him and ran toward Landon.

When she glanced over her shoulder, it was in time to see a bullet hole appearing in Diego’s forehead and the man slumping to the ground as Alejandro turned the gun back on Angelina.

Alejandro had just shot his father.

“Grandfather!” Angelina screamed.

“Behind me,” Landon shouted to Tori.

Tori darted around Landon and back behind the archway.

After Alejandro shot Diego, Landon immediately turned his weapon on Alejandro. Landon wanted to shoot the bastard so badly he was almost shaking with it.

Landon gripped his weapon tighter. “Let the girl go.”

Angelina was visibly trembling, her face streaked with tears and black trails of mascara. “Alejandro, why? You killed Grandfather.”

Alejandro kept his gun to the back of Angelina’s head. “It’s time for me to take over the family business, little girl.”

“Let her go.” Landon repeated the words slowly. “If you hurt her, you
will
die.”

“You are the one who will die.” Alejandro shouted out in Spanish to men who were approaching. “The Americans have killed our beloved El Demonio.”

“Shit.” Dylan’s jaw looked tight as he and Landon kept their weapons trained on Alejandro while men with machine guns ran toward them.

Just as the men started getting close, they began dropping, one by one.

Joe’s team of special operatives must be taking them down.

Angelina sobbed. “Why are you doing this, Uncle?”

“Because I can.” He smiled and petted Angelina’s hair.

The young woman looked at her grandfather’s body. With fury on her face, she raised her foot and brought the high heel of her shoe down hard on Alejandro’s foot.

He shouted in surprise and pain.

She turned in his arms and rammed her knee into his groin.

Alejandro cried out, releasing Angelina as his face crumpled with pain. Still he raised his gun.

Dylan dove for Angelina, driving her to the grass.

Two shots rang out and Alejandro slumped and fell forward.

At the same time he shot Alejandro, Landon felt something hot and fierce enter his body just below his bulletproof vest. The pain was unimaginable.

He fell back and landed on his ass, his head striking the archway. His vision blurred and his eyes started to roll back.