Tijuana Nights (The Nights Series Book 1) (2 page)

BOOK: Tijuana Nights (The Nights Series Book 1)
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My guts sank. That was the same bitch that had shot my phone. The same bitch that was married to my mark. The same mark that bought me out to this fucking country. I wanted to scream. River could see my anger in my eyes. He smiled, infuriating me even more.

“What?” I snapped.

He shook his head, amusement evident on his features. “You’ve changed a lot since the first night I met you. You don’t even seem that phased by the fact that it’s Carmen who is after you. Before, well, who knows? You would have probably been a little unstable about the whole situation.”

I wasn’t listening. I was too busy thinking about the best way to get revenge on her. Not only had she shot up my favourite phone, but now in the process of trying to kill me again, she had ended up killing a hundred and fifty innocent people instead. What the hell was her problem? I could see River still talking to me, but all noise was swallowed by the sound of my inner voice. I wanted her to die a very slow and morbid death.

No. I had to stop thinking like that. I was just as bad as her if I retaliated like that. Okay. Not quite as bad. I wouldn’t go off and kill a plane load of people because I’m a jealous, psychotic bitch. I’d like to think I have more class and style than her.

I looked up at River. “For God’s sake,” I muttered. He was a contract killer – there was no reason why he couldn’t take her out for me. I wouldn’t even have to watch. If I couldn’t run, and I couldn’t hide, and I couldn’t get home to England at the moment, then surely I should inadvertently rid the world of a terrible person.

“River?”

He looked at me blankly, and then shook his head. “No, Mack. No.”

“What? You don’t even know what I’m going to say.”

“You don’t have to say it. It’s written all over your face.” He sighed, and looked me directly in the eyes. “I’m not going to kill Carmen for you. Bottom line.”

Damn. I was never good at playing poker, and it seemed that River could read me like an open book. “Why not?”

“Because I’m not about to screw up an entire information gathering operation all because you’re letting your emotions get in the way.”

Oh, I could feel it. I was about to explode under the pressure that was building up inside me. “Emotions?” I said, dangerously quiet. “Are you for fucking real? This is the second time she’s tried to kill me.”

He laid his hand on mine, and his eyes softened. “Mack. Compose yourself. I understand, you know. I do. I get it. I’ve been the target of a few people myself. But you’re not going to make this better by getting all emotional about it. You need a clear head. If you don’t have a clear head, you get killed. Rule number two.”

More. Fucking. Rules. But I knew he was right. I took a deep breath. This wasn’t going to go away, but I knew he would help me. His phone started ringing, and he released my hand to answer it, keeping his impenetrable gaze on me the whole time.

“Gabe.” He smiled at me, and I felt myself begin to relax again. I reached for another cigarette and the last of my third margarita as he gave short responses on the phone. Gabe is the tech-guy in their operation. Apparently he was some kid-genius hacker they pulled out of Langley when he was seventeen. Gabe is the biggest geek I have ever met, and that’s saying something considering my academic background. But he’s not your typical geek. He looks like a pot-smoking surfer, but then again, maybe that’s his cover whenever they’re on an operation. Gabe can hack into any system in the world and cover his tracks. I’ve watched him build fake databases, create new identities, leave false trails, and shift money without leaving a single trace that it was ever there. And I haven’t even been hanging out with these guys for very long.

The sound of River dropping his phone on the table snapped me out of my daydream. “We’re wanted,” he stated, eyeing up my lit cigarette. “Finish up. Gabe has organised your gear from the hotel to be delivered out to my place. We’re having a team meeting.”

* * *

 

Handling alcohol has never been one of my strong points, and as we walked to the car park outside the Little Havana Bar, I felt slightly woozy. Fresh air, heat from the midday sun, and tequila really doesn’t mix too well, and I questioned what the hell was wrong with these Mexican people, considering that from what I had witnessed, a big part of their culture is founded on drinking.

“You can’t keep using that car,” River said, disturbing my thoughts.

I slowed to a stop and turned. “What?”

“You can’t keep using that car. Carmen will track it.”

“What? You’re trying to get rid of my car but yet you won’t kill Carmen for me?”

“I’m not going to kill Carmen, you can do that.” River smirked. “Besides, you might be one of the team, but you’ll never survive here without us. Cars come and go.”

I threw my arms into the air. “Well if I can’t use this one, where am I going to get a new one from? Jack it?”

River snorted with amusement. “I would like to see you try. No, you can use mine until we get you another one.” He held his hand out to me. “Come on, pass me your phone.”

Baffled I rummaged around in my bag, and pulled out the iPhone.

He glanced at it. “You don’t need this anymore.” And then I watched my beautiful bullet-holed phone go sailing through the air towards an open dumpster.

“Are you shitting me?”

River shrugged. “What? You’ve got enough junk in that handbag without adding a dead phone to it. We’ll get you a new one.”

“You just threw my phone out!”

“Take your wig off as well,” he ordered deadpan. “That needs to go. You’re too recognisable in this town now that you’ve been out and about with Javier.”

I swallowed, and started unpinning the wig from my head. Tears pricked at my eyes as the events of the morning came crashing back to the surface. I silently handed him my wig and car-keys without looking at him, and leaned against his car, crossing my arms in front of my chest.

River unlocked the rental car boot. He pulled my small suitcase out, and much to my horror, dropped the keys inside the boot as he slammed it shut. “I’m assuming you didn’t need anything else out of the car? No spare iPhones floating about?” Eyebrows raised, he waited for a response with a glint of amusement in his eyes.

Since Luke had left me I had become a very independent woman. But here was this guy trying to look after me and take control. I swallowed my frustration. I knew he was just trying to help.

I sniffed, and swiped at my eyes, giving him a watery smile. “My lucky dagger?”

River burst into laughter. “I have a spare one you can use.”

I rolled my eyes. “Is there anything you don’t have?”

“Not that I’m aware of.” He smiled. “C’mon, let’s get out of here.” He pulled his keys out of his pocket, and unlocked his truck. “The sooner this is over and done with, the sooner we can get you back to England.”

I climbed into the big black Range Rover, and onto the cool leather seats. My hair was damp with perspiration from the Tijuana heat, and undoubtedly from the stress of almost dying again, and I wondered how the hell I signed up for this life. I’m a qualified historian, not some covert operative interfering with Mexican cartel business. I knew that River would protect me. I was just being silly. “I never understood why you needed such a big truck. Doesn’t it draw attention to you?”

“No,” he answered drily. “There are plenty of ‘big trucks’ around this region, if you hadn’t noticed. It’s one of the ways the cartels move their product. Luckily for me, I never seem to get stopped.” He dropped his phone into its cradle, and pressed a button. “Chase,” he said, his tone firm.

“Dialling,” the phone responded.

Chase. Panic welled within me. I just knew that there was so much hiding behind those intelligent eyes of his. I couldn’t tell if he was a good guy or a bad guy. “Why are you ringing Chase?”

River smiled. “Because he’s the one that pays the bills.” He took the phone off speaker, and lifted the mobile to his ear.

Chase is a different story to both River and Gabe. Chase is scary as hell. I don’t know where he comes from, but he can put on any accent he wanted. I have the distinct feeling that he has always been an assassin, although I don’t know for sure. His natural accent is definitely English. It sounds refined, but I don’t think he grew up anywhere with the same level of class as River. Chase looks a million dollars at all times; everything designer. He’s clean-cut, well spoken, with high chiselled cheekbones and vibrant blue eyes that he often hides behind glasses or different coloured contacts so that he’s not so memorable. If I were going to pick any word in the world to describe him it would be ‘tailor made.’

River once told me that Chase was extremely accurate at reading people and the situation around him, which made him a handy asset to have on the team. Perhaps that was why he made me nervous. I constantly wondered if he was assessing me.

“… yeah, I’ve got her. She seems to think that she can do over Carmen Amaro.” I looked up at River, instantly snapping back into reality.

“Roger that. See you soon.” He ended the call with a press of a button and turned to me, his smile infectious, though, considering the circumstances, I should have been crying. But I wasn't.

We started to head towards the coast area. I had been to River’s Tijuana house a number of times before. If truth be known, it was more like a mansion, by my standards, anyway. The first time we went there was a defining moment, where I really understood that being an assassin must pay seriously well. His house was huge and intimidating; I felt more at home in more intimate spaces.

I went to reach for my phone to check for any messages, when I suddenly remembered that River had thrown it out. It was a dead and useless phone anyway, but with it missing, I felt as though I had lost some sort of appendage. “I can’t believe you threw my phone out,” I said sullenly. “You could have given me some bloody warning.”

“Out with the old and in with the new, Mack. If you roll with me, that’s how it is.”

I put my palm against my forehead and leaned back, closing my eyes. “You have got to be kidding. I don’t even want to roll with you. You guys are the ones who got me into this position in the bloody first place.”

River snorted with laughter. “If I hadn’t found you when I did, you wouldn’t have nearly as much dignity as you do right this very minute. You were trying to whore yourself, I saved your ass. You should count yourself lucky that I took time out of my day for you.”

I could feel a headache coming on from the direction this conversation was taking. “You should be lucky that I happened to need the money. Now I just want to go home.”

River shook his head. “No sweet pea… you’re damn lucky we have the money you need.” He was focused on driving in the Tijuana traffic. “We’ll get you home, don’t you worry about that. But just remember that this was originally a business deal. You held up your end of the deal, and we promised you would go home safely.” He paused and took a deep breath, “Now in the meantime, we just need to make sure nothing goes wrong.”

“You think I’m going to do something wrong?”

He shook his head, “It’s not you I’m worried about. It’s Carmen. She’s unpredictable, and so is the Cartel.”

I glanced over at River, wondering if I should light a cigarette, but with the mood he was in now he’d almost certainly throw me out on the side of the road somewhere. The only other time he had ever let me have a cigarette in his car was the night I first met him.

Instead of killing me when he’d the opportunity, he’d let me live, and then taken a chance on me by offering me a better paying job. I could come to Mexico with his team, and do just one small job for them. Be a sexual distraction to one of the El Diablo Cartel leaders. Before I knew it, they cut my hair to a close crop so I could wear wigs, sent me off for laser surgery on my eyes, thrown me in a sunbed for a few sessions to give my English skin a few shades of colour, and dressed me in designer clothes. The attitude I seemed to be developing now has only been rearing its head since the night I met the team.

It was all too much; today, the past month. I knew that if I didn’t close my eyes and sleep, I was in danger of throwing up from the motion of the car. I absolutely regretted drinking far too many early morning margaritas.

I woke to the sensation of salty air tickling at my senses. We rounded the top of the tree lined driveway to River’s place, and pulled up in front of a low lying house overlooking the Mexican coast. River stopped the car and turned off the engine. “Listen. I will do whatever is in my power to assist you with Carmen. However, new information has come in, and I strongly suspect it has to do with Javier Amaro. So let’s just play this one by ear, shall we? Our pay check will have everything to do with Javier, therefore he’s the priority. Carmen’s just a bonus if you can get to her. Okay?” I undid my seatbelt, and gave him a watery smile. “Okay.”

2

BOOK: Tijuana Nights (The Nights Series Book 1)
4.46Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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