Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 71880 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 359(@200wpm)___ 288(@250wpm)___ 240(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71880 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 359(@200wpm)___ 288(@250wpm)___ 240(@300wpm)
“Crew and Mercier still on second,” Elliott added. “Get ready, everyone. Emerson?”
“Joel will take the first shot,” Emerson responded. “Does anyone have eyes on the third platform? That’s where the family is, according to Crew.”
“Zero,” I answered. The others filled in with their own negatives. “Second-best option the middle patio?” I asked. “I don’t know who they are, but they look more important than the rest—”
“River, duck low—you have a sicario heading toward you,” Reese ordered.
“Wilco,” River replied.
Emerson spoke again. “Middle patio, it is. Once Danny gives you the signal, start taking out guards. We want the higher-ups unprotected. River and Coach, you take out guards around the theater and cover Danny—”
“Fight’s starting.” Reese rushed out the words, and our attention returned to Shay and the center platform.
As the first of the four guys volunteering to fight Shay stepped forward, I looked behind me quickly to make sure I didn’t have anyone coming toward me. Greer and Cullen were somewhere in the thicket, keeping watch, but they were about to take off. Emerson had Greer on two frequencies, ours and another that he shared with Cullen and Mathis. They were on C-4 duty.
“I’m gonna need therapy after this.” There was only dread in Reese’s voice. “May Shay forgive us—”
“Don’t fucking go there, buddy,” Elliott said firmly.
I swallowed hard and watched Shay completely own the other guy. Shay was a technical fighter, fast as hell, and ruthless. When he dragged the semi-conscious cartel guy closer to the edge of the stage and literally punched the teeth out of him, I peered up into the stands, past the first patio—there. I could see Enzo now that he was standing so close to the edge of the third patio. I hoped it really was him.
I tensed up. “Danny, get ready,” I said quietly. “I think Enzo’s gonna sic the rest of the guys on Shay at once.”
River and Reese cursed.
For almost twenty years, I’d studied human reactions through a scope to predict their next move. The slightest twitch of an eye or a flick of their fingers could carry the message of a death sentence. We spoke more with body language than actual words.
Enzo wasn’t as amused as he pretended to be.
Neither was the audience. Children were crying. Women horrified, men angry.
Shay looked up toward Enzo as well, all while he was ready to crush his opponent’s skull against the marble floor.
Enzo gave the go-ahead, and two things happened at once. Shay slammed the guy’s head into the marble, and the other three young men started moving toward Shay.
“Any second now,” Danny said. “Remember, boys, don’t leave the gun and take the cannoli. No evidence left behind.”
“I’ll tell Willow to initiate a blackout as soon as you have Shay,” Emerson stated.
I eased my finger over the trigger.
Women in despair were scurrying off with the youngest children. The fuck had they expected? What was worse—most stayed. Boys and girls around my daughter’s age scooted closer to their parents but kept staring.
Shay moved on to fight the other three.
Slow and steady breaths.
I shifted my focus up to the second patio and found one guard who stood out. He was on edge and heavily armed, unlike the civilian sicarios who moseyed around with their AK-47s. Fingers crossed this guy’s job was to protect someone important.
“Okay, almost half the women and children are gone,” Danny muttered. “We can’t wait any longer. Joel, you’re up.”
Gladly.
I zeroed in on the man’s forehead and gently squeezed the trigger, and the shot that cracked through the air like thunder ended all the “entertainment.” Danny confirmed he was off, so did Greer, the theater erupted in chaos, I aimed at another guard and fired, orders were shouted in Spanish, guards lifted their rifles and pointed them at the sky, solidifying our guess from before. Their main threat was the Colombian government, and the only attack they’d made official plans for came from above.
“Cover Shay and Danny! Cover Shay and Danny!”
“Alarm’s sounding at the command center—their top priority will be to get the Blancos to safety.”
I had to listen on one ear and tune the rest out. I peered through the scope and shot every guard I spotted in the head, and they dropped like flies.
“It’s me, kid. Let’s get you out of here. Where are we on the fucking blackout? Who has eyes on Enzo and Luca?”
“Coach is trying to get up there.”
“Moving out!”
The other guys kept speaking rapidly, and it felt like I missed every other word, but I couldn’t focus on the chatter at the same time as I tried to take down as many guards as possible. Something about Mercier, something about Cullen, something about Danny. Where was Elliott? Emerson was reporting back from Willow, counting down till the blackout, and it only took seconds. Then everything went dark. The patios, the theater, the paths—except those with torches.