Hunters, Matt Rogers [pdf ebook reader .txt] 📗

conceal the subtle twist of the lock.

Sealing them in.

90

King sat at the foot of Torres’ bed, keeping his gun trained on the old man, but not a word was spoken between them for thirty full minutes.

Then Torres’ emergency phone shrilled.

King glanced at it. ‘Is that your degenerate neighbour?’

Torres asked, ‘Am I allowed to check?’

King nodded. ‘Slow.’

Torres scooted across the carpet on his rear end and tilted the phone screen toward him. He went pale.

King said, ‘Worse?’

‘It’s the front gate.’

‘Your security?’

A nod.

King said, ‘Why are they calling you on that phone?’

‘They call me on the regular phone, I usually don’t pick up if I’m … preoccupied. They call me on this, I always answer. It means it’s serious.’

King’s core tightened. ‘Answer on speaker.’

Torres complied. He treated the phone like it was hot to the touch, stabbing the screen twice to answer the call and enable the loudspeaker. The conversation played out in Spanish.

‘What?’ Torres snapped.

‘Two men here to see you, sir. They say they know you. And they’re being … confrontational. I don’t think they’ll take no for an answer.’

‘Names?’

‘They didn’t give them, sir. Just said they’re associates of a woman who has a “deeper” connection with you. A professional relationship, apparently. Whatever that means.’

Torres went white.

He muted the call temporarily and twisted to King. ‘You said she was out of the picture.’

‘She is,’ King said, his head spinning.

Opal. Topaz.

‘Then who are these people?!’ Torres shouted.

‘The stragglers,’ King said. ‘I’m sure you know what I want you to do.’

Torres said, ‘Are they dangerous?’

‘Maybe,’ King said. ‘I’m more dangerous.’

He drifted the pistol’s aim between Torres’ eyes.

Torres clenched his teeth so hard King thought he might break a molar, then unmuted the call. ‘Rafael?’

‘Yes, sir?’ the static voice came back.

‘Are they in earshot?’

‘No, sir. I’m in the booth.’

‘I want you to shoot them dead. Don’t give them time to be suspicious. Just do it and do it quick.’

‘Sir—’

‘Do I pay you to ask questions?’

‘They look trained.’

‘You’re trained, too. And you’ll have the element of surprise.’

‘They’re American, sir. Are you sure you want the scrutiny—’

‘Do it now or I’ll have you killed slowly.’

A brief pause, then Rafael’s common sense emerged victorious. ‘Yes, sir.’

His voice was already shaky, his system releasing cortisol in anticipation of murder.

The call died.

Torres pushed the phone across the carpet away from him, like it was radioactive. His hands trembled.

He looked up at King. ‘Is it going to work?’

King didn’t answer.

Torres said, ‘I’ve never heard my head of security so apprehensive. He was with the cartel before he came to work for me. He’s seen everything. Why was he so hesitant?’

Because Opal and Topaz are a step above even the most hardened killers, and it shows.

King didn’t say that.

He didn’t say anything.

He waited to hear the echo of the gunshot.

So far, there was silence.

The mansion air hung quiet.

Torres repeated his question. ‘Is it going to work?’

‘Probably not,’ King admitted, realising there was no need to lie anymore. If it worked, the situation would be handled. If it didn’t, there’d be no security left to pose a threat of saving Torres.

Only the hunters.

Torres’ voice wavered as he croaked, ‘What?!’

‘But it will buy me some time,’ King said, realising he had to move.

He shot off the side of the bed and sprinted for the staircase as automatic gunfire echoed up from the driveway.

91

The shots were muffled all the way up in Vásquez’s bedroom, but unsuppressed gunfire is still distinguishable.

Vásquez’s head snapped up, ruining his fixation on Alexis. ‘What was that?’

Alexis felt his leathery grip slide out of her palms and shifted her weight to the other heel. Violetta was still by the door. Alexis and Vásquez had stared each other in the eyes for a full twenty seconds. Alexis had him in her trance, but now it was ruined.

Alexis said, ‘You’ve spent your whole life in this country and you’re still shocked by gunfire?’

‘That was close by.’

Alexis shrugged. ‘Go out and check if you want.’

Vásquez hesitated, and Alexis sank to her knees on the plush carpet. She stared up at him, maximising the lure in her green eyes.

Violetta could see indecision tearing at him. Here was an intoxicatingly beautiful woman before him, ready to service his every need, but…

Pleasure had to be earned. If he grew complacent, allowed slack, then he wouldn’t have the resources to afford this delicacy in the first place.

So he put a hand on her shoulder and pushed her aside as he strode for the sealed doors.

Alexis spun with the shove, found her feet like a gymnast, and leapt onto his back with her ankle locked into the back of her knee around his waist.

Known in jiu-jitsu as a “body triangle.”

No matter how hard he bucked, he wouldn’t be able to shake her off. It didn’t help that he was old and soft, too reliant on his security for muscle.

But he could still shout, and he managed a sharp yell, perhaps a second in length, before she sliced her arm under his chin and locked in the rear naked choke.

He fell backwards from the shock, suddenly unable to breathe, his carotid artery under immense pressure. It’s a natural reaction to getting choked. You think if you land with all your bodyweight on your attacker, you’ll knock them off.

But you won’t.

Vásquez landed on top of Alexis but she held tight, and he tried to scream for help but he couldn’t. No sound could escape his lips as he clawed desperately for air.

She eased the pressure off as soon as he started going limp, but not by much.

It kept him barely conscious, weak and desperate.

Alexis stayed clamped to his back as Violetta knelt down by Vásquez’s stretched-out body. He was lying on Alexis, stomach facing the ceiling, but his weight wasn’t anything impressive. She could take it for as long as she needed.

Violetta saw the red in Vásquez’s eyes, the blood in his cheeks, the fullness of his lips. He was fighting for every last morsel of breath.

Violetta said, ‘Ease off a little.’

She knew what would happen, but the