Chapter 27

Black wasall Teresa could see. When she’d come to after Phillip’s hit, she’d found herself blindfolded. The material was knotted so tight at the back of her head it hurt.

Her hands and feet were also bound, making movement impossible.

At least she was on a chair.

Sound was muffled as the blindfold covered her ears as well, but Teresa could make out the low buzz of conversation between Phillip and the driver.

They were speaking Spanish, and she could make out the odd word, but with the hit to her face and the blindfold, her head ached and she was fighting the desire to sink into unconsciousness again.

That was the last thing she should do. She needed to try to be aware of what was going on around her.

Without warning, her head snapped to the right as she was slapped—hard.

Teresa couldn’t contain the groan of agony radiating from her face like the worse kind of throb and sting.

Whoever had hit her had landed the blow in the exact place as her first hit.

“Good, you’re awake,” Phillip sneered. “I want information. I want you to tell me where everything you have on the cartel is. I know that you have it somewhere, and Mr. Rook is very eager to get it back.”

Who the hell was Mr. Rook?

“I don’t have it,” she mumbled, wincing as talking hurt her jaw and cheek even more.

“Don’t lie to me, Teresa. There’s no way you wouldn’t carry around that type of information. You know how important it is. You’ll keep it where you can see it.”

Phillip was right. She had carried it around with her, but the moment Alliez got involved, she’d given everything to them. They had high-level security to make sure no one would get their hands on what she’d discovered.

“I told you. I don’t have it.” This time she spoke loudly and clearly in the hopes that her former neighbor understood.

“You’re such a lying bitch,” he screamed, and this time slapped her left cheek.

Her whole face ached, and she could taste the metallic sting of blood in her mouth.

“I’m telling you the truth. After I left the paper, I destroyed everything.” Okay, that was a lie, but at this stage, she suspected that whatever she said wouldn’t satisfy Phillip.

“Stop!”

Teresa waited because the voice that’d issued the command wasn’t Phillip, and it didn’t belong to the person who’d been driving the car either.

“What are you doing here?” Phillip’s voice didn’t sound as mean as it had a few seconds ago. In fact, it sounded fearful.

Who was this person, and why was Phillip afraid of him?

Rapid Spanish filled the room before a muffled pop and the thump of something falling to the ground sounded.

Fear exploded in Teresa.

A fear more intense than anything she’d felt this whole ordeal. The pop she heard registered—someone had been shot.

Did the thump mean the person was dead?

Who was it?

“Why did you do that?” Phillip screamed.

Well, not Phillip.

“Because I did, and I know you thought you did a good job, but you didn’t. You’re a bumbling idiot, and we have no time for you.”

“No, please don’t,” Phillip begged. “I can do better. I promise. This job was different from what I’ve done. I’m an asset. I’ll show you. Just give me another chance.”

“Doesn’t matter. The command has been given.”

What the heck was happening around her?

Not being able to see heightened everything and made it worse.

Teresa wanted to run. Run as far away as she could, but she was stuck. Bound to a chair, blindfolded. She sensed someone behind her—probably Phillip. It would be just like him to use her as a human shield.

Teresa willed the other person to speak again. She’d detected a faint accent, but without being able to see him, she’d need to remember what he sounded like so in the future she’d be able to identify him.

Was she being overly optimistic that she was going to get out of this alive?

Probably, but she wasn’t one to give up, no matter how bad things were—and this was pretty bad.

“You know all you had to do was get the information. It was easy. We put you next door to her. You had the easiest access anyone could have, and yet you still fucked it up. Still allowed her to get the information to people who are going to ruin us. You failed and you know Mr. Rook doesn’t like failures.”

Teresa’s heart thumped, and she twisted her hands, praying maybe a miracle had happened and sheer willpower and had loosened them so she could get away. All her actions did was dig the rope in until it was chaffing her.

“The bitch never gave me a chance. And she never gave anything away. Night after night, I had to listen to her sing offkey or listen to whatever shitty show she was watching. You try doing that. I bet you wouldn’t have been able to get the information either,” Phillip taunted.

“You really are useless, aren’t you? You dare speak to me this way? I’ve had enough.”

Teresa bit her lip to stop the cry of fear from erupting out of her.

Phillip had pushed this guy to his limit.

What was going to happen to her?

Would she be able to talk herself out of this? Convince this guy to let her go? Even if she promised she wouldn’t breathe a word of what he’d done or what she’d found to anyone.

As if he’d do that.

He didn’t sound like he had a sympathetic bone in his body. He worked for a frigging cartel. Not to mention, he probably killed the other guy in the room.

“What do you mean, you’ve had enough?” Phillip asked.

“This.”

A soft pop and another thump sound and, even blindfolded, Teresa knew what that meant—Phillip was dead.

The floorboards creaked and the soft tread of footsteps came toward her.

What was he going to do?

Was he going to release her?

Hurt her?

Or worse, kill her?

Regret for all the things Teresa hadn’t been able to do slammed into her. Regret she hadn’t seen her mom one last time. Regret she’d never hold her own child. Regret she’d never told Angelo that she loved him.

How she wanted more time with him. More time to love him. She wanted to fight to give herself a chance, but every time she moved, the ropes got tighter and dug in farther.

Teresa wasn’t ready to say goodbye to the world. Wasn’t ready to accept that her fate was to die in this unknown place, by this faceless man.

“I’m very sorry I have to do this. But I know help will be here for you shortly.”

“What?” she voiced the question out loud.

“Forgive me.”

At least that was what she’d thought she heard.

The back of her head slammed into the wooden floor. Pain bloomed in her already sore head.

He pushed the chair over. Why?

A wave of nausea swelled up, and she swallowed it down. Although maybe choking on her vomit may be better than whatever this guy had planned for her.

A slight prick pierced her shoulder, and her hazy head got even hazier. Numbness swept through her arms, legs, and down her spine. However, it wasn’t enough to stop the rush of pain as she heard another pop.

Agony lanced through her leg.

He shot me.

Teresa screamed in a combination of shock and pain. This was it. Her life was about to end, and she had no idea who her assailant was.

“Let. Me. See. You.” The words were a chore to get out, as a combination of being shot and, she assumed drugged, sunk its claws deep and dragged her into a whirlpool of darkness.

“I can’t do that.”

Another blast of pain hit her chest.

Angelo! I love you. I’m sorry,her mind cried silently. Teresa gave up the fight and let the blackness suck her down into its peaceful depths.

Javier staredat the woman on the ground. The red liquid soaked into the fabric of her shirt as it also leaked out of her leg.

His stomach churned, and for a moment, he thought he was going to lose the contents of it. He swallowed and took control of his inner turmoil. “Fuck!” he roared and kicked the dead body of the useless asshole who’d had a simple job, but had been unable to complete it, leaving Javier to have to clean up his mess.

He hated his life.

Hated everything about it.

Wanted to give up and walk away.

Only, he couldn’t.

He’d do what he had to do and one day, maybe he would find a way to live with all he’d done in the name of his job.

Javier took out his phone and tapped the screen on the first name in his caller log.

“Is it done?” No greeting for this person. He didn’t feel the need to do so.

“It is. I have what you need.”

“Good. Now onto the next phase. It’s time I reclaimed what was stolen from my family.”

Javier closed his eyes and bit back a sigh. The walls were closing in. He didn’t know how much longer he was going to be able to keep them at bay. “We probably need to sit for a little bit. Let the heat die down. We have a location, and I will make sure to keep my eye on it. We’ve waited this long. We can wait a little longer.”

Silence filled his ear, and he waited, knowing that Gomez was deciding whether to take his advice or not.

He’d worked hard to earn the cartel leader’s trust. It might take a while, but he’d see Javier’s way was the correct one. He just needed to think he’d come up with it, and it hadn’t been Javier’s idea at all.

So long as the outcome was what Javier wanted, he didn’t give a fuck if Gomez thought he was smarter than him.

“I need to get a few more things in place. Let those watching us think we are slinking away after this episode. We will wait before we proceed. But mark my words. I will get our property back.”

The guy was nothing if not consistent. “I’ll be back soon.”

“Good. Don’t be too long. We have a lot of work to do.”

“I know.”

Javier disconnected and glanced at the dead bodies he’d have to dispose of. The sooner he started, the sooner it would be over.

Maybe.