Ivan’s face darkened with a scowl. “The boss doesn’t like being cheated.”
“How is walking away cheating?” Reuben scoffed. “I’m not one of thepollos.”
“But she is.” Ivan pointed to Patricia.
“We promised two, and we brought three,” Reuben said. He tilted his triple chin at Leanna. “She can go in place of Patricia.”
“She hasn’t paid,” Ivan said. He clamped Leanna’s arm. “But she will.”
Pow. Pow. Pow.
A series of popping sounds scattered dust from the sidewalk around them. Bullets whizzed by Leanna, splattering plaster from the wall behind her.
Screams, shouts, and gunfire erupted all around them. Someone pushed Leanna to the sidewalk, scraping her knees. She looked back, but Reuben blocked her view. He shot at a beat-up Oldsmobile that looked like the one Axe got from El Bardo.
“Run!” Ivan shouted, leaving Maria slumped on the street. A patch of red blossomed over her white shirt.
Someone yanked Leanna’s hand and she ran, not looking back. Wheels screeched, and the blue Oldsmobile roared down the street. It made a U-turn and accelerated toward them.
The van they’d been riding in sped toward the blue car. The sedan braked, and the man who’d brought the car to Axe raised his gun. “Hand over Leanna Rivera.”
It was probably El Bardo, but Axe was nowhere in sight. Had El Bardo killed him? Or was he hiding in the back seat ready to take a shot at them?
“No way,” Reuben shouted. “She’s with us.”
The van braked to a stop. Juan pointed his gun at El Bardo. “You can have her. Guys, get in the van. Leanna, go away.”
Ivan opened the back door, and Reuben helped Patricia in.
“What about Maria?” Leanna pointed to the woman bleeding out on the street. “We have to help her.”
Police sirens blared in the distance, and a pair of hands grabbed Leanna, flinging her into the back seat of the Oldsmobile. The van was already rolling away, its back doors flapping.
El Bardo slammed the car door in Leanna’s face, put the Oldsmobile into gear, and tore around a corner. Leanna rolled from one side to the other, but one thing was for sure. Unless Axe was stowed away in the trunk, she was alone with El Bardo—a dangerous killer even the Tres Amigos were afraid of.
