“I don’t know if I can keep my composure.” Axe wiped his hands over his face. His heart was a pulsating ball of agony, and sweat burst through every pore in his skin. “I can’t.”
“We need to think. Put ourselves in Joshua’s shoes. Leanna’s good at that, unfortunately.” Tomas’s voice was bitter. “He taught her well during her tenure.”
“How could you have allowed it?” Axe gritted his teeth and narrowed his eyes at the older man. “What kind of father are you?”
Tomas punched him in the face, knocking his head back. “Shut up and think.”
Axe rubbed his head. “Why would you care, now that you know Carmelita is dead and the girl we’re trying to rescue is Soledad?”
“You only have their word that the girl is Soledad,” Tomas said. “Remember, El Bardo believed he found Carmelita alive. I want to get in there and rescue the girl and then we’ll find out who’s who.”
Axe nailed Juan and Ivan with a pointed glare. “How do we know you’re not lying? You take orders from Tomas, so you must be working for Cano.”
“We don’t work for Cano. We’re freelancers,” Ivan said. “But we care about Carmelita. I mean we just found out she’s Soledad. Maybe your dad’s lying.”
Axe shook the photograph. “This is definitely my daughter. I have video conferences with her every Christmas.”
“You’re sure this is the girl you know as Carmelita?” Leanna’s father asked.
Both Juan and Ivan nodded, but Axe could see what Leanna’s father was getting at. They had a photo of Soledad and a story about his father. It wasn’t proof.
“What about Gabriel? What does he know?” Axe’s gut clenched at the thought of the punk with his daughter, especially to the point of using birth control pills.
“We moved in about a year ago, and Gabriel made friends with her,” Scabby said. “We didn’t tell him anything about this Soledad business. He still thinks she’s Carmelita Bandera. When Leanna showed up with you, we thought you were a hitman hired by El Bardo to take out Cano’s daughter. That’s why we distracted Leanna and took her to the border.”
“My head hurts.” Axe cupped his head and took deep breaths. He had to calm down and be prepared for anything. The van got off the expressway and wound its way up a series of switchbacks past houses that grew bigger and fancier the higher they went.
They drove by ornate gates, trimmed with gold, and groves of palm trees shading whitewashed walls topped with spikes. The van stopped at a circular street surrounded by private, gated roads.
“This is as far as we go,” Scabby said. “Tell them you took a rideshare.”
“Sure, no worries.” Axe checked his weapons and got out of the van.
“You won’t be needing those,” Tomas said. “Cano’s men will take them all.”
“Give these to Gabriel,” Axe said, shedding his guns and knives. “Tell him next time, don’t let his hostage do the rope ties.”
“I have to do the honors this time.” Tomas extracted plastic ties and wrapped them around Axe’s wrists.
“I hate these,” Axe said.
“Sorry, but Cano’s guard will check the tightness.” Tomas pulled Axe from the van.
Axe winced as the plastic dug into his flesh. He scanned the circular drive and the road below. Up here, in the southern hills, he could see the entire city laid out, along with the saddleback mountain to the northwest.
“Oh, shit, we’ve been spotted,” Ivan said, ducking at the sound of a helicopter. He jumped into the passenger seat and slammed the door. “Go, go.”
The helicopter swooped straight up the side of the mountain. Its rotors threatened to wash them flat like blades of grass. A man pointed a rifle.
Axe and Tomas ran for the large tree in the center of the drive. The van lurched, jumping a curve, and swerved around. Gunshots peppered the hillside, and a Humvee bounced down from the private road. Armed men swarmed out, and a green Jeep barreled up the road they came on. Behind it, Axe’s father chased it in the rented Toyota while firing his gun.
Scabby turned the wheel to miss the approaching Jeep, but the van tilted too far and scraped the asphalt, skidding to a halt.
Axe and Tomas kept their heads down and dove for a row of hedges.
“Over there,” someone shouted.
Shots rang out, and someone screamed. The helicopter brushed them with a stiff wind, spraying bullets so close that Axe felt like he lost his hair. The rock wall behind him rained sharp fragments over him, and a boot caught him upside the head.
