They moved up the stairs ahead of the men, Gage’s hand at Abby’s waist, keeping her close, Mateo behind him. Alamán’s soldiers were on their way, but Gage had to keep them alive long enough for the soldiers to get there. Edge was out there, but interfering too soon could get them killed.
As Paulo and Santos marched them across the ground at gunpoint, the cartel men sensed the change in the atmosphere. All of them began moving forward, fanning out from under the trees, drawing their weapons and aiming them toward Velásquez’s men.
“Hey,gringos,” one of them called out. “What did you find down there?”
Gage didn’t answer. One wrong word could get them killed.
“They found nothing,” Santos said. “There was nothing to find. Paulo will give you your money, and you can go home.”
The men held their positions. The stout man with the thick arms and legs came forward, an AK-47 gripped in his blunt-fingered hands. “We do not believe you. You found the gold, and we want our share.”
“Don’t be a fool, Felipe,” Paulo said. “The gold belongs to Arturo Velásquez. Ramón Velásquez is his brother. You know the power he wields. Go against Ramón and you will die. You and every member of your family. You know what I say is true.”
The men glanced back and forth between them, but didn’t move, their guns held steady.
Felipe strode up to Paulo. “We will see what you have found. Then we will talk.” Grabbing Paulo’s flashlight, he continued over to the stairs and disappeared below.
Seconds passed. No one moved or said a word. The guns in the men’s hands never wavered.
Felipe reappeared with a thin round medallion the size of a dinner plate. Brilliant sunlight glinted off the golden circle in blinding rays.
“There is treasure unlike any you have ever seen!” He held up the gold medallion with one hand, the other on his automatic rifle. “What do you say, men? We take the gold. We take our families, and we leave this place forever. We can live like kings!”
A cheer went up from the men, and a chill ran down Gage’s spine. Each side was armed and pointing their weapons at the other—and he, Abby, and Mateo stood between them.
Then everything happened at once. Santos fired at Felipe, dropping him like a stone. Edge whistled a loud shrill signal they had used as kids, and Gage shoved Abby to the ground. He covered her with his body, and Mateo hit the ground beside him.
A barrage of gunfire echoed through the air above their heads, and bullets slammed into the dirt around them. Santos was firing his rifle in automatic bursts, his targets screaming as lead slashed them down like sheaves of wheat.
Paulo grunted and fell. Tomás took off running, made it a few feet before a bullet caught him between the shoulder blades and he went down.
“We need to move!” Gage shot to his feet, grabbed Abby’s arm, and pulled her up with him. The cartel men began closing in, firing as the three of them raced toward the stone foundation of the house in search of cover.
Abby jumped over the wall, and Gage followed, Mateo at his side, all three of them ducking down behind the stones. A handful of cartel men continued toward them, running flat out. A bullet slanted down from somewhere above, taking one of them out. More bullets, and another man fell, then another, bullets raining down from three different locations.
Edge, Trace, and Skye.
A bullet slammed into a cartel man, knocking him backward into the dirt, a trail of blood bubbling out of his chest. Edge and his team were taking down the cartel men, one after another.
Santos’s face appeared above him, the barrel of his assault rifle pointing into Gage’s face an instant before a soldier in camo rose behind him. A blade flashed, slicing across Santos’s throat. Blood erupted. He sank to the ground on his knees, then pitched forward.
Gage grabbed Abby and pulled her close, turning her head into his shoulder, running a soothing hand up and down her back.
The sound of gunfire had ceased. Nothing but the sigh of the wind through the trees.
“It’s over.” Gage released a long, slow breath of relief. “We’re safe.”
Edge wiped the blade of his knife on his camo pants and slid the weapon back into the sheath strapped to his thigh.
“Thanks, little brother,” Gage said, rising, bringing Abby up with him.
“No problem.” But Edge’s face looked grim, and there was a darkness in his eyes that Gage had never seen. Trace appeared from one direction, and Skye walked toward them from another, their faces equally grim. Killing a man was never easy.
“I gather you found the gold,” Edge said.
“Some of it. Not all.”
Abby looked up at him. “What?”
