“What?” Jenna breathed.
Lynnette shifted back on one foot. The man with the ugly neck tattoo, and his cohorts, flashed through her mind. They werethe only ones she’d ‘beaten up’ in recent times. But those men—crap.She licked her lips. “You’re Pretty Bird.”
Quetzal’s brow pinched sharply in displeasure.
She took that as confirmation and her stomach twisted. She’d only first heard the name the previous day, while the military boys had been discussing their agenda before they’d set out. She and Jenna had spent most of that time on Jenna’s sofa, and Jenna had filled her in on a lot of the details she hadn’t already known. Between what she’d overheard from the guys and what Jenna had said, Lynnette had put together that there was a man-in-charge somewhere in the area, a mystery figure, who went by the nicknamePretty Bird. The Spanish translation, technically.
He was the one their attackers in that parking lot had referred to as PJ.
Quetzal’s irritation faded back to neutral. “Well, we were going to have to kill you, anyway.”
Lynnette arched a brow.
“You won’t get away with that,” Jenna said, pushing the words out as if she didn’t care about the threat of the raptor on her shoulder.
The bird’s head tipped to one side.
Quetzal raised a hand toward Jenna, palm outward. “Settle yourself, please. We’ll leave momentarily.” He returned his focus to Lynnette. “She’ll do much better without the influence of a woman like you.”
“Funny,” Lynnette returned. She might as well let her anger empower her courage for the moment, because at the moment, the only enemies she could see were the singular man and the strange bird. Which she was beginning to think were a linked pair, somehow. She took a step forward, into Pretty Bird’s space. “I think she’ll do much better away fromyou.”
He didn’t like that, or her nearness. Quetzal snapped out an arm to backhand her as fire blazed in his eyes.
Lynnette blocked him, Jenna’s gasp carrying on the air, and shifted her weight to keep hold of his wrist. She was thinking she might try kicking out his ankles. But that entire plan screeched to a halt when something cool, round, and metallic pressed into the base of her neck on the opposite side.
“Lynnette!” Jenna gasped again, fear weighing her voice.
Quetzal jerked his arm free and moved half a step backward.
More unfamiliar men swarmed into view around them. All armed. All Hispanic. All visibly tattooed. One of them said something about his brother and spat in her direction before raising a military-grade rifle at her.
Quetzal tucked his hands into his pockets. “He says you killed his brother.”
Lynnette kicked up a brow again. “I’ve never killed anyone in my life. I’m a nurse.”
Quetzal sighed. “I have no interest in this banter.” He raised a hand. “My apologies for your unfortunate fate in all of this, Ms. Garver. Perhaps you’ll be rewarded for your good deeds in the beyond.”
The pressure at the base of her neck receded and an ironic chill rolled down her spine. She wasn’t delusional. She could handle a fistfight with one or two assholes, but she couldn’t dodge bullets.
The guy who’d accused her of killing his brother sneered and tilted his head to peer through his scope, fingers flexing beside his trigger.
The bird Lynnette had almost forgotten about made a startled cry as Jenna threw herself in front Lynnette.
“Wait!” Jenna exclaimed.
Feathers flapped furiously past Lynnette’s face as the bird was forced from its post.
Quetzal did not look amused. “Jenna. Step aside.”
“No.” Jenna crowded Lynnette, arms spread as if she were a shield. “You can kill both of us or spare both of us.”
“This is not a negotiation.”
Lynnette drew a hard breath. Nothing about the situation was ideal and they were far from prepared to escape a half-dozen armed cartel bastards. It was a bad play to assume Quetzal was so hung-up on Jenna that he would cave to keep her alive. More than likely, he wanted something from her.
Jenna licked her lips, her nerves showing through, and said, “Jon will never let you get away with this, Q. Whatever you do to me, or Lynnette, he’ll find you.”
Is now really the right time to be threatening the enemy, babe?Lynnette kept the question to herself, because she was also impressed that her conflict-avoidant friend had even said it.
