Xander triumphantly lifted his meager finds then hopped down. His sister clapped her hands while he grabbed a couple of spoons, and they sat down at the small table by the window. But after unscrewing the lid, his heart sank.Welp, no PB for me tonight.
He carefully scraped out what was left on the bottom and handed the spoon to Lyss. Then he reached for a stale cracker, trying not to inspect it too closely for little roach bites.
“What about you, Xan?” She licked away, eyeing the other spoon he’d set aside.
“It’s okay. I’m really not that hungry.” A lie, but she didn’t need to know. He wanted her to enjoy the spoonful of peanut butter, guilt-free.
Situations like this one probably explained why he was so little, even smaller than some girls he knew. Too scrawny. His mother never cooked anything substantial for them. Sometimes, they’d get lucky and she’d return with happy meals from McDonalds. But only if she made some money while she was out doing whatever it was she did.
He might only be a kid, but he wasn’t stupid. Although his mother rarely brought anyone to the apartment, she had returned with strange men a couple of times. It had been late, and she’d thought Xander was asleep on the couch. Or she didn’t care if he wasn’t. Both times, she’d staggered out onto the balcony, pulling the man behind her, and closed the door. He’d still heard the grunts. The slap of flesh. Saw them going at it in the shadows. It had reminded him of the time he’d seen two dogs humping in the street.
Yeah, Darla Hawkings wasn’t much of a role model. But other than Alyssa, she was all he had. And he figured a bad mom was better than no mom.
“Thirsty?” Xander asked, and Alyssa nodded.
Getting up, he dragged his chair over to the sink and climbed up so he could reach. He filled the two grimy glasses with tap water then stepped back down and handed one to Lyss. Lukewarm. The water never got too cold in the summer or too hot in the winter. No matter how much he turned one handle or the other, it was always the same tepid temperature and possessed a slightly gritty taste.
“Thanks.” She took a long drink then sighed. Happy and content with so very little. On one hand, he envied her and the way she could go through life thinking everything was okay. Onthe other hand, his frustration at what she consideredgoodgrew each day.
Xander finished his whole glass. Filling his belly with water usually helped keep it from rumbling too much when he didn’t eat. “It’s getting late. You should go take your bath.”
“Okay!” She hopped off the chair, pigtails swaying and humming a tune as she went to wash up.
Since they’d stopped going to school, they spent their days in the apartment, but that didn’t mean they were dirty. Xander made sure they both washed up with the increasingly disappearing bar of soap on the tub’s ledge. Everything was disappearing. It seemed like each time their mother disappeared, she left them with less and less. If she didn’t return soon, he’d have to venture out and find food.
He didn’t have money, but necessity had made him sly, and he knew where to look for whatever they needed. The dumpsters in the alley behind the corner grocery store proved to be a plentiful resource. Once food expired, they had to toss it, even though most of it was perfectly fine. The clerks usually took pity on him and let him paw through the scraps and discarded products. And he always made sure he was there waiting before it got thrown into the dumpster. He’d been too late a couple times early on in his supply scouting days and had to climb into the stinky, slimy dumpster to scavenge. So gross.
After Alyssa finished in the bathroom, he made sure she got her PJs on okay and tucked her into bed.
“Night, Xan.” She hugged a ratty-looking teddy bear in her arms. He’d found it in the nearby park two years ago, just lying on the ground. Probably fell out of a stroller. He’d scooped it up, brushed off the dirt, and given it to Alyssa on her birthday. She’d named it Waffles—her favorite food—and declared it was the best present she’d ever received.
“Night, sis.” He turned the overhead light off and backed out. Trying to ignore the hunger pangs wreaking havoc on his stomach, he washed up in the bathroom, put his PJs on, and lay down on the couch. Turning onto his side, he stared out the open balcony door and wondered when they’d see their mother again.
As it turned out, the answer to that question was never.
Chapter one
Two Months Ago
Another explosion shook the walls, and Xander Hawke squinted through the smoke burning his eyes. Flames ignited anything combustible. Thick soot and dust hung in the air, and visibility sucked ass. From the corner of his eye, he spotted the Villarreal Cartel’s skull-faced crew charging through the gaping hole an RPG had ripped open in the side of José Barrera’s mansion.
The place was too big, too gold, and gaudy as hell.
“Incoming,” Xander called out to Corey Emerson. They were on a mission to find Sera Darling, Corey’s woman. And the shit had hit the fan about five times already.
“Up!” Corey and Xander took the steps two at a time, their boots pounding up the grand staircase. It branched halfway, and they stuck to the left, staying close to the wall.
Moments later, several of Barrera’s soldiers appeared. Xander and Corey lifted their Glocks and fired, efficiently eliminating the threats. Downstairs, all hell broke loose as the first floor flooded with warring cartel assholes.
Xander fucking hated the cartels and planned to take down as many of their members as he could. Specifically, he’d sworn vengeance on the Lazaro Cartel, and he’d had the great pleasure of killing its leader, Fernando Lazaro. But his true goal, the one he lived and breathed for, involved Fernando’s successor, José Barrera.
Xander wouldn’t rest until that monster lay dead at his feet. Preferably after begging for mercy and being tortured to within an inch of his pathetic life.
Finding and destroying Barrera had become Xander’s sole purpose in life. For years, he’d been hunting the other man, but the drug kingpin kept eluding him. Right now, right at this moment, might be the closest he’d ever managed to get.
And a very reckless, half-baked plan took shape in his head. One he couldn’t ignore.
He barely heard Brandon Ward, their team leader, speaking in his comms, or the grenades that began exploding downstairs. Ahead, the hallway diverged, and Xander knew it was now or never.
