Page 97 of Her Passionate Hero

It was as if the talk about Heather’s life at the brothel were coming to life. There were San Marcos and Lorenzo sitting side-by-side on the couch each getting blowjobs while Lottie was tied up across the room looking like she was in some sort of trance.

Hunter would love to just take the shot and be done with it, but there were at least fifteen gang members downstairs. Nope, they needed to stick to the plan. It rested with Zed. He hadn’t been spotted outside Mrs. J’s house. He could definitely come in as a player who needed to talk to San Marcos. It would be a stretch for Aiden or Dalton to pull it off. The one hitch in the plan would be if anyone remembered him from years ago.

Meanwhile, Dalton and Aiden were getting into position. There was a closed beauty salon to the right of the tattoo parlor, and Dalton was going in through the back. Aiden occasionally enjoyed heights, so he was doing some second story work in the accountant’s office to the left of the tattoo parlor. Hunter wasn’t thrilled being relegated to conductor. But, on the upside, thanks to Aiden, he had a rifle, so he might get to have some fun.

“Can you three hear me?” Hunter whispered into his mic. When he got affirmatives, he explained what he saw going on with San Marcos. “Lorenzo is LL’s seventeen-year-old son.”

“Is he a traitor to his dad or working undercover?” Aiden asked.

“He’s not bright enough for undercover,” Hunter sighed. Shit, this was going to kill LL.

“This doesn’t impact the plan, does it?” Zed asked.

“Nope,” Hunter responded. “Go for it.”

He watched as Zed drove Aiden’s Audi up the street to the parlor and double parked. He couldn’t hear clearly through all the commotion, but he knew people were telling him he couldn’t park there. Zed, in his normal friendly manner, said something that had everyone backing away with their hands up and ushering him into the parlor.

When he got into the parlor, it was easier to hear what he was saying.

“My business is with San Marcos,” Zed said in Spanish.

“I’m Esteban, tonight you talk to me.” Esteban looked like he had served thirty years in Attica and had scared even the warden.

Zed took four steps forward until they were nose-to-nose. “Esteban, you seem like a really nice guy, but I didn’t drive all the way from San Diego to talk to the help. I can make this operation a million dollars in a weeks time, but if getting his dick sucked is too important to San Marcos, I’ll just take this deal to LL.”

Hunter believed him, hook line and sinker. Zed shouldn’t be in the Navy, he should be in the movies. Esteban believed him too. He didn’t say a word, he just turned around and sauntered through a door that led to the back stairs.

Hunter could see San Marcos was pissed to be interrupted. It wasn’t that bad, he had the woman continue with what she was doing the entire time Esteban talked to him. Both Esteban and San Marcos seemed to realize at the same moment they were discussing something they shouldn’t in front of Lorenzo because they looked over at him. San Marcos tilted his head toward the kid, and Esteban got the message. Before Hunter had a chance to react, Esteban took out his gun and shot Lorenzo in the head.

The two young women started screaming. It was the perfect diversion.

“Aiden, Dalton, Go.”

Esteban dragged the two girls away from the couch by their hair and threw them down onto the floor, close to where Lottie was tied. San Marcos was up and zipped. Esteban was out the door first, then shots started. In an instant, San Marcos’ entire demeanor changed. He looked around the room, saw Lorenzo’s body, the two crying women, and Lottie who was totally zoned out. He cocked his head and listened to the shots. He shook his head and pulled out his gun and aimed it at the woman tied to the chair.

Hunter pulled the rifle’s trigger and watched San Marco’s head explode. Lottie was safe.

“Lottie’s upstairs on the second floor. Make sure nobody goes upstairs,” Hunter said into the mic. He grabbed his gear and headed off the roof.

When he hit the pavement, he saw two black Escalades pulling up behind the Audi. LL was one of the first ones out of the SUV. He ran into the tattoo parlor as Dalton came out carrying Lottie, Aiden followed him, with Zed in the rear.

“Zed, take the Audi and get Lottie to a hospital. All hell is really about to break loose inside. We need to be gone.”

Dalton gently placed Lottie into the passenger seat and buckled her in. Yelling, screaming, and automatic gunfire was heard from inside. As soon as the door was closed, Zed sped down the street. Hunter and his teammates hauled ass down one block and over three to Zed’s piece of shit rental.

Hunter couldn’t get back to Aliana fast enough.

***

“Cariña, wake up.”

Aliana hurt. It took a moment to realize she had been sleeping in a chair beside her best friend’s hospital bed. She looked up and there was Hunter. He looked ragged.

“Are you okay?” she asked in a whisper.

“Can you come with me?” He held out his hand, helped her up, and took her to the corner of the room, away from Lottie.

“What’s going on?”