Melancholy

“I believe I recently busted you and Ash goin’ at it,” I call out.

He laughs. “Touché.”

Maddox leads me out and past all the smirking faces. Magic, they all heard us.

“Feelin’ better?” Mack grins.

“Bite me, Chief.”

He throws his head back and laughs. Rhyder actually lifts his hand to give me a high five. At my look, he lowers it with a chuckle.

“Someone kill me now.”

Maddox puts a big arm around me with a laugh. “You’re doin’ me proud, honey.”

Oh, I just bet I am.

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

2014 – Maddox

The property is located about two hundred miles from Mexico City. We arrive in the early hours of the morning and check into the hotel. None of us sleep incredibly well, and by mid-morning we’re all itching to get to the property to find out if we’re too late. Santana insists on coming, even though I don’t want her there, but like before, she’s the only one who can identify the girl.

The ride out is long, and fuckin’ horrible. I’ve kept a brave face for Santana, but the truth is I have no fuckin’ idea what we’re about to walk in to. It could be a fuckin’ big trap, or the girl might not even be here. Then we’re back to square one. That shit won't go down well for me, but I might not be able to avoid it.

When we’re close enough to large acreage, I pull the car off the road down a small dirt track. The others follow suit and then we all climb out, staring at the miles and miles of fields. I can see hints of a house in the distance, but it’s well hidden. I pull out weapons, loading them into my pants. We’re all carrying at least two guns and a few knives.

“Are you sure this is it?” Santana asks. “I’d hate to ambush the wrong house.”

“This is it, all right.”

“So do we just . . . walk in?”

I tuck the last gun in my jeans. “Yeah, we just fuckin’ walk in.”

When we’re loaded up, I give Tyke instructions to alert us of any newcomers. He nods, assuring me he’s got it covered. Then we make our way towards the fences surrounding the property. We find a break in one to the far left, and after a bit of reworking, we manage to slip through. The driveway is blocked with a large electric gate, no doubt equipped with cameras.

When we’re all in, we begin the long trek towards the house. My hand stays near my gun at all times, on alert. Santana stays by my side, but she’s barely said a word all morning. I know how she’s feelin’ inside; this is fuckin’ killin’ her.

“See the house,” I murmur to the guys, pointing.

“Looks fuckin’ big,” Krypt mutters.

“Jesus,” Rhyder comments. “I wonder how . . . many he’s got there.”

“Probably a good fuckin’ lot,” I grunt.

When we reach the thick trees surrounding the house, we all gather. I point to the front door, which appears to have no one near or around it.

“Oh my God.”

I turn at the sound of Santana’s voice; she’s staring through a gap in the thick trees. I step closer to her, seeing what’s got her so upset, her face white as a ghost’s. What I see has a curse ripping from my throat. There’s around twenty men and women working in a field of tobacco crops. They’re all quite skinny, and their skin is olive from hours in the sun.

Guess that means we’ve found the right place.

“I . . .” Santana’s voice trembles. “Oh God.”

“Hey,” I say, turning and taking her face in my hands. “You want to come with us, you need to get it together. I know what seein’ that does to you, but I need you to keep your shit under wraps. I need you alert and ready. If you’re cryin’, then you ain’t watchin’.”

She nods, straightening her back and swiping away her tears. I’m fuckin’ proud of her in that moment, so fuckin’ proud. I press a kiss to her forehead, before turning back to the group.

“Right, we’ve got two options. We ambush, or we walk right up to the door and just knock – see how we go.”

“I say we go right to the door,” Krypt says, thumbing the gun in his pants.

“I agree,” Rhyder says, staring at the large house.

“We’re stupid to start an attack if there’s a chance we can just get the girl back with a bit of force,” Zaid mutters, staring at me.

“Right, then lets do this. Santana, you fuckin’ stay behind me at all times. Don’t move.”

She nods, her face still pale. She’s fuckin’ terrified, but she’s holding it together...for now. I hope I didn’t make a mistake bringin’ her here.

“Let’s move in,” Krypt says. “Maddox, you go first. Santana can go behind you and we’ll tail her.”

“Let’s do it.”

We all move towards the front of the house. There seems to be nobody around, except for the people in the fields, the house seems almost dead. It’s a massive home, somewhat castle like with it’s square, jutting stone tops. The house is all a grey looking brick, no porches, few windows. We’re only twenty or so meters from the front door when they appear.

They come from behind trees, from inside the house, from the back. Every fuckin’ where. About ten, maybe fifteen, of them...I don’t know. They’re all armed, guns, and from the looks of them, we’ve just made a huge fucking mistake. Fuck. I go to clutch Santana’s hand, but one of them barks, “Move, I’ll blow your fuckin’ brains out.”