Page 63 of Trapping His Angel

My men were filing in at my back. The men in the room barely had time to register the sound before we were on them. I fired two quick shots, taking out the guards on either side of the Venezuelan leader, before they could reach for their weapons. My team spread out, moving in brutal, calculated synchronicity. Each bullet, each strike, was swift and merciless.

One of his lieutenants came at me, his eyes wide with panic, a knife clutched in his hand. I sidestepped, grabbing his wrist and twisting, forcing him to drop the blade. He stumbled, and I put him down with a sharp jab to his temple. Another man, roaring in defiance, lunged toward us, only to be met with a precise shot from one of my men. He dropped like dead weight, his eyes already dimming.

The room was thick with the smell of gunpowder and theiron tang of blood. Bodies lay crumpled across the worn, stained carpet, and the leader stood in the center, his face draining of all that smug confidence he’d carried before. He looked around, eyes darting to the dead men he once trusted, then back to me. For the first time, he realized he was alone.

He took a shaky step back, hands raised, trying to summon whatever dignity he had left, but the fear betrayed him. “Wait,” he stammered, his voice cracking. “Listen… we can make a deal. Whatever you want; money, power, it’s yours. Just… do nothing rash.”

I took a slow step toward him, keeping my gun leveled at his chest, letting the silence settle heavily between us. He swallowed, his hands still raised, his bravado shattering with every passing second. He tried again, voice trembling. “You don’t have to do this. I can make it worth your while.”

But he didn’t understand. There was nothing he could offer that would buy him out of this.

When he realized there was no getting out of this, his eyes darted left and he took off. I reached for him, but the chunky fucker dodged my hands, and headed out a side passage.

“Close him in,” I ordered.

The men rushed out of the room from all angles, and I followed behind the cartel leader slowly, knowing my men would box him in, until he only had one place to run. Where I wanted him to.

Higher and higher I stalked him, until I came outside through a door to the roof. There my prey stood, with his back to the edge.

“We can make a deal,” he begged.

I stopped in place, tilting my head. “You’re right. We can make a deal.” I took a step back. “Very well. What are you offering?”

“I-I can give you m-my daughter.” He snapped his fingers, like I would not keep her anyway.

“I already have your daughter,” I growled. It amused me that he thought he could barter away property that wasn’t his to begin with.

“I can get you a lot of money. I was here to do a deal with the Yakuza, but that may have fallen apart. How about you and I forge a deal instead?” He begged.

“So you can stab me in the back as well, when it’s time to save your skin?” I scoffed, “No, thank you.”

“Well, what do you want?”

“That’s simple.” I leaned against the wall. “Your death.”

He mumbled something in Spanish.

“I’m sorry,holmes,I don’t speak the Spanish.” I chuckled.

“I don’t want to die, was what I was saying.”

“Oh!” I placed a hand over my heart. “That’s touching, but we all gotta die someday. You can choose by your own hands…” I nodded to the ledge. “Or by mine.” I nodded to my gun. “But the choice is yours.”

Funnily enough, a few minutes later, he was jumping to his death. Was I really that scary?

“Sir,” one of my spies came up behind me, as I was looking at the cartel leader’s splattered body on the ground below.

“What is it?” I didn’t turn around, because the spy wasn’t anyone of importance.

“Something triggered the alarm at your home, and I can’t access any of the camera feeds.” He was out of breath, and this made me turn slowly.

“Are you saying no one has eyes on my wife?” I quietly asked.

He gulped. “Yes, that is exactly what I’m saying.”

“Then I guess you better bring the car around, before you end up on the ground like that one.” I pointed down to the body.

“Right away, sir.” He scrambled down the stairs.