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Ford’s voice crackled through Caleb’s earpiece, tight with tension. “I’m bringing in the drone.”
“Roger that.” Caleb stepped out of the Charger with Gia.
Her hand in his, they strolled around the hogan.
The muscles between his shoulder blades twitched—that familiar itch.
Good.
It meant Zach’s rifle scope was trained just past him.
Four men.
Too easy.
Unease crawled up his neck, whispering of bad luck in this place of death.
He shoved it down.
Superstition.
Old Joe was long gone.
With Zach on overwatch, and Danny, Roy, and Ford concealed in the arroyo, the odds were stacked in his favor—unless the bastards showed up spraying bullets.
He was betting his life that Lopez wouldn’t give that order until he’d secured Gia.
“Danny, whenthe vehicle pulls up, you and Zach train your rifles on the doors facing me. If you catch a barrel rising, you know what to do.”
Gia, the only one without comms, tensed beside him and squeezed his hand hard. He rubbed his thumb over her knuckles in a soothing gesture.
“Jennie’s in that SUV.” Zach’s terse voice rasped in his ear. “Don’t fire unless you have a clear shot—and you’re good enough not to miss.”
“I’m good enough,” Danny answered, calm and cool. Mission mode.
Caleb turned to Gia. “Stay behind the hogan. Close enough to hear us. Out of sight. When I give the signal, get Jennie and run for the car.”
The key fob was on the console. She just had to gun it out of there.
He didn’t want her or Jennie sticking around to see what happened next.
She nodded once, then surged forward to press a hard, desperate kiss to his lips. “Be careful.”
As she jogged off, she turned back and mouthed,I love you,before disappearing.
He swallowed the words he wanted to say in return. Not with four men listening on comms.
Dust plumed in the distance, the incoming SUV’s growl filling the silence.
Caleb stood his ground, arms loose at his sides like a big, juicy target, waiting.
The vehicle rolled to a stop. Dark tinted windows obscured the passengers inside.
His pulse slowed, muscles primed.
The front passenger door opened first. A man stepped out—brown hair streaked with blond, white slacks, a pale blue striped shirt with a white collar beneath a gunmetal gray blazer.
Juan.The cousin.