Page 25 of Echoes and Oaths (Guardian Security Dynasty #4)
J inx took a stroll across the stretch of pastureland that connected Eira’s ranch to the abandoned property behind her. The warm night air clung to his skin, carrying the scents of dust, dry grass, and distant woodsmoke. The stars hung low, heavy against the ink-black sky.
It had become his habit. When Eira tucked Teo into bed, he’d slip out and check the old mailbox where Simón sometimes left messages. It was also the hour when he, Brando, and Raven touched base.
As soon as he was out of earshot, Jinx tapped his comms.
"Where are we with the identification of the photos?" he asked, voice low .
Brando’s chuckle rumbled through the line. "Well, hello to you, too."
Raven’s voice immediately broke in, dry as the cracked earth under Jinx’s boots.
"You know, he’s really not all that friendly. Kind of a loner. Not at all like me. How you doing, Brando?" Raven continued with a mischievous lilt. "By the way, could you tell your cousin to stop contacting me? I mean, I’d appreciate it."
"He’s a grown man," Brando replied with a careless shrug in his tone. "What do you want me to do?"
"Oh, I can think of lots of things I want you to do to him. I have a zombie doll being made in the village. Until I get some pins to shove into it, shoving a sock in his mouth would be a start," Raven muttered.
Jinx shook his head, a ghost of a smile curving his lips. Their banter was a constant background noise and it was sharp and familiar. But tonight, he wasn’t in the mood to play.
"Could we get back to business?" he asked, scanning the tree line ahead.
"Absolutely," Brando said. "Found out something today that’s very, very interesting."
"I love interesting shit," Raven said brightly, right before the sound of her small puppy barking in the background made her curse under her breath.
Jinx muttered, "One minute out." The dusty road ahead looked clear, but he needed confirmation.
The comms crackled. "Copy," Brando said, his voice dropping low. "The area is clear. You’re the only heat signature. We just got some intel on your boy Ortega."
Jinx ducked beneath the heavy sweep of a tree branch, the rough bark scraping the top of his shoulder. Even alone, every muscle in his body stayed coiled, ready.
"Go ahead," Jinx said quietly.
A beat of silence. Then Brando’s voice, cold and steady. "Tomás Ortega has a brother."
"Right. Esteban," Raven said. "Rumored to be dead."
"I wish," Brando growled. "Listen to this, Esteban Ortega isn’t just another thug, Jinx. He started young. Bodies on him before he hit twenty. But they never stuck a real label on him. No cartel ties. No loyalties. Just pure predator."
Jinx stayed crouched low, his eyes sweeping the dark, empty field. Across the cracked dirt road, the battered old mailbox stood alone, half leaning off its post .
"And?" he whispered.
"Check your phone when you can," Brando instructed.
"You sure I’m clear?" Jinx asked again, still feeling the prickling weight of being watched.
"Positive," Brando said after a pause. "The cows back at Eira’s place are the closest heat signature to you."
Jinx drew his phone, shielding the screen with his hand to block the glow.
A grainy photo loaded of a younger man stared back at him, dark-eyed and smirking like he owned the world.
He resembled Tomás, but where Tomás looked brittle, the man’s demeanor was carved from stone.
The glint in his gaze held coldness and absolute confidence.
"Meet Esteban Ortega," Brando said. "Born on a farm not far from Eira’s place. Started killing before he could legally drink."
Jinx scrolled through the file, gaze sharpening. "Serial?"
"Yeah," Brando confirmed. "Started small once he hit Maracay.
Gang initiations, some contract work. But by the time he was twenty-two, he was hunting for fun.
Patterns suggest he preferred isolated victims like street kids, women no one would miss.
Real psychopath. He was finally nailed for a triple homicide, but the evidence barely stuck. They dumped him in Tocorón Prison."
Brando paused, letting the weight of the name settle in the dark air. "That’s where things got worse," he said quietly. "Way worse."
Raven’s voice sharpened, all business now. "Tocorón. That’s where Tren de Aragua was born."
"Exactly," Brando said grimly. "Tocorón wasn’t a prison. It was a kingdom. Inmates ran it like a cartel hub. Tren de Aragua controlled everything , drugs, weapons, trafficking networks. You name it."
Jinx tapped through the files quickly, crouched low against the soft wind that whispered through the brittle grass.
"Ortega didn’t just survive in there," Brando continued. "He thrived. Most guys would’ve been fresh meat. But Ortega already had the instincts. Violence. Ruthlessness. He caught the eye of the higher-ups fast."
Jinx shut off his phone, letting his eyes readjust to the dark. "They groomed him," he muttered.
"Yeah," Brando agreed grimly. "First as an enforcer. Then as a strategist. Taught him how to build networks and how to move product and people without getting caught. Gave him access to outside contacts, cartel liaisons, corrupt military, even international smugglers."
"How did you get this information?" Raven asked.
"An inmate from Tocorón wanted to migrate to the United States," Brando said.
"He wanted political asylum. In order to get it, he sold out everyone and everything. He was a mid-tier gangster, but everyone inside Tocorón knew what was happening. As soon as I saw the prison mentioned on Ortega’s rap sheet, I pulled everything I could.
This guy spilled on damn near every fucking inmate in the facility. "
Jinx took one more careful look up and down the deserted road before crossing to the battered mailbox.
The dry wind lifted the dust around his boots, and the distant murmur of crickets filled the humid Venezuelan night.
His voice was low, almost a growl. "They turned a predator into a professional. "
Raven made a small, frustrated noise through the comms. "What happened after Tocorón?"
Brando exhaled heavily, his tone grim. "Details are sketchy, but when the government started pressuring Tren de Aragua leadership, a lot of high-value inmates ‘escaped.’ Actually, they evaporated.
Ortega disappeared into the wind. Since then, we've tracked whispers of an operator moving between Venezuela, Colombia, and Mexico.
Smuggling routes. Targeted hits. Cleaning up problems for cartel elites. "
Jinx’s jaw tightened, a muscle ticking along his cheekbone. "Ortega is the Ghost."
"You’re damn right he is," Brando said, his voice cutting through the line. "Man, I know he is. He’s the right profile. And if I'm right, he's more dangerous now than he ever was behind bars. He’s not freelancing," Brando added, voice dropping even lower. "He’s building something. Networks. Routes. Alliances. His reach is global now, and he’s using Tren de Aragua’s old playbook to do it. Only this time, there’s no leash. No rules."
Raven snarled softly, anger vibrating through the comms. "He’s playing servant to that big-nosed bastard Guardian thought was the Ghost. Always standing near. Always in on conversations. Why didn’t we see it when we were observing the camp? This guy is innocuous and almost… mousey."
Jinx reached into the rusted mailbox, fingers brushing the rough, cool metal.
"Which is his intent, and we didn’t see it because he wasn’t our focus," he said, voice clipped. A thin piece of paper rested inside the mailbox. It hadn’t been there the night before.
"Dude, the guy in the military camp isn’t a plant for Tomás to get information," Raven said, her voice sharp with realization. "Tomás is a plant for Esteban. Esteban is the reason Tomás rose to power."
"Which means Esteban is holding all the cards, and Tomás is his puppet," Jinx muttered, pulling the paper free and folding it quickly. He tucked it into his jacket and jogged back across the cracked road, ducking under the tangled brush at the edge of the field.
He crouched low, shielding the light from his phone as he opened Simón’s message.
The words were scrawled quickly, but they hit like a bullet. “The note says Ortega will be asking for your allegiance soon.” Jinx’s blood went cold.
Raven’s voice was immediate. "Eira, Teo, and I will need to activate our exit strategy.
" There was a pause, filled only by the rustle of dry leaves in the night wind. Raven’s voice softened slightly.
"Her mom won’t leave the aunt. Her sister is sick.
The doctor said she might not get better right away. "
"I can get the plane to you by noon," Brando replied without hesitation.
"Do it," Jinx said, already moving, his body on autopilot as he cut back across the field toward Eira’s ranch. "Shit’s about to get real."
The stars above seemed to sharpen, burning colder as Jinx picked up speed, the weight of what was coming pressing hard against his chest.
The house glowed soft and golden against the heavy dark of the Venezuelan night.
The fields stretched quietly around it, the dry grass whispering under the slow press of the wind. The cattle moved slowly, a soft call reached him every now and then.
Jinx crossed the pasture while his heart screamed to stay there, just a little longer. That wouldn’t happen. Not when his family’s safety depended on action. Through the kitchen door, he saw Eira.
She was standing at the counter, humming under her breath as she wiped it clean, barefoot and comfortable in one of his old shirts. Her hair was twisted up in a messy knot, a few loose strands falling around her face. She looked soft, peaceful.
Happy.
The sight of her like that, relaxed, trusting, safe , hit him like a knife to the gut.
She didn’t know that in a few minutes, he was going to shatter her world. Again.
Jinx moved up the porch steps quietly, every creak of the old wood feeling like a sin.
He hesitated at the door, his hand on the handle, his knuckles white. He could not mention it. Give her one more night of peace.
But peace was a lie, and he couldn’t lie to her. Not anymore.
He pushed the door open. Eira turned at the sound, her face lighting up when she saw him.
"Hey, you," she said, smiling, the kind of smile that made the whole damn world fall away.
God. She was so damn beautiful it hurt to look at her. "Hey," Jinx said, voice rougher than he wanted it to be.
She crossed the kitchen to him without hesitation, sliding her arms around his waist and pressing her face against his chest.
He held her close, breathing her in, memorizing the feel of her. Every curve, every breath, because he knew what was coming.
"You’re tense," she murmured against his shirt, her fingers tracing slow, lazy patterns across his back. "Everything okay?"
"I have something I need to talk to you about," he said, closing his eyes.
For one heartbeat, he let himself just hold her. Pretend everything was normal. Pretend he wasn’t about to shatter her all over again .
Eira leaned back to look up at him, her eyes warm, teasing.
"Sure. Teo’s already out. I made coffee.
Was thinking we could sit out back for a while.
" Grinning, she tugged him toward the porch, and it was so easy to imagine slipping into that life. A life where she smiled at him like that every night, where Teo called him Dad without even thinking about it, where the world couldn’t touch them.
But that wasn’t their reality. And tonight, reality was there to collect. He caught her hand, stopping her gently. She frowned up at him, confused at first, then worried when she saw his face.
"Eira," he said softly.
She went still, the air between them thickening.
"I have to move you and Teo out," Jinx said, voice raw. "Tomorrow morning." She just stared at him for a second, like she hadn’t heard right. Like she was still waiting for him to smile and tell her it was a joke.
But no smile came.
Her mouth parted, a small, broken sound escaping. Her fingers tightened around his.
"It’s happening?" she whispered.
He nodded once, feeling like he was cutting his heart out with the motion. "I’m sorry, baby," he rasped. "Ortega’s moving. It’s not safe anymore."
She blinked fast, swallowing hard, her free hand curling against his chest like she could anchor herself there. He covered her hand with his, holding her to him. "You’ll be safe with Raven," he promised. "We will have a future together, with Teo."
Tears welled in her eyes, but she shook her head fiercely, dragging in a breath like she was preparing for war. "I’m not scared for me," she said, voice trembling. "I’m scared for you."
"I know," he said, brushing a hand down her cheek. "But you have to go. You and Teo."
Her face crumpled for a second, just a second, then she squared her shoulders and nodded once.
"I’ll be ready," she said, fierce and quiet. “But we have tonight, right?” And that, more than anything, nearly broke him.
He leaned down, pressing his forehead to hers, breathing her in deeply. "Yes. We have tonight. I love you," he said hoarsely, the words a vow and a prayer all at once. Her fingers fisted in his shirt.
"I love you, too," she whispered.
Jinx kissed her hard and deep, wishing he could carve the memory of her into his bones.