Page 8 of Echoes and Oaths (Guardian Security Dynasty #4)

T he punch to his shoulder jarred his entire arm, knocking into him with surprising force.

Jinx snapped his head toward Raven. “What the fuck did you do that for?”

“That’s bullshit, and you know it,” Raven snapped, eyes flashing with anger. “You should’ve fought for her. You should’ve stayed. Hell, we’ve all got enough money to walk away and never have to work again. Why didn’t you stay?”

Jinx narrowed his eyes at her, voice dropping low. “That’s none of your business.”

Raven rolled her eyes with a scoff. “‘Right . As if .’” She mimicked his earlier words with biting sarcasm.

“‘How could I not?’” She shook her head and jabbed a finger at his chest. “Let me tell you how you could have not . You could’ve kept your damn cover.

You could’ve stayed. If you loved her enough … you could have stayed .”

Jinx’s eyes blazed. He moved closer, his voice a low, dangerous growl. “Don’t you ever doubt the love I have for that woman. I don’t care how close of a friend or teammate you are. If you ever say that again, you’ll be in danger.”

Raven raised an unimpressed brow, undeterred. “So, instead of staying and protecting her, you left her in a drug-infested, war-torn country. Alone.”

“She’s not alone,” he bit out. “She has her family. A huge family.”

Raven crossed her arms and gave a sharp laugh. “Yeah? Like that’s going to warm her bed at night?”

The statement hit Jinx like a light-armored anti-aircraft rocket to the gut. He visibly flinched, his body tensing, and Raven saw it.

She followed his gaze, both of them staring through the binoculars at the small, whitewashed clinic where Eira had disappeared earlier. She was sitting on the porch in front of the building.

“Yeah. That one gotcha, didn’t it,” Raven said softly, then looked back toward the hacienda with a quiet exhale.

“You know … she’s got a lot here. I me an, compared to everyone else in this region.

Every farm we passed and homestead we saw on our way in is smaller.

Run-down. But not this one.” She looked over at Jinx and nudged him with her shoulder.

“You can’t be mad at me. And if you are, you can’t stay mad at me.

So, stop pouting and answer my question.

Have you noticed that her farm is … more? ”

Jinx gave a tight nod. “That detail hasn’t gone past my observation.”

“That’s because Ortega’s protecting her,” Brando’s voice came over their comms, crisp and certain.

Jinx and Raven exchanged a look.

“What are you basing that on?” Raven asked.

“The parabolic mic,” Brando said. “I played the audio back. One of the enforcers said, and I quote, ‘If it weren’t for Ortega, you wouldn’t be so disrespectful.’”

Raven’s expression sobered as she turned toward Jinx. “He could be right.”

“I am right,” Brando replied, smug.

Raven groaned. “You’re starting to sound like your cousin.”

“Is that a bad thing?” Brando asked innocently.

“In my opinion? Yes,” she muttered .

Jinx ignored the banter and stared hard through the binoculars. “Why would Ortega protect her?”

Raven snorted. “Look at her. She’s gorgeous.”

Jinx shot her a sidelong glare. “Don’t go there.”

Raven’s eyes widened with mock innocence.

“I’m not going there. But Ortega obviously is or wants to.

Otherwise, she wouldn’t still have all this.

An operational farm. Land that hasn’t been razed or stolen.

Healthy animals. A working clinic. Why hasn’t her livestock been slaughtered for cartel consumption?

Why hasn’t her home been ravaged like so many others in the area?

” She turned toward him fully. “You have to ask yourself that, Jinx. Because if you don’t, you’re ignoring the obvious.

Ortega, or someone else, is taking care of your woman. ”

“I agree with Raven,” Brando chimed in again. “If someone, namely Ortega, is protecting her, there’s a reason.”

“And we don’t know the reason. But I’m sure she does.” Raven pointed toward the porch, where Eira was sitting. “Then we can use that. We can use her to get to Ortega. To take down the Ghost.”

Jinx’s head snapped toward Raven. “ No. I will not use her. I will not use her to hunt these people.” His gut clenched at the idea. There was no way he’d allow that to happen. He’d fall on his sword and die on that hill.

Raven sat up, face tightening. “Then how the hell are we supposed to get eyes inside the cartel, figure out where Ortega is, what his weaknesses are, and what the Ghost has planned? Because obviously the guy Guardian thought was the Ghost isn’t.”

“I know how to do it,” Jinx said, standing suddenly, jaw clenched. “Mateo Rivas.”

Raven blinked and looked up at him. “Well, don’t keep it to yourself . Who the hell is he?”

Brando groaned. “No way, man. You can’t.”

“Can’t what?” Raven asked.

“That was my persona when I was down here.” His voice dropped like gravel. “I go back in as the enforcer I was.”

Raven gaped at him. “Just walk back in after what … years of being gone? You don’t think that’ll look suspicious?”

“I can handle suspicion.” It would be easy. He’d claim to have been overseas working as a mercenary.

“Wait, we need permission to bring him back to life,” Brando said. “I’m making a call.”

Raven crossed her arms. “Does she think you’re dead?” She tossed her head in the direction of the clinic .

He shook his head. “I don’t know what she thinks. I just disappeared.”

“Okay, well, that sucks, but what about Eira, then? If you return as an enforcer, you’ll be seen . And if her family is as big as you say, it won’t be long before they’ll tell her you’re alive. Where does that leave her?”

A screen door slammed in the distance, followed by the unmistakable cry of a baby.

Both Jinx and Raven froze.

The sound clutched at something primal in Jinx’s chest.

He lifted his binoculars just as Raven did the same. They watched as Eira’s mother walked the fussing child over to her.

“Oh shit,” Raven breathed out slowly. “Dude … you got a kid.”

Brando’s voice cut in immediately. “Wait. What ? What did you say?”

“Standby,” Jinx said, silencing Brando.

Eira stood and gently took the baby from the older woman who’d stepped out with him. Then she returned to the swing and began to rock with the calm of a practiced mother, pulling a shawl over the baby. She started singing a lullaby.

But Jinx had already seen the child .

His body went still. Then he exhaled. The breath was long, shaky, and…stunned. Dear God, could it be?

Raven nudged him again. “You’ve got a kid , man.”

He lowered the binoculars and rubbed his face with both hands as if trying to wipe away the thought. Trying to force his brain to catch up with what his heart already knew.

“That can’t be,” he said hoarsely.

Raven huffed. “Do the math, Einstein. Unless this woman was cheating on you.”

The glare he leveled at her could’ve shaved splitters off diamonds.

She raised her hands. “What? If she were cheating, sure, it could be someone else’s kid. But if she loved you, and you were the only one for her, then it’s your kid. You need to make that determination.” She tilted her head, softer now. “Personally? I think it’s yours.”

Jinx stared at her, blinked once, then stood.

Raven’s eyes tracked his movement. “Where are you going?”

He didn’t answer.

“Jinx …” she started.

He turned just slightly, his voice ironclad. “Raven, I’m giving you two words of advice.”

She arched a brow .

“Shut. Up.”

Then he dropped the binoculars and walked into the darkness toward Eira’s farm.

He was being pulled toward her by forces stronger than he could fight.

If that were his child … he swallowed hard.

He had a child. He knew Eira was true to him.

Their love was a once-in-a-lifetime love.

He didn’t doubt her love or loyalty to him.

Leaving her was his way of showing her how much he loved her.

Taking death, blood, war, and all the brutality of an enforcer from her life made sense. Or at least it had then.

Raven let out a long sigh and crossed her arms. “I’ll wait right here.”

Jinx didn’t bother responding.

He didn’t even hear her.

His focus was already locked on the woman he’d never stopped loving … and the child he never knew he had.

Brando’s voice crackled over the comms. “I have Fury online.”

“Well, that’s awkward,” Raven muttered, settling onto a rock at the edge of the overlook. She watched as Jinx melted into the darkness, disappearing like smoke around the perimeter of the small ranch… no, farm … or whatever the hell you called a place like that. She wasn’t exactly a country girl.

“How is it awkward?” came Fury’s voice, cool and direct over the channel.

“Yeah, well, not awkward awkward. Just a pain in my ass because now I get to explain shit,” Raven replied with a sigh. “Jinx has personal complications down here in Venezuela.”

“Define complications.”

“If I have my guess right,” Raven said, dragging out the words as she lifted the binoculars again, “I’d say about twenty pounds, a kid, I suck at ages for munchkins… but a total cutie, for sure.”

There was a beat of silence on the line.

“What the fuck?” Fury finally said. “English, Raven.”

“A baby,” she drawled, clearly enjoying herself. “His woman . And his baby , to be exact. And we think Ortega is protecting the woman.”

“Jinx wants to bring Mateo Rivas back,” Brando cut in. “Go in as an enforcer.”

“Why?” Fury asked, his tone sharp. “We know who the Ghost is. Why would he want to do that? Ortega is coded. We only act if the opportunity arises.” Fury spoke like the mission was already wrapped up in a nice tactical bow. It wasn’t. Not even close.

Raven exhaled and shook her head. “Yeah, not so much, O fearless leader. Or handler. Or whatever your latest job title is. See, we were on our way back to report when we got sidetracked by Ortega’s men.”

She adjusted the focus on her binoculars. “Anyway, the person Guardian believes is the Ghost? Yeah … no way. Jinx and I both agree. Our instincts say the same thing. It’s not him. We need another way in. We need to get closer to Ortega and to whoever the real Ghost is.”

The night vision flickered to life as she zeroed in on the far side of the little hospital. Jinx was there, half in shadow, standing completely still. Probably listening.

“Stay on the line. I’ll be back,” Fury commanded.

Raven tilted her head and smirked. “Yes, Ahhhhr-nold .”

“I heard that,” Fury growled.

“Whoops,” she said with a laugh that held zero remorse, then lifted the binoculars again.

“He’s muted,” Brando said.

“Copy. Jinx, you’re in the clear. She’s alone,” Raven reported as she tracked the movement in the courtyard .

“His kid?” Brando asked.

“Yep. Think so.”

“Him going back as Mateo will be hard for her,” Brando said, the weight of his voice changing. “Fucking life never gives the breaks we need, does it?”

Raven took a deep breath, voice turning resolute. “We make the breaks, Brando. Life passes by the people who sit on their asses waiting for the world to roll up with a silver platter and a billion bucks. You want something, you fight for it. You build it. You bleed for it.”

“Still sucks for them,” Brando muttered. “I know he loves her. I was his comms officer for the years when he was under. Hang on … Fury just came back online.”

After a pause, Brando said, “You’re up, sir.”

“I’ve talked to Lycos and Archangel,” Fury said, voice firm. “If Jinx believes he can pull this off, let him. But, and I cannot stress this enough , if he thinks that woman or the child is in danger, Raven, you’re to get them the hell out of there so he can do his work.”

“And if she won’t go?” Raven asked, eyes still on Jinx as he inched closer to the farmhouse.

Fury sighed. “Shit. Then punt. ”

Raven snorted. “Punt it is, sir. You don’t know what she’s built down here. She’s a strong one.”

“Great. Keep me apprised. Brando, daily updates.”

“I copy.”

“Raven, take care of yourself. And Jinx.”

She laughed. “Ha! Like he’d let me.” Then, quieter, she added, “I’ll do whatever it takes, sir.”

“As long as it takes,” Fury said before the comm line clicked off.

A beat of silence passed.

“Raven,” Brando said quietly, “I have a feeling this mission’s about to get long … and messy.”

She lowered the binoculars just as Jinx approached his woman, stepping out of the jungle’s edge and crossing the clearing toward her.

Raven didn’t lift the lenses again.

Some things were too sacred to spy on.

“And I only packed three swimsuits,” she muttered with a smirk. “What a shame.”