Page 18

Austin

The jungle was a humid wall of black and green, buzzing with the drone of insects. I crouched low, my boots silent against the damp earth as I signaled to my men. We had moved through the jungle undetected so far, our guides earning every peso they’d been paid. But now, we were close. The compound lay just beyond the ridge, a fortress of concrete and steel swallowed by the jungle foliage.

My grip tightened on my rifle. Luke was in there. We’d learned Raven was there too.

I exchanged a glance with Riot, who was breathing hard beside me. Still limping from where I’d shot him. I should feel guilty about that, but I fucking didn’t. He deserved that and more. I just hadn’t decided what the more was going to mean. His reason, his sister, was the only thing stopping my hand from delivering the final blow. He had been damn near sick when Jax confirmed the intel—his little sister was inside. The Ghost had gotten to her, dragging her into this twisted game of vengeance and power. How could I blame a man for trying to protect his sister?

I turned to my crew, whispering low, “We move in quiet. Riot, you and Tank take the west side. Jax, you and the tech team stay back and monitor comms. I want eyes on that goddamn security feed the second we get inside. We go in, we get them, we get the hell out. No unnecessary noise.”

I met each of their gazes in turn. “Anyone sees The Ghost—don’t take the shot unless you’re sure we can’t bring him out alive. Cole wants him breathing, and we need this to work.”

My men nodded. They knew the stakes.

I took a long breath, pushing away everything except the mission. I turned to Emmy, wishing she was back at the safehouse. Our eyes met and she understood without a word. I got her need to come with us, but I couldn’t let myself be distracted by worrying about her. She needed me to come back and to rescue her brother. I wanted to go to her and take her in my arms and kiss her to reassure her everything was going to be okay, but I didn’t. I didn’t need to. She gave me a gentle smile, and I touched her cheek. “Stay with Jax.”

“I promise,” she vowed and closed her eyes against my palm.

This had to be clean.

With one last nod, I signaled, and we moved.

The first guard went down without a sound. Then the second.

I crept forward, my blade slick with blood, the scent of sweat and smoke heavy in the air. The compound was impressively armed, but we had the element of surprise—for now.

Jax’s voice crackled through my earpiece. “You’re close. Holding cells are in the east wing. But you need to move—The host’s men are shifting patrols.”

I motioned the men forward, my pulse a steady rhythm in my ears. We rounded a corner, moving deeper into the belly of the beast.

Then, a muffled groan.

I froze. Listened. Another sound, faint but unmistakable.

Luke.

He was behind a heavy metal door at the end of the hall. Riot was already there, working fast to pick the lock.

“Hurry the hell up,” I growled.

The lock clicked, and Riot shoved the door open.

The smell of blood hit me first. Then the sight.

Luke was slumped against the wall, just this side of unconscious. His face was swollen, his wrists shackled to the wall with thick iron cuffs. Blood streaked his bare chest, deep cuts and bruises painting a brutal picture of what he’d endured.

“Jesus Christ,” Riot whispered.

I dropped to one knee, gripping Luke’s face. “Brother. Can you hear me?”

Luke’s eyes fluttered open, bloodshot and dazed. When he saw me, something like recognition surfaced through the pain. His lips parted, a rasp of a breath escaping.

“Took you long enough,” he croaked.

“Yeah, well. Traffic was a bitch.”

Riot cut through the shackles with a bolt cutter. Luke hissed as his arms fell free, but he didn’t collapse. Stubborn bastard.

I pulled a canteen from my pack, pressing it to his lips. “Drink slow.”

He drank, then rasped, “Raven?—”

My stomach turned to stone. “She’s near?”

Luke gave a weak nod. “Next… next room.”

Riot was already moving. He slammed into the next cell, his knife drawn. I followed—and my gut clenched at what we found there.

Raven was curled in the corner, her long, jet-black hair tangled around her shoulders, her skin streaked with dirt and bruises. But her dark eyes were sharp, burning with defiance.

The second she saw Riot, something inside her cracked. “Riot?”

He fell to his knees, pulling her into his arms. “I got you, baby girl. I got you.”

She clung to him, her small body trembling. “I knew you’d come.”

I scanned the room, looking for any sign of guards, but it was empty. Too easy.

Jax’s voice rang through my earpiece, urgent. “Austin, you need to move. Now.”

“Talk to me,” I murmured, already helping Luke to stand.

“They know you’re there. Reinforcements are inbound. You’ve got maybe five minutes before this place is swarming.”

I cursed. “We’re getting out. Have an exit route ready.”

I slung Luke’s arm over my shoulder, Riot lifting Raven in his arms. “Tank, take point. Riot, you stay close. We move fast.”

Then, from down the hall, a slow clap.

I turned, and there, stepping from the shadows, was The Ghost.

“Now this,” the man drawled, “is a fucking sight.”

My grip tightened on my rifle. “You son of a bitch.”

“Took you longer than I expected. Thought you’d be here days ago.” His gaze flickered to Luke, then to Raven. “Not exactly in prime condition, are they?”

Riot snarled, shoving Raven behind him. “You’re dead, motherfucker.”

The Ghost tsked. “Now, now. Is that any way to treat an old friend?” His eyes locked on to mine. “We both know how this ends. So why don’t we make it easy? You walk away with your wounded little family, and I—” His smirk deepened. “I get to keep my empire.”

I took a step forward. “That’s not how this ends.”

The Ghost’s expression darkened. “No. I suppose it isn’t.”

Then—gunfire.

I stepped in front of Luke, firing as The Ghost ducked behind a pillar. Tank and Riot were already returning fire, bullets sparking against the concrete walls.

Jax’s voice was frantic in my ear. “Austin, get the fuck out of there!”

My instincts screamed at me to chase The Ghost, to put a bullet between his eyes and end this. Fuck bringing him in alive. But I didn’t have time.

“Move!” I barked, dragging Luke toward the exit. Riot carried Raven, Tank laying down cover fire as we sprinted through the halls.

The Ghost’s men were everywhere now. I fired, dropping two cartel thugs as they burst through a doorway.

The jungle was close. We just had to reach it.

From behind me, an explosion rocked the building. Heat and dust filled the air as part of the compound collapsed. I turned just in time to see The Ghost disappearing into the smoke. Son of a bitch. But there was no time to chase him.

“We’re getting out of here,” I swore.

And then we ran.

The night was a blur of gunshots and shadows, the jungle swallowing our retreat like a beast with its jaws stretched wide. The compound was in chaos behind us, the distant echoes of shouts and shots fired bouncing through the trees. But I had no time to think about The Ghost slipping through my fingers—not when Luke was barely standing, not when Raven was clinging to Riot like she was afraid to breathe without him.

Jax’s voice crackled in my earpiece. “Austin, where the hell are you? We’ve got movement—southwest, closing fast.”

“We’re coming,” I growled, tightening my grip on Luke. “Be ready.”

We stumbled through the thick underbrush, guided by the small lights Jax had set up to mark our path. My heart was a hammer in my chest, every second stretching too long, every sound a possible ambush. Finally… a clearing.

Jax stood by the trucks, rifle raised, eyes sharp. And, beside him, Emmy.

I barely had time to register the look on her face before there was movement. The man I’d seen on the live feed with Emmy. Javier.

The bastard stepped out of the jungle like a goddamn apparition, flanked by three of his men. His grin was a disgusting, cruel thing, his dark eyes gleaming in the sunlight.

“Hello, querida ,” he said with a smug grin. “If it isn’t the best mouth I’ve ever had suck my dick.”

My rifle was already up. So were Tank’s and Riot’s. Javier wasn’t fazed.

“You got your boy,” Javier continued, nodding toward Luke. “But you’re leaving a hell of a mess behind. You really think The Ghost is gonna let you walk away?”

I took a step forward, ready to end this. I hadn’t even begun to squeeze the trigger when there was a flash of motion beside me.

Emmy reached for my Glock. Before I could stop her, she yanked the weapon from my belt, stepped forward, and fired.

The shot was deafening.

Javier’s body jerked back, his expression frozen in shock. Then he crumpled, his blood soaking the jungle floor. My guys quickly took care of the rest of the men. And then… silence.

I seemed to have forgotten how to breathe.

Emmy stood stock-still, her hands steady but her eyes… her eyes were blank. Emotionless. Her fingers trembled, but she didn’t make a sound. She didn’t react. I wondered if she’d checked out and wasn’t really there.

I moved fast, prying the gun from her fingers, tucking it back into my holster. “Emmy.”

Nothing. Not even a blink.

“Emmy,” I tried again softening my tone trying to get through the layers of confusion gripping her brain.

Still nothing.

Her breathing was shallow, her chest rising and falling like she wasn’t even aware of it. Like she was somewhere else entirely. She was in shock.

I swallowed hard, pressing my hands to her cheeks. Forcing her eyes to mine. “Baby, we gotta go.”

She blinked, but her expression didn’t change.

Jax looked between us, worry flashing in his eyes. “Austin, we don’t have time for this.”

He was right. The jungle wasn’t safe. The Ghost’s men would be coming.

I curled my fingers around Emmy’s wrist, pulling her toward me. “Come on, sweetheart.”

She followed silently.

My gut twisted, but I had to focus. We piled into the vans, peeling away from the clearing just as more gunfire ricocheted through the trees. The Ghost’s men were coming in behind us, but they were too late.

The second we were clear of the prison, I didn’t slow down. There was no time. No chance to take a breath, to process. We had Luke, barely alive but breathing. We had Raven, shaken but unharmed. And Emmy… Emmy was in shock.

I had seen death a hundred different ways but watching her pull the trigger on Javier was unlike any of them. It wasn’t just about survival—it was personal. She had put an end to the bastard who’d tormented her, but something had snapped in the process. She hadn’t said a word since.

I wanted to stop, to check on her, to do something—anything—but there was no time. We were deep in cartel territory, and The Ghost’s men would be hunting us before the sun was up. Right now, all I could do was concentrate on getting us out alive.

The jungle receded in the rearview mirror, but the tension in my chest didn’t ease. The truck barreled down the dirt road, kicking up dust as we sped toward anywhere away from the hell we’d just escaped.

Headlights bobbed in the distance behind us. The Ghost’s men weren’t giving up easily.

I clutched the wheel, forcing my grip to loosen before I cracked the damn thing in half. Jax was in the back of the truck, working on Luke, and from the curses coming from him, things were worse than we’d thought.

“Damn it, Luke, stay with me,” Jax growled, his voice barely audible over the wind whipping through the open windows.

I dared a glance at Emmy. She wasn’t finding her way out of whatever nightmare held her and that fucking scared me. She sat beside me, stiff as stone, staring at nothing. Not even showing concern for her brother who was fighting for his life behind us.

My gut twisted. I wanted to reach for her, pull her in, tell her she was safe. But I knew better. Emmy wasn’t there. Not really.

Just as I opened my mouth to say something, my phone rang. I cursed and pulled it from my pocket, glimpsing an unknown number before answering. I already knew who it was.

A slow, deliberate chuckle slithered through the speaker.

“You got him. Good.” The Ghost’s voice was smooth, unbothered. “Now let’s see what you’re willing to do to keep him.”

My fingers tightened around the phone. “You son of a?—”

“Tsk, tsk. Such language, Presidente,” The Ghost chided. “Didn’t your father ever teach you any manners?”

A muscle in my jaw ticked. My father. That was new.

“What the hell do you want?” I ground out.

A beat of silence. Then, “Justice.”

The word was spoken so quietly, so coldly that, for a second, it didn’t register.

I exchanged a look with Riot, who had his arm wrapped around Raven in the back seat. She was shutting down, just like Emmy.

“Your father,” The Ghost continued, his tone sharp as a blade, “was a greedy, ruthless bastard. But you already knew that, didn’t you? The difference between you and me, Austin, is that I don’t forget. I don’t forgive.”

My blood ran cold. “What the hell did he do?” I demanded.

Another chuckle. “Oh, we’ll get to that. In time.”

Before I could press further, the line went dead.

Whatever this was—whatever grudge The Ghost held against my father—it had been festering for years, and now I was paying the price.

“Riot,” I barked, shaking off the unease creeping through my veins. “You said you know a place?”

Riot nodded, eyes dark. “Yeah. Another safehouse. We can hole up there, get Luke patched up.”

“Then that’s where we’re headed.”

I took another glance at Emmy. She hadn’t moved, hadn’t spoken. She was lost in her own mind, and I had no idea how the hell to bring her back.