Page 7

CHAPTER SEVEN

The bullet ripped across the side of her calf.

Charlie hit the ground short of the next cover of trees. Pain seared through her leg until she wasn’t sure she’d be able to take her next breath. It was too much. Almost debilitating. But the thought of giving in to a cartel’s demands when she’d fought to escape a life of control and punishment was stronger.

She dug her fingernails into the dirt ahead of her and pulled. Physical strength was a necessity of being a soldier of Acker’s Army. No matter the situation, her father wouldn’t have accepted anything less than her best at all times. Her training had started when she’d just been five years old, and it hadn’t let up until she’d run the night of the pipeline explosion. Years of drills and weights gave her the strength to army crawl from her attacker as he advanced.

Only she wasn’t fast enough.

A foot pressed down on her wound.

The resulting scream exploded through the trees and echoed back to her. Loud enough to scrub the back of her throat raw. White lights lit up behind her eyelids, brighter than the fire burning ever closer.

“I’m beginning to think you are unappreciative of my offer, though I do appreciate the challenge you’ve presented me tonight.” That same smoky voice that had tried to convince her to trust him was back. Edging underneath her armor, chasing back the pain in her leg. “Just for that, I’ll personally make sure your father suffers before I kill him.”

“Touch him, and it will be the last thing you ever do.” The words hissed through clenched teeth as she fed into an anger she hadn’t let herself fall victim to in a long time. Because there was a difference between Henry Acker serving a prison sentence for the lives he’d destroyed through his attacks on government property and someone killing him to punish her. “I give you my word, and if you know anything about me and the way I was raised, you know I mean that.”

His laugh attempted to disregard her threat as nothing more than a temper tantrum. The weight of his foot disappeared. Strong hands wrenched her arm behind her, forcing her to turn onto her back if she didn’t want to dislocate her shoulder. He stared down at her, his features clearer now that she’d gotten some distance from the fire. Sharp ears stood out from a pristine haircut that fanned over his forehead. Sweat had glued his dark hair around his temples and hairline, but it was his eyes she paid attention to. Softer than expected. Lighter too. A thin layer of facial hair spread from his sideburns down along his jaw, giving him a younger appearance. This wasn’t a hardened soldier of a drug cartel, and yet he carried himself and spoke with far more authority than the soldiers in her father’s army would dare. “You have no idea who you’re dealing with, do you? Who I am or what I’ve done to people standing in the way of what I want?”

Charlie brought her head off the ground in an attempt to make her point clear. “All I know is, right now, you are the man standing in my way.”

Bullet be damned, she brought both legs up and wrapped them around his waist. In a move her father would be proud to see, Charlie hauled her attacker off to one side. She slammed his body into the ground and rolled on top of him. Adrenaline gave her a burst of fight as she rocketed her fist into his face. Once. Twice.

Blood spattered as bone crunched beneath her knuckles. His head snapped back, but not hard enough to knock him unconscious. Her attacker caught her third strike and twisted her arm in the wrong direction.

Her holler filled the trees around them, and she was forced to follow the arc of her arm. Charlie hit the ground, but she wouldn’t let him get the upper hand. She rolled with everything she had as he struggled to pin her down. Dirt and ash drove into her mouth with every breath. Her leg screamed in protest, but she couldn’t stop fighting. She shoved to all fours and tested her weight on her injured leg.

A third bullet pulverized the tree bark to her left. Her nerves shot into overdrive. Charlie froze, her hands over her head as though they could do anything to stop a bullet from killing her. There was no cover to hide behind. Nowhere she could run this time.

“My plan was to let you walk out of here on your own with me, Charlie, but it’s not your legs I’m interested in. I just need that beautiful mind of yours, and my patience is wearing thin.” Her attacker shifted his aim from the tree. To her. “I’ve given you plenty of chances to come to your senses, and I’m done playing nice. Now stand. We have work to do.”

“You’re making a mistake.” Adrenaline drained from her veins—faster than she expected. She felt its loss as though the earth’s gravity had somehow intensified over the past minute. Charlie braced herself against the tree at her back. There was no way for her to hold her own weight. No way she was getting out of this on her own. She pulled out the knife she’d taken back from him and flipped the blade open. The one her father had given her on her twelfth birthday after she’s won a fight against four boys her age. It’d been a training test. To prove she could overcome, and it’d gotten her to this point. A blade this size wouldn’t stop a bullet, but it would keep her going. Keep her fighting. Because she deserved the life she’d created for herself, and no one—not even a drug cartel—was going to take that away from her. “Whatever you want from me, whatever you think you can force me to do for your organization…it won’t work. I’ve spent my entire life being told what to do, and I’m stronger than you think I am.”

A bark preceded the charge of the overweight bull terrier.

The gunman’s attention cut to the K9 lunging at him from the right.

And Charlie had her chance. “Zeus!”

She summoned what was left of her adrenaline and shoved to her feet. Zeus bit into the cartel soldier’s forearm and pulled the son of a bitch down. His body and his gun hit the ground as his scream exploded through the clearing. Charlie dove for the weapon.

He knocked it out of her reach as he fought off the dog with a bellow that outmatched hers. The gun disappeared into the bushes. Out of sight. Blood seeped from the wound in her leg. Unstoppable and pounding.

Her attacker unholstered his own blade, arching it down toward the determined bull terrier.

“No!” She didn’t have any other choice. Charlie wrenched his arm back, trying to get a hold of the weapon. The blade sliced into her palm, but she didn’t have the sense to get clear. Not as long as Granger’s partner was in danger. “Zeus!”

The K9 released his target. The sense of relief flooding through her was short lived as a fist slammed into her face.

The momentum and pain knocked her backward. Her leg threatened to collapse right out from underneath her. She fisted both hands together and brought them down on the soldier’s arm. Swiping her own blade toward his chest, she overcorrected as he dodged her attempt. Charlie made up for her imbalance and aimed for his gut.

He caught her hand an inch from the tip of her blade meeting the soft tissue of his stomach. Then slammed his head into her face. A strong right hook followed and threw her off balance. Images of that fight—of her facing off with four boys her age—threatened to superimpose on her current reality. She’d taken more than her share of strikes, but this…this was different. Back then, her father would’ve stepped in if things had gone too far. Now she was on her own. And she was losing.

Charlie’s leg failed, and she dropped to her knees, her back to her attacker. He moved in, but she wasn’t finished. Locking her arm, she rotated with the blade aimed backward. Only it didn’t reach its target.

Gripping her arm, the cartel soldier stared down at her. Just before rocketing his knuckles into her cheekbone. “I didn’t want to do this, but now you leave me no other choice.”

She lost her balance and hit the dirt. Zeus’s whine echoed through her head, as though the dog actually cared about what happened next. The crackle of flames grew louder in her ears. Growing closer. They’d outrun the brunt of the fire, but it was always meant to catch up to them. To her. Charlie gripped onto the only thing she had left of that old life.

And stabbed it into the soldier’s foot.

He threw his fist into her side and knocked the air out of her lungs.

Charlie collapsed. Desperation told her to keep moving. She climbed to her feet, dizzy from blood loss and swiped at him again. Another strike took the last of her energy reserves, and she went down again. She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think.

The fight slipped out of her as she stared up into the smoke-darkened sky.

Her attacker spit blood and saliva at her feet. Bending to meet her, he fisted the collar of her shirt and started pulling. Her remaining boot caught against rock and dead pine needles. “I have to admit, I didn’t expect so much fight from you, Charlie. Maybe if your sister fought as hard as you, she wouldn’t be dead.”

Charlie reached for her abductor’s hand, trying to get free, but she wasn’t strong enough anymore. Maybe hadn’t been in a long time. Zeus whimpered as he watched. His bark shook through her, but worse was the battle she saw in his eyes, as determination to go against his command took hold. “No.”

“Don’t worry, Charlie. This will all be over soon,” her attacker said. “You and I are going to do great things together. You’ll see.”

* * *

“Zeus!” Where the hell was that dog?

“You expect me to rely on a mutt who can’t control his weight to find my daughter?” Henry Acker had called a temporary truce at the sound of those gunshots, but Granger didn’t trust a single word out of the man’s mouth. “What kind of agent are you anyway?”

They jogged to stay ahead of the fire while Acker’s men worked to put it out from the other side, but the wind wasn’t cooperating. Soon, this entire side of Vaughn would be nothing but ashes.

“I’m not an agent anymore, and Zeus is a purebred bull terrier. I’m the only one who gets to call him a mutt.” Granger’s heart pumped harder every minute they didn’t have eyes on Charlie or his K9 partner. “And that mutt is a better hunter than you’ll ever be, Acker. Dress it up any way you like, you need me and my partner to help find Charlie.”

Henry Acker had no problem keeping up. Despite the grief from losing one daughter in the past week and the effects of age, the man had stayed physically fit. At least enough to keep up a panicked search for Charlie. “If we don’t, the last thing you’ll be worrying about is your dog.”

Granger didn’t have time for petty offenses. Charlie was out here. She had to be. Acker’s men hadn’t reported any conflicts with intruders other than Granger and Charlie in the past twenty-four hours, which meant those gunshots had been meant for her. And the thought of her out here—alone, possibly injured—pushed him harder. Socorro wasn’t going to get here in time. He had to rely on Acker’s Army to recover Charlie. “The Sangre por Sangre cartel has surveillance photos of Charlie. They’ve been following her ever since she came back to New Mexico three days ago.”

Henry Acker didn’t respond.

“But you already knew that, didn’t you?” Granger pulled up short. As much as he hated to stop the search for Charlie, he had to know what they were walking into. He turned on Charlie’s father as his anger built. The son of a bitch put his family at risk, and for what? To make a statement? For power? “You got into bed with a drug cartel. They came here tonight to get to her. All this time, you knew exactly what they were capable of, and you refused to protect your own daughters from falling into their hands.”

Acker suddenly seemed so much smaller than Granger remembered. Unsure of himself. It was a mere glimpse of the man behind the army, but in an instant, that glimpse was gone. Henry Acker rolled his shoulders back, once again every inch the man Charlie had described. “The last thing I’m going to do is explain myself to the federal agent who used one of my daughters to get to me and the people I protect.”

The accusation stabbed deep. Because Henry Acker was right. Granger had used Charlie just as her father had used her: to fight a war nobody could win. “What does the cartel want from her? What are they planning? What do they need her for?”

“It doesn’t matter. They won’t kill her. At least not until they get what they want.” Acker maneuvered around Granger and picked up the pace. “Charlie is strong. She’ll hold her own against interrogation just the way I taught her.”

Granger had been put through interrogation training during his stint with Homeland Security, and he didn’t want to think about Charlie strapped to a chair and physically tortured until she broke. And now she was potentially in the hands of Sangre por Sangre , the most bloodthirsty and brutal drug cartel Granger and Socorro had faced. There was nothing in the world he wouldn’t give up to ensure Charlie never had to go through that kind of nightmare. “Everyone has a breaking point.”

“If you truly believe that, then you don’t know my daughter.” Henry Acker kept moving, the topic reaching its end.

Movement registered up ahead. Granger reached for Acker’s elbow, but the man was already slowing down to get a better read. A whine filtered in through the rustle of trees.

“Zeus?” The K9’s yip spiked Granger’s pulse. He maneuvered around Henry Acker and stepped into a clearing. Searching for signs of an ambush, he grabbed onto Zeus’s collar. The bull terrier barked, unfazed by the appearance of his handler. “What do you have, bud?”

Another bark—louder this time—triggered a ringing in Granger’s ears. Granger ran his hands over the dog’s frame to check for wounds and turned Zeus’s head toward him. A ring of something wet and dark disrupted the pattern along the dog’s face. Granger swiped it from the K9’s fur, rubbing it between both fingers. “He’s got something.” Granger shoved to stand, facing off with Acker. “Blood. Whoever Zeus attacked, he caused some damage.”

“I’m starting to like that dog.” Acker pushed ahead. “He’s trying to tell you they went this way, but something is keeping him from following. Like he’s been told to stay.”

“Zeus doesn’t listen to anyone but me.” His confidence waned as he took in the K9’s restlessness. Zeus had been trained to follow Granger’s commands from the time he was a pup. Then again, Granger had never given anyone else the chance to try. It’d taken months for the bull terrier to establish trust in Granger. There’s no way Charlie could’ve done it in mere hours. Right?

“A lot of people underestimate my daughter’s influence.” Acker shouldered his rifle and forged ahead. “Take it from me. I made that mistake once. Cost me something I loved in the end.”

Granger found himself trying to keep up with the Acker patriarch. He whistled for his partner, and the K9 followed on his heels. “Go get her, Zeus.”

The dog launched off his back legs and shot into the trees.

“These woods spill out onto barren desert in less than a quarter mile.” Henry Acker called back over his shoulder. “My guess, they’re trying to get her out of Vaughn from there by ATV or vehicle. The fire was a distraction.”

And a damn good one at that. If what Granger believed about Henry Acker was true and the bastard had gotten into bed with a drug cartel, Sangre por Sangre had to know the kind of manpower and firepower Acker’s Army carried. Threatening the town they’d die to protect was the only way to take the focus off the cartel’s real intentions: getting to Charlie.

“Your daughter Erin.” They moved by the light of the fire at their backs. Both in line as they followed after Zeus. “When the cartel couldn’t find Charlie, they came for her, didn’t they? They knew she’d been involved in the pipeline explosion, that she had her own expertise from the attack.”

Henry Acker pushed the pace, refusing to confirm Granger’s theory. “We’re almost there. Be ready.”

Battle-ready tension filtered down Granger’s spine.

The trees were thinning up ahead. They broke through the border.

A pair of headlights skimmed across the desert.

Acker and the two soldiers behind them opened fire on the vehicle. Metallic pings sparked off the side of the armored SUV.

Return fire pulverized the dirt at their feet.

Granger grabbed for the old man and hauled him out of the way of the oncoming bullets. He threw Acker behind one of the last trees for cover.

“What the hell are you doing? My daughter is in there.” Acker raised his rifle and got off another two rounds, but his rifle wouldn’t be strong enough to breach through that armor.

Two more sets of headlights flared to life. Engines rumbled across the desert floor and exposed a game of hide-and-seek. Damn it. Charlie could be in any of one the SUVs. “I’m saving your life, Acker. Sangre por Sangre only moves in packs, and they don’t travel light. Those vehicles are armored. You’ll never get through.”

“So you’re just going to let them get away.” Henry Acker took another shot from behind the tree.

“Hell, no.” Granger pulled his cell phone from his pocket as all three SUV’s shot into the dark unknown of the desert. A single bar of service lit up the screen. It was enough. He dialed in to Socorro. The line connected. “Scarlett, I need my SUV.”

“Narrowing down your location.” Static punctured through each of Socorro’s security expert’s words. “Got you. Sending it your way. ETA two minutes. Just enough time for you to tell me what the hell is going on. I can see the fire from here.”

“No time to explain.” Two minutes. Socorro was in route. They’d responded to Zeus’s alert. Damn it. Sangre por Sangre was already moving at full speed. They didn’t have that kind of time. “Redirect your approach on my position to intercept three hostile vehicles with a hostage inside.”

“You got it.” Scarlett ended the call just as a fourth pair of headlights cut into Granger’s peripheral vision.

“Come on, old man.” He pulled Acker out from the cover of the trees. The SUV pulled to a stop ten feet ahead of them, and Granger wrenched the driver’s side door open. “Get in.”

Henry Acker collapsed into the passenger seat, his weapon folded across his lap, jaw slack. “Had I known this thing could drive itself, I would’ve had the boys strip it for parts.”

Granger threw the SUV into gear, chasing after three pairs of distinct brake lights a mile ahead. Momentum pinned him to his seat as they sped across the desert floor. “It’s only accessible through Socorro’s security system. Besides, I think you got enough of a donation from me out of the cargo area.”

“And Acker’s Army thanks you kindly.” Acker turned in his seat as two more sets of headlights filtered in through the back window. “Those your people?”

“They’re not shooting at us, so I think it’s safe to believe they’re here to help.” He checked the rearview mirror, hit the radio tied into his steering wheel and floored the accelerator. He wasn’t going to screw this up. Not like he had the night of the Alamo pipeline attack. Charlie was coming home safe. “Scarlett, you take the right. I’ve got the center. Tell whoever’s with you to take the left.”

“You got it.” The SUVs on his tail maneuvered into position and raced ahead. Within seconds, each vehicle had cut off the Sangre por Sangre caravan and brought them to a halt.

“Stay in the vehicle.” Granger pulled a weapon from underneath the seat, happy to know Acker’s Army wasn’t all that adept at searching for weapons.

“Like hell I am.” Acker shouldered out of the SUV and hit the ground, rifle raised as both Scarlett and another Socorro operative took the Sangre por Sangre drivers out of their vehicles.

“Clear,” Scarlett said. Two Dobermans circled the driver on the ground with his hands on the back of his head.

“Clear.” Recognition flared as Granger identified Socorro’s forward scout, Cash Meyers, and his K9, Bear. “I’ve got nothing.”

Granger approached the third vehicle. He reached for the vehicle’s handle and nearly ripped the door off its hinges. Pulling the driver from behind the steering wheel, he planted the cartel soldier on the ground. “Where is she?”

Scarlett rushed to search the back of the third vehicle, lowering her weapon. “Granger… She’s not here.”