Page 97 of Stand: Part One

His heavy breathing and silent tongue made me hope he was considering his options, the both of which were bleak.

“Miguel Spade sends his regards,” he mumbled out. “And he’s coming for you.”

“Good boy,” I said with a smile and fired a bullet into his head.

Standing, I walked around the vehicle to find Scott interrogating the other gunman.

“That one confirmed our suspicions,” I said, tilting my chin at the now dead body, and holstered my gun at the small of my back.

“Yeah, but this one knows where he is,” Scott replied as he twisted a knife he’d buried into the man’s shoulder, causing him to cry out.

I crouched down beside them, my interest now piquing at the potential information he might have.

“You can either tell us where he is while you’re whole or in pieces. Which one do you prefer?” I told him.

“If I were you, I’d choose the one that serves your best self-interest,” Scott added. “Not Miguel’s.”

Aside from his annoying panting, the man remained silent, his eyes moving back and forth from me to Scott. As if he really needed to consider his options like the last one.

“T-tijuana,” he mumbled out, his voice shaking hysterically.

“How did you find us?” I asked pointedly.

“You were spotted. In the traffic.”

Son of a motherfucking bitch.

“How many more of you are there on this side of the border?”

He shook his head, shrugging his shoulder, and then immediately cringed.

“Guess,” I pushed him.

“A-at least two dozen.”

Good. More men to slake my bloodlust.

“And where are they?” Scott continued.

“S-san Diego.”

Well, at least I wouldn’t have to travel far.

“There’s a good boy,” Scott said before putting a bullet between his eyes.

“He’s closer than I thought he would be,” I said, standing back to my full height.

“Keeping it just close enough to the border where we can’t touch him.”

“We’ll just have to find a way to convince him to come visit us himself. Maybe it’s time we send him a personal invitation.”

“Sounds like a party. I’ll notify the cleanup crew. The twins are almost back to the estate.”

“Good. I want all of this at the warehouse within the next hour,” I said, waving at the wrecked cars and bodies. “You and I are going to be in for a long night.”

* * *

After spending the last three hours dissecting the SUVs and any equipment found on the bodies, I was fucking exhausted but wholly vindicated. All of the phones of Miguel’s cronies eventually traced back to several locations around the city, all within ten miles of each other.