Out of the Dark (18 page)

She looked nervous and surprised as hell, but managed another nod.

“That’s the best security system money can buy. On this screen you see Brody downstairs by his pickup, the view of outside the front door, the entrance gate, and the stairs leading to this room. Check the screen constantly. That’s all that stands between staying alive and someone taking you.”

“But they don’t know I’m here.”

“Should by some miracle they find out, and Em, the easiest way is for you to tell someone.” He held up his hands. “I’m not saying telling your sister was wrong. I realize your family needs to know where you are. However, do your friends a favor by keeping your location secret. People can’t repeat what they don’t know.”

Em lowered her head.
“I’m sorry I called Victoria. I knew if she found out about my house, she’d be worried sick. I couldn’t do that to her.”

Mac grasped her to his chest, his lip
s captured hers and Emily drank in every ounce of feeling he offered. The kiss deepened when he moaned. Trying to get closer, she slung her arms around his neck. She didn’t know what she felt, only that right now it would be foolish to try and analyze the sensation.

After breaking the kiss, he
moved across the room and squatted down. Hershey trotted over. “Take care of her, okay?”

Emily smiled as Hershey li
cked Mac’s face from chin to hairline.

“I’ll take that as a yes.
”

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Ramón Marino puffed on a cigar before answering the phone. “Yes,” he replied calmly.

“It is done
.” Bruno’s voice rushed with excitement. “They were both in the house when we blew it up. They could not have survived.”

“You got proof, Bruno?”

He didn’t believe in taking chances. For that reason he didn’t know if his head man told the truth or not. Bruno had been wrong before, and McKinsey proved to be one hard bastard to kill. For the last two years, countless attempts had been made against the agent’s life, and he always came out on the other side alive.

“We’ll know when the police carry out what is left of their bodies. I have a man near the scene, posing as a concerned neighbor. I expect to hear soon.”

He wanted to believe Mac McKinsey had been killed. Also, he needed the girl out of the way. Maybe he’d finally let it all go. He only wished McKinsey had died by his hands.

For years
he’d dreamt of the day he would squeeze the life out of the Falcon agent. He wanted justice for his sister. It was McKinsey’s fault she was shot down like a dog on that dusty road on the Mexican border.

His beloved sister
was dead because that Falcon agent had kidnapped her. McKinsey had destroyed the only good thing in his life. Pain pierced his body like poison arrows, and he silently screamed to the gods for revenge. Everything changed that day. Every dream he had destroyed.

She would
have been eighteen in two weeks.

Now every American would
suffer for what one man did. For one man’s cruelty.

Hatred burned his gut like cheap tequila, and seethed below the surface begging for an escape. Why hadn’t McKinsey died that day?

“Keep in touch, Bruno. I want to know beyond all doubt that they are both dead.”

“I will,
jefe. I promise.”

Ramón
hung up the phone and walked to the bed. A young village girl lay stretched out, anchored to the bed. A rope tied her hands and ankles. Naked, she laid with legs open wide, inviting him to fuck her. However much they protested, he knew they were all whores at heart and wanted him. Oh, they cried out, they screamed, they begged, but he knew their black hearts. For that they must be punished.

None of them were as good as Angelina.

Nude, Ramón picked the knife off the table next to the bed. Smiling, he stretched out beside her, his dick hard as granite. He rubbed the flat blade of the knife against his erection. The need to be inside the whore grew with each breath.

But, he had to pace himself. Too often lately he’d been overzealous and the girls died before he had finished
playing
with them.

That would not happen now. The girl, gagged and bound, tried to kick and squirm. He slapped her. “Don’t you realize how luc
ky you are to be here with me, puta?”

Tears stained her face. He gently kissed her cheek as he cut a straight line from her naval to the small patch of
dark hair between her thighs. Not too deep, just enough to smell the blood mixed with her essence, all wrapped neatly in fear. He licked the side of her face and tasted salt, dirt and perspiration. Slowly, he leaned over and sucked the nipple of her small, firm breast, before biting hard.

She bucked, and
Ramón rolled over, balanced on his knees. He looked down at his prize, and kissed her stomach then gently, with the sharp knife carved a heart surrounding her opening. Putting her femininity on display before the game started.

As blood poured from her wounds,
he smiled. He planned to thoroughly enjoy this pretty little morsel.

With a loud grunt, he plunged deep into her tight pussy. His knife in one hand, her long black hair twisted in the other. Slowly he rocked back and forth. With each stroke came a slice on her face, her arm, her shoulder... until the sheets were soaked with blood and he came close to exploding.

With the knife against her throat, he cried out, “My sweet, Angelina.” Then he shoved the weapon deep into her jugular as he climaxed. Only the sound of his heavy breathing filled the room.

Ramón
looked into the young face and smiled. His first of the day.

CHAPTER TWENTY

The delicious aroma from the
paper bag on the counter had Emily’s stomach growling. Mouthwatering, she pulled out the food and realized she hadn’t eaten all day. Sitting at the white kitchen counter on a barstool, Emily devoured the hamburger and fries in a matter of minutes. With the last sip of Diet Coke, she looked across the room and saw Hershey sitting with his nose pressed against the window, waiting for Mac to return.

Even her dog liked the man.

She licked her fingers, then crumpled up the paper and put it in the trashcan. Casually she strolled into the bedroom. She stopped short of stepping over the threshold and blinked.

The bedroom walls were a faint, soft green, accented by bamboo floors, a tan bedspread, and a large vase water feature in the corner. No clutter, nothing on the dresser, nightstand, or chest of drawers. Only nature prints clung to the wall.

The lure of quiet, peaceful water, and serene surroundings relaxed Emily immediately. Tension rolled off her shoulders like rain during an April shower. Stress tentacles clutching her spine released, and she stretched the kinks out of her neck. Stepping into the Zen world of Mac’s bedroom, peace and calm embraced her.

She couldn’t find a thing out of order, and the sparseness unruffled her instantly.

Emily met heaven and loved it immediately.

What a contrast from Mac’s personality. He was big, bad, mean, rude...
a spy, for crying out loud. This room belonged to a monk. Not the man she’d been on the run with for thirty hours.

Peeking around the corner, his bathroom gave her another shock. White
Spartan walls encased by earth-toned tile, a multi-spray shower, large Jacuzzi and oyster colored double marble sinks. Emily marveled at the shiny brass faucets, a large mirrored wall, and a walk-in closet big as her bedroom had been.

Maybe it would be wise for her to go
to Brenda’s and stay. Mac had instructed her to remain here, but how could she? This belonged to him, his apartment, his personal space, even if it didn’t parallel his personality. Even if Frank ordered it, Emily still felt the uninvited guest.

Touching her lips, Emily recalled the kiss they had shared. She wanted to capture that moment as she slowly ran her tongue over her mouth. She could spend a lifetime in that man’s arms, and not feel like she’d missed a thing.

Shaking her head, Emily reminded herself to stop dreaming of something that didn’t exist. Looking at the tub, she practically sighed. Those powerful jets would do wonders for a tired body. Reaching down, she turned on the water and undressed.

***

They took Brody’s pickup and headed east toward Colleyville. If Jake’s information was accurate, they were only blocks away from where the mysterious car turned in. Brody killed the engine.

Two blocks from the other Falcon agents they planned to connect with, Mac and Brody drove past the house with security gates. Hidden in the back of a cul-d-sac, Mac and Brody exited the pickup and met up with the two agents
Frank had put in charge of watching Em.

“What
did you find out?” Mac asked.

Jake Taylor
, a former Ranger operative replied, “The place is a rental. Leased about a month ago under the name, Mike Kent. Any info we found about the guy proved to be bogus.”

“Pretty smart move when you got the call that Em’s watchdog force had been pulled off.”

“You know Frank. He leaves nothing to chance. When the caller didn’t say the password right away, we knew something wasn’t kosher.”

“Yeah, that’s how he rolls,” Brody said with a chuckle. “Still, pretty smart to have two agents hi
dden nearby so you could follow and not be tagged.”

“It comes with the job.”

Mac faced Jake. “So tell us about what’s inside? I noticed a fence.”

“Yeah, but almost no security,” replied
ex ranger A.J. Roddio. A.J. and Brody were best buds. They’d both been in the service together before becoming Falcon agents. “I don’t think those guys holed up there are expecting company,” A.J. added.

Mac and Brody looked at each other and smiled.

“Well, they’re in for a good ol’e shit-kicking surprise.” Brody said.

“From what we saw, the west side of the building is completely unguarded. No cameras, no dogs, and no security gate. Just a brick wall.”

Brody chuckled. “Piece of cake.”

Mac punched him in the shoulder. “Last time you said that I got my butt kicked, big time.”

Brody laughed. “You’re right, you did get an ass whooping...by a guy the size of a ten year old.”

“That’s when I realized, size really doesn’t matter.”

Mac turned to Jake and A.J.. “You guys find a safe place across the street from our target. If anything goes south, come in with all the fire power you have.”

“I counted eight outside. Not sure about inside. Four vehicles and a man on the roof. Probably a sniper,”
A.J. offered.

“Let’s go,” Mac said.

Brody and Mac drove toward the house. Mac wondered what he would find behind the walls. Whoever occupied that compound better be ready for hell, because the devil was on his way.

To stay hidden, they parked five hundred yards away, behind a school then sprinted to the house the back way through a field of mesquite trees and small shrubs. They crossed an empty side road then backed up against the wall.

Immediately the sniper came into view on top of the building. Looked bored out of his mind and evidently not taking the assignment seriously. And unlike Mac and Brody, he didn’t wear night vision goggles.

Mac had his Glock, a knife, and a couple of smoke grenades. Brody’s
weapons of choice were a double-barreled shotgun, a Smith and Wesson.45, and two knives.

After a few minutes, Brody reached behind him and took out a rope with a grappling hook tied on the end. One small swing and the hook latched onto the other side of the wall. Brody climbed up first then Mac.

While Mac was stockier and more powerful than Brody, Brody made up for it by being tall, lean and faster than a roadrunner. As an ex Ranger, Brody could take out a target in seconds and nobody would even know he’d been there.

Brody was a
wild-hair, loosey-goosey. Rarely did anything conventional, and anybody dumb enough to draw on him learned real fast they’d made a fatal mistake. Tonight he’d replaced his Stetson with a black sock hat.

Mac climbed the rope and they both laid flat on the top of the warm brick, waiting. After a few seconds, Mac swung the rope over and adjusted the hook. Silently they slid down the rope and looked for an easy access to the interior of the house. The longer they stayed undetected, the better.

Backs against the house, Mac slowly edged around a corner, and spotted three guys smoking a joint. They were loud little dumb asses, but armed.

Brody squatted down and crawled to the opposite side of the vehicle. When in position, he tossed a pebble toward Mac, who waited with a cocked fist.

When the first guy came to check out the sound, Mac took the stoners out with a left jab and a right hook. When his friend called and received no reply, he raised his gun and moved in Mac’s direction. He missed tripping over Brody by inches. Brody rose, and smacked the guy in the back of the head with the butt of his shotgun. Mac gave the third guy a jump kick and a roundhouse to the head. He went down with a thud.

“That’s three.” They moved the bodies to the far back against the house and went hunting.

All eight guys were either tied up or out cold in ten minutes flat. Now to learn who occupied the house. Mac gave Brody the signal to take out the sniper.

Brody stepped into center of the yard and threw his knife with killing accuracy. The sniper’s body rolled of the roof and into the
large holly bush at the edge of the house.

Mac looked in the window and held up six fingers.

Brody nodded, went in first, and Mac followed with a smoke bomb and a hail of gunfire. Six men lay dead when they started up the stairs.

Hugging the wall, weapons ready, Mac saw an armed man step from a room and walk toward the banister.

Brody threw another knife and caught him in the throat. He stumbled to the railing then flipped over, sprawled on the floor below.

They were halfway up the wide staircase when two guys burst from the opposite sid
e of the house with AK 47’s. Mac and Brody took them out before they fired a shot.

Sprinting
up the rest of the stairs, Mac darted to the opposite side of the double door. On Brody’s nod, Mac threw in his last smoke grenade and they dropped to their knees and waited. A big man ran out coughing and firing blindly. Mac grabbed his ankles and yanked his feet out from under him. The man went down hard and the weapon flew out of his grasp.

Brody tied the big man’s hands
behind his back, while Mac checked out the rest of the upstairs. He found no one. When Mac returned, Brody rolled over their hostage.

Mac stamped his foot down hard on their captive’s chest. “
Well, hello, Bruno. Welcome to hell.”

Mac heard a
familiar click behind him