Beyond the Breaking Point - Lori Sjoberg Page 0,54

I never—”

His gaze cut left, to a sound in the distance. Panic widened his eyes.

Before she could ask what was wrong, he grabbed her arm, jerked her back against his chest, and jammed the barrel of his gun beneath her chin.

Chapter 14

Just when Wade thought things couldn’t get worse, life decided to get creative.

The sight of Hector holding a gun to Hope’s head had his blood pressure shooting into the stratosphere. He was royally pissed off at his friend, but he was even more terrified of what would happen if Hector pulled the trigger.

From the corner of his eye, he spotted Austin taking up a position to his left, his rifle trained on Hector. Though he couldn’t see them, he knew Jackson and Navarre were in the area as well, most likely remaining in the periphery in case Hector managed to somehow get the drop on them.

Even in his worst nightmares, Wade had never imagined a scenario where he’d be pointing a gun at his best friend. But here he was. Life sucked balls. “Let her go.”

“You know that’s not happening.”

“And you know I’m not letting you leave with her.”

The lines between Hector’s eyes deepened. “I’m taking her to safety.”

“Yeah, right, like I’m going to believe a goddamn thing that comes out of your mouth.”

“I’m telling you the truth. She wasn’t part of the deal.”

“Oh, but I was. Thanks a lot, buddy.” Wade cursed himself for being such an idiot. This was what happened when he trusted people outside his family. Next time he wanted a friend, he’d adopt a dog. “Was Carmen part of the deal?”

The muscle along Hector’s jaw flexed as he gave a slight shake of his head. “She wasn’t supposed to be. Things got out of hand.”

“Oh, is that what you call what they did to her? Out of hand?” Wade’s vision flashed red, while his finger itched to pull the trigger. What a candy-ass way to gloss over the hours of torment Carmen had been forced to endure before they murdered her. The only thing that stopped him from gunning down the bastard was his fear of harming Hope.

“No, of course not,” Hector snapped. “You think I don’t regret what happened to her?”

“But you were okay with me getting butchered.”

“No, I wasn’t. I regret that too. I’ve regretted it every damn day for the last four years.” Hector’s throat bobbed when he swallowed. “Christ, I love you like family, Wade, but I didn’t have a choice.”

If he had a dollar for every time he’d heard that bullshit excuse while putting cuffs on a perp, he wouldn’t have to play the lottery. “‘No choice’ is an excuse that people use to take the easy way out. How much was my life worth? How much was Carmen’s?”

“It wasn’t just money.” He had the nerve to sound offended, and that pushed every last one of Wade’s buttons.

“How much!”

“Five million.” Anguish bled into the other man’s voice. Under difference circumstances, it would have been convincing. “But there was more to it than just money. Aranza knew about my girls. He showed me pictures of them asleep in their beds. He knew their routines, where they went to school. I had to protect them.”

“You could have placed them in protective custody.”

Hector shook his head. “He would have found them. You know that as well as I do.”

“No, that just gave you an excuse to take the money. Don’t move!” Wade barked when Hector took a step back with Hope in tow. His senses heightened, while his field of vision narrowed until all he saw was Hope and Hector.

“We’re leaving now. Don’t try to follow us.” Hector held the gun so tightly his knuckles had turned white. “I’d rather not hurt her, but I will if I have to.”

Hope’s gaze met his, her eyes wide and unblinking. She gave a slight shake of her head. “Don’t. Please.”

Wade had no idea what Hope didn’t want him to do, but he sure as hell had no intention of letting Hector leave with her. Carefully, he lined up Hector in his sights. This was his closest friend, his mentor, one of the few people outside his family that he’d trusted with his life.

The man responsible for Wade’s torture and Carmen’s murder. There was no way around that cold, hard fact, though he struggled to come to terms with it. Talk about a mind fuck.

With one arm wrapped around Hope’s torso and the other holding the gun to her head, Hector backed them up a