Texas Hold 'Em (Smokin' ACES) - By Kay David Page 0,58

dry as he straightened and added even more speed, the bike accelerating so quickly she wondered just how much faster they could go. The first village they passed through was little more than an impression, and the second one was a blur. Santos didn’t let up on the throttle until they took another left, turning into a road she didn’t see until the very last second. This time the bike fishtailed, but he got it under control so swiftly they were out of slide before she could scream. Five minutes later, he brought them to stop in a spiral of dust, jumped off the bike, and threw down his helmet. Grabbing the .45 from the back of his waistband, he was running before she got off the motorcycle. She quickly followed, their dash over the rugged landscape reminding her of their first encounter outside her headquarters.

Dodging cacti and scrambling over rocky terrain, Santos threw up his right fist in a signal as they neared the top of a gradual incline. He fell to the dirt behind a narrow cedar, and she did the same, the tree’s slender branches giving them scant cover as they crept to the highest point.

They were a half mile away, maybe less, but even if they’d been right on top of it, she wasn’t sure she would have seen the compound. The house blended so well with the landscape, it was invisible unless you knew where it sat. High walls surrounded a large square of land, which were the same color as the desert. Even the darker roof tiles of the buildings they spied within the walls seemed to have been chosen to blend in. They melded perfectly into the shadows of the mountains in the background.

A second line of defense, another walled enclosure, had been built behind a rust-colored gate. The double barrier added extra security, forcing whoever drove in to lower their speed to a crawl then turn their vehicle left. The walls also kept out curious eyes. From the elevated spot where they waited, they had a bird’s eye view into both courtyards. The first one was a parking area, and through an arched opening a larger open area was ringed by a quadrangle of buildings, just like Reina’s house. The similarities ended there. Her courtyard had been an oasis of peace; these were staging areas for violent raids.

Rose’s gaze backtracked to the road outside the walls. It was as indiscernible as the rest of the place. Only when she looked closer did she see the underlying smoothness that gave testimony to its use. The native trees and grasses that bordered it had been carefully manipulated, their ragged limbs and seemingly random planting were a clever ruse that hid the cameras in their branches. Someone had spent a boatload of money making sure the place was invisible and defendable.

Santos jerked his head over his shoulder. They squirmed their way backward until they couldn’t be spotted or heard by anyone at the house.

“That’s Ortega’s compound,” he said quietly. “We’ll wait here until the rest of the team arrives.”

“Is my mother there?” Her jaw was so taut with anger and concern she could barely speak. “If she is, we need to go right now. Who knows how long your team could take—” She started to stand, then suddenly she was sprawled in the dirt.

She blinked in disbelief and looked down. His hand was wrapped around her ankle. “What in the hell do you think you’re doing?”

“I’m not letting you go down there, Rose. We’re waiting for the team. You know better than I do what might happen if we screw this up.”

“If we don’t get down there, she might die—”

“And if we go down there without backup, we might all die.”

She bit the inside of her mouth, refusing to let her tears of frustration escape. Her brain knew he was right, but her heart didn’t want to accept it. She slumped into the dirt.

He rubbed his eyes with his thumb and his forefinger as if he didn’t believe what he’d seen and needed to clear his vision. “We’ve been trying to find this place for two years. It would have taken us twenty more without your mother’s help.”

“You knew all along where she was.” Her throat went so tight, she could hardly get the words out. “How in the hell could you lie to me like that?”

Above them, a layer of clouds shifted over the sun, harbingers of rain. In their growing shadows, he turned