Texas Hold 'Em (Smokin' ACES) - By Kay David Page 0,80
cleared the crawlspace, Enrique pulled out a wicked boot knife, jumped to his feet and launched himself at Santos.
He cursed himself for not being faster as they both went down, Santos sprawling in the dirt. The Glock went flying. Enrique sliced out with his knife, and his cheek erupted in a fiery sting. He swiped his hand back the other way. The blade was at Santos’s throat before he could block it. Grabbing Enrique’s wrist, he barely managed to deflect the knife’s trajectory. The blade jumped from his throat but kept coming, and this time it sliced across his forehead. On the downward swing it pierced the skin of his throat.
Then Enrique went unaccountably still. Santos raised his gaze. Rose stood behind him with Santos’s gun pushed into the back of Enrique’s neck. Her hands were completely steady.
“Drop the knife,” she said evenly. “Drop it now or you’re a dead man.”
…
The gunfire down the road stopped soon after they had Enrique hugging one of the beams at the corner of the house, his hands tied securely around it. By the time Rose had walked around the corner with Santos by her side, the ACES team was riding up, Dan’s truck on their bumpers. Jessie got off her bike and strolled toward the two as if nothing had happened. She gave Enrique a casual glance. “Really? Only one bad guy? We’ve gotten rounded up down by the gate.”
Shaky and filthy, Rose managed a laugh. “We’ll do better next time.”
“I’m sure your deputy will appreciate credit for the arrest, regardless.” Jessie grinned. “Somehow he got an anonymous tip two motorcycle chapters were shooting at each other down by Las Lomas. Unfortunately, he’ll only find one gang when he gets there. The others just…rode off into the sunset.”
“Good job.” Santos tilted his head toward the falling-down cabin and told Jessie, “Take the team over there and let Enrique hear you brag about beating another gang. I want him thinking I came out here to make a deal with him. Drop a few names. Enrique will think his brother sent us. He owns this place.”
Santos watched her leave, then he faced Rose. “Thanks for the help back there.”
“One good turn deserves another. You’ve helped me out a few times here lately.”
“Let’s call it a draw.”
Unsure of where the conversation was heading, she hesitated. If they didn’t handle this moment right, everything between them could be lost forever. It was probably lost anyway, once Santos realized her mother had escaped.
She procrastinated with a simple question. “How did you figure out what happened to me?”
He explained the phone call from the tech in Austin. “Your neighbor saw the license plate on the SUV, and we traced it to Marcos Enrique.”
“But how did you find this?” She waved her to indicate the isolated landscape. “We’re in the middle of nowhere.”
A reluctant acknowledgement flashed over his harsh features. “Dan knew where it was. He has a hunting lease on the ranch next door.”
Rose couldn’t help but grin. “I guess we owe him one, too.”
“I’m afraid so.”
A silent pause came, and then Rose spoke again, her amusement slowly fading again. “I heard Enrique tell you what he did. He boasted about it to me, too. His grandmother would have been devastated. She was a good woman.” The morning air held the scent of cedar as a sudden breeze made the nearest tree shiver. “He wanted us to think Ortega was behind everything.”
A look came into Santos’s eyes that made her shiver, too. “I’ll find him,” he promised, looking toward the shadowy mountains. “Ortega got away this time, but sooner or later, I’ll find him. I’ve come to realize something, though—”
Jessie came around the edge of the house, slapping her riding gloves against her chaps. “Enrique got the story. Unless you need anything else, we’re going to leave before King gets here.”
“We’re good. Tell the guys I’m buying the beer tonight.”
Saluting Santos and giving Rose a quick nod, she walked away. The Harleys grumbled to life and the ACES team took off.
Rose turned back to Santos, a sudden concern coming to her. “You think your cover’s still good?”
“Even if he finds out anything, Enrique will keep quiet, if he wants to stay alive. He’ll be more worried about his ass than mine, because if they ever find out the truth, Ortega’s men will hunt him down and kill him for messing with their boss’s reputation. He’s a lot of things but he’s not an idiot.”