“And you,” he pointed a stubby finger at Adriana. “I have something special planned for you as well.”
Adriana raised her head and peered into Espinoza’s eyes. She knew she’d missed her flight. Jackson would have left by now, leaving her stranded in Mexico with the leader of a drug cartel and his enforcer. The deadline to save her father loomed in the back of her mind. She was to be in Marseille before midnight the next day.
No chance of making it now.
Her heart sank into the pit of her stomach. She’d let her father down. Dread filled her mind, and she fought off thinking about what would happen to him.
“Tell me one thing before I have my second in command have his fun with you,” he motioned at Sanchez.
“What’s that?” she said bravely.
He held out both hands wide. “Which painting were you going to take?”
Adriana raised an eyebrow and forced a chuckle. “The Bellini. Madonna and Child.”
He pursed his lips and nodded. “Ah yes, the Bellini. A fine piece. I bought it from her years ago,” he said. “It has brought me much good fortune. But I must ask, why that one?”
“It doesn’t belong to you.”
Espinoza frowned. “Sure, it does. I bought it.”
She shook her head. “It didn’t belong to her either. The Bellini belongs in a museum, not in some drug pusher’s home.”
He pretended to take offense at her comment and leaned his head back, scrunching the fat under his chin. “Now, that isn’t a nice thing to say. Is it, Jorge?” He turned to his second in command, who shook his head.
Espinoza looked back at Adriana. “Well, I suppose it doesn’t matter why you wanted to steal it. That isn’t going to happen now. What is going to happen is my friend here making sure you both take a very long time to die. Fortunately, my guests went home an hour ago, so only the Mexican wilderness will be able to hear your screams.”
Sanchez stepped forward and eyed both prisoners. “I can assure you both it will be the most excruciating thing you’ve ever experienced. No one comes into the Espinoza house and makes him look like a fool.”
His boss beamed proudly behind his shoulder.
“Oh, really?” Adriana asked brazenly. “Because it’s already happened once tonight.”
Monique turned her head and stared amid sobs at the Spaniard.
Espinoza frowned and stepped forward. “What are you talking about? No one has embarrassed me tonight. And no one will.” He turned to Sanchez. “Kill them both. Throw their bodies in the fire.”
“So you’re just going to let your lackey here get rid of us while the whole time he’s the one that will bring down your empire from within?” Adriana nodded at Sanchez as she spoke.
Espinoza stepped forward and narrowed his eyes. “You better speak fast, woman.”
Adriana tilted her head at Sanchez and fired a glare his way. “Oh, Jorge, I’m sorry. You didn’t tell him about your men who were killed on the road last night? I’d have thought the police might have come knocking at your door, Francisco, seeing as to how talkative they all were about working for you.”
“What?” Confusion poured into Espinoza’s eyes. He stood up straight and questioned his right hand man. “What is she talking about? Is this true?”
Sanchez put up both hands in a defensive gesture. “Boss, this woman is clearly insane. She will say anything to escape death. I assure you, everything is fine.”
The look on Espinoza’s face told her everything she needed to know. He was curious.
“These men, you say they claimed to work for me?”
“That’s right.”
“And how did you know they were killed?”
She waited a second before answering. When she did, Adriana stared into Sanchez’s eyes. “Because I’m the one who killed them.”
Espinoza sighed, and his breathing quickened. “What did these men look like?”
She chose to describe the one who’d approached her first, the one with the tank top. She told Espinoza everything about his appearance, how he talked, the tattoo on his arm, the guns they all carried, the trucks they drove, and how she’d killed every one of them. And with every word she uttered, Sanchez slid his feet back another few inches away from his boss.
When he finished, Espinoza turned and faced his second. “Is this true, Jorge? Are you keeping secrets from me? Men that I pay, men that I brought in, put under your command, and trusted you with, were killed trying to extort money from travelers like common thieves? And killed by a woman?”
“To be fair, I killed some of your security guards too. You’re hiring practices aren’t good.”
“Shut up!” Espinoza commanded, raising a finger of warning. He returned his angry gaze to Sanchez. “Are you hiding something from me, Jorge?” He reached into his jacket and pulled out a chrome-plated pistol. It was the shiniest gun Adriana had ever seen, tacky and beautiful all in one. Francisco’s name was engraved along the side of the barrel. The weapon was a veritable hand cannon.
“Boss. I’m telling you, she’s crazy. I don’t know where she got this information, but I assure you, it’s not true.”
“She just described your men in detail, Jorge. I know who she’s talking about. Do you think I’m stupid?” He shook the gun threateningly.
“No, boss. Of course not.”
“Then tell me the truth. What is going on here?”
Suddenly, an alarm screamed from inside the house, sending its ear-piercing pulse throughout the property. Espinoza, Sanchez, and all the guards turned their attention to the home.
“My paintings!” Espinoza shouted at Sanchez. “Get your men to the house immediately! Seal the gate!”
Adriana made the most of the short window of opportunity. She reached down to her garter belt and pulled out the metal disk. After two short clicks on the object’s center, she flicked it at Espinoza’s feet and squeezed her eyes shut.
A loud pop interrupted the alarm and was followed by a searing white light. Even with her eyes completely closed, Adriana couldn’t believe how bright the flash bang disk was.
The men, as well as Monique, yelled, temporarily blinded by the sudden brilliant flash. Adriana opened her eyes and sprang up from the ground. Espinoza had covered his eyes with his forearm but had done so after the diversion. She grabbed his hand that held the pistol and wrenched it over her arm until his wrist nearly snapped. He yelled out in pain and let go of the weapon. The next second, she pointed the gun at his head and pulled the trigger. It was a thunderous weapon and made a mess of the target, killing one of Mexico’s most notorious drug lords in an instant.
Adriana spun around and found her next target, Sanchez, still reeling from the light. She fired three rounds into his torso and spun around before he stumbled backward into the fire. Only Adriana,quickly acquiring the blinded guards and picking them off one by one, interrupted his screams of agony. She swiveled around in a tight circle, mortally wounding every guard with each pull of the trigger. The last two were on the other side of the bonfire and had been least affected by the flash bang. Even so, their reactions were too slow, and Adriana put a bullet in one’s stomach and the other’s heart.
Monique yelled, still confused by what was going on and unable to see anything.
Adriana unclipped the gun’s magazine. One round left. Beyond the light of the fire, she noticed a sudden movement through the windows in the mansion’s living room. She immediately recognized the other woman and knew what had happened. The curly blonde ran through the main floor with something cylindrical in her hand. Adriana didn’t need to see the painting to know what it was.