Massive Attack (A Guy Niava Thriller Book 1) by Dana Arama (diy ebook reader TXT) 📕

“Raphael, I need you to calm your men and have them put down their weapons. We will leave quietly. Gail and your soldier will accompany us, and we will part as friends.”

“Where are you going from here?” he inquired and then added, “I will need to send someone to pick them up.”

“We’ll be going north, and our people will pick us up. They will let you know when they are safe. They won’t need to be picked up, but they may need a security escort after we leave the area.”

He nodded and said, “I am not happy about this, but I will be even unhappier if the Mossad hunts me down.” He smiled at Gail and said, with surprising tenderness, “At least I am sure that your sister will protect you.”

Gail looked angrily at Laura and announced, “She never looked out for me when we were kids, but I am sure now that she will look after me so well that I doubt she will let me return to you.”

“Don’t let that worry you now. Nothing and no one will come between us.”

“I want you to restrain them before we open the door,” I said, cutting their love scene short.

El Desconocido shot me a disdainful look, but without arguing picked up the phone and pressed a button. Apparently, it was an estate-wide public address system, for we heard his voice throughout the estate: “Amigos, soldiers…” Outside, the noises quietened down. “I am leaving the room with friends. Put your weapons down, because now is not the time for war.”

Zorro translated his words. El Desconocido was definitely planning to hunt us down. This was not the time, which meant that the right time was yet to come. Our invasion had harmed his soldiers, killed some of them even, and now we were taking his beloved. Those were actions that a drug lord, no matter how civilized, could not accept peacefully. Our actions required retaliation, but not now. El Desconocido was smart and level-headed. He would retaliate, but at a time and a place of his choosing.

“Gail will leave first. Just so you are aware, in case you weren’t clear enough with your men, she is going to be in the line of fire.”

El Desconocido once again picked up the phone and his voice was heard outside. “I am warning you… Put your weapons down! If anyone dares to shoot, I will roll his body in tar and burn him and his family alive!”

The door opened slowly, and Gail peeked outside first. “Don’t shoot!” she ordered.

They were everywhere and very angry. It was no wonder; we had humiliated them, entered their guarded territory, killed their friends. They were angry and what kept them at bay was the look on their boss’s face and his threat. Would someone defy his word? I wondered if one of them was family or friends of one of the soldiers that had been hit – if so, their need for revenge would be stronger than the need to obey an order.

Everyone else in the room followed, with El Desconocido in the middle and Gail in the front. We walked like in a funeral procession, the silence around us extremely tense. With a serene expression on my face, I tried to ascertain any movement, slow or sudden, a defiant gaze or a silent signal between two people. I also sharpened my hearing to hear a gun or rifle being loaded, a rapid movement followed by a swish of material or a crunch of gravel underfoot, a second before taking position to shoot. There had been no promise that there wouldn’t be someone who’d like to take the opportunity to kill off everyone in our gang, including the boss, to take over his position.

“Hurry up!” I ordered quietly and the whole gang took longer strides.

We entered what looked like a garage. There were seven vehicles. “Which car would you like?” El Desconocido asked the room -- but I knew expected an answer from me.

“We’ll take this one,” I said and pointed towards a white van, similar to one the dead meth cooks had used.

I preferred this van to a Jeep, which was open and would therefore turn each and every one of us into targets. The van provided a cover from snipers. I just hoped it didn’t have a built-in GPS, or if it did that it didn’t work or was otherwise faulty. A slow connection will allow us to continue with our plan without revealing our direction in real time.

“The keys are in the vehicle. Just allow me to say goodbye to my beloved.”

Zorro’s eyes widened, but Gail sidled up to him, arms open for a hug, and didn’t seem to want to let go. She stood on her tiptoes, her arms around his neck, his hands on her hips. He burrowed his face into the curve of her neck and inhaled deeply of her scent. Suddenly Hadas’ face flashed through my mind. I turned my head away from them involuntarily.

“Okay, okay, we don’t have all day.” Zorro clearly found it hard to deal with her loss. The two lovers parted, and Gail climbed into the back of the van. El Desconocido pointed at me and announced, “I am holding you responsible for her safety. Don’t let Zorro near her. Don’t let her even touch one strand of hair on her head. Make sure she comes back by the end of the day.”

“We will set her free as soon as we are out of danger and regroup with the American forces who are waiting to pick us up at the northern border,” I said. “That is where I’ll relinquish my responsibility.”

I ordered Laura to climb into the back of the van. I directed Gomez to sit in the driver’s seat, with Zorro next to him. I sat on the other side of Gail. This was an effective way to