The Vargas Cartel Trilogy (Vargas Cartel #1-3)(36)

I nodded instead of answering.

“I don’t know if they were alone. We need to move.”

“I don’t feel good,” I moaned, rolling to my side.

He brushed the hair off my forehead, studying my face. “I know.” He held out his hand. “Ready?” No, I was too lightheaded to move, but staying put wasn’t a viable option. Besides, I’d walk for days to get away from the mass murder scene in front of me.

I placed my hand in his. I didn’t have a choice. Ryker was a known quantity. I knew what he wanted, or at least I thought I did. On the other hand, the other men who might or might not be lying in wait in the shadows of the trees…I didn’t have a clue how they fit into the puzzle.

“Don’t look,” he warned, forcibly redirecting my face when my eyes darted toward the man I’d shot. He acted a second too late. The gunman was sprawled out on the ground on his back, a perfectly circular pool of blood staining his shirt, slowly spilling onto the ground mixing with dirt. The tree behind him was splattered with blood, and his eyes were fixed open, glassy with the emptiness of death.

“Walk with me,” he murmured as he threaded his fingers through mine.

He led me out of the jungle and toward the dirt road where I abandoned the car I’d stolen from the bed and breakfast. With each stride, ice settled inside my bones, and I squeezed Ryker’s hand tighter and tighter, strangling the circulation in his hand, but he didn’t complain.

A tiny moan of despair escaped from my lips, and I shoved my fist into my mouth, digging my teeth into my flesh, trying to stop the fear from leaking out of me and draining all my strength. My reality kept turning and twisting until my old life faded from memory like a discolored, worn out photo.

Two hours ago, I hated Ryker, and I would have done anything to escape him. Now, I had tethered myself to him, never wanting to let go. He’d have to pry my cold, dead hand out of his clasp, because I refused to let him leave me anytime in the foreseeable future. He was my new obsession, my one remaining link to sanity in the insane world that had become my reality, and maybe that’s what he wanted all along. I didn’t care.





Chapter Seventeen




“Shit,” Ryker muttered when we reached the car. He kicked the rear passenger door. “They slashed the tires.”

“We could still try to drive it,” I insisted, wanting to get away from the scene of my crime as quickly as possible. I’d take solitary confinement in the relatively safe confines of the villa any day over being hunted by a mercenary band of defunct cartel members.

“Maybe on paved roads, but not on the dirt roads in the jungle.” Lines bracketed his normally sensual mouth.

“We’re walking?”

“Just back to the bed and breakfast if we’re lucky.” Ryker moved fast, practically dragging me down the dirt road by our entwined hands, but I didn’t hesitate.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Ryker didn’t answer. He just shook his head.

My stomach clenched. “Tell me,” I demanded. His silence scared me more than the truth. Mentally, I needed to prepare myself for the worst.

“They probably slashed the car tires at the bed and breakfast too.”

“So what? We’ll be stuck at the bed and breakfast until someone comes to get us.” I didn’t know who that someone would be…maybe Ignacio or one of the men under his command.

“No. We can’t stay there for more than a few minutes. We need to keep moving.”

A shudder flitted down my spine. “Can’t we call someone?”

“I don’t have a phone.”

“Why not?” I gaped.

“I was in a hurry to leave yesterday. Remember?” he snapped.

“So we’re just going to roam through the jungle until what? Somebody finds us?”

“No. We’re not going to roam anywhere. We’re going to head in the direction of the villa.”

“How far is the villa?”

“Approximately fifteen miles. Maybe twenty.”

“If we don’t have a car, we’ll never make it there before dark.”

“I know.”

“I don’t want to be stuck in the jungle tonight.” I hated admitting it, but the thought of sleeping on the dirt floor with bugs and snakes didn’t sound restful. I’d rather walk through the night.

“What are you afraid of?”

“Bugs and snakes,” I answered honestly.

“Bugs and snakes are the least of our worries.”

“What?”

“Shh,” he whispered. “We’re close.” He paused and I nearly slammed into his back. “We’re going to walk around to the back of the building, staying just inside the perimeter of the trees.”

With extreme effort, I convinced myself everything would be fine, we’d find a car in relatively good condition, and we’d be back at the villa before sunset. A moment later, we were one hundred yards from the back of the bed and breakfast. It was quiet…unnaturally quiet.

Ryker pointed to a tree stump. “Sit there. I’ll be back in ten minutes.”

“Wait.” I clung to his hand. “I want to go with you.”

“No.” He peeled his hand away from mine. “You’ll be safer here.”