Hunt Them Down(36)
“We were supposed to grab only Tony Garcia’s daughter,” Hector explained. “We didn’t know who Leila was.”
“He won’t rest before he kills everyone involved,” Egan warned him.
“He’s only one man.”
“Maybe, but you have no idea what he’s capable of, my friend. He’s relentless, and he has nothing to lose. Please tell me his daughter is still alive.”
“She is.”
You’re a lucky man, then, Hector. He’ll kill you quickly.
“My suggestion to you is this,” Egan said. “Put a bag over her head, then drop her at a busy street corner. Then leave and never come back.”
He wondered if Hector would be clever enough to follow his advice. He wasn’t.
“Enough talking. The instructions are in the draft folder. Do your job, Mr. Granger,” Hector said, putting an end to the conversation. “And you’d better do it well.”
The line went dead. Shit!
He could try to leave. Go to Thailand or something. He had just over $4 million stashed away in a safe deposit box in the Bahamas and another half mil stashed in his house. Not a huge amount, but enough to live comfortably in Asia with Katherine and the kid. If it was him alone, he was confident they wouldn’t be able to track him down. But with Katherine and the kid in tow? Not so sure.
Was he ready to pay the ultimate price to find out?
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
Miami, Florida
Hunt followed Tasis into the main house. The faint smell of onions and cumin that came rolling out of the kitchen triggered a rush of emotions and memories. Some terrible ones, of course, but they weren’t all bad. He had shared some good laughs here with Tony and Anna.
Tasis’s voice reminded him things had changed since the last giggles.
“I’ll be here, watching. Please do something stupid,” Tasis whispered as Hunt walked past him and entered the living room, where Tony and Anna were seated.
Hunt didn’t bother to reply and instead scanned the living room to make sure there wasn’t anyone else waiting with a gun pointed at his head.
There was no one. Tasis closed the door behind him, and Hunt was left alone with Tony and Anna Garcia. Anna was seated next to her brother, and neither of them bothered to stand up. Anna’s arms were folded, and her face was an impassive mask that Hunt couldn’t read. But damned if she wasn’t the most beautiful woman he’d ever laid eyes on. The thought of her ripe curves beneath her summer dress still stirred his blood. Her brother, on the other hand, looked like he wanted to skin him alive.
It was Anna who broke the silence. She placed a reassuring hand on Tony’s arm and said, “Thanks for coming.”
Hunt nodded but didn’t say anything. It was kind of surreal to be in the same room as Anna and Tony. Twenty-four hours ago, that wouldn’t have been possible. But now they all had to face the incredible and delicate situation in which they found themselves.
“So you kept the note I gave you,” Hunt said.
“I wasn’t sure you’d call back.”
“I’m here, and I think that if we can help it at all, we shouldn’t let our emotions get in the way.”
Tony was looking at him with the most awful contempt.
“I’m sorry about your father, Anna,” Hunt added.
His words seemed to reverberate in the living room. Before Anna could stop her brother, Tony jumped out of his seat and came at him. Hunt ducked the first punch, blocked the second, and jabbed Tony in the chest before he could throw another one.
“Back off, Tony,” Hunt warned, feeling the adrenaline flowing through his body. He was getting mad too. He was here so that they could come up with a plan to find their daughters. If Tony needed to be knocked on his ass to realize they had to work together, Hunt was happy to oblige. But before this could happen, he had to let them know Leila was his daughter. He had no idea how they would react.
Tony’s face was red with anger, the veins in his neck bulging. His fists were clenched, and Hunt guessed he wasn’t about to back off despite his warning.
“How dare you talk about my father?” Tony roared. “He’s dead because of you.”
Tony telegraphed his next move and swung his fist toward Hunt’s chin. Hunt stepped back, and the fist missed by a couple of inches.
“Stop it, Tony!” Anna yelled, but to no avail. Tony grunted and threw a hook that Hunt parried with his forearm and countered with a pistonlike jab, catching Tony flush on the chin; he followed with a right hook that slammed into Tony’s cheek. The sound of bone against bone, with flesh caught in the middle, echoed off the living room’s windows. Tony took three steps back, a dazed look on his face.
“Goddamn it! Stop it, you two!” Anna screamed.
The commotion prompted Tasis to barge into the room with his MP5 swinging. Hunt raised his hands.
“We’re fine, Mauricio,” Anna said.
Tasis looked at Tony. For a moment, Hunt wondered if Tony was about to ask Tasis to execute him. But a subtle nod from Tony sent his enforcer back into the corridor with a loud sigh. It was obvious to Hunt that this wasn’t the outcome Tasis had hoped for.
“Have a seat, Tony, please,” Hunt pleaded. “Can we focus on the reason why I’m here?”
“This thing between us,” Tony replied as he sat, his eyes glinting with a fury Hunt had rarely seen, “it isn’t over.”