The Relic Runner Origin Story Box Set Ernest Dempsey (top 10 books of all time txt) 📖

Dak turned his head left and right. "I don't think that's how it works, Luis. Unless you had designs on taking over the cartel yourself. Is that your plan?"

Luis paused for a second, considering the question. "I don't want to be the head of a cartel, Dak. I never wanted any of this. And I didn't want to leave you in that cave."

"Ah. But you did it anyway."

"Bo would have killed me. You know that."

"Yeah," Dak said with a nod. "So, to save your own neck, you were willing to cut mine."

"No," Luis said, shaking his head vigorously. "When they buried you in that cave, leaving you for dead, I hoped you would get out. Then I heard about how you returned to base, how the colonel tried to arrest you."

"I suppose you tried to tell him I was innocent, that Bo and the others… that you were the ones who betrayed me?"

Luis dropped his head. His chin nearly rested on his chest. "No. I didn't." He lifted his head to meet Dak's piercing gaze again. "I wish I had, but I didn't. I can't go back and change that now."

"Nope."

"But I can help you find the others," Luis insisted.

For a split second, Dak let down his guard and felt a pang of hope flutter in his chest. "What did you say?"

"Williams, Collier, and Trask. I know where they are."

"Williams is dead," Dak informed as if mentioning he'd squashed a bug.

Luis looked surprised. "Dead?"

"I suspect he's at the bottom of the ocean right now off the coast of Miami. I wasn't the only person he owed a debt."

"I see."

Dak let him stew before he spoke again. "Why? Why do you know where they went, Luis?"

Luis sighed. "Because I knew that one day you would find me."

"And you thought helping me would save you?" Dak spoke with cold steel in his voice.

"No," Luis said dejectedly. "I did it because it was the only thing I could think of to right the wrong. I should have stood up to Bo and the others. I made a mistake, a big one. I know that. I knew it all along and was too afraid to do the right thing."

Dak considered the irony. He'd witnessed Luis in battle. The man was a fierce warrior, as strong and courageous as any he'd seen, yet he cowered to Bo, not just in the cave, but all the time. Dak wondered what it was about the man that Luis feared, but now wasn't the time to ask.

"You don't know where Bo is?" Dak pressed.

Luis shook his head. "No. I'm sorry, Dak. I did try to find him, but he's dropped off the map. Collier and Trask did too, for a while. They were difficult to locate. But Mendoza's resources are… were considerable." He regarded the dead man to his right with a tilt of the head. "Trask is in Colorado. Bought property on a mountain. I figure he probably built a cabin there, went off-grid."

"That didn't help him, though, did it?"

"Collier was trickier," Luis said, ignoring the question. "Last I heard, he was in Kentucky in a—" Luis stopped abruptly and pressed his earpiece.

Dak heard it too.

A man's voice spoke frantically in Spanish. Within seconds, another voice joined the first. Soon after, shouts came from various points outside the mansion.

"They know you're here," Luis said.

"Thanks," Dak said, his response smothered in sarcasm. "My Spanish isn't that bad."

Dak took his eyes off Luis and turned as he heard footsteps rushing toward him. A guard ran recklessly around the corner and Dak squeezed the trigger. The round caught the man squarely in the chest and dropped him to the ground in mid-stride. The guy slid to a halt near the grand piano.

More voices filled the radio, ordering men to secure Mendoza. They didn't know it was too late for that, or that their head of security was the one who'd killed him.

Dak slammed the heavy doors shut and bolted them. There were still the windows along the outer wall, though, and that would make them easy targets.

"How many men are still here?" Dak demanded, stalking over to the desk where Luis still stood.

"We only left sixteen in reserve," Luis said. "The rest went to pay Esperanza a visit."

"I figured."

Luis looked puzzled, then realization washed over him. "It was you," he said. "You were the one who set up the deal to screw over Mendoza. But… how did you know?"

"Not the time, Luis. Please hold your questions until the end of the gun battle." Dak stepped around behind the desk and grabbed the back of Mendoza's chair. He glanced at his ex-teammate. "But yes, it was me."

He shoved the chair out of the way, sliding it around to the front of the desk.

"What are you doing?" Luis wondered. Still holding his pistol, he considered pointing it at the back of Dak's head and executing him in cold blood. It would be easy. The intruder had let his guard down. Luis could kill him, then blame the American for the assassination of their leader. With Mendoza out of the way, Luis would make the obvious successor to the throne. He felt his fingers tightening on the pistol.

He exhaled and loosened his grip.

"Putting Mendoza between us and anyone else who might be coming. A gunshot popped from somewhere outside the building. A window shattered to the right, near the far corner of the room.

"Here they come," Dak said. He ducked down behind the desk once more, using it as a barricade.

Luis did the same, taking cover next to his former friend as they'd done in combat so many times before.

"So, what's the plan?" Luis asked. "We wait here and shoot our way out?"

"Something like that." Dak stole a peek over the top of the desk and noted the shooter's location outside. Darkness descended onto the estate, but with it came the bright glow of floodlights that switched on automatically.

The gunman fired again, this time letting loose a flurry of