We Have a Problem
**TINY**
“Fuck,” I hiss, dropping low behind a few jagged rocks that jut out of the ocean and cut into the shoreline, like Neptune’s gateway into the deep. It’s the last source of cover before you hit the quarter mile of unblemished sand that stretches toward the cottage beyond the beach. “Get down,” I snap, keeping my eyes trained on the movement I see along the pier.
There are men there, walking around the back of Santos’ place. Men that I *don’t* recognize. Men that *were not* there last night.
“What is it?” Damien chirps, settling on the ground next to me and peeking between the rocks toward the house. “Damn it!” he gripes, spying another couple of men walking around from the front.
“That makes four so far outside on the dock,” I comment offhandedly. “There are probably a couple in the house as well.” Reaching in my pocket for the compact binoculars that I always have handy, I shine them up and peer through them toward the road. Two black SUVs now flank Santos’ jeep in the driveway, *blocking* his only exit. “It’s got to be Angeletto and Delgado Carillo. They’re earlier than Ruby expected.”
Changing my line of sight, I trace the back windows of the house, hoping I might be able to see what is going on inside, but the sun is too high at the moment and the glare prevents that.
“I haven’t heard any gunshots yet,” Damien remarks, studying the ocean behind us. “I wonder how many sharks are in this water.”
I snort, my eyes catching on a glint of light, far up on the hill, where Ruiz’s men were stationed. My phone buzzes in my pocket and I curse, handing Damien the binoculars while I wrestle the device out of my back pocket.
“It’s Ruby,” I say flatly. “Keep your eyes on those men,” I say absently, hitting the accept button on my screen.
“Oh! Sure thing boss,” Damien grumbles. “Asshole.”
Rolling my eyes I place the phone at my ear, waiting for someone to speak just in case it *isn’t* Ruby. I hear voices in the background on the other end of the line. *Familiar* voices. Mickey’s is one of them, I’d know his hostile baritone anywhere, and the other is… *Alex?* I’m actually a little surprised. I mean, he’s not exactly a field assassin. *Not* that he isn’t an efficient killer, he just tends to handle things on his home turf. And… he’s selfish. Probably *the* most selfish prick that I’ve ever met. Who's watching over his assets while he’s gone? Who’s doing the clean-up and making sure that thirty car pile-up that he left at his house doesn’t blow smoke to the wind? He’s risking *a lot* being here. He usually just sends Damien.
“We have a problem,” the Raider’s cool clipped voice comes over the line and I allow myself to breathe a short sigh of relief.
“I can see that,” I reply, keeping my eyes on the dock. “Are you out?”
“I am. So is Antonio. But Ro…” she growls
My blood freezes, my normally even heartbeat suddenly combatting with my ribs as I recall what was said last night about Ruiz threatening to throw Romany off the roof. My pulse is hitting harder than a sledgehammer as immediately begin calculating the odds of my taking out four unknown men with nothing more than the hunting knife hidden in my boot. It would have to be silent. I would have to draw them down from the pier *after* I made it across the empty beach in broad daylight. *Without* being spotted no less. I’d have to swim like I did last night and I don’t have my pack, nor the cover of darkness on the waves.
The odds aren’t looking good.
I could settle for making a fuck ton of noise when I got there… but that might put Romany in the line of fire and I definitely don’t want *that.*
“Fuck,” I hiss, disappointed in myself when I can’t think of a quick way to get to her.
“She’s okay for now,” Ruby says placatingly. “Antonio is in contact with Ruiz and he’s been giving him the rundown on what’s happening inside.”
“Ruiz?” I say quietly. “The same Ruiz that threatened her life yesterday?”
All that Ruby says to that is, “Things have changed since yesterday.”
*Are you fucking serious, Red?*
I want to scream, I want to *shout.* I want to tell her that she’s lost her fucking mind if she thinks she can blindly trust that Spanish demon inside that house. I’m so close to *losing* my shit that I almost hang up the phone on her, but then I remind myself that panicking is a guaranteed way to lose any fight and I force myself to go as rigid as stone. Locking my muscles to contain my anger as I portray the robot Damien accused me of being.
“You left her there. With Ruiz as her bodyguard,” I say flatly, trying for clarification and maybe a little reflection as well. Maybe hearing it said that way will tighten the screws she’s obviously got loose and she’ll realize what she just said to me.
Damien whispers, “She did fucking what?” He’s clearly in shock and for once he and I are on the same page.
"I left her *nowhere!* I am still here!" Ruby snarls into the phone. “Whatever it is you are thinking, stop right now. I don’t have time to hold your hand and explain my reasons. Just know that if it hadn't been for Ruiz, Antonio and I would likely be in his bed leaking our life’s blood out onto the sheets. And Romany would already be gone or worse. The *only* reason why they haven’t left with her yet is because they can’t find Antonio. *He* is the main reason why they are here. They heard that he was leaving the country in secret and they knew he would be virtually alone, so…”
“So they couldn’t pass up the opportunity to execute him,” I finish for her. Because Santos not only has more territory than Angeletto and Carillo combined, but he’s got enough men under him to go to war with three other districts if he wants to. He monopolizes quickly and breeds loyalty and dedication in his men. He also refuses to answer to anyone. Kind of like Mickey.
“Right,” she says. “They want what’s his and if he dies, Delgado absorbs his assets.” She curses and I can practically see her gazing down at the beach when she says, “Where are you two?”
“Just behind the first shield on the south side of the beach,” I tell her, at the same moment a far off buzzing reaches my ears. I slap Damien’s shoulder to get his attention and then point toward the open sea. He turns his sights toward northern waters with sudden intensity, his brow furrowed as the noise grows louder. The sound is consistent with the hum of a boat’s engine and judging by the increase in volume, I’d say the damn thing was headed in this direction.
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