Page 6 of Breached

“What the fuck!” I shouted in disbelief, and I grabbed the nearest thing I could find and threw it at him. He ducked with a yelp as it smashed into the wall behind him.

“How dare you grab my arm! You made me hit them!” I screamed, feeling the cords in my neck pop. “You idiot! You just screwed everything up. You⁠—"

“Jefe,” one of the men on the roof called over the radio, “I see the mujer y niño.”

“Wait! The woman and child—They are alive.” Armondo’s eyes were wide as he stared at me. I knew he understood his life could be over for interfering with my shot.

I leaned into the frame of the window and took a deep breath to contain my urge to kill my right-hand man. Once again, that shadow of a doubt inched its way into my head that he might be double crossing me. Armondo never missed—until recently. Not to mention his phone was in my office when it shouldn’t have been. Was I being double crossed?

“Grab them both!” I ordered. “Kill anyone who tries to stop you.” My temper cooled, and my mood improved slightly.

“Fire!” Armondo signaled the men, and the sound of bullets and screams filled the air. It soothed my head as I imagined the unprepared soldiers scrambling to make sense of what was happening on their own precious soil.

“What is happening?” I grabbed Armondo’s radio and demanded a report from the man on the roof.

“Un momento,” a voice replied, and I squinted to see the activity outside the window. Fire trucks arrived and blocked my view.

“I said I want an update,” I yelled again.

“The mujer got hit, but she seems to be okay. She and the kid are inside the restaurant.”

“Fuck!” I felt my mood plummet again.

Armondo stood behind me. “We need to leave. Who knows who will be next to arrive.” I didn’t move as I felt my jaw tick, and my need to shed blood became stronger. “Bruno, we have to go,” Armondo repeated.

I wasted no time and charged past him outside and jumped into the passenger side of the moving truck that was parked there for us. He climbed in next to me and started the engine.

“Jefe…Boss, we are getting slaughtered out here. We need help!” I heard the man’s voice as he screamed through the radio.

“I never agreed to any help. Kill every last one of them.” I tossed the radio out the window as Armondo drove up the street, carefully passing police cars. “Tell me the tracker is still working!”

He glanced at his phone while he drove then he slowly shook his head.

“Ahhh!” I drove my fist into the glove box.

THREE

NICOLE

The morning after the funeral, the house was quiet. I suspected most would sleep in after the emotional toll. My eyes felt dry and scratchy, and my head was fuzzy. I could only imagine how the rest of the family felt.

A few members of the staff were in the kitchen; I could smell pancakes. Savannah had to bring in a few more people to help out at the house, and thanks to Frank and his Washington connections, a few heavily vetted staff members were flown out to help out. After a quick good morning, I grabbed a mug and poured a bit of water in it to pop a pain pill. Not that I’d admit it, but the whole healing from a gunshot thing was incredibly painful. I knew Paul was concerned about me, but I was healing, just not as fast as they probably did—I’m not good at slowing down—but we were all guilty of that.

I tossed the rest of the water in the sink and filled the mug with coffee. It tasted like heaven, and I moved to the window, closed my eyes, and took a deep breath. I had to focus on taking a moment for me. When I opened them again, I spotted Olivia down on the dock with a blanket wrapped around her shoulders. I knew she was struggling, so I slipped on my jacket, boots, and hat, then with my coffee in hand, I headed outside to join her.

I could tell she heard me coming by the way her shoulders rose.

“Mom, I’m fine,” she muttered with her back turned. I knew Savannah was deeply concerned about her daughter as she blamed herself for her brother’s injury.

I stopped next to her and rested my arms on the railing as I sipped my coffee and looked out over the lake.

“Oh, hi, Nicole.” Her voice shot up. “I’m sorry. I thought you were Mom again.”

I smiled at her. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it? Almost unreal.” I sighed. I looked around and wanted to pinch myself. The snow sat heavily on the trees, the lake was frozen over, and the silence was like aloe to the brain. I had always been drawn to the heat and chaos of Mexico and places like it. I never thought I’d ever enjoy mountains and snow. Even the cold didn’t bother me.

Olivia shared the view, and though she was quiet on the outside, I was sure her mind was anything but.

“I forgot what it’s like to be still,” I whispered after a few minutes. “With my job, I’m always running, always looking for the next story, but here, I’m still.”