Tijuana Nights (The Nights Series Book 1) by Leigh K. Hunt Read Free Book Online

the floor. With the amount of blood and everything else, I was sure that half of his head was probably scattered on the desk. It felt as though everything was happening in slow motion. I gripped the binoculars tightly, keeping my eye on the room. She was going to walk back in, I just knew it.
    “Mack, we have to go.”
    “Yep, just one moment.” I breathed, keeping my eyes securely on the door.
    He grabbed my arm, pulling the binoculars away from me. “No. We need to go now. All hell is about to break lose, and we need to get out of here.”
    I saw the concern for me in his eyes. Was he worried about my apparent morbid curiosity? Or was there something else? I heard the scream come from the building loud and clear. I immediately turned with my binoculars. The mistress was in there, on her knees, screaming her head off. And she was looking directly at me, standing there like a meerkat watching her. She knew it was me, or that I at least had something to do with it. My stomach plummeted, and I tried to swallow the guilt. By the time I turned back, River had already packed up the rifle, and was keeping low as he shuffled across the roof.  I was quick to follow him.
    Once we got into the stairwell, he really picked up the pace and he all but flew down them. Adrenaline and fear coursed through me, allowing me follow just as quickly. I felt as though I could run a million miles. By the time we got outside, and ran down a back alleyway away from Filipo’s building, I could already hear sirens coming in our direction. We jumped into River’s truck, and he threw the rifle case into the backseat, only just missing my head as he did.
    “You saved a life today, Mack,” he said quietly as he started up the engine. “Well done. I would have taken her out.”
    Once again, numbness started to take over my senses. “Why?”
    River shook his head. “I don’t like witnesses.”
    We pulled out of the alleyway, and I looked down the road behind us. I could see a few police cars race across an intersection, lights flashing and sirens wailing. “What about them?”
    “What about them? The El Diablo Cartel owns most of the cops in this town anyway. They’re not going to do anything to us.” He checked his phone. “Not yet, anyway.”
    We joined the rest of the traffic, and I replayed the image of Filipo falling onto his desk. My heart pounded at the memory of all the blood and bits everywhere. It was a very quick death. “That was quite a humane way to die, really, wasn’t it?”
    “I like to think so. I trained as a sniper, and to be honest, regardless of what was said earlier – it’s my preferred method of killing. Doesn’t always happen that way though, not every situation is suitable for it. Killing up close and personal requires a certain level of skill. Sniper shooting is almost lazy in comparison.”
    I was silent for a few moments as I thought about River and his precise concentration up on that roofline, and then I remembered the phone call. “Hey, what did Gabe want?”
    River looked over at me. “It’s Carmen. She’s discovered that you weren’t on the plane.” He paused and sighed. “And she’s put a price on your head.”

5

    My blood ran cold. “How much,” I croaked.
    River reached over and grabbed my trembling hand. “Ten million US. She wants you caught and dead. It’s a large enough amount that it gives everyone in Mexico an incentive to hunt you down.”
    “Oh my God.” I suddenly couldn’t get enough oxygen. I opened the window, inhaling the warm Tijuana air, but it didn’t feel like enough. “I can’t breathe,” I whispered.
    River turned on the air-conditioning full blast, and handed me a bottle of water. “Drink,” he ordered. “You’re hyperventilating. The water will help you regulate your oxygen.”
    Fuck the water, I thought. Instead, I reached down to the bag at my feet, and before River could even utter a word of protest, I lit a cigarette. He coughed and spluttered in mock