“No.” She glanced toward the back window, a hint of panic in her voice. “See the headlights? That’s them. They’re coming back.”
Dylan put on his helmet with his NVGs flipped up and then shouldered his pack. “We need to create a diversion, pin his men down.”
“How do we do that?”
“You stay here. I’ll be right back.” He ran into the kitchen, found a woman crouched down and crying.
Son of a bitch!
They couldn’t afford to leave witnesses behind. Whoever this woman was, she’d probably seen Gabriela kill Ruiz and his men. Now she’d seen Dylan’s face. But he couldn’t bring himself to kill her.
“Auntie, I won’t hurt you, but you need to run. This house is going to explode and burn. Is there anyone else here, anyone still alive?”
“N-no.” She stared at him in horror then fled out the back door.
He dropped to his knees, took a breaching charge out of his backpack, and stuck it to the stove. He carefully set up the fuse and rigged the detonator. Then he opened the oven door and turned on the gas, taking the detonator with him.
“How do we know which vehicle these keys belong to?”
Dylan took the keys on the run, looked at the logo. “We’re searching for a Land Rover. We’ve got to go—now.”
He lowered his NVGs, ran down the front steps, saw no sign of anyone, no glowing green shapes of human beings.
Behind them, the sound of engines drew closer.
They ran to the Land Rover, Gabriella clutching her side.
“Why don’t you let me drive this time?” He hopped into the driver’s seat, stuck the keys in the ignition, and started the engine but didn’t turn on the lights.
Gabriela climbed into her seat, looked back over her shoulder. “They’re coming.”
A half dozen headlights drove toward the hacienda, coming up some backroad that probably led to a private airport or helipad.
“It’s okay.” He reached over, took her hand, found it clammy.Shit. “They don’t know we’re in the vehicle, and they’re about to be very busy.”
He held up the detonator, pushed the button.
BLAM!
Hacienda Ruiz went up like a fireball.
With the headlights still off, Dylan drove down the driveway and out of the gate, leaving the burning hacienda behind them.
* * *
“Doyou know what you did back there?”
“I rescued us.” Gabriela pressed a blood-clotting trauma bandage against the wound in her side, the pain sharp, the momentary rush of elation she’d felt as they’d driven away replaced by a strange sense of … numbness.
“You also singlehandedly killed one of the most-wanted bastards in the world and twelve of hissicarios. What happened?”
Gabriela told him the whole story, words pouring out of her in a rush as she got to the part with the shooting, the whole thing like a dream. “I shot Ruiz and the two others with the Glock, then grabbed a guy’s rifle but forgot to switch the fire selector to auto, and so the others knew where I was before I was able to fire. The rifle was heavy, and the muzzle kept wanting to point at the ceiling, but I tried hard to hold onto it. I thought the guys torturing you would hear despite the soundproofing, but they didn’t, so I went straight down and opened the door. You know the rest.”
He reached over, rested a hand on her shoulder. “That took guts, Gabriela. You saved our lives. You’re one in a million.”
“I guess so.”
He glanced over at her, his brow furrowed. “How are you feeling?”