Chapter 41

Bullets battered the couch Steele huddled behind. Bullets whizzed over his head. He blindly pointed the assault rifle over the top of the couch to where he believed the shots were coming from and sprayed bullets until the magazine emptied. He quickly ejected it and took a fully-loaded one from the waistband of his pants, inserted it, and loaded a live round into the chamber. After a slight pause, the bullets started again, pelting the couch and hitting the wall behind him. A crystal vase on the table next to where Steele was crouched blew apart. Shards of glass spattered him. Somehow the expensive vase had escaped the barrage of bullets before that. How long will Steele be able to do that?

Steele had promised Bella that he’d protect her family. What would happen to them if he was killed? Steele pointed the rifle over the couch and fired a few more ineffective rounds. He couldn’t keep shooting blindly. He had to risk exposing himself. There was no other way.

Steele crawled to the other end of the couch. The side nearer the front door where he had first dived behind the couch. The shooting was not continuous. A burst of bullets. A pause. A burst of bullets. The shooter probably didn’t want to use up all his ammo. Steele waited for a pause and then leaned out the side of the couch with his rifle pointing up at the top of the staircase.

Steele jumped back behind the couch as bullets bounced off the floor next to him and whizzed over his head. He grabbed his shoulder. It felt like a bee had stung him. He pulled his hand away. There was blood on it. But it was only a flesh wound. The bullet merely took off skin and a little flesh.

Steele crawled back to the other end of the couch. There was another pause in the shooting and then he heard men speaking in Spanish. Now there were more than one. His odds were getting worse.

Steele laid the rifle down and took the Glock out of his waistband. The shooter must have seen the barrel of the rifle when he had leaned out from behind the couch. Steele slid the rack back partway to make sure a round was in the Glock’s chamber and took one breath and let it out. He leaned around the side of the couch with the pistol in his left hand pointing in the direction of where Marco had been standing. There were two men. Marco was mostly hidden behind the wall. A slimmer man, naked from the waist up with a large tattoo of a bird decorating his chest, was walking down the steps with a submachine gun aimed at the side of the couch where Steele had been. He was taking each step carefully, continually looking down because of the damage done by the grenade. Marco would peek from behind the wall, fire a burst of bullets where Steele had been, and duck back immediately. He was providing cover for the tattoo man.

Steele fired two quick shots. The man on the staircase fell and tumbled down the stairs. Steele jumped back behind the couch when Marco leaned out from behind the wall and opened fire. On his hands and knees, Steele scurried to the other end of the couch and peeked before pulling his head back. The man with the chest tattoo lay motionless at the foot of the stairs, one leg straight out on the steps and the other folded under him.

A new burst of bullets pounded the couch and ricocheted off the floor at the end of the couch Steele had peeked around. He moved more to the middle and waited. Using the Glock had worked against the man on the stairs. It was his best bet for getting Marco. But Marco was partly hidden behind the wall. The shot would take skill—and luck.

Steele’s muscles tensed as he was about to raise up over the back of the couch and fire. His only chance was for Marco to be aiming somewhere else, and up until now Steele had only fired from the sides. Hopefully the surprise would afford Steele enough time to make his shot. And that he would hit his target. And that if he didn’t, he’d get out of the way fast enough not to be shot. That were a lot of ifs.

Steele was rising up when he saw movement to his right. He dropped back down and swung his pistol at the doorway. His finger tightened around the trigger, but he didn’t shoot. The man at the door held a shotgun. His bushy red hair gave him away.

Red Maran fired the shotgun toward the top of the stairs. Steele rolled out from behind the couch and, lying on his back, fired up at Marco. Several bullets went into the wall, but one hit Marco in the thigh and another his hip. Marco cried out and ducked behind the wall.

Steele jumped to his feet and rushed to the middle of the room. He stood in the open. Holding his Glock in one hand and cupping that hand in his other hand. Pointing the pistol at the place where Marco had been. One submachine gun lay on the floor. Marco had the other one. Steele waited.

The muzzle of the other submachine gun came out from behind the wall. Then the barrel and a hand. Steele waited. Breathing softly. And then a shoulder appeared. Steele waited. Aimed. Marco’s head came out from behind the wall. Steele fired.

The submachine gun fell from Marco’s hands as he grabbed his cheek. Steele fired twice more. One bullet entered Marco’s chest. The other hit him under his left eye. Marco dropped to the floor.

Steele turned to Red. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“Looks like saving your ass.”

“You’re right about that, but what are you doing here?”

“I had a chat with Bella. She’s a real nice lady. She told me why you brought her to my place. Why she was hiding. How Perez used her. I looked at her kids and all I wanted to do was kill the man. So here I am.”

“Who’s watching them?”

“No one. I told them if we don’t come back to call Buck.”

“Well, I’m glad you came. I was in a tight spot.”

Red laughed. “Bullshit. You were getting your ass kicked.”

“Let’s just say I didn’t have many options left.”

“Anyone else around?” Red said.

“Haven’t checked yet. I got ambushed when I entered the house.”

“Then let’s have a look around.”

“You take the lower level,” Steele said. “I’ll check upstairs.”

Red went off and Steele stuck his Glock into his waistband and retrieved the assault rifle. He climbed the damaged stairs, taking each step as if he was walking on eggs. He stepped over a severed hand from the dead man who had been blown off the staircase when the grenade went off. At the top, he stared down at Marco lying in a pool of blood.

Steele checked the first bedroom he came to. It was empty. He opened the door to the next one. A dark-complexioned woman with long black hair and a black eye was lying naked on the bed. She screamed and yanked the bedsheet up to her chin. She was trembling.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” Steele said.

The woman stared at him with wide, frightened eyes.

“¿Hablo inglés?“ Steele said.

“Sí. Yes.”

“Are you alone?”

“Carlos was with me.”

“Does Carlos have a big tattoo of a bird on his chest?”

“Sí.”

“He won’t be coming back.”

The woman’s eyes darted to Steele’s assault rifle. She clutched the bedsheet to her chin and chewed her bottom lip.

“Don’t worry, I won’t hurt you,” Steele said. “What are you doing here?”

The woman’s head dropped. “I’m one of Marco’s women.”

“Are you forced to be here?”

The woman nodded.

“Marco is dead.”

The woman’s head shot up. Her jaw dropped and her mouth hung open.

“Is anyone else in the house?” Steele said.

“There are guards.”

“In the house?”

“Sometimes they come in.”

“Are there any other women like you here?”

The woman looked down.

“What’s the matter?” Steele said.

“There’s a girl in the basement. Last night...” The woman’s voice choked up. “They brought me down there.”

“What for?”

“I put on a show.”

“With the girl?”

The woman nodded.

“Get dressed. I’ll take you away from here. Do you have anywhere to go?”

The woman looked up. Tears streaked both cheeks. “Gracias! Gracias! Yes. I have a family. Two boys and a girl.”

“I’ll be back soon. Be dressed and ready.”

Steele left the bedroom to continue his search. The second floor was mostly bedrooms and bathrooms. No one else was there so he returned to the bedroom with the Hispanic woman. She was sitting on the side of the bed clothed in a white crop top that stretched across her braless chest and left her belly bare. The clingy material showed her nipples clearly. Her black miniskirt rode up her thighs almost to her crotch. She jumped off the bed when Steele peeked into the room.