We’ve barely been back from New Mexico for five minutes when the front door to Gabe’s villa slams open so hard that it smashes against the wall. Gabe storms into the kitchen a few seconds later with a face like thunder. "Putas, all of them!" He swipes a hand over his face before he kicks at a chair.

I drop my gaze to my phone in front of me. "Everything okay?"

"Oh, si. If having one of your moles feeding you false information like it's a pile of sugar-coated shit is okay, then I'm bueño." He kicks the chair again.

I sigh and look up at him. "Gabe, calm down. Sit." I get up and go to the liquor cabinet, taking out his favourite bottle of brandy and a glass. I place it on the breakfast bar and sit again.

"Now, I'm truly sorry about your fence post," he says grabbing the bottle and twisting off the top. He doesn't use the glass; he just places the rim to his mouth and gulps it back. He finally sits at the bar and hangs his head, tapping his fingers over the countertop. "We've looked everywhere and we can't find their filthy drugs." He shakes his head. "We need the fucking drugs so they don't have any more money. Putas..." While Jude has been making deals to cut supply from the American side, Gabe and his guys have started working on stealing drugs shipped from this side of the border. It makes sense, take their money and their means of making more money.

"They must know who your moles are, so we can't use them. Blowback is handling the American side of things; you blew up their factories...."

He lifts the bottle again and wipes his mouth before he sets it down. "I blew up their factories more as a shit on their face. It only takes a few days to get new one's up and running."

"But they have to ship it..." I tap my nails over the worktop. "It has to cross the border."

"My men have pulled over trucks of fertilizer, shaving cream, avocados, poultry." He slams his fist down. "Nada. I don't know where they're hiding it in. Next I guess we'll need to do cavity searches on their whores." He shakes his head.

I sigh, frowning down at a coffee ring stain on the white marble. Cavity search. Carrying drugs in the body of a human...or animal... I can't help but smile. "Gabe, why would a drug lord buy a ranch?"

His gaze drifts over to me. "Oh, the sneaky fuck."

"I was with Jésus when he bought a ranch about an hour outside of Juarez. I asked him about it at the time and he simply said that he was a business man."

"Do you remember where the ranch is?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"Where's Jude?" He pushes up from the stool, a wide grin set on his face.

"In your office," I say, jerking my head towards the door.

"Bookie!" he shouts. "Get your redneck ass out here, we're going to a ranch."

**break***

I bat at my leg when I feel something crawling up it. "Fucking. Bugs!" I shudder. "If I get a tick from this grass..." The thought makes me want to gag.

"You are something..." Jude mumbles.

"Jude, I swear to god." I slap at something else on the back of my neck.

We walk through shoulder high grass as we approach the iron barn. It’s the only building for miles around. Gabe's men file around us, clutching their rifles as we stalk towards it. Jude is right behind me breathing down my neck, of course. If he had it his way, I'd have been bound and gagged in one of the trucks the second I showed them where this place was. I told him: dogs die in hot cars.

Gabe holds up his hand and everyone ducks down. Jude grabs my arm and wrenches me down so hard I end up sprawled between his thighs. "Really?" I hiss. He quirks a brow.

"Look at those sick bastards," Gabe whispers, pointing at the guards standing on the other side of the barn. He nods at Jude and they both raise their guns, aim, and fire. There a small pop from the silencer, and seconds later both men fall to the ground.

Jude grabs me, dragging me behind him as he sprints towards the barn. He throws me up against the side and turns his back on me, shielding me with his body. I have to roll my eyes. Reaching for my gun, I pull it from the waist of my jeans and flick the safety off. The next few seconds are a blur. Bullets chink off the metal side of the barn, whizzing past in all directions. I have no idea where Gabe is, so I simply stay with Jude. Out of the corner of my eye I see a guy round the corner to my right. Jude is facing the other way, so I press my back against his, lift my gun, and shoot the guy between the eyes. Jude whirls around, placing his arm around my waist as though he's about to yank me out of the way.

Silence. The shooting has stopped, and we're both still standing, which is all that matters.

"Ese, come look at this shit." I turn around and catch Gabe jog back around the corner of the barn. I move around Jude and follow Gabe, stepping over the bodies of fallen Sinaloa men. The barn doors hang open, and as soon as I step inside, I'm assaulted by the smell of cow shit. There are boxes and boxes filled with what look like little rubber bullets piled around the room. I pick one up and inspect it.

"Genius,” Gabe says, grinning. “It's genius.” He takes the bullet from me and holds it up. "Using cows as drug mules…would have been better had it actually been mules used as drug mules, but…” he chuckles to himself.

"That's the drugs?" I point at the stack of boxes.

"Not enough," Jude says.

I glance over to the side of the room. Two of Gabe's men stand either side of a guy on his knees, the tell-tale snake tattoo of the Sinaloa covering his forearm.

Jude sighs as he walks up to the guy and crouches in front of him. "Where's the rest of the coke?"

The Sinaloa member grins, showing blood stained teeth before he spits on the dirt floor and curses in Spanish.

"Alright," Jude grabs his chin and forces the guy to look at him, "you're going to die..." He glances up at me. "I feel like a broken record sometimes, you know..." His attention goes back to the guy. "Like I was saying, you're going to die, but I can make it quick or I can drag it out because I've got all fucking day." He grins, and the way his dimples pop makes me swoon a little.

The guy remains silent. Throwing my head back, I groan. "He's not going to say shit, Jude. Just kill him already."

"Woman, would you let me work." He grabs the guys face and shoves fingers in the man's eyes which causes him to scream and writhe. "Tell me where the drugs are you piece of shit."

Again, the guy says nothing, just cries out in pain. They're tough, these cartel members, but it's not like we haven't done this before. "Look, Jude, I have mosquito bites in places only you will ever know about. It's hot, it smells like shit in here. Kill him!"

He glares at me, but I spot the slight curling of his lip, the shadow of a smile. "Don't test me, Tor. Not now."

"You really shouldn't," Gabe whispers. "Besides, I like to watch a good torture every once in a while."

I huff out a breath and bend down, yanking a knife from the inside of my boot. Moving behind the guy, I grab a fistful of his hair and yank his head back. I smile and wink at Jude, ramming the blade up against the guy’s throat and drawing a line of crimson blood across his skin. He starts begging and pleading with Jude to save him from the crazy puta.

Jude shrugs. "I have no control over her. Come on now, just tell us. Maybe I can talk the crazy lady down."

He hesitates. "Waste of my fucking time," I say, lifting the blade high in the air, aiming for the soft spot between his shoulder and throat. He blurts something in Spanish and Gabe holds his hand up, halting me.

Jude stands up with a smile. "Now, was that so hard?" He lifts the gun and shoots the guy right between the eyes. He falls to the side, his face landing in a pile of cow shit. I glance down at the blood splatter all over my white tank.

"You can't just wait for me to get out of the way?" I shake my head and walk off. The scent of blood and cow shit is all but choking me.

"Working my nerves, woman," he shouts. "Working my damn nerves."

I flip him off and I walk outside, dragging in a lungful of the dusty, desert air. At least we know where the drugs are now, and that means we're one step closer to destroying the Sinaloa. One step closer to the end, and one step closer to freeing Cayla.