No wonder Juarez is the crime capitol of the world. Within a matter of twelve hours, I've found six guys willing to go take over Jésus' house. Of course, they don't exactly know it's his house... Six guys are not exactly enough to take down Jésus' fully guarded house, so I have to make sure he's out of there. And there's only one way to do that—have him think he's got a drug trade he can't resist, and use his own men against him.

The sun's not yet come up when I park outside the tiny brick house of one of Jésus' dealers, which makes it easy for me and Marney to slip between the bushes and the house.

"Aw, shit..." Marney mumbles. "Stepped in dog shit."

I turn and glare at him, placing my finger over my lips as I slowly stand up beside the car and tuck my gun into the waist of my jeans. "Watch for me."

Marney nods and cocks his gun as he turns to face the house. I take the wooden wedge and shove it in the crack at the top of the door. Just a little elbow grease and there's just enough space to slip the coat hanger inside. Carefully, I feed the wire hanger through, narrowing my eyes when I try to press the unlock button. I nearly have it pressed when the wire slips. "Shit." I try again, and just like that, the lock pops and the interior lights buzz on.

"Alright, now you go wait around back," I whisper to Marney. "After he comes out, you sneak in. I'll call you, so have your ringer on."

Marney nods and disappears around the side of the house. I climb in, lock the doors, and crawl into the very back of the SUV to lie down and wait.

The suns just peeked over the horizon when I hear a dog barking followed by a man shouting for him to shut up. The click of the locks sets a jolt of adrenaline through me and I steady my breathing. The door opens and closes. The engine cranks and some godawful R & B song blares through the speakers. The car backs up, gravel crunches underneath the tires. I move just enough that I can see out the window from where I'm lying. The tops of houses whir past, and when there's nothing but sky, when I feel the pavement grow rough and bumpy, I know we're in the desert.

My heart hammers in my chest. I close my eyes for a brief moment before I pop over the backseat, wrap my arm around his neck, and press the loaded gun to the man's head. He swerves off the road and my finger nearly slips on the trigger before his hands go straight to my arm, clawing.

"Don't fight me," I say and pull my forearm tighter over his throat. He gasps for breath, mumbling something. "I won't kill you. I just need a favor, so why don't you go ahead and put your hands around the headrest." He doesn't budge and I dig the gun deeper into his temple. "Do it. Now." I loosen my grip a little as I reach around and yank his gun from his belt.

"Just shoot me."

"Well, you see," I sigh. "There's a little bit more to this than just you, you got a baby on the way..." He freezes, I feel his Adam's apple bob underneath my arm when he swallows. "So, I suggest you just go ahead and put your arms behind the head rest here. And trust me, you don't want to fight me. If you kill me, or I kill you, your girlfriend and baby will pay the price." I feel like a piece of shit for even doing something like this. It makes me no better than Jésus and Ronan, but I just want my woman back. Call me selfish.

I keep the gun pressed to his head, remove my arm from his throat, and he places his arms around the headrest. I pull a zip tie from my pocket and bind his hands before I climb into the front seat, never dropping the gun from his head. "Alright," I say as I dig my phone out and press Marney's number. "What I want is simple." The phone rings. "I just need you to set up a meeting with Jésus for some time tomorrow. Tell him you have a new client that wants to give him a thirty percent cut to use his trucks or some shit that he'll believe. You figure that out. I just need him and his fucking men out of that house for an hour."

He narrows his gaze, slightly shaking his head.

The phone is still ringing and panic slowly rises in my chest. "I didn't ask you if you wanted to do it, did I?"

The phone rings again before it clicks over. "Yep," Marney huffs.

"Jesus, that took long enough."

"When a man has to shit, he has to shit."

Groaning, I close my eyes. "Put her on." Static rustles the line, and I met the guy's gaze. "I really don't want to have her killed..." I say, and put the phone on speaker.

"Alright, tell him," Marney says. I can see the guy's eyes swirling with fear and worry. There's a loud sob on the other line. "Ah, come on now, I done told you I ain't gotta hurt you as long as he does right." Another long cry.

The man's eyes are watering with tears and a fog of helplessness rolls over them. That's a look I know all too well. But this is the price men like he and I pay. When you have only one weakness, it's what everyone goes after. And love—that is a weakness on every damn level.

"Pepe," she sniffs. "Pepe?"

"Please don't hurt her," he pleads with me.

"Pepe, haz lo que quieran." And she breaks down into loud wails.

I hang up the phone and glare at him. "Now, you gonna make that meeting with Jésus or not?"

***break***

I focus the binoculars, watching as Jésus and about seven of his men climb into Hummers and pull away from the compound. I send the text to Dingo the lead mercenary I hired signaling that it's a go. Minutes later, a black Silverado pulls up beside my car and four men file out. They're dressed in black, their faces covered by ski masks. Marney looks at me before tossing an uneasy glance out the window. "Where'd the dickens did you find them, a Zorro convention?"

"Some gang banger at a bar slipped me Dingo's contact for fifty bucks."

"Dingo?" Marney says. "You made a deal with a man named Dingo?"

"Would you..." The back door opens and the men climb inside, guns strapped to their chest.

The one who climbed in first nods. I put the car in drive and pull off. Another car follows behind us, winding down the hillside. We go around a sharp curve, and I cut the headlights just before we near the end of Jésus' private drive and pull over behind one of the large shrubs.

"No," one of the men say. "No me estoy involucrando con Jésus Lopez."

Marney turns slightly in his seat and glances at me. I can see his gun moving ever so slightly. An argument breaks out in the backseat and within seconds there's a loud bang and the small flash from a pistol firing, one of the men slumps over in the seat dead.

"I pay them for professionalism," on man says. "I apologize."

Marney faces the front. "Well, hell."

We pull up and file out of the car, slinking around the outskirts of the landscape. Dingo and his men go ahead of me and Marney. As soon as the gates are in sight, Dingo fires two lethal shots, and the guards fall like trees. We hurry toward the entrance, climbing over the gates and dropping to our feet on the other side.

There's shouting followed by gunfire and we rush toward the tree line on the edge of the property. A bullet hits one of the trees behind me. I glance up and catch one of the men on the roof, so I aim and shoot, watching as he stumbles before toppling over the edge and landing in the bushes beside the house. A hail of gunfire breaks out. The bullets nick the trees we're using as cover, bark flying off in every direction.

We shoot until there is a moment of silence, and then we head toward the house with our guns drawn and senses on high alert. A twig snaps under my foot and the entire group halts momentarily before continuing on. The closer we get to the villa; I can hear men shouting on the inside. My pulse picks up and a cold sweat breaks out over my forehead.

Tor's in there.

There's something unbearably overwhelming that presses in on you when you realize that the life of the person who makes life worth living depends on what you do next.