Shattered Lies (Web of Lies #3)(8)
“You need to start talking if you don’t want to go back into the barrel,” Manuel threatened.
Valeria just nodded her agreement and took a huge bite of the bread. Clumsily she dropped a piece and bent to get it. It was now or never. Manuel would never let her live. Instead, he’d gleefully torture her to death.
Valeria pushed up her pant leg, grabbed her knife, and shoved herself back in her chair so hard that it tipped over. With two quick motions she sliced the femoral arteries on both guards. She rolled backward, heels over head, and when she stood, she had one of the guard’s guns in her hand.
“Kill her,” Manuel said with a flick of his wrist. Men flanked him, and Valeria jumped.
Her feet landed hard on the table as bullets flew. It took two running steps to reach the middle of the table. Valeria leapt up as she fired on the soldiers below. Her hand closed around the large metal cage housing the lights for the ceiling fan as she swung through the air. Using her left hand, she fired at the men, dropping two more. The other two had moved to form a shield around Manuel.
Valeria pulled her legs up and let go of the fan. She sailed through the air, up and over Manuel and his guards. The landing hurt. She let her knees go soft as she hit the floor and rolled before springing up. Manuel was shouting for his guards as Valeria ran for all she was worth. She wanted to kill Manuel, but the information on the drive, hopefully still dry, in her belt buckle was worth more than her desire for vengeance.
Valeria could hear the alarm sound in the surrounding buildings as she ran through the compound, heading to the private garage. Men would be pouring out in seconds, armed to the teeth. She looked up as the door leading to the garage opened, and she fired. The man fell to the ground, and Valeria scooped up his AR type .223 rifle.
The garage was large, not the normal garage you found in neighborhood houses. No, Manuel’s was a showcase to display his wealth. It would be tempting to go for the Ferrari, but it was the bulletproof Mercedes-Maybach SUV she headed for. It was luxury personified, but it also had big tires and a huge metal bar across the front that would be perfect for plowing people down.
Valeria didn’t wait for the garage door to open. She slammed the door to the SUV closed, pushed the start button, and floored it. The giant tires spun as shots pinged off the driver side window. The tires grabbed the slick floor, and the SUV shot through the garage door, ripping the entire thing from the rails and flattening numerous soldiers who had been closing in on her.
Valeria bounced so hard she hit her head, but she kept her hands on the wheel as the $500,000 SUV took bullets from all around her. There were three gates between her and freedom. The first one would be the toughest. Men had formed a wall. SUVs were blocking the exit.
Valeria spun the car, sending dust flying and the men began to chase her. Just as she hoped, one of the SUVs from the barricade moved to follow her. She slammed on the brakes and put the car in reverse before flooring it. Val put her arm over the passenger seat and looked out the back as she drove backward past the SUV following her and right through the first solid wood gate. She hit it hard. The airbags deployed, but Valeria was ready for the hit. Driving backward, she could still see where she was going.
The SUV bounced and Valeria did all she could do to keep her foot on the gas as she careened down the small mountaintop toward the second gate. The second fence was made of wood, not concrete blocks like the one nearest the house, which gave her more options.
The airbag began to deflate, but Valeria could see the gate quickly approaching. She didn’t have time to turn around. Instead she turned the wheel sharply, veering off the dirt drive and onto the desert grass-spotted ground. The guards blocking the gate scrambled to fire off shots, but Valeria drove the back of the SUV right through the wooden privacy fence.
Valeria slammed on the brakes and spun the wheel, finally turning the SUV around before driving down the hill toward the final gate and freedom. Well, as free as she could get in a town and country owned by Manuel Hernandez. Looking in her mirror, she saw clouds of dust from SUVs and trucks coming after her. It wouldn’t be easy, but she had to get away.
With her face set in determination, Valeria shot through the final fence and squealed out onto the main road. She rammed into a taxi, sending it spinning, and took off in the heavy traffic leading through the resort town.
* * *
Dalton looked down at his phone. “I have a call coming in from an unknown number.”
Lizzy and Dalton hurried away from the crowd and ducked behind a building. Dalton answered on speakerphone but didn’t say a word.
“Dalton?”
“Val?” Lizzy asked in surprise.
“I need help,” Valeria whispered.
“Where are you?” Dalton asked, taking over as Lizzy pulled out her phone and began to record the conversation.
“I’m in Sinaloa, Mexico. I’m in Mazatlán. I messed up. I need an extraction.”
“What are the coordinates?” Dalton asked as Lizzy pulled up a map. Valeria read off the GPS coordinates.
“Val, listen to me,” Dalton said slowly. “We are in Romania. We can’t get to you quickly. Can you get a boat?”
“Yes. I’m at the shore now. I know I’m being followed. I’m hiding in a dumpster outside of the docks.”
“They’ll expect you to head toward the US border or the embassy. Get a boat and go west to Cabo San Lucas. If you can’t make it there, then go to Parque Nacional Cabo Pulmo, it’s a park in Baja. I’m sending help. Call me when you’re safe on the boat.”