The Perfect Stranger (LOS SANTOS Cartel Story #2) Read online

  “What do you want from us?” he seethed, blood spraying from his mouth. “Tell me what the fuck you want from us?”

  “You asked me earlier why. Why did I join Los Santos? What could I have possibly wanted?” I gripped the plank of wood, his eyes following. “Did you ever make it to La Balsa?”

  “La Balsa?” he practically spat out.

  “Did you ever go there? See the people?”

  He shrugged his shoulders, indifferent. “All this is over La Balsa? That cesspit of a place?”

  “It was a hidden paradise that you and your men raped and pillaged. Two hundred people lost their lives. Their homes were burnt down all because you wanted the coca.”

  “Best coca in the whole of Colombia.”

  “I know,” I agreed. “My father owned every crop in the La Balsa region.”

  Although his face was paling by the second, a slow smiled formed. “Your father was from La Balsa?”

  “Indeed he was.”

  I took two steps forward, and he moved back maintaining the distance.

  “He dead?”

  “As a matter of fact, he was beaten to death by the rebel army you employed.”

  He did what I expected him to do. Luis threw his head back and laughed.

  “My, my, my, the plot thickens. So for two years you worked for us waiting for the right time to exact your revenge.”

  “That’s right. Two years of waiting for you to show your face.” I took another step forward and he another back. “You were supposed to die in Mexico, but I’ll settle for now.” I swung hard, too fast for him to protect himself. The nails once again pierced his skin, his head ricocheting to the side. He lost his balance, the heel of his boot catching on the edge of the broken floorboard. The sense had been knocked clean from him, the damage to the other side of the face more horrific than the first. In what appeared to be slow motion, Luis fell backward into the black hole.

  He didn’t scream, he didn’t make any noise. The only noise came from the weight of his body smashing onto and through the floor beneath. Looking over the edge, I watched his lifeless body. His limbs were placed at unnatural angles, a sharp metal pole impaling him through his gut.

  In that moment a weight had been lifted from my shoulders. I had never cried over my father’s death, and as I single tear slipped down my cheek I could now mourn for the loss of a great man who never deserved the death he endured.

  Two years.

  Two long years.

  Luis Santos was finally dead.

  Gabriel groaned. I stood above him, his Glock in my hand pointed at his head. He was holding onto life but he would shortly die. I wasn’t about to leave and let him somehow survive.

  “You win,” he barely breathed. “You win.”

  “Not just me. Everyone wins with you gone.”

  “I loved you like a brother you know.” Blood bubbled from his mouth. I ignored his endearment.

  “I’m not your brother and I never was.”

  His eyelids fluttered as he dealt with a wave of pain. “Los Santos are everywhere,” he continued. “There’s no point in running. They’ll find you.”

  I shook my head. “There’s no cartel without any Santos blood running through it. Los Santos cartel ends tonight.”

  He smiled, and I pulled the trigger. His head jolted back slightly, his eyes wide, lifeless, staring at the roof. He didn’t deserve to die so easily. Not after all the grief he had caused to so many.

  I heard the footsteps but I was too slow. They were already upon me. My right shoulder blade exploded with a searing pain, then my lower abdomen. I fell, the Glock slipping from my fingers and hitting the floor moments before I did.

  I landed on the wooden floor boards, inhaling the dust each time I took a shallow breath. There was yelling, assertive male voices demanding I didn’t move. I couldn’t even if I wanted to. The room had erupted into chaos, bodies swarming everywhere. It was a sea of black and the glimmering of rifles.

  It wasn’t Los Santos men. It was S.W.A.T.

  My own countrymen had found me. Their enemy of the state. I couldn’t feel my limbs, my breathing fading in and out.

  “Antonio!” I heard Nina’s agonized voice over the others. “Stop, don’t shoot! Stop shooting.”

  I searched for her, but the room was becoming a blur. And then, through the black uniformed bodies, she emerged. Her loose hair waving behind as she ran toward me.

  I couldn’t see her beautiful face, but I could taste her salty tears as they fell into the creases of my mouth. Nina’s was crying for me. She slipped a hand under my head, the other shakily caressing my face.

  “Please stay with me,” she sobbed. “Please stay, Antonio. I love you. Please don’t leave. Someone get help. Help him! Please!”

  The voices behind had fallen silent. The black shapes didn’t move.

  The pain had stopped, and I could no longer feel anything.

  The blur soon turned to nothingness, but I smiled.

  The last thing I would hear was Nina’s beautiful voice saying she loved me.

  The last thing I would see was her still alive.

  My sweet love was still alive.

  “You shouldn’t be in here. You’re breaking protocol.” I heard an unfamiliar voice.

  “I’m not leaving,” Nina said, firm and assertive.

  “It’s been three days.”

  “Please… just leave!”

  A hand gripped mine tightly before I faded back to nothing.

  “So let me get this straight…” another unfamiliar and doubtful voice sounded, “…the same Luis Santos who is South America’s kingpin, was responsible for the La Balsa genocide?”

  “Yes. I’ve told you four times already.” Nina sounded exasperated.

  “And that’s why Suárez became one of them? To get revenge, his heritage being from La Balsa?”

  “Yes!”

  “Desertion carries a punishment, Ms. Cross. And so does drug trafficking, no matter the affiliation. You do realize that Antonio Suárez became an enemy of the state when we failed to uphold his commitment to Special Forces.” The same voice had returned.

  “You don’t consider saving the La Balsa people from a murderous cartel honorable? You don’t consider two years infiltrating a cartel to take out their leader a sign of commitment?”

  There was silence.

  “Antonio became an enemy of state well before he had even left the country. He knew what Chief Delacroix and Hanson were really doing, and so he was forced on extended leave.” Nina’s thumb traced agitated circles on my hand. I wanted to touch her in return, but I couldn’t will my body to move.

  “What do you know about counter-terrorism?”

  “Enough. Antonio told me everything. Look into Chief Delacroix’s history, I’m sure you’ll get the gist of the corruption taking place. It’s not like his history of fraud wasn’t in the news or…”

  “Countless laws have been broken, Ms. Cross.”

  “Don’t give me that bullshit.”

  “You saying you crossed the border yourself, means you breached US jurisdiction—”

  “What part of this are you not understanding? There were cartel men hunting us down. I wasn’t planning on hanging around to let them do to me what they did to Garcia! My own chief wanted me dead.”

  “And you crossed the border without coercion from Antonio Suárez?”

  “Antonio Suárez didn’t need to coerce me into anything. I wanted to…”

  “Can you explain your relationship to Mr. Suárez?”

  “Yes, I can.”

  “Well?”

  “Well, it’s really none of your business, and completely irrelevant to the case. What is relevant is why we decided to take on Los Santos. Both our fathers had been killed by Luis Santos. My partner had been killed by rival cartel members. The Santos family were killing people, and everyone was turning a blind eye to it all. An entire jungle population was almost eradicated by a rebel army working for Santos, and the C
olombian government simply didn’t care enough to stop it. Of course we did something.”

  “Did you have any intention of transferring the real funds from the Cuban account?”

  “Really? That truly is a silly…”

  “You have nothing on Antonio. He committed no crime in the US, other than not returning from his leave. Leave that he was forced to take while his and my chief worked hand-in-hand to profit from terrorism.”

  “That’s a mighty accusation.”

  “Are you looking into it?”

  “As a matter of fact, Chief Hanson is being interviewed as we speak.”

  “Finally.” Nina sounded relieved, and I wanted to take her in my arms. “So when Antonio wakes, he is a free man?”

  There was a pause. “If he wakes.”

  “Please, Antonio.” Nina sobbed. “Please, if you can hear me, give me a sign. Anything. Let me know you’re still…”

  “They say I should turn off life support.” Her hand tightened around mine. I could smell her berry fragrance, and it was heaven. “It’s been a full week, my love.”

  I listened, helpless as she cried, her tears soaking my arm.

  My heart ached for the woman who had defended me through everything. The woman who had been by my side through this battle was still here, barracking for me.

  A tear slid through my closed eyelid and moments later Nina’s breath hitched, her thumb wiping my cheek.

  “You’re crying!” she announced hopeful, cupping my face. “You can hear me. Antonio, please… just wake up. Wake up! Nurse!”

  “Two dogs. Oscar and Bruce. Although that could change when we see them. A wine cellar! That is a must. One of those old porch swings that we can sit on every afternoon and watch the sunset. Oscar and Bruce chasing each other in our big backyard. We can get a goat to keep the lawn low, but then again seeing you with your shirt off mowing would certainly be more appreciated then watching a goat chew for days. Not hearing the sirens at night would be…”

  “You told me not so long ago that you’d be my ruin. Well… you’ve ruined me in the best way possible. You’ve stolen my heart and I want you to keep it. It’s yours forever.”

  She gripped my hand and stroked my cheek.

  “If you don’t wake up Antonio, you’ll ruin me in the worst way imaginable. You need to wake up. You need to breathe.

  Nina cupped my face, her forehead against mine.

  “Just. Breathe.”

  The beeping sounded louder than usual. The hospital smell assaulting my sense.

  My eyes opened wide, and I was greeted by fluorescent light.

  I felt stiff and sore everywhere.

  But I was awake.

  Nina.

  I couldn’t hear her. I couldn’t feel her.

  Using the little strength I could muster, I rolled onto my side and immediately winced in pain. My shoulder blade and abdomen hurt like a bitch. I was still bandaged, and tubes were connected to everything.

  My legs fell over the side of the hospital gurney allowing me to sit slightly.

  “Antonio!” I heard the voice I loved listening to. “You’re awake! Baby, you’re awake. Nurse!”

  She appeared by my side in an instant, crying and trembling. I smiled, and she returned it.

  “You’re awake,” she sobbed.

  “I am. I had to stop you from naming our dogs, Oscar and Bruce.”

  She laughed, and it was the most beautiful sight I had ever seen.

  Three Months Later

  Oscar and Bruce, our two French Bulldogs, snorted and panted down the aisle. Nina had dressed them in bowties, and it seemed to make them more hyperactive than usual. Our friends had gathered at our newly purchased house, fitted with a porch swing and a lawn mowing goat.

  We were out of the city, but still close enough to work.

  We were free with no threats of cartels looming over us.

  After a month long inquiry, the Commanding Officer dropped all charges of desertion and trafficking, and instead hired me as an informant into Government and military corruption to put the likes of Delacroix and Hanson behind bars.

  That meant, Nina and I frequently crossed paths and assisted in each other’s investigations. We were a formidable team.

  She fought hard for me while I was in the hospital. I didn’t deserve her allegiance, but she gave it anyway and because of her, my name was cleared in the media and I was no longer a fugitive.

  Zero and Jase, the two men who had also put their reputations on the line in order to prove my worth, approached grinning ear to ear.

  “Gotta tell ya,” Jase began. “Two and half years ago entering La Balsa, I would never have imagined we’d be doing this.”

  “That makes two of us.” Knowing the job at hand, I had pretty much written my life off.

  “You’re one lucky bastard,” Zero clapped me on the back. “That woman would do anything for you.”

  “I know. Completely undeserving. Speaking of undeserving…” I looked at Jase, “…your wife looks amazing.”

  A broad smile lit up his face when he turned to Nessa. She was chatting and laughing with another guest, one hand resting on her heavily pregnant belly.

  “Can you believe I haven’t fucked anything up in over a year?” He sounded mighty impressed with himself and he should be. A year of no misdemeanors was quite the feat. After whisking his love away on a tropical vacation, they found each other again. There was no talk of sexual fantasies, and before they knew it, they were reaffirming their vows.

  “It’s time,” Zero cocked his eyebrows toward the house before taking a seat.

  I waited under the oak tree, the sky colored pink from the setting sun. The sound of dragonflies buzzed nearby as the harpist began to play.

  Oscar and Bruce bounced over to Nina when she emerged off the porch.

  She stopped and held my gaze.

  I smiled at the gorgeous woman I was to call mine, and she smiled back with a love I never knew existed. She looked out of this world. Nina could wear lace like no other. Her dress flowed just below her knees, a small arrangement of flowers pinned in her hair.

  With Oscar and Bruce loyally by her side, she walked down the aisle toward me. A slight breeze caught her loose tendrils, the smell of berries drifting in the air.

  Nina Cross was going to my wife. She never said yes when I proposed. Instead, she climbed into my lap and kissed me with tears streaming down her cheeks. It always surprised me how much I meant to this woman. How much she would move the earth for me. How she would put her own life on the line to save me.

  There was only one good thing from the last two years. Los Santos had led me to Nina. She had called me her Perfect Stranger. A man as evasive as those he was chasing, but someone she was unequivocally drawn to.

  I took her hands in mine as soon as she reached me, my lips claiming hers, gentle and tender. She deepened the kiss wrapping her arms around my neck, her body pressed against mine.

  She tasted sweet.

  I couldn’t resist her.

  Not then.

  Not now.

  Not ever.

  We didn’t hear the cheering or whistles from those here to witness a wedding. We didn’t hear the celebrant clearing his throat. We didn’t hear Oscar and Bruce barking in the commotion.

  All I heard were the four words that were my ruin. These four words whenever they were said were my undoing.

  Every time.

  Four words that had brought me back from the brink of death.

  I love you, Antonio.

  Buy Now

  The Los Santos Cartel Series

  NEVER TRUST A SAINT #1

  THE PERFECT STRANGER #2

  The Bittersweet Series:

  LITTLE DOLL #1

  CRIMSON DESERT #2

  LAUGHING EYES #3

  SOFIA #4

  Standalone: Romantic Comedy

  A SUMMER OF YOU

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  Melissa Jane

  Melissa Jane is an Aussie author who writes both light and dark romances. Only Alpha men and strong heroines take the lead in her stories, no matter the adventure.

  A former educator from the beautiful Gold Coast, Melissa spends her time with her husband and little Yorkie, Pocket.