GTO: Soldiers Of Hades MC, #3

Luisa Brago entered the underground tunnel and made her way along the lighted passage that went from a small house in Mexico to her brother’s house in Laredo. More than a two mile journey, just under the river and a ways longer under the city but nothing she hadn’t done before. She always hated this particular tunnel though. It had taken her family three years to build it because the outside was nothing more than a steel tube.

Section by section, they had installed it deep in the Rio Grande River. It had been a dangerous job to do but her family hadn’t cared about the nine men who had drowned to get the tunnel done. She wasn’t supposed to care either but she did. The only difference between her and the rest of her family was she had learned the hard way to keep her thoughts to herself.

She tried not to think about it as her footsteps echoed in the dim lighting of the tunnel. It felt cool down here and she knew it was safe but she shivered as she pictured the walls of the tunnel crumbling in on her as she walked its length. She had volunteered for this particular mission as the others at home were crying over the news she sought to bring her brothers. Her own mother had warned her that her brothers would not take the news well and not to let it upset her, but Luisa didn’t care. Yes, she was sorry about the news and yes, she did worry what Arturo would do about it but it was better for her to be the one to deliver this particular news.

She shook her head as she thought about the fact that this tunnel might no longer be a safe avenue for them to use. Someone had declared war on their family and their livelihood. She knew it, even if no one else in the family believed it.

Everyone else thought no one would dare to cross them, not after all this time. She shook her head and thought about what started this war. It all started twenty five years ago in a small town called Odessa. Her uncle Luis had been attacked or had he done the attacking? No one knew for sure. Anyway, there had been a battle between her uncles’ men and an MC. One of the casualties had been her cousin Jesus. It had begun this war, Luis had barely made it home, he had been bloody and heartbroken at the loss of his son, and it had spiraled downhill from then. But the real insanity began when they laid Jesus to rest. First blood had been spilled and now, more blood had been spilled.

She had to update Arturo on the news the family had just received from their men in McAllen. She couldn’t cry yet, not like she had when she heard the news about her own father. The tears she shed then had been expected, so she cried. But in her heart, she knew his death was inevitable. She loved her father and brothers…she just didn’t love what they did. Her father had shown her a part of him at times that she hated.

Her family was in the drug trade and had been for a very long time. She hated it but she couldn’t let anyone in her big family know it. After all, they lived the high life because of the drug trade. Her own mother, aunts, and female cousins could and would be as harsh as the men in the family had been…given the chance. And with this news—she had a feeling their chance was coming.

Her uncles, Luis and Francisco as well as her father, Angel were all gone now. All three of Luis’s sons and her brother had died a few weeks ago and now, she had to tell Arturo that their Uncle Francisco and his eldest son Riccardo had just been killed.

Now, it would be Francisco’s son Carmen and her two brothers Arturo and Javier left who would run the cartel from now on. Unless her mother and her aunts took over and heaven help the world if they did. She always thought the women of the family could teach the men a thing or two about true vengeance but that was her own opinion.

Finally, it looked like she was getting close to the door leading her to a stairway, to her brother’s domain and she was filled with dread. Arturo had a fierce temper and when he found out about Uncle Francisco and Riccardo, she wasn’t sure what he would do.

Taking a deep breath, Luisa reached for the doorknob and turned it, pushing open the portal which would put her face to face with her two brothers.

GTO and two others were in the shadows watching the place they thought the leader of the cartel was housed at. He was with Whiskey and Lightning on this mission but he knew the others were somewhere in the city. Using the darkness as cover, they had infiltrated the city of Laredo.

They were here to scout only. To find out ‒ who was where and who the leader of the cartel already in place ‒ really was.

Python, Cotton and himself along with others had come back to Odessa with the information that the cartel was alive and well in Laredo.

They were here to find them and learn their habits. So here, they stood in the darkness, looking at the big house hoping to catch sight of the man inside. Studying the building, GTO noted it was a large two-story home. Lights were on in the main level and he could see two men walking around what looked like the living room area.

Lightning wordlessly pointed out the two men on the roof. They could see they were armed and watching over the streets beyond the house but thankfully, they hadn’t looked in their direction yet. All three slipped further into the shadows.

GTO was watching the house again and now, a small dark haired woman had joined the two men. She was dressed in a long skirt and a tank top, that fell off one shoulder. From what he could see of her, she was smaller than the men but the moment she appeared… the two men were on alert. Then he could tell she brought them bad news. “Where the hell did she come from?” he whispered under his breath.

Whiskey and Lightning shrugged but neither of them said anything.

All three just stood there and watched as the scene inside the house played out.

One of them had reached out and slapped her hard. But the woman never cowered against his brutality. She just glared at him. He raised his hand to slap her again, but the second man stopped him.

The second man told her something and the woman turned to leave. She left the room and a few minutes later, she came outside through another door. She walked around the backyard in an aimless direction. She seemed to be muttering under her breath but they were too far away to hear what she was saying.

GTO watched as the men on the roof ignored her, instead they turned to watch the streets on the other side of the house. He didn’t know who the woman was but he moved through the underbrush to get closer to her. Maybe he could hear something about what he gotten her slapped.

Luisa growled as she paced the backyard. “Stupid bastard! It’s not like I shot them. I wasn’t even there,” she grumbled in English as she rubbed her sore cheek. Her brother Arturo hadn’t taken the news of their uncle’s death well at all. But had she really expected anything different?

His response hadn’t surprised her at all. Arturo had always been a hot head. It had been one of the reasons their father always put him together with Javier. Even here, Javier knew how to calm Arturo but they both knew Arturo was the man in charge.

Their father, Angel, had been third born, but he was the businessman of the family. Luis had been born first and he knew he was the man with the power, Francisco had been the muscle, and he knew how to flex it as their father Angel had expanded the powerbase through business deals.

Luisa had hated the whole empire her father and uncles had built. In the fifteen years since her grandfather had been gunned down and her uncles and father had taken the reins, the Brago Cartel had grown beyond even their biggest dreams.

Now, it seemed the walls they had built were crumbling to dust. She looked back at the house where her brothers were and frowned. She had walked further than she expected away from the safety of the building. God, how she wanted to just run. Take off into the night and disappear. Go underground and…

Luisa shrugged. Do what? She had no money and no one to help her that didn’t work for her family.

Glancing around, she found herself standing in the shadows at the fringe of the property. It was so tempting. She so wanted to leave this life, this ugly world her family had built. But she knew she should go back and as she turned to do just that… she heard a rustling behind her then someone grabbed her.

She opened her mouth to scream but someone clamped his hand over her mouth. “Don’t scream, or I’ll snap your neck.”

Luisa swallowed hard and nodded. She allowed him to drag her further into the shadows and then his hand was replaced by a gag and her hands were quickly tied in front of her.

She looked up to find three men dressed in black, staring at her and for the first time in a long time—Luisa was afraid. These men did not look friendly. They also didn’t look like they were Arturo’s men either.

She caught the eyes of one of them and while they gazed at her with mild interest, she didn’t know just how far she could trust them. They dragged her through the shadows to a truck parked nearby. Luisa didn’t want to be hurt, so she offered them no resistance. She wasn’t sure who these men were but she was sure they would let her know in due time. She just had to be patient.

They wordlessly put her in the backseat and the man that had grabbed her sat beside her while the other two got in the front seat. As they drove off, Luisa glanced back at the house and wondered if her brothers even knew or cared that she was missing.