LOGIN"Get your hands off me!"
The heavy steel door slammed shut, severing the deafening roar of the convention floor. The lock clicked with a hollow, echoing thud. The golden warmth of the chandeliers was replaced by the harsh, flickering glare of overhead fluorescent tubes. The service corridor was narrow and freezing, reeking of industrial floor bleach, stale cigarette smoke, and damp concrete. Mateo didn't let go. He shoved her deeper into the bleak hallway, his grIsabella did not step back. She stepped forward. The carpet was thick enough to swallow sound, but she felt the faint vibration of the air conditioning kick on somewhere behind the walls, a low mechanical shiver that did nothing to cool the heat climbing her neck. The toe of her scuffed rubber sneaker hit the tip of his polished leather Oxford. She tilted her head up, looking directly into his unblinking dark eyes. She raised her hand and pressed a rigid, shaking finger hard against the lapel of his tailored suit. "I am not a trophy you can lock in a vault," Isabella hissed, her voice vibrating with cold defiance. "I am keeping you breathing," Diego countered softly. His chest barely moved as he spoke. "By turning me into a prisoner!" Isabella shot back. "I took an oath, Diego! Doctor Sofia is my intern. Her father was gunned down in our lobby months ago because of your war! Now she is standing in that ICU, surrounded by blast victims, reliving that trauma all over again. I am he
Isabella opened her eyes. Heavy silk sheets dragged across her bare legs. She turned her head. The red numbers on the bedside digital clock glowed in the dim room: six o'clock in the morning. Thirty four hours left. Her hand slid slowly under the thick pillow. Her fingers found the hard, sharp plastic of the DEA device. She gripped it tightly for a second, grounding herself, before pulling her hand empty from under the pillow. She threw the sheets off and walked barefoot to the massive glass window. Outside, the green lawn was a war zone. Four black tactical trucks blocked the main gates. Men wearing thick body armor walked the perimeter, holding heavy rifles across their chests. Isabella grabbed her fleece jacket from a chair. She walked to the heavy bedroom door, unlocked the deadbolt, and pulled it open. A large man in a black suit stepped into the center of the doorframe. He blocked her path. "Good morning, Missus Vargas," the man said. His voice was flat. He did not smile
This heavy SUV tires crunched against the gravel as they passed through the massive iron gates."Close them!" a guard shouted in the dark. "Lock it down!"The iron gates slammed shut with a heavy, ringing clang.Diego kicked his door open before the SUV fully stopped. He grabbed Isabella's hand, pulling her out into the cold air. The courtyard was loud. Dozens of men in dark clothes moved fast, racking the bolts of heavy rifles and loading black bags into the trucks."I want snipers on the roof right now," Diego barked at a man running toward them. "Nobody comes through that gate. If a car slows down on the main road, you shoot the driver. ¿Entiendes?""Si jefe," the man nodded, racking his rifle.Diego kept his tight grip on Isabella's arm, marching her fast up the wide stone steps and through the heavy front doors. He did not let go until they reached the massive master bedroom at the end of the hall.He pushed the heavy wooden door open and walked her inside. The loud noise of the
The back door of the center SUV was pushed open. Diego Vargas stepped out into the thick smoke. He did not look like the cold, untouchable CEO who ran a billion-dollar company. His expensive dark suit jacket was flying open in the wind. His tie was gone. The top buttons of his shirt were undone, and his chest was heaving. His face was tight with raw panic. "Isabella!" Diego shouted, his voice tearing over the noise of the idling engines. "Mister Vargas, please wait by the car," the Deputy Chief said, holding his hands out. "We are still clearing the area—" Diego ignored the gold badge. He walked straight past the Deputy Chief, his dark eyes scanning the broken glass and flashing police lights. "Boss, the lobby is not secure!" one of his security men said, running up to his side.
The deafening, high-low wail of a Dallas PD siren shattered the quiet of the stairwell. Outside the wire-reinforced window, tires screeched against the asphalt. Bright, erratic flashes of red and blue light flooded through the glass, strobing across Mateo's face. Mateo took a sharp step backward. He reached for the zipper of his cheap gray windbreaker, pulling it up to his collar to conceal his tarnished silver badge. He backed toward the heavy steel fire door leading to the back alley, resting his hand flat on the red metal crash bar. "Wait," Isabella gasped, her hand instinctively flying to her fleece pocket. Her bloody fingers clamped over the rigid plastic of the DEA dongle. "Mateo, you cannot leave me in here with this." "Tuesday night, Izzy," Mateo commanded over the rising shriek of the sirens. "The building is locked down!" Isabella shouted, stepping toward him. She pointed down at her ruined, blood-s
Mateo didn't wait for the shock of the federal indictment to paralyze her. He reached across the concrete landing, his thick fingers locking brutally onto the shoulder of Isabella's fleece jacket. "Look at it," Mateo commanded. His voice wasn't a cold federal bark anymore; it was a gritty, bitter scrape in the echoing stairwell. He wrenched her forward, shoving her upper body against the heavy steel fire door. Isabella let out a sharp gasp, her blood slicked palms instinctively flying up to brace her fall. They slapped flat against the narrow, wire reinforced glass window, leaving thick, crimson handprints smeared across the pane. "Look out the window, Izzy," Mateo hissed, stepping directly behind her. Isabella stared through the smeared glass. The Dallas street three stories below was a fractured nightmare. The burning chassis of the armored SUV roared, throwing a violent, flickering orange glare over the pavement. The







