Xander approached. He had the actor in a hammerlock hold—his right arm twisted up behind his back—bullying him toward the waiting car. Luke stumbled and groaned. His T-shirt was a torn, dusty rag, his mouth a red smear. A dirty strip of rolled gauze fluttered from his left forearm.

“Where do you want this fucker?” Xander asked.

“Six feet under,” Johan replied, looking at the bullet-sized groove in the cheek of his ax. “But we’re not doing it here. It’s too busy. Too chaotic.”

“No shit,” Xander said. “What the hell is going on? What’s with all these women?”

“Ramón’s bitches, I guess.” Johan shrugged. “His crackheads, his whores. I don’t know everything he’s into, and right now I don’t care. I just want to get the fuck out of here.”

“Agreed.” Xander continued forward, pushing Luke ahead of him, keeping that hammerlock high and tight. “Let’s get this piece of shit in the trunk.”

“No room,” Johan said. “And I got Kitty on the backseat.”

“Open the door. I’ll throw him on top.”

“I don’t want them both kicking around back there. Double the trouble.” Johan nodded toward Luke’s Caliber, its pansy-blue paint job veiled by a skin of desert grime. It had Tera’s tracking device attached, but he wasn’t concerned about that—he’d deal with it later. “Take his car. The keys are probably in his pocket. Just tie him up so he doesn’t try anything.”

“Got it.”

Johan got behind the wheel of his Mustang and fired it up. The engine caught with a deep growl, then ticked and purred. He flicked the headlights on, throwing a bold luminance across the yard and the house beyond. A turkey vulture took wing with a scrap of dead dog in its beak. Ramón clapped his recently freed hands and shouted at his women, herding them into the back of his van.

“I’m heading toward town, then taking Black Valley Road west,” Johan said, raising his voice above the Mustang’s throaty snarl. “Text me when you’re clear of this shithole.”

“We need somewhere we can operate,” Xander said. His eyes were wild and his teeth were showing. He looked like a dog with a new squeaky toy. “Somewhere I can take my time with Colton here.”

Johan dropped into drive. “I know just the place.”

Through the tears in his eyes, Luke watched Johan swing his muscle car around, then rumble down the dusty driveway. He saw Kitty’s bright sneaker flash briefly through the rear windshield, then the Mustang turned right on Sierra Vista and they were gone.