“Get on the ground!” Rourke yelled. “Police, do it!”

To my surprise, some of them listened to him. They laid down, dropping their guns as their eyes darted around like caged animals. Is this supposed to be so easy?

“Caster, you paying attention?” Rourke asked.

“I’m right here.”

“Then move. We need to get through these guys, and there’s an office on the other end. Let’s go!”

I moved along with him, something nagging in the back of my brain. We zip-tied the wrists and ankles of those on the ground and kept moving. Gunshots rang out, piercing the quietness around us. Rourke and I split apart, taking cover as the gunshots intensified along with yelling.

“I think they know we’re here,” Rourke said, a glint in his eye. “Keep pushing!”

“Wait,” I said, shaking my head. “Shouldn’t we wait for backup? Where is everyone?”

“Fuck that, we’re already here. If we turn around, someone else gets all the glory.”

I frowned. “Since when do you give a fuck about glory?”

“Come on!”

Groaning, I turned off of the pillar and squeezed off a few quick shots. A man yelled as he went down. I moved around, pushing forward.

There was no going back now. However, that didn’t mean I wasn’t praying that the Vitales weren’t here. More than likely, they were at home. Or off terrorizing someone else. What were the odds that any of them would be here?

“The longer we take,” Rourke yelled over the roar of gunfire and yelling. “The greater the chance the Vitales slip away.”

I froze. Rourke dropped a man like it was nothing, and I watched as a slow smile appeared on his face. Is he enjoying this? Something tugged at me. It was like he knew the Vitales would be here, but how could he know?

“Tex, pay attention!”

I tuned back into things and ducked in time to avoid a bullet. If we were going to get out alive, I had to stay focused.

“Get on the ground!” Rourke yelled.

Some men dropped, but others? They didn’t give a damn. Instead of listening, they tried to put a bullet in our brains. I glanced around, but there was no backup. Does Sarge even know we’re in here? The warehouse was huge. What if they didn’t know we were inside?

“Enough!” A voice cut through the chaos. “Are we done shooting? Can we talk?”

I froze. That was a voice I would know anywhere. Benito. I glanced around and saw him standing there, staring in our direction.

“We already know there are cars out front, but it’ll be a while before they get in. That door is reinforced, and it’s going to take more than a ram to get through it. So, we can talk, or we can go back to shooting at each other.”

“There’s nothing to talk about,” Rourke answered. “Get on the ground, lay on your stomach, and get cuffed. I’ve seen enough contraband around here to put all of you away for a long ass time, so do it!”