Footsteps sounded on the soft carpet. She closed her eyes and listened. Only one person, she surmised. Just one.

The man was trying to walk stealthily, but it wasn’t working. Mina heard him. She had to act before Vic decided to yield to his protective instincts and pop his head out of his room. It would most likely be immediately fatal.

So she moved out into the hall in an athletic stance, legs apart, knees bent, facing the target, shoulders in front of the hips. It was perfect for recoil management and firing fast follow-up shots if necessary. The target was a small, uniformed man with a smirk on his face.

“Ah, so you have a gun,” he said in accented English. “I have one, too. Let me show you how easily I can shoot it…!” He brought the pistol up, and his eyes signaled that he meant to shoot her.

She shot him in the knee before he could pull the trigger. He cried out harshly, but before he could raise his gun, she jumped forward and kicked the gun out of his hand.

“¡Alto!” she said. “Si le gusta continuar con su vida, no mueve.” Her eyes, over the barrel of the gun, were cold as ice.

The downed man, obviously not in a hurry to die, complied with her request and lay still, groaning. Sandra almost clapped.

Vic came out into the hall, shocked when he saw the man on the floor and Mina standing over him beside Sandra.

Just as he started to speak, a second man came flying up the stairs with his gun leveled, but he never got a chance to use it. A bullet found him first. He stopped, made a half turn and fell down the steps groaning.

Ry came in the door, almost panting. It had been a very rushed trip back and he’d run all the way from the truck in the driveway up the steps.

“Are you guys okay?” he asked at once.

Mina laughed, feeling faint. “Yes, but there’s a guy on his back up here who isn’t feeling so good.”

“I’ve got three others in the truck,” Ry said. “We’ll call the Border Patrol and make them a present of these five.”

“Better call an ambulance for this one,” she told Ry. “I think he’s going to need some major repairs on his kneecap.”

Ry nodded. “This one’s going to need a medic, too,” he said, indicating the groaning man at the bottom of the staircase. “Best call the sheriff’s office as well. Don’t touch anything. They’ll have to process the crime scene so that they can press charges. You’ll need to give a statement as well.”

She nodded, letting the pistol hang at her side. “Gosh, I’m glad you put me through that training course,” she said. “I’d be dead.”

“They don’t usually kill people they plan to ransom until after they get the money,” he returned.

“Yes, well this pendejo is stoned out of his mind and I wasn’t sure he didn’t have other purposes in mind for me,” she added with an icy look at the man on his back on the floor.