Chapter 8 - NIGHT OF THE CRIMSON MOON
Night fell over the Pacific coast as a roaring storm rolled in from the ocean. Heavy black clouds swallowed the moon, and crashing waves slammed against the jagged black cliffs of Punta Mita.
Standing at the edge of a rocky outcrop was the abandoned Punta Mita lighthouse—a decaying concrete tower surrounded by rusted metal scaffolding and roaring sea spray.
Gabriel arrived at the coastal cliff road in his battered SUV, the engine steaming from the ruthless drive down from the mountains. He stepped out into the pouring rain, his tactical jacket soaked within seconds. In his hand, he held the silver medallion, its chain wrapped around his knuckles like a iron knuckle-duster.
Above him, on the upper balcony of the lighthouse, stood Victoria Sandoval. She wore a long dark trench coat, her hair tied back, holding a heavy umbrella against the storm wind. Beside her stood Julian, the polished messenger who had delivered the envelope to the ranch, flanked by three heavily armed syndicate mercenaries.
"Gabriel!" Victoria called out over the thunder and crashing waves, her voice amplified by a megaphoned comms unit. "You made excellent time! I expected nothing less from a man fighting for his family!"
Gabriel walked slowly toward the base of the lighthouse, stopping forty feet away near the crumbling sea wall. His eyes were locked on Victoria with an intensity that could cut through steel.
"You sold us out, Victoria," Gabriel said, his voice carrying clearly over the storm. "Two years of friendship. Two years of playing uncle and aunt to my children. All for money?"
Victoria let out a bitter, sad sigh. "Not just money, Gabriel. Survival. The Cofradía never forgets. They found Carlos and me eighteen months ago. They gave us a choice: deliver the ledger key, or watch our own children be fed to the ocean. What would you have done in my position, Gabriel? Wouldn't you burn the world to save your children?"
"I would never sell an innocent family to do it!" Gabriel roared back.
"Hand over the medallion!" Julian interrupted, stepping forward to the railing, raising a remote detonator. "We have the coordinates of your wife and kids in Tapalpa. One signal from me, and the team in the forest flattens the entire mountain pass!"
Gabriel chuckled—a low, dark, terrifying sound that made Julian pause.
"Your team in the forest is already dead or bound to pine trees, Julian," a voice rang out from the shadows of the coastal road behind Gabriel.
Julian and Victoria spun their eyes toward the road in utter shock.
Emerging from the dark, drenched in rain, stood Valeria. She was holding a tactical shotgun she had taken from Carlos’s SUV, her face streaked with dirt and rain, her eyes glowing with ferocious, unyielding power. Behind her, parked safely in a military-grade transport vehicle that had just pulled up, was Commander Ramos and his elite security squad, holding Mateo and baby Elena safely in their tactical care.
"Valeria..." Gabriel whispered, his heart leaping into his throat as he looked at his fierce, beautiful wife.
Valeria didn't look away from the lighthouse. "You picked the wrong family to mess with, Victoria!"
Before Julian could press the detonator, Commander Ramos’s sniper, positioned on a distant ridge, fired a high-caliber anti-material round.
BOOM!
The heavy bullet shattered the concrete railing of the lighthouse balcony, pulverizing the structure and sending Julian’s two mercenaries flying over the edge into the violent ocean below!
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"Take cover!" Julian screamed, diving for the interior door.
Gabriel didn't wait. He sprinted forward, vaulting over the lower wall, kicking open the rotting wooden door at the base of the lighthouse, and charging up the winding spiral staircase like a demon unleashed.
