Chapter 10: Bullets for My Valentine

Blistering winds bit at Alexa’s face, the only part of her body that was exposed as she laid in wait near the old refinery. Thanks to Gavin’s discovery, she had left a blackmail letter for Mayor McLintock. If she wished to keep her name out of the papers with regard to the conspiracy, she’d be wise to deliver half-a-million dollars in small, unmarked bills to the designated location at noon.

The plan was to get the mayor or her cohorts to expose themselves, allowing Alexa to get definitive proof of their involvement. Thirty minutes past the scheduled meeting time, she heard the distinct sound of leaves and gravel crunching under tires. A dark colored SUV was pulling into the lot. Three men exited the vehicle. Two searched the area while the third waited near the driver’s side door.

As she waited to see if Mayor McLintock would make an appearance, Alexa took pictures of the truck, its license plate and occupants. Zooming in, she could clearly make out tattoos indicating the men’s affiliation. 

It was just like the mayor to keep her hands clean, or so she thought. Alexa had already linked her involvement with La Hermandad. McLintock had a judge in her pocket that continuously granted members of the gang pardons or exceedingly reduced sentences for their violent crimes. These thugs showing up in her place only confirmed their association.

Alexa noted the absence of a large bag of money. It would appear the mayor decided to take a more permanent route to the blackmail. She had expected as much. Taking a few more photos, Alexa tucked her camera into its case before packing up her M24 rifle and starting back to her car. McLintock was smart but, she was smarter and was prepared to meet her aggressive response with one of her own. 

“How’d it go?” Gavin asked, answering Alexa’s call.

“Well, the mayor never showed but we got enough to prove an indisputable connection between her and the gang. I think we’re ready to move to the next step. How are things there?”

“Funny you should ask…”

Alexa pulled up to the house and Gavin rushed out to the car. “Curt called. I guess the mayor has decided since the blackmail letter may out her, it’s best to seal off every possible link to this conspiracy. He thinks she may have put a hit out on her loose ends.”

“Yeah. That’s exactly what she did. The three men that showed at the refinery were La Hermandad. And I’m sure they weren’t there to discuss the latest decline in real estate in urban settings,” Alexa confirmed.

“And that’s the problem. Remember how we initially made the connection in the first place?” Gavin asked. Alexa paused in silent thought for a moment before her eyes opened wider and her husband nodded his head. “I think my dad’s in trouble.”

She didn’t need to hear anything more. Alexa jumped into the passenger seat of his Dodge Challenger as Gavin took off toward the Governor’s Mansion. Despite their strained relationship over the years, Gavin still cared for his father and didn’t want to see the man harmed and she would do everything in her power to help. On the way, Alexa called Remi in the off-chance they needed backup and to ensure his guy was still guarding her little girl.

As they pulled onto the street where the mansion was located, Alexa quickly tapped her husband’s legs, “Brake!”

“What? Why?” Gavin asked, confused.

“Just do it!” Stopping hastily in the middle of the roadway Gavin stared at his wife in confusion, she motioned for him to fall back and they drove back down the hill to a park facing the waterfront.

“You wanna tell me what that was all about?”

“That street was crawling with unfriendlies. I’m sure they have the place completely surrounded at this point,” she said, shooting off a quick text.

“So, what do we do now?”

“Now we wait.”

Thirty minutes later, Curt arrived at their location. He had driven ahead and scouted the location, confirming Alexa’s suspicions. “That place is like a fortress,” Curt replied, listening to Alexa go over the plan. “We’ll never get inside without some serious firepower.”

“Not ‘we,’ Curt, you’re only here as a courtesy. You’re still in physical therapy. There is no way you’re firing a weapon today.”

“Like hell, Alexa! I’ve come all this way…”

“I’m not risking something happening to you after all we’ve been through, Curt, and I’m not arguing about it either! We’ll come up with something else. We always do.”

“That won’t be necessary. I have an idea,” Gavin chimed in and jumped back behind the wheel of his car.

“Wait, what’s he doing?” Curt asked, watching him speed down toward the mansion.

“Trying to get himself killed!” Alexa shouted, seeing her husband draw the attention of La Hermandad. 

Gavin ducked automatic weapons fire from three positions on the pastoral road after his front wheels blew from sniper fire. Swerving his Dodge Challenger perpendicular to the road, he stopped in the middle of the street and used the two-ton muscle car to block shots as he rolled free of the cab. Windows blew out behind him as he took cover beside the rear wheel well. By choice, he was acting as bait. However, he didn’t expect to be literally in the line of fire.

“Goddamn it!” Alexa growled. Tossing a weapon at her surrogate father, she moved into position to try and rescue her husband from a certain death. “Be careful,” she warned. Curt nodded and crouched behind a cluster of rocks.

With his head low, Gavin listened at the numerous shots bouncing off his ride and prayed they would run out of ammo soon. Chancing a glance toward his target position, he saw his wife step out into the open and his eyes widened in fear. She was exposing herself to the enemy’s attack in order to pull him out. Gavin watched as muzzle flashes burned from the barrels of her weapons. Alexa didn’t miss a mark as she charged toward him without hesitation.

One hotspot after another fell silent. Gavin waited until the bullets stopped flying, then stood and raced toward Alexa and Curt in a wide serpentine form. As he neared the opposite side of the street, he saw his wife sporting double Glock 19s with outlawed thirty round magazines at the ready and threw himself into the brush. “I guess it’s safe to say they know we’re coming,” Curt remarked as Alexa rejoined him and Gavin.

“Doesn’t matter. They are going down either way,” Gavin remarked. “Thanks for the rescue.”

“Of course. You really think I wanted to face Willow’s wrath?”

Alexa repositioned as a volley of bullets rained down on their location once more. Curt ducked lower while Gavin searched for a perch to fire from. “I think I should have taken your advice and just stayed home,” Curt shouted over the eruption of more gunfire. Alexa turned with a smirk just as a shot ricocheted next to her ear.

“You gonna use that thing or just stare at it all day?”

On her words, Curt sat up and fired a few rounds in the direction of their attackers, feeling the recoil hit him with unimaginable pain. Just then, three black trucks pulled close to their position. Alexa let out a sigh of relief seeing Remi and his guys hop out. “You guys need another save?” he grinned. Grabbing a miniature Gatling, he pointed in the direction of the shooting and a deluge of bullets plastered their enemy. Once his ammo cleared, there was nothing but silence. “Think I got ‘em?” he asked with another large smile.

Gavin looked back at his wife whose eyes were as large as saucers as she stared at the mini gun. “No. You do not need one of those!” Gavin asserted.

“Aww. Spoilsport.”

Slipping back into work mode, Alexa briefly explained her next steps, checked her magazines and rushed into the mansion. All she knew in this particular point in time was Curt, along with a handful of Remi’s guys, was doing a search of the outside while Gavin guarded the perimeter.

As she searched the home, she found no indication about their target or whether they were alive. Still, her main focus was ensuring the safety of her in-laws and bringing down the mayor who put their lives in danger in the first place. Shocked by the lack of security, Alexa felt a sense of dread overcome her. It was possible everyone had already been taken care of in the upstairs rooms.

Turning down another hall, Alexa stopped short as she found herself head-on with El Espada himself. Julian “El Espada” Cruz taunted Alexa with a confident smile as he stepped out of the shadows with his right hand, Jesus “The Enforcer” Morales, at his side. “Finally, I come face-to-face with the woman who has been causing me so much trouble. I shall say that has come to an end. Tu mueres aqui!” (You die here!)

Alexa took a step forward, but right as she did eleven men stepped out from behind pillars and surrounded her. “I’m guessing you’re expecting this to go a certain way,” Alexa spoke in a cool, even tone. Cruz’s smile slowly faded and his eyes grew wide. “That’s good. You should be afraid.”

“Oh, do not be mistaken, cariño mío, my fret is for you.” Nodding his head, he stepped back and immediately the nearest gunman drew his weapon but he was quickly disabled by an elbow to the face and one, quick bullet to the head. Alexa double tapped two more, Jesus and his nearest ally before dodging out of the way as another fired toward her, hitting his friend instead. (My dear.)

Alexa charged the gunman, striking him in the throat. Placing her gun under his chin, she fired twice and watched him fall at her feet. Cruz watched as she continued closing the distance between them. Six gunmen stood between her and her main target.

“Out of my way!” Cruz shouted, pushing one of his goons to the floor as he rushed for an exit. Rounding a corner, he attempted to jump over the banister. Alexa hit the ground, fired two rounds—each struck one of Cruz’s legs and he crashed to the floor.

Rolling behind a pillar, she waited as a gunman approached. She fired, hitting him in the foot. And as he fell forward, Alexa yanked him behind the pillar beside her and applied a headlock before finishing him off with a shot to the head.

Ejecting her magazine with the dead gunman still in a headlock, Alexa calmly reloaded and chambered a round. “Come out, come out wherever you are!” One of the men taunted. Alexa tossed the gunman’s body to one side of the pillar and listened as her remaining assailants unloaded on their slain friend. She emerged from the other side, gun in each hand, and took shots with every step she made.

Firing in the direction of one man hiding beside the stairs, she hit him twice; once in the forehead and once in the neck. Another fell near the elevators and one more near the back wall. Her gun clicked. She was out.

As she went to reload, a gunman grabbed her wrist. A struggle ensued for the weapon as a second man charged in. The weapon discharged into the arm of one of the men who fell to the ground screaming, the gun skittered across the floor as well.

Rushing forward, the other gunman clumsily kicked it out of reach. Alexa struck him in the jaw with a right cross and tossed him over her shoulder. Twisting over him, she drove three devastating knees to his face just as the injured man climbed to his feet, yanking a sidearm from his waist band.

Alexa dove for her weapon and as she turned, heard a loud bang. The man stood above her with his gun aimed at her head as a large red spot slowly materialized on his shirt. She barely had time to process what happened before the other man stirred on the ground beside her. Three shots. Two from her and one from her rescuer and the last gunman was down.

Looking toward the door, she smiled seeing Gavin appear from behind a pillar. “Thought you could use a hand,” he grinned and helped her stand.

“My hero!” she said, wrapping her arms around his neck and softly kissing his lips. “You have a knack for showing up at just the right moment.”

“I’ll never let anyone hurt you, Babe,” he breathed into her hair. Her heartbeat quickened, warming her all the way through just from his simple promise. Alexa held him tighter and felt herself fall in love with him a little more in that moment.

A pained grunt resounded in the sudden silence of the home and the couple started forward. Julian Cruz crawled across the floor, trying to make it to the elevators; a trail of blood leading toward his damaged legs. Alexa reloaded as she stepped onto one of them. 

He turned to face her, his smug grin no longer twisting his lips. “Now, as I was trying to tell you, Cruz, this isn’t gonna go as planned.”

“Who are you?” he asked with a ragged breath.

“You know what they say, if I tell you, I’d have to kill you.”

The man laughed and Alexa chambered another round before returning her gaze to him. “Si! Eres una asesina. You should work for me. We could own this world, mi querida!” Taking a look at her serious expression, he stopped. “I won’t beg for my life.” (Yes! You are a killer. / My darling.)

“Good. Because it’s not yours to give.”

Just then, Curt stepped onto the second-floor landing. Cruz’s eyes moved to him and he nodded recognition. “You’re the doer then? Well go ahead. No tienes las pelotas, cabrón!” (You don’t have the balls, you bastard!)

“Oh, trust me, they are big enough. But while I’d like nothing more than to put you in the ground, don’t expect me to put you out of my misery. You’re going to prison for what you did to my partner. And you’ll spend the rest of your days wishing I’d used this bullet.”

Heavy footsteps bounded down the rear staircase. Alexa looked up in time to see Travis descending with Joan close behind. “Mom, Dad!” Gavin called, rushing forward. “Are you ok?”

“GAVIN!” Joan yelled sprinting passed Travis to wrap her arms around their son. “What on Earth happened here!?”

“We heard the shooting, security had us lock ourselves into the panic room. I could see you and…them,” Travis said shaking his head, his gaze moving down toward Julian as officers moved in to cuff him and drag him away.

“They came for you,” Alexa offered.

“Alexa,” Joan said, the name sounding as if it pained her to utter. “Why is it that whenever you’re in our home, it’s being shot to hell?”

“Hmm…it could be because you don’t know how to keep your noses clean and I love Gavin enough to keep wanting to save you.” Alexa smirked, thinking she had shut down the matriarch before she could express more vitriol. But something about her reaction to what Alexa said threw her.

“Mom,” Gavin said, pulling Joan’s attention from her daughter-in-law, “the mayor put a hit on you and Dad. That’s why these men are here.”

“Why?” Travis asked. “What reason could she possible have for…”

“You had evidence proving her involvement with a murder and a cover-up—whether you knew about it or not wasn’t a chance she was willing to take,” Alexa replied, looking at Joan even while she spoke to Travis.

“Alexa and Detective Monroe worked to uncover her dirty dealings with a Mexican cartel.”

“Don’t sell yourself short, Gavin, you did a lot of heavy lifting as well.”

He smirked and nervously swept a hand through his hair before continuing, “Yeah well, either way, she’ll likely be in an eight by six before the end of the week.” 

As more police officers and personnel filed into the governor’s mansion, Alexa pulled Travis to the side. “Do you think we can speak privately?” she asked, turning to look at Gavin and his mother. “The four of us.”

“Sure thing.” Travis led them up the stairs to his private office.

“Joan, you have exactly three minutes to explain what the hell you got yourself mixed up in before you’re carted away and never see your family again,” Alexa said, the moment the doors closed shut.

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me.”

“What exactly are you accusing me of?”

“Don’t play games with me, Joan. I can assure you I am a lot smarter and better at this than you can even imagine. I know when someone’s being deceitful. Even still, I know when someone is innocent and truly has no idea HIS WIFE is the one involved with Mayor McLintock’s nonsense.”

“What?” Gavin asked, stunned and confused by what he was hearing. “What are you talking about, Alexa? You can’t honestly believe Mom had anything to do with…”

“She did. Just look at her.” Travis and Gavin took a moment to really study Joan’s face. It was then they all came to the same conclusion.

“Joan…you didn’t?” Travis asked, sighing in surprise. “How could—why?”

“Why? You can’t be serious! After all the bullshit lies and whores I’ve had to deal with in this marriage. All the late nights at work. Really, Travis? Do you really think I had no idea about your numerous dalliances all this time? Even back before this one came into our lives,” she said, thrusting a thumb in Alexa’s direction. “I knew about them—all of them!”

“And so, to get even you’re trying to frame me? To ruin me? I thought we were ok, Joan. We were supposed to be working things out. I haven’t stepped out on you in years.”

“And that’s supposed to be congratulated?” she asked with a snort. Golf clapping, Joan took three steps in Travis’ direction. “Congratulations, Travis. Great job on FINALLY doing the morally appropriate thing by not cheating on your wife.”

“Jesus, Mom! These people almost hurt Willow!” Gavin yelled, shaking his head as he tried to make sense of what he was hearing. “I don’t understand. You did all of this because of Dad’s affairs? What the hell were you thinking? What was your endgame?”

“I don’t know,” Joan sighed, dropping onto the chair beside her. “I only wanted to embarrass your father like he had done to me so many times. I had no idea they’d come after Willow. I would never do anything to hurt my granddaughter. In truth, I didn’t know how far Georgia had gone. The lengths to which she had involved these cartels. I thought she would help me create a scandal big enough to…I didn’t want anyone to be killed. When I learned of James’ death, I tried to do damage control. I tried to separate us from her dealings and cover up my involvement. I had nothing to do with any of that. My goal was simply to get you thrown out of office. The mayor had her own agenda.”

“That’s why the folder on the commissioner’s murder was in Travis’ office,” Alexa said. Joan nodded and dropped her head in her hands. “Wow,” Alexa exhaled, “When you do revenge you go scorched earth. I guess it never occurred to you someone as powerful as the mayor would use her authority in unethical ways, especially when backed by an equally as formidable influence such as the governor.” Pulling out her phone, Alexa made a series of calls as the remaining Starks tried to come to grips with everything they’d just learned.

“What was all that about?” Gavin asked once she’d ended her last call. Travis had moved toward the chair and pulled his crying wife into his arms to comfort her.

“That was me working out a way to get your parents out of the mayor’s mess. After all, they really had no hand in the death of Commissioner Knight or anything involving La Hermandad. Now, it’s up to you if you want to use my help or not, Joan, but someone close to me once quoted great advice that I shall now impart to you; ‘Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves.’”

“Please, Alexa, we’ll take any help you can offer,” Travis replied, gently stroking Joan’s back. “Please.”

—St. Claire - Three Weeks Later—

Mayor McLintock smoothed out her skirt and gave herself one last look in the mirror before heading out to the stage. The media was alerted of a major announcement concerning the recent drug bust made by the St. Claire Police Department and she was not one to miss a photo op.

As she stood behind the podium, preparing to begin her speech, a familiar face emerged from within the crowd. Mayor McLintock froze midsentence; her eyes locking on Michael West. He grinned with recognition.

Moments later, St. Claire PD were placing handcuffs on the mayor. Amid camera flashes and rapid-fire questions, she was escorted from the building and placed in the back of a squad car.

Michael walked over to where Alexa and Curt stood, watching the action go down. “I wanna thank you guys for everything you did.”

“There’s no need for that,” Alexa said.

“We know it won’t bring your family back, but we’re happy to have been able to help,” Curt added, shaking the man’s hand.