Marisela Morales 03 - Dirty Little Christmas - Julie Leto Read Online Free Page A

dark, round muzzle, she threw herself behind the nearest sedan just as six shots popped off in quick succession.
    Two busted the windshield. One pinged off the asphalt and three flew wild.
    On her knees, Marisela turned and saw Lia, frozen, in their empty parking spot.
    “Lia, get down!” she warned.
    The SUV barreled toward Lia, but with a visible shake, she darted out of the way. Belinda—and her suitcase—were gone.
    Marisela flung herself flat against the ground and aimed at the truck’s tires. She pulled off several shots before the SUV slammed to a stop and the driver and a passenger, through the moonroof, returned fire. She rolled under a van for cover.
    The gunfire stopped. Lia screamed. Marisela slid between two parked cars, aware of the sound of sirens drifting up from below. That was one good thing about increased security at airports—instant reaction to gunshots fired. She fought her instinct to charge and instead chanced a glance around the bumper. She saw nothing but the idling SUV and a hint of movement from behind a full sized, flatbed truck parked next to it.
    It was Lia, playing tug-of-war with a ski-masked assailant and Belinda’s overnight bag.
    Marisela took aim, then shouted, “Lia!”
    Just as the man turned, Lia dropped to the ground, allowing Marisela a clear shot. Blood exploded off the top of the maricón’s shoulder. Marisela ducked behind a Mini Cooper, expecting return fire.
    She wasn’t disappointed.
    Glass exploded all around her, but the shooting stopped as the SUV tore down the exit ramp.
    Marisela sprinted after them, firing successively at the tires. If any hit their mark, none did enough damage to stop the escape. She couldn’t risk aiming any higher. Not with Belinda missing. Not when her likeliest location was in the backseat.
    She reached Lia, who was crawling back to her feet, blood streaking down her chin.
    “What happened?” she asked.
    “Someone just stole my car and took Belinda.”
    Lia shook her head. “But why? And your car…it’s there!”
    Marisela spun in the direction Lia pointed, spotting the Camaro parked crookedly in a spot behind another truck. She grabbed Lia by the arm, ignored her curse of pain, and pulled her along, determined to catch up to the sons of bitches who’d just taken her sister.
    The comemierdas had signed their own death warrants.
    She fished the keys out of her pocket and pressed the fob. But instead of the familiar double beep, an explosion of light and sound smacked them, throwing them back. A hailstorm of broken glass rained down and this time, when Lia started screaming, she did not stop.
    * * *
    Marisela couldn’t hear. No, that wasn’t right. She could hear, but the sounds were burrowing into her brain through a narrow tunnel, piercing her eardrum and then echoing in and out. She could hear Lia whimpering, or maybe howling in pain, but she couldn’t see past the cloudy haze filtering over her eyes. Smoke? Yes. But also lights. So bright. And heat. Intense heat. Damn. She blinked, afraid to rub her eyes with her hands, which were coated in filth and glass and grit.
    The motherfuckers had kidnapped her sister, assaulted her best friend and blown up her car.
    They were going down. As soon as she figured out how the hell to find them.
    She crawled across the pavement. Glass bit into her palms and through the denim of her jeans. She followed the muffled sound of Lia’s cries, finally touching hot flesh.
    Hot, sticky flesh.
    “ Dios mio , Lia. Por favor. Don’t be hurt. Please, don’t be hurt.”
    She patted her friend’s body, found her arms and dragged her away from the heat. Every inch was a victory. Then bright lights, blue and red and gold like the lights on her parents’ oversized Christmas tree, twirled around in her altered vision.
    Then came the noise. Piercing and painful. She drew her hands to her ears, silently screaming until the wails stopped. When thick hands grabbed her shoulders, she instantly curled onto her