Chapter 1
Sometimes in your life there is a moment when you realize you are so ungodly screwed that the remainder of your lifespan is apt to be numbered in minutes. This was that moment for Landon Cross. He stood next to the Mercedes that belonged to the cartel’s local boss, Jorge Sotolongo. Twenty feet in front of him, a number of men climbed out of a Cadillac Escalade. They were the projected buyers of the four thousand kilos of cocaine the cartel was selling. The meeting that day was about negotiating the price.
What Landon hadn’t anticipated was seeing Yuri Markov get out of that car. He’d arrested Markov three years earlier and thought the man was still serving jail time.
“You brought a f*****g cop to the meet?” bellowed Markov.
The men near Landon all looked at each other, and him, uncertain who Markov was referring to.
“Him!” Markov shouted and pointed a finger.
“I think you have me mistaken for someone else,” said Landon, trying to remain as calm as possible. One of Sotolongo’s enforcers grabbed Landon by the arm and pressed the muzzle of his gun against Landon’s temple.
“He’s a god damn DEA agent,” said Markov, stalking towards Landon.
Sotolongo cast a long appraising look at Landon. “Perhaps. We’ll find out.” He nodded at the enforcer and the butt of the gun crashed into the side of Landon’s temple. The world went black.