Ava was back and I could breathe again. But oh, how I desperately wanted to gut that boy. Not only because I hadn't killed anyone in over two weeks, but also that I wanted some revenge. He had not only nearly killed me, but there was no doubt that he had ravished Ava as well.

My girlfriend.

I sat next to Ava on our way back to Taco's lair. She was shaking as I stared at her. Gomez drove full speed ahead, focused solely on the cracked road in front of us.

"Remind me," I spoke. "Why are we going to Taco's again?"

"I need to speak with him."

"And I need to free the women that he has there," Ava said softly. I turned my head to her. She looked away, out the window. She was so alluring.

"What's the plan?" I asked Gomez.

"No plan, just attack," Gomez replied. "We took out his two main henchmen. He's not going to have much immediate backup." He turned a corner and parked across the street. "He'll definitely be caught off guard. He's not used to failing."

I nodded. "What do you want me to do?"

He looked at me in the rearview mirror. "You have a knife. You're a serial killer. Something tells me that you'll think of something."

I rolled my eyes. Just because I was used to killing people doesn't mean that I went on sprees, or massacres. I simply enjoyed the thrill of a good chase and squeezing the life out of helpless people. This was something completely different.

Gomez opened the car door and got out. "Join me when you're ready, Lex." He walked up to the house and began to scope it out, his gun in hand. I turned to Ava.

"Stay in the car. I'll get the girls trapped in there."

I turned to open my door. "Luther," she whispered.

I turned my head. "What is it?"

"Just...don't die or anything."

I lifted a brow. "Since when did you care if I lived or-" I was interrupted by an abrupt kiss to the lips. Pleasantly surprised, I let out a small gasp and closed my eyes. She quickly pulled away.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be," I muttered as I got out of the car and shut the door. I walked up to Gomez. "Let's go."

We furtively snuck into the old, large house. A few men were patrolling the hallways, but none that we couldn't slip past. The house was very dark, and easy to hide in.

From down a hallway, I heard several voices, none of which sounded like men. With my head, I gestured to Gomez that that was where we needed to go. He nodded, and we walked together down the hall to the room. I opened it slowly and walked inside. The women inside all gasped when they saw us.

"It's okay, we're here to help you," Gomez assured. They started to gather at the door. A blonde girl walked up to us.

"Are you Luther and Gomez?" she asked.

Gomez and I exchanged a glance. "We are..." Gomez answered. "Did Ava tell you about us?"

She nodded. "Are you going to free us?"

"Yes, we are," I answered. "But I believe we have some business to tend to first."

Gomez nodded. "Don't worry, señoras, we'll be back to get you soon."

They looked at each other, perplexed and confused. Gomez and I left the room and gently closed the door behind us. We heard men approaching from down the hallway. Gomez nodded at me.

I sighed, turned the corner and stabbed one of them in the gut. The other I sliced into his back, then held it to his throat. I put my mouth next to his ear as he winced in severe pain.

"Tell me..." I whispered. "Where is your boss, El Taco?"

Shaking, he struggled to get away. I simply pressed the knife closer to his jugular, causing him to freeze. "Taco is on the second floor. I think that he's...busy...."

"Thank you for your cooperation." I slit his throat and let him drop dead. I wiped my bloody hands on my black slacks and walked back over to Gomez.

"You didn't have to kill him, you know."

"Serial killer, remember?"

He rolled his eyes as the two of us made our way up to the second floor. There were men guarding a certain door near the end of a hallway. Gomez shot at them, causing them to drop.

"What's going on out there?" Someone from within the room shouted angrily. I could've sworn that it was Gomez's voice. But, clearly, it wasn't.

We stomped with heavy steps to the room as though we were marching into battle. Gomez thrust the door open angrily.

Damn, I thought. This Taco character must've really pissed Gomez off last they met.

In the room was a girl, tied up and sitting on the floor, cut and bruised in the face. Taco clearly had been beating on her. Standing in front of her only could've been Taco. He was tall, as was Gomez, but had a full head of black and grey hair and a cloud of cigarette smoke around him. He didn't look like he was from South America, as Gomez roots were from, but more on the Mexican side.

He turned around and faced us, brass knuckles on his fingers and a cigarette dangling from his lips. His eyes widened.

"Taco..." Gomez growled under his breath and through gritted teeth.

"Mi hijo," Taco exclaimed, breathless. He slipped off the brass knuckles and let them crash to the floor. Gomez glared at him.

"It's been many years, Padre," he spat.

I turned my head and stared at him incredulously. My mouth gaping, I stuttered. "Taco...is your father?"

Gomez's green gaze shifted towards me. "Sí."

I looked back and forth between the two. "But, but how? When?" The resemblance was actually quite striking. There were some definite cultural differences in appearance, but overall, they looked like father and son.

"What are you doing here?" Taco exclaimed. "I thought that you were prospering in the marijuana business?"

His gaze snapped back to Taco. "You have no idea what is going on in my life. And you're not going to find out, either!"

"Why are you two at odds?" I asked.

Taco looked to me. "Who the hell are you?"

"This is my friend, Lex," Gomez answered for me.

I rolled my eyes. "It's Luther, actually..."

"And he killed my mother," Gomez answered. I looked up at Taco.

"Why?"

"She wanted to leave," Taco explained, strolling up to us. I inched back. "She was going to take Gomez and Ariana with her."

"Yeah, and thanks to you, Ariana and Abuelo are still trapped in this hell hole."

"It's for their own good. I make sure that they're protected."

"They're frightened of you, Padre." He took a step towards him. "But I am not. I will have to stand up for everyone who you have held prisoner, everyone you've beaten, raped and tortured. I am standing up for her." He pointed to the girl lying on the floor, passed out from pain. "I am standing up for Ava, and for Luther." He poked a finger into Taco's chest. "And I'm standing up for myself."

"Please, Antonio, you don't know what you're even talking about. There is nothing to stand up to."

Antonio?

Gomez pulled out his gun and put it up to Taco's forehead. Taco put his hands up nonchalantly. "I told you never to call me that name again."

Yeah well, now you know how I feel, Gomez.

"But it is your name, mi hijo."

Gomez shook his head slowly as his grip on the gun tightened. "No. It is your name, Antonio. And I do not want to bear the name of a monster like yourself!"

My eyes widened. Gomez was named after his father, who he was ashamed of. So he uses a different name and refused to even be connected to his father by sharing one.

"You disgust me, Antonio," Gomez spat. He forced Taco to sit down and tied him up to a chair with chains that Taco had lying about. "You can rot here for all I care. How many men do you have wandering about?"

"Six," he answered. "Not including R.J. and Sean."

He rolled his eyes. "Those two idiots? I wouldn't be surprised if they had gotten jumped by now."

"What are you talking about?"

"One has a stab wound and is bleeding out. The other was shot in the foot by yours truly. Your six henchmen are all dead. All that's left is for me to release your sex slaves and my job here is done."

The two of us began exiting the room, leaving the girl. "I never want to see your face again."

He slammed the door and began walking down the hallway.

"ANTONIOOOOO!" Taco screamed at the top of his lungs as we walked away.

"I'll go to the women and tell them that they can leave," Gomez said. "You go and make sure Ava is still okay."

I nodded and exited the house. I unlocked Gomez's car and slid into the backseat. Ava was hiding underneath the dashboard, to make sure nobody saw her from outside.

"It's safe," I assured. "Taco has been taken care of."

She nodded and got into the backseat with me. "What happened in there?"

"You'll never believe me," I began. She looked at me expectantly. "Taco is Gomez's father."

Her grey eyes widened. "NUH UH!" she exclaimed. I nodded.

"Yes, it's true. And the reason why Gomez never tells anyone his real name is because it is his father's name. And he hates his father, and wants nothing in common with him."

"What is his name?" she asked.

"Antonio," I answered. "But Taco killed Gomez's mother. So he hates him now. We tied Taco up and Gomez is telling your friends to leave."

She nodded. "This is...huge."

I nodded. "It is." There was a moment of silence. "Ava?" I began. "Why did you kiss me?"

She stared at me intently. "I don't know..." she whispered. "I don't know what's happening." She put her hands to her face and began to cry. I watched as she weeped. I liked it when she cried. "I don't know when I'll be able to go back home, or what I'll say when I do. And I don't know what I'm feeling and...I just want to die."

"Ava..." I whispered, pulling back her hair. She looked up at me, her eyes red and puffy. "It...will be okay."

She sniffed and shook her head. "No one can know for certain."

Gomez got back into the car and revved up the engine. "Everything okay?" he asked. I nodded. "Alright..."

We zoomed off into the distance, leaving that chapter of our lives behind us for good.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

😱😱😱😱😱so we finally found out what Taco did, who he is and what Gomez's real name was and why he never told anybody!

I'm thinking of ending the book at 45 chapters...does that sound reasonable? I have already gotten started on the sequel, so it should be up a month or so after Outlawry is finished, but I'll need some time to plan it.

Anywho please vote and comment. Outlawry is #10 I'm mystery/thriller! Help get it even higher!!!