Chapter 25 - The Final Confrontation
Mateo’s blood ran completely cold. He shoved the phone back into his pocket, grabbed the shotgun, and rushed toward the shattered frame of the front door.
Standing in the gentle, pouring rain on the front lawn was Arturo Vargas. He was dressed in an expensive, dark suit, holding a massive, heavy-duty flamethrower. The pilot light hissed menacingly, casting a sinister blue glow over the horrific, melted scars covering the left side of his face.
"Come out, Mateo!" Arturo roared, his voice a horrifying, gurgling wheeze that barely sounded human. "Come out and watch your fortress burn!"
Mateo stepped out onto the ruined porch, the rain instantly soaking his clothes. He leveled the shotgun directly at Arturo’s chest.
"It’s over, Arturo. Your men are dead," Mateo shouted over the rain. "Put the weapon down, or I will blow you in half."
Arturo laughed—a terrifying, wet sound. "You think bullets scare me? I survived the inferno in Querétaro! Fire is the only truth, Mateo. Fire cleanses everything."
Arturo aimed the heavy nozzle of the flamethrower directly at the front of the house, his finger tightening on the heavy trigger. "Say goodbye to your family."
Mateo didn't hesitate. He pulled the trigger of the shotgun.
Click.
The weapon was entirely empty. He had used the last shell on the squad leader in the kitchen.
Arturo saw the panic flash in Mateo’s eyes and smiled maliciously. He squeezed the trigger of the flamethrower.
Nothing happened.
Arturo frowned, squeezing the trigger again. The pilot light continued to hiss, but no massive stream of liquid fire erupted from the nozzle. He looked down at the heavy fuel tanks strapped to his back in confusion.
"Looking for this?" a calm voice echoed from the shadows of the porch.
Laura stepped out from behind the ruined doorway, holding the heavy automatic rifle the squad leader had dropped. But she wasn't aiming at Arturo. She was pointing at the ground.
During the chaos of the kitchen fight, while Arturo was boasting on the phone, Laura had slipped out the back door and flanked the house. Using the tactical knife, she had silently sliced the main pressurized fuel line connecting the flamethrower’s tank to the nozzle while Arturo was distracted yelling at Mateo.
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Arturo realized his weapon was useless. He unstrapped the heavy tanks, letting them crash onto the wet grass, and reached for a pistol hidden in his suit jacket.
Laura raised the automatic rifle, switched it to single-fire, and shot Arturo squarely in the knee.
