The Vargas Cartel Trilogy: Books 1 - 3

by Lisa Cardiff

  Her suitcase rumbled over the tile floor behind her as she followed me down the hall. “So that’s it. After everything you put me through, don’t you think you owe me a better explanation?”

  I halted in the foyer by the front door. From the corner of my eyes, I saw Noah, Ignacio, and Emanuel sitting in the living room just as Noah and I agreed.

  “Fuck, Hattie.” I jerked my hand through the strands of my disheveled hair. “Do you want me to spell it out for you?”

  She angled her chin to the side. “Yes.”

  “We had fun together. You were a good diversion, but I’m just not interested in you anymore. Being with you feels more like work than fun, and I don’t want to work that hard.”

  She flinched, then her shoulders slouched. She looked so fucking defeated. I hated hurting her even if it wasn’t real. I hated Ignacio. I hated the Vargas Cartel. I wished I could wrap her up in my arms and carry her away from this place. Instead, I dug my fingernails into my palms to stop myself from folding her into my arms.

  “You said you loved me,” she said, her voice trembling.

  “I lied.”

  The color drained from her face. “What about the baby?”

  I snorted as I whipped the front door open. “Oh please, Hattie. You don’t even know if it’s mine. It could be Evan’s.”

  She stared at me for a long second, and my heart thudded wildly in my chest.

  I love you. I love you. I love you. I willed her to see the truth in my eyes and stay strong.

  “I guess you’ll never know,” she said softly.

  “I guess not.” I pulled her plane ticket from my pocket and held it out in front of me. “Here.”

  “What’s that?”

  “A plane ticket. Noah is going to accompany you home to make sure I don’t have to waste any more time or resources rescuing you again.”

  “Wow.” A bitter laugh tumbled from her lips as she shook her head. “You really can’t wait to get rid of me.”

  Noah crossed the room and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. He whispered something in her ear as he steered her toward the open door. I wanted to rip his lips off his face.

  I folded my arms across my chest. “Go home, Hattie. Go back to Evan or whoever.”

  She whipped her head around, pinning me with her glassy eyes. “I fucking hate you. I wish I never met you. You ruined my life.”

  “Yeah, well, the feeling’s mutual. Get her out of here, Noah.”

  She shrugged his arm off her shoulder. “I’m going. I don’t need your lapdog to escort me out the door.”

  Then the door slammed shut, and she was gone.

  “Ryker,” Ignacio said as he walked across the room.

  “I don’t want to talk right now.”

  He patted me on the arm. “I know it doesn’t seem like it now, but you did the right thing. Juan will go after her again. Sending her away is the only way she’ll be safe.”

  I shrugged. “I was ready to move on.”

  Ignacio’s brow furrowed. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  My hands shook, and I shoved them into my pockets, hiding them. “I thought I loved her, but I don’t. We’re too different. We’d never work.”

  “What’s going to happen with the baby?” Ignacio asked.

  I rolled my shoulders, and I sucked in a breath through my nose. “I don’t give a fuck,” I hissed.

  I didn’t wait for his response. I needed to get away from him. I was going to be sick.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Hattie

  I clutched the handle of my suitcase in one hand, dragging it behind me out of the automatic airport doors. It had been a long twenty-four hours, but now I was back in D.C. It didn’t feel like home. It felt foreign. In fact, without Ryker I felt like a drifter clasping onto meaningless things that used to be the center of my world.

  Taxis zipped in out of the parking lanes. Cars honked. Police officers directed traffic. Tourists and businessmen fumbled with their phones. Nothing about this felt right. I sucked in a deep breath, drawing the muggy air into my body. I’d spent so many years of my life being practical and making socially acceptable decisions, but every cell in my body begged me to turn around and run right back to Ryker. Frozen with indecision, I tapped my fingers on the hard plastic handle of my suitcase. I backtracked a few steps.

  With his ear pressed to his cell phone, Noah glanced over his shoulder. “What the hell are you doing?” he mouthed.

  My body sagged and I shook my head. “Nothing,” I said. I had to stick with Ryker’s plan. We needed to put all our ghosts to bed if we wanted to be together, and that meant eliminating the Deverons from my life permanently.

  Frowning, he popped the trunk and loaded my luggage into the car. He didn’t have anything except a small black bag. Then, he opened the back door of a black sedan and gestured for me to get in. He climbed in next to me, and the car pulled away from the curb.

  “Do you have the papers?” he asked.

  “Why?”

  His heavily fringed eyes narrowed. “I need to review them before we walk into the meeting.”

  I folded my arms across my chest. “You’re not coming in with me. I’m going to do this alone.”

  He angled his head to the side, and one side of his mouth curved up into a grin. “Yes. I am. Ryker wanted my help. I don’t do things half-assed. I’m either all the way in or I won’t bother.”

  “He wanted your help keeping me safe. Nothing else,” I countered.

  He squeezed my leg, and I scooted across the seat out of his reach. “He wanted my help with everything.”

  I drummed my fingers on the soft leather seat. “He didn’t mention that to me. If he wanted you to see everything, he would’ve given you a copy or showed them to you last night.”

  “His mind was focused on other things.”

  “Like what?”

  He stared at me wordlessly for a few seconds, his face inscrutable. “Warning me to keep my distance from you.”

  “What? Why the hell did he do that?” My mind swirled. Didn’t he trust me?

  Noah shrugged. “Who knows? I’m not privy to his inner thoughts, but you can call Ryker and talk to him about it.” His lips twitched. “But he probably won’t answer his phone. He can’t risk anyone listening to his calls. For his plan to work, we need everyone to believe he severed all contact with you.”

  “I don’t know if I should trust you.” It wasn’t entirely true. Since the moment he dragged me to the helicopter, he treated me with respect. He treated me like a friend, but being back in D.C. and knowing what we needed to accomplish, made me feel on edge. Part of me wanted to run to my dad with the evidence and beg him to help me, and wash my hands of the whole thing.

  His eyebrows lifted in question. “Look, Hattie, Ryker asked for my help. He’s paying me to help. In order to make this work, I need to know everything. I won’t go into a mission blind.”

  I chewed on the inside of my cheek, debating what to do. “Fine,” I conceded. “Tell me what you know and I’ll fill in the blanks.”

  “Hattie,” he said, drawing out my name, a mysterious smile toying with the corners of his lips. “Do you really think Ryker would send me here expecting you to keep me in the dark?” He glanced at his watch. “But if it makes you feel any better, I’ll tell you what I know. We’re meeting with the D.C. Times in less than an hour. I know we will hand over evidence concerning Senator Deveron’s ties to the Vargas Cartel if they agree to write the story.”

  “That sounds about right,” I said.

  “Good, so now you see why I’d like to see the papers before we give them to anyone else. They’re going to be public soon enough anyway.”

  I sighed. He was right. “The papers are hidden in my luggage.”

  “Good.” Smirking, he tugged on a strand of my hair. “We’ll go over them at lunch and come up with a game plan.”

  Deciding I needed to tune everything out and relax for a few minutes, I snagged my ear b
uds and phone from my purse. I scrolled through my playlists and selected one I used when I couldn’t sleep.

  I glanced at Noah, and I noticed him eyeing me with one eyebrow raised.

  I pulled out one of my ear buds. “What?”

  He shook his head. “Nothing.”

  My brows slammed together and I shoved him playfully on his shoulder. “No. Tell me. I can practically hear the wheels in your head turning.”

  He surveyed me for a few seconds. “I just can’t figure out why a girl like you is mixed up with a drug cartel thug. I understand how you met him, but that doesn’t explain why you stuck around.”

  I jabbed a finger in the center of his center. “Ryker’s not a drug cartel thug.”

  He chuckled. “Oh, he is. Don’t try to deny it.”

  I folded my arms across my chest. “You don’t know anything about Ryker or me.”

  “Of course I do. You’re Hattie Covington. Your father is the US Attorney General. Evan Deveron is your ex-fiancé. You are weeks away from getting your master’s degree. You flaked on your internship at the Foreign Policy Council earlier this summer.” He leaned back in the seat and crossed his ankles. “And for some reason, you’re fixated on Ryker Vargas despite everything he and his family did to you.” I held up my hand, but he ignored me. “Yes, I know the Vargas Cartel held you hostage, and I know why. It’s not a secret. At least not with people who have connections.”

  Heat rushed to my face and my gut twisted. I opened my mouth to respond, but no words came out of my mouth. Honestly, I didn’t have an explanation for my behavior. I didn’t understand my feelings for Ryker. I knew I loved him. I knew he made my heart beat faster, my life spin a little quicker, but none of that was his business. I didn’t owe him an explanation.

  “Have I rendered you speechless?”

  I huffed. “Just because you know a couple facts about my life doesn’t mean you know me,” I said, my voice raw and vulnerable. “Facts don’t sum up a person.”

  He blinked, his eyes unreadable and then he ran a hand through his hair. “No, they don’t, but you’ve got to admit your relationship with Ryker doesn’t look so good on paper.”

  “You do realize if I listed a bunch of random facts about you, you wouldn’t look so good either.” I squared my shoulders and tapped a finger on my lips. “You’re a mercenary for hire. People pay you to do bad things. You’ve killed people. You probably have more than one alias. Your loyalty only runs as deep as the pockets of the person paying you. Does that sound about right? Is that the sum of who you are, Noah? Or is there more to you than that?”

  His nose flared, and then he shook his head, a cocky grin sliding across his face. “Touché, but that’s none of your business.”

  I turned my head, holding his stare. “Then we agree on something. Don’t judge me and I won’t judge you.”

  “Agreed,” he said.

  I stuffed the ear bud back into my ear and closed my eyes. I hoped Ryker and I could wrap up this whole mess in less than a month.

  Chapter Twenty

  Ryker

  Five days had passed since Hattie walked out of my life. I hadn’t tried to call her, and she hadn’t made any attempt to reach out to me. It was what we agreed, but it didn’t mean I liked it. In fact, I hated it, but I was determined to protect her.

  According to Noah, they hadn’t made any progress in finding someone to feature the story about Senator Deveron’s connection to Mexican drug cartels. Apparently, he managed to buy influence at more than a few new organizations over the last few years. In the end, it wouldn’t matter. Somebody would cover the story and then it’d spread like an infectious disease. I just hoped it happened before Senator Deveron attempted to silence Hattie, but that was why I sent Noah with her.

  I wasn’t having any more luck than Noah and Hattie. My instincts told me Emanuel was the key to getting me out from under Ignacio’s thumb. Regrettably, I hadn’t uncovered much of anything about him. Either he had a pristine record of unwavering service to Ignacio and the Vargas Cartel, or he covered his tracks with diabolical precision. I believed it was the latter rather than the former.

  My whole life I had pushed harder and harder until I succeeded and got what I wanted. This time wouldn’t be any different. I had to keep my eyes open and have patience. Eventually, Emanuel would fuck up, and I’d be right there waiting for him.

  I increased the incline on the treadmill, pushing myself to the limit, trying to forget everything for a few minutes and clear my mind. My feet pounded against the rubber track. Music blared from my ear buds. Sweat trickled down the side of my face and off my chin. My legs burned like I’d dipped them in fire, but I had no intention of stopping until physical exhaustion claimed my body. Maybe then, I’d have a chance of getting a decent night’s sleep for the first time since Hattie left.

  Someone yanked one of my ear buds out of my ear. “What?” I barked, slamming my hand on the stop button. My eyes collided with Rever’s.

  He lifted one eyebrow. “You’ve been calling me all week, but you haven’t left a message.”

  I bent at the waist, cupping my knees as my chest heaved. “Why haven’t you answered your phone?”

  “I’ve been busy trying to start a new life away from this hellhole.”

  I pulled the other ear bud out of my ear, letting the cord dangle from the docking station. “Must be nice.”

  Rever’s eyes drifted to the side. “Yeah, well, you’re in luck. It didn’t go too well so now I’m back.”

  My brows slammed together. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  He stared at me in silence for a few seconds and then shrugged.

  “Are you going to explain or should we play twenty questions?”

  “Anna left me.”

  An involuntary laugh exploded from my lips. “I thought she was pregnant and you were going to get married.”

  He swore under his breath, running a hand down the side of his face. “So did I.”

  I took a long drink of my bottle of water. “So she’s not pregnant.”

  “No.”

  Clutching, the handrails on the treadmill, I gritted my teeth. “You lied to me?”

  A bitter laugh erupted from his lungs and he raked his hand through his hair. “No. She lied to me. I guess I’m as dumb as everyone believes.”

  “Why would she do that?”

  “I don’t know.” He stuffed his hands into his pockets, his dark eyes stark. “We got into a fight. I left to give her some time to think, and she was gone when I came home in the morning.”

  “Maybe she’ll come back.”

  “No.” He shook his head. “She left a note.” He pulled a balled up piece of paper from his pocket. “You want to read her parting words?”

  I eyed the paper in his hand. “No, I’ll pass, but you can summarize them for me.”

  He glared at the paper and then he threw it across the room and into the trashcan. “Well, she flipped out when she found out you killed her brother, and her father was in the hospital. Things deteriorated from there.”

  I wiped a white hand towel over my face and swung it over my shoulder. “I can only imagine.”

  “It was a fucking mess. She threatened to leave me if I didn’t help her family. Can you fucking believe it?” His lips twisted into a sneer. “She actually wanted me to rally behind Juan fucking Alvarez. There is no love lost between Ignacio and me, but I’d never betray him for Alvarez trash.”

  I raised my eyebrows. “Oh, really?” I mocked. “Because I’m pretty sure you already did when you stole his money to start a life with Anna Alvarez.”

  “Yeah, well, that was a mistake. She’s a fucking bitch. She lied about everything. I don’t even understand why. It doesn’t make sense. I don’t understand what she wanted to gain.”

  I picked up the television remote and turned up the volume as loud as it would go.

  Rever waved his hand at the television. “What the hell is that about?” he shouted. I pointed to my e
ar, and then at the walls.

  He nodded. “Got it.”

  “Will you spot me?” I asked as I stretched out on the charcoal weight bench. The angle of Rever’s body would block my face from Ignacio’s camera, and the loud volume would prevent anyone from hearing our conversation.

  “Yeah.”

  “I think Emanuel set you up,” I said as I lifted the weight bar. “I think he’s collaborating with Juan Alvarez. Actually, I think he’s been collaborating with him for a long time.”

  “Emanuel? Ignacio’s ass kisser? Are we talking about the same person? He doesn’t have a rebel bone in his body. He’d never do anything Ignacio didn’t order.”

  “Yes,” I ground out as I pushed the bar away from my chest. “We’re talking about the same person, but you’re wrong about him. He’s a traitor. I think he initiated this whole war between Juan and Ignacio.”

  “You’re crazy.” Rever shook his head. “Emanuel’s so far up Ignacio’s ass, he’d never do anything like that. He’s been working for Dad for a long fucking time.”

  “I know. Ignacio has reminded me on several occasions, but that’s why it makes sense. Ignacio would never suspect him. He could get away with anything.”

  “I don’t know, man.”

  “Think about it. He wanted you out of the picture. He made it happen. Then, all of a sudden I’m drawn back into the Vargas Cartel, but I don’t think he has any intention of allowing me to slip into Ignacio’s role.”

  Rever lifted the bar out of my hands and placed it on top of the bar catcher. “What do you mean, he wanted me to fail?”

  “He said he planted ideas in your head, made things available.” I lifted the bar again to do another set of reps. My entire body burned, but I couldn’t stop. I’d go crazy. I’d been spinning my wheels to no end for days.

  Shadows flickered through Rever’s eyes. “You really think he could be working with Juan Alvarez?”

  I lifted the weight bar eight more times, concentrating on the simultaneous burn and quiver of my pectoral muscles as I counted off the reps in my head.