by Liliana Hart
“But according to this information, we still don’t have a location for the new labs,” Devlin said, shuffling through the intel quickly. “How are we any better off than we were?”
“We don’t have the exact coordinates,” Shane said. “But we do have information we didn’t have access to before, and the new labs have definitely been set up in Ramos’ territory. My tech wizard was able to ferret out the information while my team was doing surveillance. In fact, I think Ramos took control over what was left of the del Fuego cartel just weeks after Carlos and Miguel del Fuego were killed. We were focusing all our attention on Colombia, but Ramos was keeping things on the down low until he had everything in place. I’m assuming it took time to rebuild the labs in a place no one would find them. The new rash of killings in the Yucatan area suggests the cartel is up and running for business now.”
Miguel and Carlos del Fuego had been the heads of the del Fuego cartel up until their deaths a few years before. Carlos had killed his father in a struggle for power, and Cade MacKenzie had killed Carlos with a shot straight to the heart while protecting Brant’s sister, Bayleigh. It had been sweet justice considering the del Fuego’s had killed Cade’s lover a few years before.
“How’d it come to your attention now?” Brant asked. He didn’t bother to read through the papers in front of him. He was waiting for the axe to fall. He took another sip of beer and kept his gaze steady with Declan’s.
“Intelligence picked up an unusual transmission through satellite. It seems Ramos is a little smarter than your average drug lord. He’s got brains behind the muscle, and that makes him even more dangerous.”
“Spit it out Dec,” Brant said.
“The cartel has set up the underground communication system using Maya as their language of choice.”
Brant was already shaking his head, knowing where Declan was going. His stomach twisted in knots, but Declan didn’t let him get a refusal out before continuing his explanation.
“Ramos is a Mayan descendent and has managed to bribe enough native speakers to work for him. Unfortunately for us, there are only a handful of people outside of the natives who are knowledgeable in the language. They’re a closed culture, and they wouldn’t want our interference. And Ramos is probably paying them handsomely or threatening their families to gain their cooperation, so we can’t try to work our way in through them. They’re loyal to him.”
“No way in hell,” Brant said, shaking his head again. “You’re out of your fucking mind.” He saw Devlin pass Shane a twenty dollar bill out of the corner of his eye, but he ignored them.
“Told you,” Shane said, taking the money and putting it in his wallet.
“You can’t seriously be talking about bringing your sister into this mess,” Brant said.
“She’s been in this mess for years,” Declan said. “She wants to help us destroy the cartel once and for all, and she has the resources we need to do it. She’s an expert in the field. She speaks the language, and she can read the hieroglyphs. She’d be invaluable on a mission like this.”
“No. Absolutely not. She’s your sister for fuck’s sake. Has she pissed you off so much lately that you feel the need to take her into cartel territory and leave her to a horrible death? She has no field training, and it’ll endanger the entire team. Who’s supposed to protect her?”
“From my understanding,” Shane said, the perpetual grin he kept on his face in place as usual. “You did a fine job protecting her the last time. Surely you can manage it again. Besides, we drew straws before you got here and you lost.”
Brant narrowed his eyes at Shane, wondering exactly what he knew about the time he’d spent with Darcy four years ago, and then he immediately dismissed the thought. If her brothers knew what had really happened between them, his body would’ve disappeared a long time ago.
He’d both cursed himself and congratulated himself on walking away from Darcy all those years ago. The further he’d driven from Surrender, Montana, the more he’d wanted to turn around and go back to her. She was his weakness. And in his line of work, there could be no weaknesses. Not unless you had a death wish.
A day hadn’t gone by where he hadn’t thought of her, and he’d kept track of her from a distance—making sure she was truly safe after her run-in with del Fuego’s men. He’d done thorough background checks on the men she’d dated and he’d made sure doors had opened in her career. He had the power to do those things, and he used it without apology because he’d come to realize shortly after their one night together that no one was more important than she was, even if he couldn’t be the man in her life.
Brant scooted back his chair and stood abruptly, planning to get his coat and walk out the door before the craziness of this conversation could go any further. The need to get away as soon as possible was getting stronger with every passing second. Being around Darcy again would be a mistake—he knew it as sure as he was standing there.
“We’re going to take her into cartel territory,” Declan said, the friend gone and the commander taking his place. “And she’s going to do her job by deciphering whatever needs to be deciphered so we can find the location of the labs and keep hundreds, maybe thousands, of people from getting killed. She’s an expert on the Maya. There’s no one more perfect for the job. She’s already familiar with the cartel, and she was the one who helped us realize how they’ve been communicating all these years.”
Brant’s hands fisted at his sides, and the lack of control brought his anger to the surface. Anger over the way he’d had to leave Darcy. Anger at himself for not being the kind of man who could ever have a normal life. And anger at Declan for pushing the matter when he knew damned good and well nothing good could come of it.
“This is a mistake,” he rasped, his throat dry at the prospect of what his future held.
“Is there something you’re not telling me about the real reason you don’t want to do this?” Declan asked, narrowing his eyes and coming to his feet to look Brant eye to eye. “You clearly have a problem with Darcy. You haven’t been to a family get-together since Cade and Bayleigh’s wedding, and you left as soon as the ceremony was over even though you were the best man.”
“I had food poisoning,” Brant gritted out. “And I’m with all of you all the damned time. I’m surrounded by so many MacKenzies I can’t piss without one of you handing me my dick. What the hell is your point with all this?”
“Nothing. You’re just being more unreasonable about this than usual. Darcy’s an intelligent woman, and you’ve known how to handle her since she was sixteen years old. She’s always listened to you more than the rest of us. I’d think finally shutting down the del Fuego cartel would be your top priority.”
“No one knows about priorities better than me,” Brant said.
Declan nodded somberly. Not many people knew the details about Brant’s first wife. Declan was one of them.
“Which is why Darcy is going in with you. She’s the only team you need on this op. Shane and the rest of SEAL Team 6 will be your backup, and the DEA already has agents in deep cover down in the area. We trust her safety with you. I can count on one hand the number of people I’d say that about, and four of them are her relatives.”
“Great,” Brant said. The urge to put his fist right into Declan’s face overcame him, and he could tell by his friend’s raised brow that he was daring him to try. “Just great.”
“What’s the matter, Brant?” A silky voice called from the door—a siren’s call that had his blood pumping and his cock hardening in an instant. “Afraid I’ll be too much for you to handle?”
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