by Desiree Holt
“Then let me lay this on the table.” Slade leaned forward. “The DEA has had its eye on your firm’s client, Alex Reyes, for some time. They got a tip some time ago from a very reliable source and since then they’ve been watching him carefully. They think he and his cousin in Mexico are connected to Hector Lopez Garcia, and have been for some time. That Alex and his cousin are leading the new expansion of the Lopez Garcia cartel. And that they’re giving whatever is in the works the image of respectability.”
Kenzi felt sick to her stomach. She had suspected something like this but hearing it as a reality was something else.
“I still can’t give you any information,” she repeated. “You know that.”
Slade nodded. “Let’s just consider this giving you advance warning that stuff might come down.”
Kenzi shivered as a sudden chill washed over her and the headache began to increase in her left temple. She rubbed at it absently with the tips of her fingers, but she was afraid nothing would ease it. She might have had her suspicions about Alex Reyes, but never in a million years had she suspected anything like this.
“I never even thought about drugs,” she blurted. “I thought maybe he was trying to figure out a way to hide money, so he didn’t have to pay taxes, but drugs? A cartel connection? Not even on my horizon.”
Dana cleared her throat. “I can’t be positive, but something makes me think my source works for Reyes in some capacity, and this is what he or she wants to tell me about.”
Trey hiked an eyebrow. “You don’t know if it’s a male or a female?”
She shook her head. “Whoever it is has been smart enough to use something to disguise their voice on the rare phone calls. Usually the contact is by text or email.”
Slade rubbed his hand over his head. “Dana, I realize it’s not my decision, but I still can’t believe you’re putting your life in jeopardy for someone when you don’t even know the sex. It’s no secret Lopez Garcia wants you dead. I think this might just be a trap.”
“I’ll say it again. They could have killed me already. And with all of you handling my security for it, I’ll be well protected.” She looked around the table. “Right?”
He nodded. “We’ll be doing our damndest.”
“But maybe,” Kari said, “the cartel knows there’s a snitch. But they don’t know who, and this is a trap for both of you.”
“We’ve been over that,” Slade told her. “The best we can do is make sure we keep her safe.”
Kenzi cleared her throat. “Dana, you said you had new arrangements. What are they?”
“I’ve talked it all out with Slade,” her sister told her. “That’s one of the things we’re going to discuss now.”
“What boggles my mind,” Kenzi said in a slow voice, “is the fact that a senior partner in one of the city’s oldest, most respected law firms has a man involved in drugs big-time as a client. And apparently has for years. I can’t believe he’s not aware that what we’re working on is for that business. If, indeed, it is.” She inhaled and let out a slow breath. “And now I’m involved in whatever it is.”
“That’s something I want to talk to you about,” Trey told her. “I think you should figure out a way to call in sick. Starting tomorrow.”
“What?” She stared at him. “No. I can’t do that. Calhoun specifically told me to be in early tomorrow. Told, not asked. The mood he was in when we met, if I call in sick, he just might fire me.”
“The way things look to be coming down,” Axel drawled, “that might not be such a bad thing.”
“If not tomorrow,” Slade told her, “then within the next few days. You can lead up to it. I’m serious, Kenzi. The DEA is getting ready to lower the boom on him. They’re just waiting for the paperwork to go in and confiscate all the files.”
“You won’t want to get caught up in that,” Kari added. “Trust me.”
Kenzi dropped her head into her hands. The pressure of the headache was increasing.
“You probably all think I am an idiot for not being more suspicious than I was—”
“Stop.” Trey cupped her chin and turned her face toward him.
Just the warm touch of his hand began to settle her nerves.
“But—”
He rushed his lips over hers. “Nobody thinks that. There was no reason for you to suspect anything. Kenzi, you’ve worked at that firm for ten years without anything at all looking honkey. The firm has an impeccable reputation and its clients are the cream of the business world and San Antonio society. Why would the thought of a cartel connection even occur to you? Tax evasion for the mountains of money from cattle and minerals would be more logical.”
She shrugged. “Always a possibility with the filthy rich.”
Teo stuck his head into the room. “Steaks are ready.”
Slade stood up. “Let’s get our food and we can continue this over dinner. We got a little sidetracked here, so we should set up the situation with Dana first then see what we can do about your situation, Kenzi. Okay?”
“Sure. Yes. Okay.” But she leaned into Trey and whispered, “I don’t think I’m very hungry.”
“Just eat whatever you can. I don’t want you getting sick for real.” He put his arm around her and pulled her closer to his body. “We’ll figure something out. That’s one of my specialties.”
Then he leaned down and placed a soft kiss on her lips. And all she wanted to do was crawl into him and pretend none of this was happening.
Chapter Fourteen
Hector Lopez Garcia knew that he should have waited for Diego to get back to him, but there wasn’t a big margin for patience here. He took a deep breath, slowly exhaled, and dialed the familiar number.
“Hola, jefe.” Diego’s voice sounded raspy, as if he’d been talking a lot. “I know you are calling about our thorny problem and be assured, I am still working on this.”
“We are running out of time, Diego.” He bit down on the cigar clamped between his teeth. “Please tell me you have information for me.”
“Some, but I don’t think you’ll be happy with it.”
“Damn it. Well, give me what you’ve got. Where has everyone disappeared to?”
“The reporter did go off with the sister when she left the hangar, as well as one of the two men involved in this fiasco. And, Hector? You will like this even less. We managed to get someone into the hospital and up to Ignacio’s room in scrubs. He managed to talk to him before the guard demanded identification. It seems they have a list of personnel allowed to treat him.”
“Fuck.” Hector spat the word.
“Indeed. But he did find out something of value. If you recall, Ignacio is one of the few survivors of the massacre in Quintana Roo. You won’t like this. He said the two men with the women are part of the team that led that disaster.”
Hector ground his teeth. “Go on.”
“You won’t like this, either. It appears the sister is involved with the man who drove her today, although we were not able to ascertain just how deep that relationship went.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Hector growled.
“But let me tell you who the sister is.”
When he finished, Hector was filled with a murderous rage. Who had he offended that brought down such bad luck on his head, and on all the parts of the cartel? He would have to make yet another distasteful telephone call, and who the hell knew what that would bring about?
This fucking reporter had connections that might give her access to information the cartel could not afford her to have. Mierda! That created a major quandary. If the order was given to kill her, they would have to bury her where no one would find her. Otherwise her death would raise far too many questions.
“If the work she is doing looks to her like nothing more than what it purports to be,” he said slowly, “then we will do nothing. Just watch and wait. Perhaps she will just take it at face value. She has no reason, at this point, to think otherwise.”
“But the reporter sister h
as uncovered information about the plans,” Diego reminded him. “What if she shares them?”
“I say again, there is still no visible link between the two situations. We need to clean things up before there is. Getting rid of that reporter is now our top priority. Damn it. How did everything get so fucked up? How are so many coincidences poised to destroy something we’ve worked a long time for?”
“This is not good news,” Diego commented.
As if I don’t know that.
“Adding in the soldiers only worsens things,” Hector pointed out. “Of all the damn fucking men to get involved with. Someone is raining curses down on us. So. Where did they go when they left the hangar?”
The moment of silence that hummed across the connection did nothing to assuage Hector’s rapidly exploding temper.
“We’re still working on that.” Diego’s voice was edged with frustration. “The information on these men is so hidden even their home addresses are difficult to ascertain. But,” he added hastily, “we will get the information, I promise you. Have I ever let you down?”
“No, and I don’t want this to be the first time. Work harder,” Hector demanded. “We are on a time limit here. The organization is poised to move forward with its massive expansion plans, and nothing can interfere with that. You certainly know the DEA is ready to jump on our organization if they sniff anything at all.” Goddamn the DEA, anyway. “Who knows if the person the reporter is talking to is going to the DEA or even has already done so?”
“They have not made a move on us,” Diego pointed out.
“That means nothing. They could even now be investigating, looking for weak links, gathering information to do so. And let’s not forget the sister could be a danger in her own way.” He thought for a moment. “I don’t care what you have to do, but by the end of day I want to know where these women are and who they are with. And any hint at all of who is betraying us. Comprende?”
“I will get on it again as soon as we hang up,” Diego assured him.
“Do that. I count on you, Diego.”
He hung up, fighting to control his anger fuming. He was used to demanding things and having them done at once. Loose threads were snipped. Troublesome people disappeared. Problems were eliminated at the snap of a finger. But now people who didn’t know enough to be afraid, or who were clever in their own right, were threatening the empire he had built. And the one he and his family were about to take to new heights. They had to be eliminated, and quickly.
Hector sat for a long moment after he disconnected. Although he did not have proof, long experience and his own senses told him they had one or more leaks in key places. He did not know how that was possible, as the cartel had people they paid too much money to in order give them sufficient warning if that happened. If that was indeed the case, they had serious problems because traitors had slipped by them.
He would have to make another phone call, and he hated that fact. He saw it as a sign of weakness, and he had spent his life doing all manner of things to ensure that no one ever attached that word to him. Worse yet, he was going to again ask for help from a person who it was his responsibility to help. When he had finally identified all the people who had created this situation, he would kill them all himself. Starting with the fucking reporter and maybe her damn sister.
With great reluctance and dreading the conversation that was about to take place, he called the number he had used the day before. In concise sentences, he outlined the situation.
“We must take care of this before things get any more out of hand than they already are.”
“I thought that was your responsibility,” the refined voice answered.
Hector cleared his throat. “There are places I cannot go, people I cannot reach out to without creating a problem. And while I can take care of the reporter, her sister is your problem. We want to make absolutely sure whether she does or does not suspect anything before we get rid of her.”
“Yes. I will take care of that, without raising any eyebrows. But the reporter is your responsibility. If the job hadn’t been botched the first time, none of this would even be happening.”
“I’m aware of that.” Hector’s jaw tightened. If he ground his teeth any more, they’d be down to the roots.
“So, then, what is it you want from me, besides verification of the sister’s knowledge?”
“I need to know where the reporter had disappeared to and how involved her sister is. You can help on that end.”
Silence. Then, “I will find the best way to assess the situation, but if it becomes awkward, you are on your own. I am not going to mess up this move forward by putting anyone on alert. We have worked too hard for it.”
Hector drew in a deep breath and reached for his famous control.
“Yes. All of us have.” He stared out of the window. “Another unpleasant bit of information. There is also a possibility that whoever this reporter is meeting with has gone to the DEA. I will—”
“Hijo de puta. What the hell, Hector? You are the one who is supposed to keep a lid on all of this. Maybe it’s time to make an example of someone again.”
“And maybe that someone looking to betray us is from your end of the business and not mine.” Hector was getting sick of this. “I’ll clean my house, but you might do well to take a look in yours. Get that information.”
More silence
“All right, primo. Let’s take a deep breath here and regroup. I will take care of my business, you will take care of yours, and when the mess is cleaned up, we will have taken a giant step forward, ahead of the other cartels.”
The connection went dead. Hector stared at the silent phone. Fuck. Just fuck. Now this thing had them at each other’s throats and that had never happened before. Not to mention the fact that the only way their entire setup worked was when connections were kept to a carefully regulated minimum. They never stepped into each other’s worlds. No one objected because it had been that way for decades. The financial rewards to everyone involved were more than worth it.
Anger surged through him and he barely restrained himself from throwing the phone against the wall. Tomorrow he would have to call back and mend his fences.
* * * *
Kenzi leaned back in her seat in the car and closed her eyes. Thoughts about the night before made her feel as if every nerve in her body had been scraped raw. After dinner they had all sat at the dining room table to plan out Dana’s rescheduled meet with her source. That had happened after she’d finished a lengthy call with her editor, who’d apparently had a come-to-Jesus meeting with himself and decided no story was worth collecting bodies over, especially if one of those bodies turned out to be hers. But her stubborn sister hadn’t budged.
Kenzi had shamelessly eavesdropped while Dana had pleaded with her editor, even going so far as to tell him she was getting the damn story anyway, and if he didn’t want it, she knew plenty of places that did. Kenzi had wanted desperately to shake her sister, or smack her, or something. Trey had calmed her down, fed her a glass of wine and she had managed to keep her shit together for the rest of the evening.
Dana’s source apparently was not able to get free again for three more days, which made nobody happy, least of all Dana. Yes, she’d agreed, she saw the wisdom of staying at the ranch until then. And yes, how fortunate that Slade had the room, and that everyone on the ranch was armed to the teeth, just in case. But damn, she might just go crazy.
No one had been happy with the source choosing the place for the meet, but there had been no wiggle room there.
‘I’m the one in danger here,’ the mechanically altered voice had said. ‘I will choose the place. It will definitely be worth your while.’
By the end of the evening, they had decided to scope out the location—even knowing it could be changed at the last minute—and had set up an effective plan to keep Dana as safe as possible. Kenzi still hadn’t been convinced. Anything could go wrong. But at that point, she’d realized it wasn’t her ca
ll.
She had other problems—a headache blooming at the base of her skull and a feeling that somehow she was going to put her foot in her mouth and piss off Reed Calhoun or Reyes himself or both.
“I still wish you had called in sick today,” Trey said as they headed away from her apartment complex.
“Truthfully? I wish I could, too. But Calhoun knows I would never do that when we’re crunching unless I was at death’s door.”
His laugh had little humor in it. “That’s probably not a good metaphor in this particular situation.”
“Yeah.” She sighed. “I guess you’re right. Don’t worry, I’ll be okay. Nothing is going to happen at work, and I am going to be careful not to let any of my suspicions show. Anyway, Reed Calhoun knows you deliver me and pick me up and we’re together the rest of the time when I’m not working.”
“Just watch yourself, okay?”
“I promise.” She chuckled. “Did you notice Dana turn green when Axel said he’d take her out riding today? She’s never been on a horse in her life.”
“Well, he grew up on a ranch, like Slade, so she’s in good hands. It will take her mind off the situation.”
“Still, I hope someone takes pictures. So Slade’s meeting with Detective Trainor again today?”
“He is. He hopes to find out more about what the DEA knows.” He pulled into the curb. “Here you go, babe. You be careful, and keep your cell with you all the time, just in case.”
She gave him a lopsided grin. “You gonna ride to my rescue if they’re mean to me? I’ll be okay. I promise. I’ll watch what I say. And maybe I’m completely wrong to be suspicious. Everything could be perfectly legit.”
“Maybe. But you know the old saying. Hope for the best and prepare for the worst.”
She unfastened her seatbelt and reached across the console to pull his head down to hers. Then she pressed her open mouth to his and thrust her tongue inside, sliding it over his and sucking. When she finally pulled back, he looked at her with intense hunger in his eyes.
