“What the hell is going on here?” Rocco asked.
“Eddie boy has got a fucked up notion in his head that I take orders from him,” Dante said, seething. “I’m going to show him how wrong he is.”
Rocco looked at Eddie, whose smile stretched wider. “I’m relaying a message from El Sombro. If you want to defy his order, be my guest.” He shrugged.
“Messenger boys aren’t El Sombro’s style. If he wants me to do something, then he tells me himself. Until then, you’re nothing but a punk wannabe drug dealer trying to swim in the sea with thesharks. You’ll be eaten alive in no time,” Dante said, stalking over to face off against Eddie.
“El Sombro isn’t here?” Rocco maneuvered himself between the two men. The answer was obvious. The leader of the cartel was conspicuously absent once again.
“He sends his regrets,” Vance said, appearing bored with the fight. “Rocco, don’t bother getting riled up about these two. They’ve been itching to fight from the moment they met. We should let them.”
“I’m not in the mood to spend the night patching them up after they try to kill each other,” Rocco said, trying a different approach. He needed to find out why Dante was so pissed at Eddie. But getting them to talk cartel business in front of the ladies was a long shot.
“That ain’t happening,” Eddie said, then glared at Dante. “I don’t give a fuck what you’re used to in the past. Things are different now. I expect my guys to get the route details from you by morning. If not, you’ll find out the consequences for disrespecting me.”
Dante’s fist flew fast as lightning, smashing Eddie in the face. Blood sprayed from Eddie’s nose as he toppled backward in shock. He hit the floor with a loud thud and an anguished cry as his head bounced off the hard marble. Dante was relentless in his attack, kicking Eddie in the ribcage repeatedly. Rocco tried to step in and hold Dante back, but the man was strong, flinging him away.
“You want respect, bitch?” Dante thundered. “You have to earn respect!”
Eddie twisted and writhed on the floor with each kick. His jacket, splattered with blood, flew open, and a cell phone skittered to the floor. Rocco honed in on the device, then caught a glimpse of Jemma in his periphery. With the proper distraction, she might be able to get the phone without anyone noticing.
Rocco rushed forward, wrapping his arms around Dante tightly, shielding the phone from Vance’s view. “Come on, man, he’s not worth it,” Rocco said.
“Rocco!” Jemma screamed, rushing toward him. “No, don’t. You could get hurt!”
As she darted across the ballroom, Vance said, “Jemma, darling, come over here with the rest of the ladies. Don’t get involved.”
Rocco wrestled Dante away from Eddie. “Jemma, stay back, please. Don’t come any closer,” Rocco said, echoing Vance’s warning. “I’ll be okay. I promise.”
Jemma stopped, then stumbled backward. “Are you sure?”
“Yes, wait for me in the foyer. We can go as soon as I get these guys under control.”
Jemma nodded slowly, then backed out of the ballroom.
Rocco glanced down to the spot where Eddie’s cell phone had been.
It was gone.
Chapter 30
Pressing the earpiece in her ear, Jemma whispered a command, and her phone dialed the Proteus team. She slipped silently along the hallway and ducked into the first open door. A massive library opened before her. Walls lined with bookshelves, oversized leather couches grouped in sets, and a traditional wood desk diagonal in the corner.
This was the part of her work at the DEA that she loved the most—the pulse of danger, the intoxicating rush of adrenaline, the thrill of not knowing if she’d get caught or get away. They played a high-stakes game, balancing on the razor’s edge. In moments like these, with her heart pounding and senses heightened, Jemma felt most alive.
She glanced over her shoulder and was satisfied that no one had seen or followed her.
“What do you need?” Lenny’s voice was all business.
“Cell phone copy.” Jemma lifted her phone from her purse and placed it on the desk next to Eddie’s. Time was of the essence. Eddie was beaten and bruised, but he’d start looking for his phonesoon. “Bluetooth paired. Phone is password protected with possible encryption.”
“Affirmative. Stand by,” Lenny said. The Proteus cyber-intelligence team was skilled at remote log-in and transfers from phones found in the field. Within five minutes or less, they’d make a copy of Eddie’s phone. Jemma would find a way to discard it where Eddie could find it, none the wiser. She hoped there was some information on the device about the route details Eddie wanted from Dante. The cartel had intricate routes that kept law enforcement from tracking drugs shipped through their network. Any communication about shipping routes could be the break they need to build the Continuing Criminal Enterprise case against El Sombro.
The line was quiet, ratcheting up her nerves. “ETA?”
Lenny grunted in response. “The security on this phone is at the highest level. It’s going to take us some time to get into it. Is this El Sombro’s?”
“No. It’s Eddie Baez’s. We have reason to believe there could be route information for the drugs El Sombro plans to start routing through the Dajabon clinic.”
