“I’m listening,” Everett said, ignoring Adonis’s quip.
Rocco launched into the story he’d prepared on the boat ride over. “I’ve gotten a bigger role with El Sombro. He’s trusting me to manage a few shipments, but I’m hearing rumblings about a new product he’s about to start trafficking. I want in on it, but I need to know what it is first.”
“What the fuck, Rocco? You know, I didn’t say a damn thing when you left the DEA to work for a drug cartel. I never thought you’d be swayed by that life. Obviously, I was wrong,” Everett said, his blue eyes cold with disappointment. “But coming here to ask us for help to move up in a criminal organization is a new low. Get the fuck out of here.” Everett turned his back on him.
Rocco took the blows, which he knew would be coming, but they still stung. Especially since he was still one of the good guys, even if he had to pretend he wasn’t to the people closest to him.
He raised the black card in the air. “I thought this meant you would have my back no matter what.”
Sebastian walked over. “That is what it means.”
“Are you serious, Seb? You’re going to support a drug cartel with Ike’s security team?” Everett questioned. “Ike wouldn’t want us taking on this kind of assignment. We were created to help the good guys, not the bad ones.”
Adonis erupted in laughter. “If that’s the case, then why the hell is Kane here? Every week, he’s jetting off to some new locale around the world to rob rich folks blind. We don’t hold a grudge against him.”
Kane responded with a wide-boyish grin. “Can’t say I qualify as one of the good guys.”
“Maybe not, but you’re one of us,” Sebastian said, then glanced at Rocco. “If you have a stingray card, you’re one of us, too. Period. That means we’re here for you when you need us. No matter what it’s for.”
Everett threw his hands in the air. “Ike would never sign off on something like this, and you know it.”
“If it’s one thing that I know about Ike, it’s that he recognizes that we all live and act in shades of gray,” Sebastian countered.
Adonis nodded. “None of us are all good or bad.”
Sebastian continued, “Considering that Ike is still alive because of Rocco, he deserves our help.”
Everett flushed red with anger.
Rocco was grateful that some of the members of Stingray Security were willing to give him a chance.
Kane threw his arm around Rocco’s neck, then asked, “So how are we supposed to help you find out what’s planned for these new shipments?”
“El Sombro is in St. Killian today meeting with the PC-5 to ask permission to ship through the Palmchat Islands. You guys must have PC-5 connections willing to talk,” Rocco explained.
Adonis said, “Snitches don’t last long in the PC-5. They get added to the death list and wiped off the earth with a quickness. We don’t have a contact to help with this.”
“But we do have a hacker extraordinaire who might be able to use his skills to get the information,” Lachlan said, glancing around at the other guys. “I could fly Rocco over and see if Bobby could help.”
“Not a bad idea, and all we could offer,” Sebastian said.
“Hey, you’re forgetting about me,” Kane said. “If the cyber intel comes up short, I’m pretty good at getting into places I have no business being. If we can at least find out the location of the meeting, I can get in there.”
“Both options are better than what I had,” Rocco said, then turned to Lachlan. “How quickly can we leave?”
Chapter 38
A few hours after Rocco left for the Palmchat Islands, the tracking app on Eddie’s phone pinged. Puerto Rico’s latest drug lord was on the move, starting in Punta Cana and ending at a popular beachfront restaurant in Dajabon.
When Jemma arrived at the restaurant, she spotted Eddie alone at a table in the corner. He had enough food to feed a crowd, but his attention was on his cell phone. He swiped and typed constantly, stopping every few seconds to shove more food in his mouth.
Satisfied that her intel was reliable, Jemma exited and found a spot on a bench nearby that gave her the perfect vantage to monitor Eddie’s movements. When he left the restaurant, she’d follow him. Fingers crossed, he’d lead her directly to Nomar.
Another hour passed in a blur, with patrons entering and exiting the restaurant. Unease snaked within her. Had she missed something? Jemma grabbed her purse, returned to the restaurant, and approached the hostess.
“Table for one, please.” She gazed at the table where Eddie had been sitting.
He was gone. Damn it.
