Page 27 of Thaddeus

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“You awake?” Max asked as he opened the door.

I was, but I hadn’t made any effort to get out of bed. The last time I’d checked my watch we’d only been back to the house a few hours and I was still dog-assed tired.

“Yeah. Any word when we're headed out?”

“Garrett just sent over the file on Emerson that Declan requested, and Tex had intel to share, too.”

Emerson was the last thing I wanted to talk about.

“Listen, we need to talk,” he started.

“If it’s about Emerson, we absolutely do not need to talk.”

“We do, brother, and I think it should come from me before you read it in a report.”

Max was looking at me with something working behind his eyes that looked like pity, which pissed me the fuck off. I didn’t want anyone’s goddamned pity. Not about Emerson. Not about anything.

“Yo!” Brooks stuck his head in the room. “We gotta roll. There was a shooting at the villa where Garcia and Emerson were staying.”

My blood ran cold and there was no way to hide my concern. I was up out of bed and was shoving my feet into my boots before Brooks could finish his SITREP.

“Two men down, one woman. Zane wants us in Garcia’s room to gather anything he left. He also wants Emerson found and detained. He thinks she may know something that will help us find Leon Brown.”

Two men, one woman.

One woman.

Emerson would absolutely go back to the hotel. She was concerned about not having her fucking purse. She’d also mentioned all of her belongings were in that room.

Yeah, Emerson Pierce was tenacious, and she’d go back to get her shit.

This time, Kyle stayed back at the house with Tatiana to go over the latest intel Tex had sent over and the rest of us piled into the SUV.

If there was ever a time I wished Declan would drive faster, it was now. His erratic driving normally scared the shit out of me. He’d weave in and out of traffic on the busiest of roadways. He never obeyed posted speed limits or traffic signs. Declan drove where he wanted and however fast he wanted to. But today, it felt like we were going at a snail’s pace.

I was still lacing up my boots when Max reached behind us, heaved a bag over the back of the seat, and unzipped it.

“Here.” He pulled out my tac vest and handed it to me.

I muttered my thanks and while I was securing my gear I asked, “What’d Tex find?”

“There was an attempted kidnapping yesterday in Aruba. Antonia Ruiz was the target. Her bodyguard was killed in the attempt but he managed to get Antonia in her safe room and kill two of the men. Both men are tied to Garcia’s crew. Might be why Garcia was pissed his stable was light,” Declan informed me.

“What’s so important about this girl?”

“Her father is Emilio Ruiz. Number three of the Forbes list of the richest men in Mexico. Ruiz is also an alleged member of Omni,” he explained.

“Tex found Garcia had ties to Omni. Why would Garcia go after Ruiz’s daughter if they’re both part of the organization?”

“That’s what Zane wants us to find out. He’s hoping there’s something in Garcia’s hotel room. But we have a problem. Word on the street is, Garcia was killed by a rival gang.”

Well, wasn’t Declan full of good news this morning. A gang war on the streets of Morrocoy would make our job harder.

“Shit,” I mumbled.

“Now Garcia’s crew is out for blood, the local and neighborhood police forces are scrambling. Garcia was their meal ticket, his payoff kept the flow of money ripe. Now that he’s gone, the other gangs in the area are trying to make deals.”