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“Roger that.”
Once they hung up, Trees found himself approaching Hector’s place. His blood pressure surged. His lust for revenge roared as he knocked.
Open the door, motherfucker, so I can rip off your head and shit down your throat.
While he waited for someone to answer, he caught sight of Zy and Tessa turning into the development. They rolled to the far side of the community, then disappeared behind the row of mobile homes across the street.
He was getting fucking impatient before a short man with dark hair, a stained wifebeater, and a glower finally answered. “Yeah?”
Hector fucking Ramos. He looked enough like Victor that there couldn’t be any mistake.
Trees gave him a shark’s smile and forced himself to dial back his fury. “Hi there. I’m Scott from Pest-Away extermination services. I’ve been servicing some of your neighbors and they’re really pleased with the results. So I came to talk to you about an amazing opportunity.”
As Hector scowled at him, Zy and Tessa strolled by, hand in hand, heads bowed. Once out of Hector’s view, the pair veered around the side of the house to wait for his signal.
Trees scanned the empty room over Hector’s wide shoulder. The place was messy, but they didn’t look braced for battle. Perfect.
“I’m not interested,” Laila’s tormenter groused.
“Your neighbors, Jessica and Bill, across the way”—he gestured vaguely as he gave Zy a barely perceptible nod to indicate this op was a go—“you know them, right?”
“No,” Ramos grumbled.
“Oh, you should meet them. Nice folks. They started our service last month. Jessica swears nothing else worked before, but their roach problem is practically nil now, and she’s seeing far fewer spiders.”
“We don’t have an insect problem.”
“You do. You haven’t been here long, right?”
“A couple weeks.”
“Then trust me, you do.”
Zy and Tessa appeared at the back of the mobile home, through the glass slider. He managed to work the lock free, then motioned Tessa inside, nudging her behind a big leather sofa on the left, where she shouldn’t be visible if Johnson turned.
Trees rushed into a sales spiel to keep Hector distracted. “Did you know roaches will consume anything? Sweets, meat, and beer—for starters. They’ll also eat book bindings, wallpaper glue, pet fur, dead skin, and soap. If that’s not enough to unsettle you, they’ll actually gnaw on your toenails and eyelashes in your sleep. They’re tenacious little pests. Hey, they’re over 350 million years old, so they even predate dinosaurs. But the worst thing about them is that they carry thirty-three kinds of bacteria, six different types of parasitic worms, and seven pathogens—that we know of. Having roaches in your house isn’t simply a disgusting inconvenience. They can be dangerous, especially if you have asthma or allergies.”
As he droned on, Zy eased the sliding door shut. It squeaked, forcing him to dive behind the sofa.
“What the hell was that?” Hector tried to turn around.
Trees grabbed the man’s arm, as if this part of the pitch was urgent. “See? Insects. We’re half swamp out here, so they’re big. If you weren’t used to that where you came from… Um, where was that?”
“I didn’t say, and I’m not interested.”
“I don’t want you to regret passing up this deal. Have you asked the missus if she’s seen any insects? I’ll bet she has.”
“No.”
His short answer indicated that, just like Laila had heard, some woman had actually married this asshole. Was she around? She might be a kink in his plan, but so far he hadn’t seen or heard anyone else…
Over Hector’s shoulder, Zy leaned back and slid the door down the rest of the track without incident before settling behind the sofa with Tessa.
They were in now. Hopefully, they could find Cash and Hallie. They had to pray Tessa’s baby was alive.
Trees tried to help them by focusing on Hector. “You know how women are these days. Trying to be all independent. My momma would shriek to high heavens every time she came across a spider in her kitchen, but my sisters—I’ve got three of them—they just whip off one of their ridiculous high heels and whap the spider out of existence. Your wife like that?”
“No. I said I’m not interested.”
Over the sofa, he saw Zy mouth something to Tessa, who pointed to her ear, then to the right, toward the kitchen. Trees couldn’t see much because a wall divided the two rooms, cutting off his sight lines, but he heard dishes clank.
A radio came on, which pumped out deejay chatter. Clearly someone was in there. The wife? Cash?
Since Zy and Tess were aware of the presence in the other room, Trees kept distracting Hector. “Listen, Mister… What did you say your name was?”
“I didn’t.”
As Zy crept across the open space so he could glimpse into the kitchen, Hector whipped his head around as if he’d caught movement in his peripheral vision. Zy quickly tucked himself behind a black recliner.
