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What happened to hope? And people telling you everything would be fine, there’s nothing to worry about? It was like they’d already accepted he was gone. What else did they know that I didn’t? I mean, the doctor had told us the surgery was risky, but he’d also given me assurances and seemed so sincere about Coop’s chances.
I made another lap, this time looking out of the window at the lush greenery. The clinic was built high up on stilts and actually hovered in the cloud forest. I stepped outside for some fresh air, walking along one of the suspended bridge pathways. Even though the surgery had just begun, I didn’t want to get too far or be gone too long, so I turned back. Scanning the length of a gorgeous building, I realized I could see right into the operating room where Coop was.
Wait. Why were they standing over the middle of his body, marking up his naked torso, not at his head? Something wasn’t right. Before I could assess what they were doing, the surgeon lifted his hands and started backing away, the nurses looked panicked as well. That’s when I saw Marco standing in the doorway with his weapon drawn.
I started running, yelling for Vivi and Wolfe. As I pushed back into the waiting room, I screamed for them to follow. “Alvarez is here. In the OR!”
I burst into the operating room with my Sig drawn. “Get the fuck out of here, Marco.”
“Tranquillo, chica. This is personal.”
“Yeah, it’s personal for me too.” I glared at Marco. If his aim hadn’t still been on Coop I’d have taken my shot.
“Your man here killed my father, three of my best men—my cousins—and then he tried to kill me.” Marco looked more businessman than a jungle drug lord as he stood there in a pressed linen suit. He even had one of those little white Cuban-style hats to shade his face, though his brown skin was already heavily leathered and his flesh was further roughened with a scar that ran low on his jawbone. “I’m here to convey my appreciation.”
Seek revenge, he meant.
Vivi and Wolfe burst in behind me.
“Not going to happen, Marco,” Wolfe growled. “Not today. Not like this.”
Marco didn’t change his stance, even outnumbered. He was willing to die. Which didn’t bode well for Coop. But if all he cared about was killing Coop, why hadn’t he done it yet?
“Marco. Someone hired Coop to kill you. It wasn’t us. Maybe we can help each other out. Take care of who hired him for you.”
“Oh, I know who hired him. And it was you.”
“I swear, it wasn’t Zaki. While we certainly don’t condone your practices, we’ve never gone after you before. Why would we now?”
“Ask your boy Hayes.”
“Scott Hayes? You think Hayes hired the hit? How do you know?”
Realizing I was still pointing my weapon at Marco, I slowly lowered it and set it down on the operating table at Coop’s side. Then I stepped between Marco’s pointed gun and Coop, silently conveying that he would have to kill me first. I couldn’t help but thread my fingers with Coop’s limp ones. “Do you really want to make an enemy of OZ?”
Marco kept his gun pointed my way, but relaxed his stance. “All I know is that Hayes has been in our business for a few months now. Why? We’ve kept the Amazon routes cleared of the real lowlifes. Human trafficking is almost nonexistent in my territory. It’s been increasing everywhere else. You’d think Hayes would thank us.”
The sound of the machines distracted me and I realized this was not the time or place for us to be having this conversation. Coop was still in desperate need of surgery. I glanced around the bright white operating room for the doctor and nurses, but they’d fled when the guns started coming out.
“Vivi, please find the doctor and get his ass back in here.”
Vivi took off. Then Marco muttered, “His hands will be shaking too much. Is that really what you want?”
“Just keep talking. This human-trafficking ring that wants to use your Amazon routes? Does it have anything to do with a company called Ardent, a woman named Seraphina Westin, or an organization called The Sanctuary?”
“All of the above. And I’ll tell you something else. That witchy Westin lady, she’s the worst of the bunch. The Sanctuary, that’s where she retires the women she’s trafficked. Brainwashes them to believe she saved them! Oh, I’ve seen her parading around like a saint. Going on television shows. Meanwhile, I’m the one taking care of her trash. Do you see me getting to go on Michael Maddox Live? Do you see me getting any respect at all? And the donation money she gets! You know how many drugs I’d have to move to make that kind of money?”
We both turned as Vivi wrestled her way back in, hollering, “Found the surgeon. And look who else!”
She shoved Scott Hayes in with the barrel of her gun.
I grabbed my gun back up and pointed it at Hayes, but kept my body blocking Marco’s shot on Coop. “Start talking.”
Hayes had that congressional look about him—he was a little portly and he’d gone bald and gray, not that sexy salt-and-pepper gray either. Being from DC, he’d almost always worn a suit and today was no exception. He held his hands out, placating. “Coop is fine. I promise. Let’s just put the weapons down and I’ll explain.”
I turned my eyes to the surgeon for confirmation.
He quickly blurted, “He is fine. He doesn’t have a tumor.”
