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“So it means the Lozanos are working with the Ancellas.”
“More like workingforthe Ancellas,” Cody pointed out.
Silas shrugged and picked at a pile of soggy fries. “Possibly, yes. Either way though, it’s a big deal.”
I still didn’t understand what this had to do with my brother, if anything. The deeper they seemed to dive, the further it seemed we veered from finding Evan.
“What’s the Ancella cartel?” I eventually asked.
“Well they’re not your run-of-the-mill typical drug-smuggling crime family,” Cody answered. “The Ancellas are smaller, but tighter. Strong and vicious.Veryterritorial.”
“Agile, too,” added Silas. “Hard to pin down. They operate up and down the coast, but never directly. Always through middlemen.”
“Or through crime families like the Lozanos,” Cody finished.
The room went silent, except for the occasional whimper of Sebastian begging for scraps at my feet. I finally tore off a piece of my own burger and fed it to him.
“Evan never mentioned a cartel,” I said. “Ever.”
Silas leaned back in his chair. Santiago, staring out the basement-level window, looked thoughtful. All the inaction was maddening, and I was just as culpable of it as anyone else. Three days’ worth of sitting and hiding and watching movies, amongotherthings, when I could’ve been out working to find Evan.
All of a sudden I felt profoundly guilty.
“I’m leaving.”
The words seemed to break the forcefield of silence. All three of them shifted.
“No you’re not.”
“Oh yes I am,” I laughed awkwardly. “I have a job to get back to. An apartment. A life.”
Silas shook his head. “But it’s not safe—”
“Safe doesn’t help me at all,” I snapped. “Being safe doesn’t accomplish anything, and by now it’s obvious none of you are interested in finding my brother.”
I shot up from the chair and moved in the direction of the door. I would’ve grabbed my stuff too, if I had stuff to grab. Instead I whistled for Sebastian, who bounded happily to my side.
By the time I got to the door, Santiago’s hand was already on it.
“Brynne…”
It was the first time he’d actually called me by name. The first time he really locked eyes with me, too. I stared briefly into those deep brown irises, his lean, chiseled body hovering inches from mine. The heat coming off it was palpable. I could see miles of tension coiled in his powerful shoulders.
“Are you really going to keep me here?” I challenged. “Against my will?”
The arm flexed against the door softened a little. I saw the muscles twitch.
“Ineedto find my brother,” I told them. “Me. Myself. I can’t ask anyone else to do it. Not even a pack of mercenaries.”
In my peripheral vision the others shifted in surprise, but the word didn’t seem to have any effect on Santiago. He just kept staring down at me sullenly, until finally he let go of the door.
I yanked it open to a warm evening breeze. After Sebastian leapt through, I turned to regard them before going up the stairs.
“The three of you can go back to whatever it is you were doing,” I told them. “I’m done making trouble for you.”
Sixteen
BRYNNE
