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“Now…” she said hesitantly. “Here’s the thing…”
Cody stayed quiet. Luckily, so did Brynne.
“As far as the Lozanos are concerned Mathias is playing things straight,” she went on. “But then there’s this other guy. He’s… well…” her voice suddenly went very low. “He’s sort of walking both sides of the fence.”
“Cartel?”
Her eyes shifted to me. She nodded slowly.
“Lucas Almon,” said Cody.
Veronique continued to nod. “That’s him.”
“What do you mean he—”
“I overheard him bullshitting with his partner, after a few drinks,” said Veronique. “They were talking business — shipments and such. And these guys were laughing together, very pleased with themselves. Something about a tax. About ‘getting theirs.’”
“They’re skimming,” I said flatly.
“Damn straight,” Veronique confirmed. “Not just a little, but a lot.”
“Fucking crazy,” Cody breathed. “Skimming the cartel.”
“Yup.”
“You gotta be out of your fucking mind.”
“Without a doubt,” Veronique agreed. “Certifiable.”
“What else?”
She pondered for a moment. “Well the one guy’s careful, but the other seemed reckless. He looked like a snake to me. He smelled like one too.”
“What’s he look like?”
“Dark hair,” Veronique shrugged. “Stupid tattoos.”
“Greasy?”
She snapped her fingers. “That’s it! Greasy. Even fresh out of the shower the man looked like he’d just crawled out from under a dirty race car.”
Veronique glanced furtively around the steakhouse — which was one of the more expensive ones on the strip, mind you — and picked up her fork again. Apparently she was a bottomless pit.
“Whatever you do, you all need to be careful,” she said. “These people don’t fuck around. Especially Mathias.” Her eyes flitted between Cody and I. “But you boys already know that.”
Brynne twirled the stem of her wine glass nervously between her slender fingers. She’d remained uncharacteristically quiet throughout dinner. Several times I wanted to slide my arm around her and pull her close, tell her everything was going to be alright. But I didn’t know how Veronique would take it.
“Honey,” the dealer said, as if sensing my concern. “I don’t know where you found these two weirdos, but you couldn’t be in better hands. And I mean that.”
Brynne sniffed. She smiled.
“Thanks.”
“If the Lozanos took your brother, Mathias will know where he is. Goodorbad.” She paused for a moment, then extended a hand then laid it over Brynne’s. “You should be prepared for both, though.”
Our shared lover somehow managed a meager smile. “I’ve been ready for a long time,” she replied. “Good or bad, I need the closure.”
“Smartandstrong,” Veronique smiled back. She leveled her next juicy bite at us. “Told you she’s too good for the two of you.”
