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“This is the man you’re speaking of?” the cartel leader asked casually.
“That’s the asshole,” Cody assured him.
The man in the hat shot Cody a scathing, staying look. He wasn’t into Cody, apparently.
“Go on,” he told Santiago.
“Good old Lucas took a trip with us into the desert a couple weeks ago. He didn’t really betray you, not initially anyway, but by the time he was finished talking we were able to garner a few important things.”
“I told you they took me,” Lucas blurted from the other side of the warehouse. “I told you what happened, and what I said—”
He was stopped mid-sentence by the man in the hat. He didn’t even gesture. He justlookedat him.
“This man,” the cartel leader said calmly, “was at the Christening of all three of my sons. He’s shown nothing but unwavering loyalty. He’s a trusted enforcer and family member. Almost a boss.”
“See, that’s the problem,” said Silas. “Turns out you passed him up for a promotion, and because of that he’s secretly bitter. He’s been telling all the wrong people that you’ve done him dirty. And when the Lozanos saw the cracks beginning to form in his ‘unwavering loyalty’… well…”
The man in the hat’s head whipped back in Lucas’s direction. The man did his best not to cringe.
“That’s when the Lozanos took him under their wing,” Santiago finished for him.
Another silence settled over the warehouse, this one almost eerie in its totality. For a long time, no one spoke.
“This is crazy,” Aimon Lozano finally chimed in. “These men are accusing your close family member — as well as my most loyal enforcers — of something that simply never happened.”
Beside him, his twin brother nodded. “Look at them, they’re desperate,” he said, curling his lip. “They’re surrounded by truth, and now they’re trying to lie their way out of it.”
The cartel men were staring at the Lozano brothers now, probably wondering what the hell was going on. But the only opinion that really mattered belonged to the man in the hat.
“The only thing more valuable than loyalty is truth,” the nameless cartel boss said. “At times, loyalty and truth can be more important than even family.”
He removed the hat, revealing a full head of dark hair. The man in the suspenders scratched at his head, as if deciding upon something important. Then he put the hat back on.
“Right now all I have are words and stories,” he said. “Some are truth. Some are lies. But none of you, so far, have shown me—”
“Words can be twisted,” I said loudly. “Stories embellished.”
Up until this moment they’d pretty much ignored me. I’d been hanging onto Evan. Watching quietly as everything unfolded.
But for now at least, all eyes were on me.
“If you want the truth, you need the source,” I said, before anyone could stop me. “And there’s no better source than actually being there.”
I reached back without thinking, and a thousand things happened at once.
First, no fewer than six or eight guns were drawn on me. They click-clacked in perfect stereo, as the registers were pulled back and bullets were actively chambered. Two men flew across the room, all but diving in front of the man in the hat. Which was funny, because he wasn’t in the slightest bit of danger.
“WHOA!” Silas shouted loudly. “WAIT!”
Santiago somehow had weapons drawn on two different men, both of which were pointing back at him. In the meantime, Cody had pulled out a wicked-looking pistol that appeared bigger than his hand. He had it pointed directly and unerringly at the man in the suspenders and the hat.
As for me, I totally froze up. Which was probably a good thing, because if I’d moved my hand back into view without explaining myself I probably would’ve gotten myself shot.
“It’s my PHONE!” I said, as loudly as possible. “I’m just pulling out my phone.”
With my hand trapped behind my backside I still hadn’t moved. I was waiting for permission. The man in the hat locked eyes with me, raised a single eyebrow, then slowly nodded.
“What is she—”
