AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Groaning, Will dropped to the floor next to the coffee table and leaned his elbows on it. Their assistance was starting to sound more like a scary idea than the help he’d thought it would be.
“He’s joking, Will,” West murmured.
“You sure about that?” Ed countered.
Will lifted his head and narrowed his eyes on West and then on Ed, trying to figure out who was the serious one between them.
“He’s joking,” Charlie confirmed in a hard voice. “What exactly are you looking for?”
Will sighed. “It doesn’t have to be much. Blood works, but so does saliva or a hair so long as it still has the follicle.”
“Have you tried bribing the staff at his restaurant just to get a glass or a bottle that he drank from?” Kairo inquired.
“I’ve thought about it, but I’ll admit that I have no idea how to go about bribing someone or how you know who to approach for something like that. What’s more, how would I know what they bring me was actually used by Benicio? They could take my money and just drink from the bottle themselves. I would never know.” Will threw up his hands in frustration. “I’ll be using what contacts I have to rush this DNA test through the system, and it will still be expensive. I can’t afford to run the test multiple times. Carlos and I can accept if Benicio isn’t a match, but I don’t want to have doubts about the source material.”
“No, that makes total sense,” Charlie agreed. He leaned his shoulder against the entrance of the living room and shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans. “If we go through the route of pulling the DNA from something he ate or drank from, we will be the ones collecting the item. We’ll be positive he was the only one to use it.”
“From what we’ve seen of his schedule, our two best opportunities are either the restaurant or his home,” Kairo started. “He frequently visits his father at his offices, but the security is much tighter there. It would require a longer surveillance of that area than we’ve had so far. We’d also need to do some digging, get blueprints, get—”
“Nope. It’ll take too long,” Charlie interrupted. “We need to hit Benicio in the next day or two.”
West tilted his head up toward Charlie, his brow furrowing. “That’s not enough time for the bastard to relax his guard again.”
“True, but Carlos is living on borrowed time. We need to act quickly if we’re going to get him the answers he needs before his death.”
Will’s heart gave a happy thump at Charlie’s words. He forced himself to stare at the table because otherwise, he’d smile up at his former lover as though he were some knight in shining armor. Charlie Sands was no rescuing knight.
“House or restaurant?” Ed inquired.
“Have you tried to approach Perez at his house?” Kairo asked.
Will’s head popped up to see them all watching him. “The only time I tried to see him in person was at the restaurant. I’m not entirely sure where his house is besides being in the Recoleta barrio.”
“Restaurant gives more chances of interference. Increased distractions,” West said.
“Also, higher chances of innocent bystanders getting hurt,” Ed added. “We already saw that with Francisco and Santino.”
“No, I want to hit the house,” Charlie declared. “It’ll give us the chance of being sneaky or going with force without risking innocent people.”
“Got it. I’ll start searching for blueprints of the house as well as work on hacking into his security system.” Kairo’s fingers flew across the keys in a loud clatter as he spoke. “I’ve picked up a few new contacts since we’ve been in town who aren’t big fans of the Perez family. They might be able to point me in some useful directions to cut down the time I need, but it’ll still be at least a day. Preferably two.”
“Ed and I will go on rotation for physical surveillance of the house until Kairo can get patched into Perez’s system,” West announced.
Will’s head spun at how quickly these men were making plans and moving forward when he’d been stuck for days on what he could do to convince Benicio to help him. Of course, it was clear that their means weren’t particularly legal, but right now, he didn’t care. Carlos was out of time, and Benicio had sent men to kill him. He was done being nice and legal about this.
“What can I do to help?” Will asked.
“Stay here and stay out of trouble,” Charlie grumbled.
“What?” Will gasped, jerking back as if Charlie had smacked him. “I can do things. I can be useful. I’ve lived in Buenos Aires for several months now. I know people.”
Kairo lowered his feet from the table and leaned forward to place his hand on Will’s tense shoulder. “We’re not doubting you, but it’s just safer if you keep a low profile for a while.”
