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“The rich philanthropist?”
I gave him a little nod, then whispered, “A wolf in sheep’s clothing. And he hates me with a passion, because he blames me for killing the woman he loved.”
“And who’d he love?” He cocked his head, holding my face with both palms.
I closed my eyes and cried, “My mom.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
JACK
“The guys are fine and already en route to us,” Oliver said, interrupting the shock of Charley’s last words. “Gray’s tracking Gwen’s charm bracelet to get to us.”
Charley stepped free from my embrace, wiping away her tears to put on a brave face despite the emotions she had to be struggling with.
My heart was still thundering in my chest. I only had pieces of the story, but I had enough to know she was a good person. Not a criminal. And she deserved to be safe, and for justice to be served. And I’d do everything in my power to do that for her.
“Carter get anyone to talk?” I asked Oliver as Mya, Gwen, and Lucy came into view behind him.
“They didn’t know much. Charley and Lucy were to be brought in alive and to Peru using one of their smuggling routes,” Oliver explained.
I wrapped my arm behind Charley’s back to hold her waist, drawing her close to me. I needed that connection and was grateful she didn’t reject my touch with eyes on us.
“All I need is five minutes with one of their laptops to see if there’s anything of value to help us,” Gwen said as we moved back toward the house again.
“Yeah, okay.” I motioned for Oliver to hang back with the women while I checked the location. The fence was camouflaged by nature, so I had to peel back some of the branches to get a decent look inside.
The man from the porch was now pacing in the front of the ranch home, a phone to his ear and a rifle slung across his chest. Maybe he’d just been notified the team dispatched to the jungle was KIA.
You’re alone here, aren’t you? The fact he’d stayed behind and never risked his neck to go in the jungle gave me hope he was important enough to keep safe. And that likely meant he’d be valuable for questioning.
Given the few words I could make out—strings of apologies and promises to locate what I loosely translated as “the packages”—I assumed he was talking to his boss.
Carter’s fluency would be necessary to grill this guy while Gwen hacked their server to see if there was anything of use on it.
On the verge of turning back to join the others to discuss a plan, I halted when the man swapped his phone for a remote from his pocket. One of the garage doors opened to reveal a Bronco inside. Shit, he was leaving. But on what road?
Returning to the others, I brought them up to speed on what I saw, employing my best sarcastic tone when I shared the best news of the day, “And he’s about to leave in a fucking car.”
“The smuggling routes,” Mya whispered. “There may not be roads for normal use around here, but I bet the cartel have their own roads in and out of Brazil.”
“And our best source of intel is about to use one to get away.” I snatched my pistol from the back of my shorts. “I’m going in. We can’t wait.” I gave Charley a little nod, then focused on Oliver. “Stay with them,” I ordered and went back to the fence before anyone could protest.
With the man out of sight inside the garage, I used the vines obscuring the fence to hoist myself up. I dropped over and took cover behind one of the trees to wait for him to pull out of the garage.
There was too much distance between us for my 9mm to do any damage with him behind the wheel, which meant I’d need to expose myself. The second he pulled out in the Bronco, I stepped into view. He slammed on his brakes and made eye contact.
One or two beats of quiet enveloped us just before he did exactly what I hoped and floored it.
I walked his way as he gunned it, playing chicken with the SUV while waiting for just the right moment to make my move. He wouldn’t be able to shoot me with his rifle while driving, especially at that speed, so the second a handgun appeared outside the driver’s side window, I lunged to the right. My back hit the ground, arms extended, as I shot him through the open window at the same time he popped off a shot.
I nailed him in the forehead, and thankfully, he missed me completely.
Moments later, the Bronco smashed into the fence, creating a crater-like hole. No alarms sounded, and there didn’t appear to be any sophisticated security on-site. Why would there be? No one came into the thick of the jungle and fucked with the cartel without a death wish.
I took a second to catch my breath, my free hand landing on my chest as I rolled my head to the side to ensure the crash hadn’t garnered attention from anyone inside the house just in case my original assessment that the man had been alone was wrong.
“You okay?” Oliver called out a minute later, and I got to my feet as he reached inside the window of the black Bronco.
