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It’s the safest question to ask now that I’m aware someone could be listening to us. It’s also not an enormous leap to guess Juan is behind it.
When did he have access to our cars?
The simple answer is he hasn’t. The more complex answer is he has. There are too many foot soldiers who would do his bidding for the right price. And that’s really bugging me. We need to know which members are against us.
“No. He got it fixed,” Lory tells me. “His aunt is measuring the interior for new leather upholstery. Tomas went with him so he didn’t get stuck there helping her. They’ll pick yours up next week. They took the Merc last week.”
I squint at him, my mind taking spare seconds to catch up to his thoughts. “Did they find the soft black leather that matches the kind we bought with the swirls?”
“Yeah, Gem. She found a great deal on it too, not that it matters.” He huffs in annoyance, not wanting to talk about it here. “She says she has enough to do some lovely detailing along the headrests and edges.”
“Lovely?” I repeat, scowling at him.
He grins. “That’s what Javier said, so I’m assuming it came from her.”
“Pick another adjective. It’s strange to hear you say such a delicate word while we’re talking about… leather,” I mumble, turning in my seat to grab my laptop from under my jacket.
My actual laptop.
Not the stolen one…
Because Riley gave that one to Ezra, and I let him leave with it. Like a dumbass… Now I’ll owe him a mile, but that’s not the worst he could have asked for. I need the shit on Juan’s hard drive badly enough that I would have agreed to more.
Lory scoffs at my complaint. “Why are you driving around with your—”
“Pull over up here,” I interrupt, pointing out a tiny parking lot on the side of the road. “The view is beautiful.”
The secluded beach area is bare today, too chilly to play in the water. Once we’re out of the car, I lead Lory to a patch of flat rocks at the bottom of a small cliff. It’s far enough away that I know we won’t risk having anyone overhear our conversation. I hadn’t thought much of it, but if there was some kind of device in the Merc, then there’s definitely something in our personal vehicles.
“Why is Javi taking your car to go see his aunt?” I inquire, dreading the thought of bringing that sweet old lady into our bullshit.
“Tomas is meeting Javier in Rose Bay,” Lory clarifies. “We’re having my car inspected. They’ll pick yours up tomorrow. They took the Merc yesterday.”
I sit on the rock, staring at the calm ocean as I rub my hand over my mouth. “Did they find anything?”
“Yeah, Gem.” He sighs, dropping to my side. “They found a sophisticated piece of junk hidden inside the head support of the driver’s seat.”
“So someone has heard everything we’ve ever said in that car…” I muse.
Lory is quiet for a moment, observing me as I open my laptop and connect it to my cell phone’s hotspot. I pull up the internet browser and login to the security system.
Now that I’m thinking about it, we’re going to need a better way to keep tabs on the compound. I might have extra safety measures on this machine, but it’s just that. A machine. It’s not foolproof when it comes to hackers.
“That’s what I’m assuming,” he mutters. “Is this why you had your laptop in your car?”
“I wanted to listen in when I left,” I explain. “And I would have opened this up in my car, so thanks for the warning.”
“I just found out this morning,” Lory defends. “Javi stopped by after you left. He didn’t want to say anything over the phone. He’s paranoid on a good day, Gem.”
“I know. I wasn’t being rude.” When our eyes meet, I frown at him. “I’m just beyond ready to kill Juan.”
He wraps his arm over my shoulder, pulling me into his side. “I know. I regret stopping when I had him. Fear does stupid things to one’s mind, and I still feared what Senior would do if I killed him.”
“It’s a good thing you stopped. I don’t know that Senior wouldn’t have killed you as punishment.”
We grow silent when the feed opens up, staring at my laptop as Juan paces in the sitting room of the main house. He’s talking to someone on a flip-phone, a burner, but we missed the beginning of the conversation.
“She was here,” he growls, aggravated with my visit. “Yes, I know that… No.”
