Total pages in book: 48
Estimated words: 45785 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 229(@200wpm)___ 183(@250wpm)___ 153(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45785 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 229(@200wpm)___ 183(@250wpm)___ 153(@300wpm)
Best of luck. That route was crowded.
Crew and Ortega discussed other names while I faced the board once more. All signs pointed to Carillo. The size of the attack, the mention of Vincente, the weapons they’d used… Moreover, I’d just moved in to my new house. Given the sensitive nature of my work, my address wasn’t public. Same went for Tariq. We didn’t horse around on social media. We weren’t necessarily secretive out in the real world; we lived openly and had a fairly large network of associates, but, and I couldn’t stress this enough, I’d just fucking moved.
In order to have already figured out my address—and know where I’d be tonight with so many loved ones… Someone had been keeping close tabs. I couldn’t rule out a rat altogether, though it felt entirely wrong. It was, however, realistic to, once again, point at Carillo. He had the funds to put all this together. He had the manpower too. He had the gangs, the lieutenants, the little falcons that were his eyes and ears on the street.
“…yeah, and maybe there’s a clue in analyzing what they did,” I heard Joel say. “They’re hardly after money.” Agreed. “They kidnapped three innocents, so they have our attention.”
They’d kidnapped a woman, a child, and… Hmm, Shay didn’t really fit the profile. He was a threat, an expense the cartel would have to throw more guards at, because that boy clearly didn’t go down easy. So maybe he’d been in the way. Maybe they’d taken him because he’d stood between them and more logical targets. Women and children. I couldn’t be sure.
“If it’s Carillo, he’ll want us to do something,” I said. “Likely, take out Vincente.”
“In that case, I think he’ll reach out,” Crew added. “It ain’t enough for one low-man to just shout out that Vincente sends his regards to Ortega.”
“I think you’re right.” I nodded, then addressed Ortega. “You know Tariq’s and my work better than anyone at the company. I need you to think of other possible suspects. Dig a little, ask around.” He used to be a police officer. His connections with local law enforcement would be better than mine. “As for us possibly dealing with a rat… That’ll fall on you too. You’ve been with us since the start.”
“How’s that gonna bring back my wife?” he demanded. “Look—the way this attack went down, it sends a strong message, no? Strong messages have signatures. If you believe it’s Carillo, I’m with you. He’s done similar shit before. So we should hunt down his closest associates. I’d rather sit outside whatever prison’s he’s in and do background work on anyone who visits him.”
“And we’ll get to that, Javier,” I replied patiently. “We just gotta keep our heads level. If we go down this Carillo track and I end up being wrong, it’s gonna set us back.”
“He’s right, man,” Crew said quietly. He was restless, fidgeting with the drawstrings of his shorts and bouncing his knee. “We gotta cover every angle.”
“I have my niece screaming in the back of my head.” I tapped the pen to my temple, and Joel flinched in the corner of my eye. “But I can’t listen to her right now. I’ll lose my fuckin’ mind. What we can do…” I forced myself to face Joel as well. “We can rely on experience. We know our loved ones are unharmed at the moment. They won’t hurt the hostages we’ll do anything to save.”
My phone buzzed in my pocket, so I let the guys process what I’d said and opened a message from an unknown number. Either Darius traveled with a throwaway, or he’d used someone else’s phone.
Brothers on their way. Might have a lead. DQ
“River and Reese will be here within the hour, so that gives us some time to put together a shopping list,” I said. “We have all the weapons we might need right here, but clothes— Hold on.” My phone buzzed with another text.
I had to scramble with Ortega. Crew and Joel don’t need cover stories. As far as the authorities go, they were never around tonight, but I suggested to Piper that she says Joel’s on a fishing trip or something that puts him out of a reception area. But with Marisa taken, and their kids staying with Ortega’s parents, I had to be realistic. I told the police he’d gone after the vans. He should report to the SDPD tomorrow and pretend to sit pretty during the investigation.
I couldn’t imagine doing that. The SDPD might have been the first on the scene, but it was gonna be a jurisdictional soup by tomorrow.
I relayed the info to the guys and told Crew to log in to our work server and give himself a vacation for a couple weeks. Those edits wouldn’t be visible, so we could play it off as having been planned for ages. I’d have someone at the office clear the rest of us too.