“Ant, when did the order for this fence come in?”
“Day before yesterday. She threw all kinds of money at Justin to get him to approve a next-day installation.”
“And Justin worked on this project yesterday, right? Did he say anything about the building? Like, do you think it just went up, or has it been here for a while?”
He shakes his head. “He said something about waiting for some contractors to get out of the way before he could get started. I wonder if they were still putting the finishing touches on it when they showed up yesterday.”
Scanning the building, I curse under my breath.
“What?”
I carefully point out the cameras around the building.
“Do you think they can hear us? Understand us?” Ant asks.
We’ve been speaking in Spanish this whole time, which is as natural as breathing for us, but I shake my head. “If this is who I think it is…I don’t think they’ll understand us at all.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I’m calling Charlie. Let’s go back to the truck.”
Wrinkling his brow, he follows me, asking, “You think they’re up to something? Shouldn’t we just call Justin? Or Jason?”
I climb into the truck alongside him, considering my words. Tapping the steering wheel, I answer, “I, uh…Charlie and them needed a translator for some people night before last. I sorta got to see one of their operations, I guess you’d call it.”
“Wait.Iwas one of their operations. Why didn’t they ask me to translate?” Ant asks, his brows coming together in an angry stitch.
“Dude. The shit I had to listen to…they would’ve never put you through that. Like, they called in Anders to deal with the driver after everything those women said.”
He lets out a sound of disgust. “If anyone gets to fuck up one of those motherfuckers, it should be me.”
It’s a little hard to take him seriously since he’s so tiny, but then I remember some of the things he’s shared with me, and I stifle my reaction.
“I hear you. They’re just super protective of you, man.”
“Whatever.”
I turn on the truck and fire up the Bluetooth, punching in Charlie’s number.
“Go for Charlie.”
“Charlie, I’m here with Ant, and I’m gonna feel real stupid when I say this to you, but I think this fencing job we’re on is connected to the people you saved outside of San Antonio.”
“What makes you say that?”
“You can check the invoice with Justin, but this was an urgent last-minute request for a fence. Almost as if they hadn’t planned on needing a fence and suddenly did.”
“Okay…”
“When Justin and Chase arrived yesterday morning, I think they were delayed by some contractors. See if those contractors were putting the finishing details on one of those insta-buildings, like a corrugated metal storage facility. I pass this place every day. Two days ago, there was nothing on this land, and now there’s a building with cameras on every corner and blackout film on the windows. Plus, we’re about to put up a twelve-foot privacy fence with barbwire at the top. I bet if you were to get a hold of whoever they bought this building from, they would have a similar story about a last-minute purchase.”
“It’s not a lot to go on, Nacho.”
“I know. It’s just a gut feeling. Like, nothing’s really wrong about this place, but nothing’s right either. Like, even the dogs are kinda scary with how quiet they are. The lady who owns this place…”
I don’t even know how to describe her.
“What’s her name again?”
