“Nothin’, boss, never mind. I shoulda done better,” Humberto stammered.
Manuel made a show of lowering the gun, and Humberto heaved a sigh of relief.
“Ah, what the hell?” In one smooth movement, Manuel leveled the gun and fired. Humberto fell to the floor, clutching his stomach.
“Let’s go. Cops will be here within the hour.” A wide-eyed Jose stayed rooted in place.
“You just got promoted to driver,” Manuel said to Jose, nodding to Humberto’s still body. “Better grab the keys.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
“He wasn’t there? Goddammit!” Mitch pushed his hand through his hair.
“All we found was a fresh dead body—the driver. Manuel must be a little smarter than his associates and figured we’d follow them. You know how things work at the PD. We wasted so much time with red-tape bullshit and everyone gearing up. He could be back in Honduras by now,” said Adam.
“We should have gone in last night and finished this. Fuck!”
“Maybe, but who knows if we would have come out. We don’t know how many men he has or how well armed they are.”
Mitch was silent. He didn’t much care whether or not he came out, so long as Manuel didn’t.
“There’s no sense in making it a suicide mission. We’ll get him. Don’t worry.”
“Yeah. Thanks for the news. Keep in touch.” Mitch hung up and put his hand back on the wheel.
They thought Manuel would be in custody today, so Mitch and Maggie were leaving town to lay low. With Manuel still loose, the last thing he wanted to do was leave.
“We could go back,” Maggie suggested, her voice laced with guilt. “I can stay in a hotel, and you can do whatever you need to do.”
They were only five minutes from the beach house, or he would have seriously considered her offer.
“I’ll think about it. Maybe I can leave you here. I don’t think they’ll go to the trouble of tracking down every one of your family members.”
“Sure. That sounds fine. I can take care of myself.” She lifted her chin, putting on a brave face.
He looked at her for the first time since they’d left his condo. She was wearing jean capris, a white T-shirt, and a pink zip-up hoodie. Her soft brown curls framed her face, her brows knit with concern. She was afraid but wouldn’t admit it.
“I’m sorry, Mags. I’m taking my bad mood out on you. You don’t deserve that. Let’s get inside and see what we can work out. I won’t leave you if it’s not safe.”
“Mitch, I know you want to catch this jerk. I want you to catch him. I’m sorry you’re stuck babysitting me, but honestly, I’d be just fine on my own.”
“We’ll see. Come on.” They pulled into the circular driveway. Since they weren’t expecting anyone else, he left his car parked by the front door, grabbed Maggie’s suitcase and his duffel bag out of the back, and headed up the stairs.
Oliver had ridden the whole way on Maggie’s lap, so she was furiously trying to brush the cat hair off of her clothes.
“He gonna be okay here?” Mitch asked.
“Oh yeah, he’s been here before. My grandparents have two cats. They’re the closest thing Ollie has to friends. He’ll be fine.” He’d already left to explore.
“I’m glad my grandparents are away,” she said. “We should be the only two in the big house. Peter and Gertie stay in the caretaker’s quarters, but I’ll ask if they want to take some time off. Just in case.”
She means, just in case we’re overrun by murderous,Honduran drug lords, he thought.
“That’s a good idea. Have you thought about whether there’s anyone else you should warn?”
“I’ve already spoken to my parents and siblings. The only person I can think of is Doc, but he’s so far away. They wouldn’t go that far looking for me, would they?”
“If they start looking that hard, they’ll exhaust all local options first. Doc would be a tough connection to make, too, so we’ll worry about him later.”
