Then Rodriguez sighed. “Fine. Twenty-four hours. We meet?—"
“We meet where I tell you we meet. I’ll text you the address an hour before the meet. Tomorrow night. Midnight.”
Cross nudged Tessa. She nodded. “How’s my girl?” she asked.
Rodriguez laughed. “Oh, she’s alive. A little rough around the edges, maybe, but still breathing. You’ll see her tomorrow.”
Tessa’s jaw clenched. “Don’t screw me, Rodriguez.”
“Oh,querida,” he purred. “That’s the plan.”
The line went dead.
The room was silent.
Then Cross exhaled hard and turned to Tessa. “You sure you’re ready to walk into that?”
She looked him dead in the eye. “I’m not letting that son of a bitch win.”
McGuire nodded slowly. “Then we have twenty-four hours to prepare for war.”
CHAPTER 19
The office doorslammed open hard enough to make Drew flinch, even before Rodriguez strode in, barking in rapid-fire Spanish into his phone.
“…maldito idiota, primero perdieron a la puta y luego a Cross Morgan. Ni un puto error más. El jefe ya no confía en mí. ¡Tenemos veinticuatro horas o estamos todos muertos!”
She didn’t catch much of what the man snarled, but she caught Cross’s name and knew something was up. Cross had a unique ability to make people just that angry.
But, if Rodriguez was tossing his name around, did it mean he was alive? Hope flared despite her effort to curb the spark.
Rodriguez slammed the device down with a sharp crack, the desk rattling under the force. He stood for a beat, breathing hard, the veins in his neck pulsing beneath the collar of his sweat-darkened shirt. Then, slowly, he turned toward Drew, a venomous smile tugging at his mouth.
“Well,” he drawled, switching to English. “Not long now until the party. But maybe we don’t wait, hmm? Maybe we get the celebration started early.”
Drew met his gaze without flinching, though her pulse was charging hard. “You’re awfully confident for a man who’s on a clock before his own cartel turns him into fertilizer.”
Rodriguez chuckled, wiping a hand over his face like the weight of everything amused him. “Oh,querida, I always have a plan. Unlike your little rescue squad. So predictable. So eager to play hero.” He stepped closer, boots scraping the concrete floor. “Let me guess… You think your friends are coming. Your brother, the whole gang. Midnight trade, right? The brave little ATF bitch for the pretty hostage.”
She clenched her fists in her lap, her wrists still zip-tied. “Something like that.” What about a midnight trade? She needed more details.
Rodriguez grinned, all teeth and menace. “That’s the problem with gringos. You think the rules apply. You think therearerules. You think I’m going to show up to some warehouse like some honor-boundpendejoand hand over my bargaining chip.”
He leaned in close, his breath hot and reeking of expensive tequila. “You think Tessa’s calling the shots? I set the terms. And I’ve already changed the game.”
Drew narrowed her eyes, heart hammering in her chest. “What the hell does that mean?”
Rodriguez straightened, tapping a finger to his temple. “It means,preciosa, that I’ve got someone feeding me everything I need to know. I’ll let the exchange get set up. I’ll let her think it’s going according to plan. But if she calls for help from her cop friends, I’ll know what’s going on and get my shipment well before midnight. And if she doesn’t, well…your friends are outnumbered and outgunned. They don’t stand a chance. It’s a win-win.”
Her stomach dropped as her mind raced to figure out what Rodriguez meant.He would know if Tessa called her cop friends. Shit.“You’ve got a mole.”
“I’ve got a man inside,” he said with pride. “One Tessa trusts. And if she makes the call, he’s going to make sure that trade doesn’t happen the way your people expect. Me?” He shrugged. “I’m just waiting to see their faces when it all goes to hell.”
Drew swallowed hard. “You’re going to kill her.”
Rodriguez smiled and ran a thumb along his lower lip. “Maybe. But not before I get my shipment back. And if I don’t?” His grin widened. “Then everyone dies. You. Her. And your dear siblings, too. But don’t worry. I’ll make sure you go out first. Just to make the point.”
Drew’s mind raced. He hadn’t mentioned Cross specifically. Was he just saying Cross was dead earlier? Once again she cursed herself for not learning Spanish. She couldn’t let herself believe Cross was dead. Not after everything. Not when there was even a sliver of hope. But now there was something new—a traitor in their midst. Someone Rodriguez was counting on.
