Midnight was coming.
So was war.
CHAPTER 21
Drew tried notto squirm against the zip ties cutting into her wrists. Her fingers had gone numb. Her ankles ached. But none of that compared to the cold drop in her stomach when Rodriguez’s burner phone buzzed on the table in front of him.
He picked it up, listened for a moment, and something in his expression shifted—predatory excitement blooming across his face.
The nerves running wild in Drew went into overdrive.
“Get ready,” he barked to his men. “It’s happening.”
Everyone in the room snapped to life like someone had lit a fuse. Chairs scraped. Weapons were checked. A charge buzzed in the air, the kind that came right before lightning struck.
Drew held her breath. It wasn’t close to midnight so this must have been the call from his mole in the ATF. Surely Tessa had to know about this. Maybe this is why she ran in the first place? There was nothing Drew could do to warn Tessa, or her brother and his team.
She glanced down at the zip ties. She knew if she raised her arms and pulled them downward and back toward her hips she could break the zip ties but what then? Rodriguez’s men or the cartel guys would either kill her or just put more restraints on.She hadn’t bothered to try and escape because there hadn’t been an opportunity. Too many men around. Maybe once they were gone, she would have more of a chance. She could only hope he left her alone with Dunlop. He could help her escape.
Rodriguez turned toward Dunlop, who’d been hovering near the edge of the room like he didn’t want to get too close to anything.
“You’re coming,” Rodriguez said.
Dunlop stiffened. “What?”
Drew’s stomach churned. Her hope to be alone with Dunlop was dying before her.
“You heard me,” Rodriguez snarled. “You want to prove you’re loyal, this is your chance. Time to show you’re not just riding coattails.”
Dunlop opened his mouth, then closed it again. He looked like he wanted to argue, but the words never came. After a long pause, he gave a stiff, almost robotic nod. “Yeah. Okay.”
No.
No, no, no!
Drew’s throat tightened. She wanted to scream at him not to go. This was her moment to escape. She needed his help. He couldn’t go with Rodriguez. Not to mention this was too dangerous for him. Dunlop didn’t have the experience or the balls to deal with a situation like this. She wanted to scream at him; to tell him he was walking into something he wouldn’t come back from. But what could she do, zip-tied on a damn velvet couch with no way to protect the stupid dope?
Dunlop didn’t even look at her. Not once. He had to know she didn’t want him to go. She’d warned him it would be dangerous.
Rodriguez grabbed his coat and gun, throwing her a wicked grin on his way out. “Don’t worry,princesa. We’ll be back soon.”
One by one, the men poured out of the office, leaving Drew staring at the door like it was the lid of a coffin slamming shut.She sat there counting her heartbeats, trying to control her fight or flight response. She waited silently, and it was killing her. Finally, she guessed about seven minutes had gone by and she was still alone. She couldn’t wait any longer. Taking a deep breath, she raised her arms over her head. It was now or never.
“Fucking asshole. What the hell is he doing taking his screw-up of a cousin and leaving us here?” Two of Rodriguez’s goons walked into the room.
Fucking hell. Drew dropped her arms, but the guys paid no attention to her. She remained as still as possible. No need to call attention to herself. She watched as they got comfortable. Maybe there would be an opportunity for escape. After all, most of the men were gone. If it was only these two, she might have a shot.
The men settled into chairs near the back of the room; one opened a bag of chips. The other lit a cigarette, the acrid scent wafting through the air. They continued their conversation but switched to Spanish.
“¿Por qué se llevó al gringo?” the one with the cigarette asked, blowing smoke toward the ceiling.
Drew frowned. Her Spanish was high school level and whatever she’d gleaned from living in Miami. Not the best, but it was all she had. She concentrated and focused on trying to recall what she’d just heard. Gringo? Dunlop.
“Para ver si dispara alguien,” the other man replied with a shrug. “Si hay tiros, mejor que maten a él primero. Un conejillo de indias.”
Guinea pig. Drew’s stomach turned. They’d taken Dunlop as bait. Shit. That was bad. Dunlop was expendable. Being family wasn’t going to protect him.
The cigarette guy laughed. “Maldito cobarde. Usa a todos menos a sí mismo.”
