Drew saw Dunlop’s reflection in the mirror as he slid into the room. His eyes darted over to Drew and then skittered away. Hugging the wall, he moved into the shadows in the corner. Whatever had happened, it scared the shit out of Dunlop. He wasn’t nearly as confident as he was before, not that he was ever confident, but now he was cowering. His skin had a grayish tinge. Drew was afraid he might drop dead any second.
The bodyguards all exchanged glances, and one who’d just returned shook his head slightly at the tall guy, who seemed to be asking something with his eyes. It was hard to interpret what was going on since she only had the reflection in the mirror to work with.
The men in the room were all Rodriguez’s people, which made Drew wonder what the hell happened to the cartel guys? The tension in the room was like the humidity at the swamp, so thick that each breath felt like she was taking it underwater.
A moment later, the cartel guys waltzed in. Judging from the cold looks in their eyes, they were not happy. What the hell had happened? Drew tried to be as still as possible, to avoid attracting any attention to herself. The last thing she wanted was to give Rodriguez something to focus all his anger on, namely herself.
“Belasco is not happy,” the cartel bodyguard who seemed to be in charge commented.
“I don’t fucking care, Miguel,” Rodriguez barked.
“You should care,” Miguel persisted. “When Belasco is unhappy, we’re all unhappy. You don’t want us unhappy.”
Rodriguez whirled around with his arms outstretched. “And what the fuck do you want me to do about it? Huh? My guy set me up, or he got set up. The shipment wasn’t there. I can’t snap my fingers and make it appear.”
Miguel stared blankly at Rodriguez, but the iciness in his gaze made Drew’s blood run cold. Miguel would have no problem killing Rodriguez. The cartel would do it loudly and publicly to send a message. Maybe kill everyone in the room just as a statement. Drew was nothing but an afterthought. Her death would be insignificant to the cartel. In fact, they probably wouldn’t even notice that she was dead. Sweat broke out on her palms with that thought.
“Fix this. You’re on the clock. Get the shipment back tonight…” Miguel didn’t bother to finish the statement. Everyone in the room knew there was an ‘or else’ at the end of that command and that the ‘or else’ meant Rodriguez would die.
Miguel’s phone rang, and, with one last disdainful look, he exited, leaving four cartel guys lurking just the other side of the doorway.
Rodriguez let out a series of curses in Spanish. Then poured himself another drink. “Call Winslow again,” he barked.
One of the guards pulled out a phone and hit the buttons. He waited a beat, presumably listening to it ring, but then shook his head. “Nothing. Still not answering.”
Rodriguez’s fingers curled around the glass on the bar, and Drew thought it might throw this one too, but instead, he just drained the glass in one gulp. He looked around the room, his eyes landing on Drew. She froze.
“That bitch set me up. Winslow isn’t that smart, and he knows I will kill his entire family if he doesn’t do what I want.He didn’t do this. She did. She set up Winslow with a bogus location.”
The tall guy said, “Why, boss? What does she get out of it?”
Drew thought it was a gamble, pushing Rodriguez at the moment, and she braced herself for another outburst of violence. But none came.
“I have no idea, Juan.” Rodriguez stared off into space as if trying to work the problem.
Drew waited, her lungs aching as she held her breath. If this didn’t go well, he could just kill her and go to the meet anyway.
Dunlop made a small sound, and all the heads in the room swiveled his way. Drew’s heart rate skyrocketed. What the hell was he doing calling attention to himself?
“Why are you still here, dumbass?” Rodriguez snarled. “Get the hell out of here. I don’t want to see your ugly ass face.”
Drew willed Dunlop to keep his mouth shut.Just nod and walk away.
Dunlop cleared his throat. “I…I think she set you up.” It came out in a rush.
Drew stared at Dunlop’s reflection in the mirror. When did he get so smart? Was he hiding something? Was his dumb innocence all a ruse? Was he really a whip-smart inside man? Dunlop took a step forward and tripped over his own feet, catching himself on the back of the sofa.
Drew frowned. Nope, same old Dunlop.Keep your mouth shut. She tried to send him the telepathic message as she caught his gaze in the mirror, but he just blinked at her.
“What? You didn’t get enough out there? You want me to put a gun to your head and pull the trigger this time?” Rodriguez demanded.
So that’s what happened. No wonder Dunlop looked gray. That was enough to scare the life out of anyone.
Dunlop cleared his throat; his shoulders hunched near his ear. “You said that she wants to do the exchange. That she can’t move the shipment, so she wants to get paid to give it back to you. It’s more trouble for her. Maybe she was setting up an ambush for you, but you showed up with an army, and she backed off. Or maybe she set it up so she could get a look at how many guys you were bringing with you. She’d need to know what she was getting into, wouldn’t she?”
Rodriguez stared at his cousin, eyes unfocused. “She knew someone gave her up to me, and she did this to figure out who it was, while getting a look at my men at the same time.” Rodriguez’s eyes narrowed. “Clever.” He cocked his head. “I can’t reach Winslow because she took him out.”
Drew frowned. This was all just supposition. What the hell was Rodriguez doing?
