“She burned Winslow. He’s probably dead in a swamp somewhere to cover her tracks.”
What the hell? What kind of…then it hit her, and Drew tried not to gasp. Rodriguez was concocting a believable story to feed the cartel boss. He was saying it aloud so that the cartel guys all heard his lies.
Son of a bitch. Rodriguez was smarter than she’d given him credit for.
She glanced in the mirror and met Dunlop’s gaze. He gave her a look like he was trying to tell her something. What could he possibly be trying to tell her? Then it dawned on her. Could it be true? Could this whole exchange be a setup? Did Rodriguez tell Dunlop what to say before they entered the room? It would make sense since Dunlop didn’t strike her as being able to put the whole picture together on his own. Was the whole thing with the gun to Dunlop’s head and the throwing of the glass all a ruse to make the cartel guys think Rodriguez was losing it? To what end?
Drew stared at Rodriguez and then let her mind drift over what had happened. What if Rodriguez, knowing the writing was on the wall, was trying to find a way out? If he gets Dunlop to help him plant the seed that the Winslow thing didn’t go well because Tessa was trying to take out Rodriguez, or even just trying to get a look at his manpower before the real exchange? Then what…
The pieces of the puzzle clicked into place.
She glanced back into the mirror at Dunlop, who looked terrified, but he gave her a tiny nod. Then turned to focus on Rodriguez, who was hashing out the whole concept that he was selling out with Juan and Dunlop. The cartel guys’ faces remained blank, but it was obvious from their overly relaxed posture that they were listening.
Finally, one of them went out and came back in a minute later with Miguel following in his heels. “Belasco is not pleased. He wants to chat.” Miguel held out a phone.
Rodriguez nodded. “Sure, fine.” He grabbed the phone and then headed out of the office. The cartel guard approached Miguel and started speaking softly in Spanish. Drew couldn’t catch most of what they were saying because the man was speaking low and fast, but she got the gist of it. He was selling Miguel on the story that Tessa had set up an ambush for Rodriguez, but backed off when she saw the amount of firepower he showed up with.
The man finished talking, and Miguel looked thoughtful. Then a small smile played at the corners of his mouth.
Drew’s heart started racing again. This was insane. It was like watching two cobras trying to kill each other. She was pretty sure Rodriguez was setting up Miguel and the cartel guys to either get killed or, at the very least, be busy so Rodriguez could get away.
And Miguel, by the look of the smile on his face, was coming up with a way to let Rodriguez be killed and still get the shipment.
It was all guesswork on her part, but Drew knew in her bones that was what was happening. It was the smart play on both sides. But what did that mean for her brother and his team? Would they be able to keep Tessa safe and rescue Drew with all the moving pieces? She swallowed hard. She was pretty sure the chance of her getting out of this alive just took a nose dive, and she was not okay.
CHAPTER 24
“Everyone is in position,”Cross said, and down below, Tessa nodded. Cross gave thanks one more time that Patch and Savvy had thought to bring earbuds. Being able to communicate with each other and hear what was unfolding with Rodriguez made the chances of the op going as planned rise exponentially.
It was almost midnight. Cross’s anxiety had curled into a ball in his stomach. This had to go well. Had to. He needed Drew back in one piece so he could spend the rest of his life making up for his stupidity. He loved her more than anyone else, and he needed her the way he needed oxygen. It had taken this fucked up situation to make that clear to him, but now that it was, there was no going back. Drew was his. He just needed to get her home safe so he could show her how much he loved her.
“Anything yet?” Tessa asked. She waited and then shook her head, indicating no joy.
Sanchez had done a fast turnaround, and after arresting Winslow and locking him down so he couldn’t contact Rodriguez, he’d arranged for the two teams already at the other locations to swing around and set up outside. Their job was to let Rodriguez come into the warehouse and then close the netaround him. They weren’t to enter the warehouse unless Cross or McGuire or Stone called for help.
Cross glanced at his watch. Rodriguez was a few minutes later. He did some breathing exercises to relax. No one was coming in unless they had Drew safe and sound. Too many guns in a closed location, like the warehouse, would guarantee someone would end up being killed by friendly fire. He wasn’t willing to take the chance that it would be Drew.
Cross looked out from the office and surveyed the lower level. Tessa paced in front of the table at the back of the warehouse. The truck was parked on the left side, cab facing out, with Wallace sitting in the cab on the passenger seat just in case anyone tried to steal it outright. Billy was in the corner keeping a line of sight down the trailer so no one could sneak up on Wallace from behind.
Patch was lying on top of the trailer so he would have the drop on anyone below him. Unless they were going to blow the whole trailer—highly unlikely—it was probably a pretty safe place to be.
McGuire had taken up a position on the other side of the warehouse, behind some pallets that they had reinforced with sandbags and boxes of paper. It wasn’t ideal, but it would have to do. They’d certainly used worse options during their time in the military, but it didn’t make any of them feel better about it.
Cross glanced upward. Stone was on a catwalk to ensure no one came in via the roof access. It was a good operational design, but his nerves were getting the better of him. Drew in trouble made him crazy, and getting himself together because of it was possibly the hardest thing he’d done.
Cross reminded himself that Rodriguez knew they were going to be there, so it wasn’t about hiding. It was about surviving and getting Drew back. He glanced down at thesandbags he had against the wall below the window. They should hopefully be enough to stop anything.
He drummed his fingers on the windowsill. “Where the hell is he?”
“He’ll be here,” Tessa said. “He’s not going to miss this.”
Cross was less worried about Rodriguez missing the meet and far more worried about what he had planned. He’d been running scenarios all day with Stone, McGuire, and Patch. Whatever Rodriguez had planned was a wildcard. The game could go either way.
It didn’t help that they were pretty sure he had more guys with him than they’d previously thought. Hired muscle? Maybe. Did he call in reinforcements from the cartel? Also a possibility. And which one it was mattered. Paid guys were less likely to stick it out when the going got rough—and it was going to get rough. Cartel operators didn’t have a choice. They run, they die. They have nothing to lose, which makes them incredibly dangerous.
His earbud crackled. “We have visual.” Tessa continued, “Three large SUVs. Repeat. Three large SUVs.”
“Got it,” Cross responded. He glanced down to see Tessa cupping her ear. Her ATF guys were feeding her more intel. It sucked that all of them couldn’t have both earbuds so they could all communicate, but he’d take what he could get, and this was working.
