Don’t breathe.
“Spare me the excessive details I don’t need to hear and just tell me if we’re ready to go,” Manuel Blanco snaps at his assistant.
Que carajo.
Yari nods, infinitely unfazed by his boss’s snippy shithead attitude. “Yes, we’re ready to go. According to Nestor, they’ll be here in about an hour.”
The Ivory shifts so that I can’t see his face. But I’d imagine it’s expressing something likesinister thrill. “Oh, man… perfecto!” He laughs and claps his hands together loudly. I flinch. “Theythought they weresoclever… Well, we’ll see about that. Quienesel jefeahora, Jonathan?Eh?”
He’s practically shimmying, and now I’m worried.
What is he up to…?
Whowill be here in an hour??
Que pasa, Diablo…
What do you have up your sleeve?
Watching from the secret space behind the bookshelf, I take in the demeanor of his people. Yari is on his phone, as usual—always working.Kent is posted up, also as usual. No emotion whatsoever; never an expression to give away what he’s thinking.
And then there’s el diablo…
“Where are they now?” He asks Kent.
“Day shift, so general population, I’d imagine.” He checks his watch. “Dinner for Group B.”
“Mm… bueno. The gang’s all together.” The Ivory sips from a glass of scotch, mouth quirked. “I want the team over there right away. As soon as they arrive, instruct them to go straight to the prison and get started on Phase 1.”
Yari nods, but Kent’s head tilts. “Phase 1?”
“Basically fuck shit up,” The Ivory snickers.
I swear, I’ve never seen him so jubilant. He loves this shit…Being an evil fucking puta.
But what is it??
What team? Team of who?
It’s no secret that he’s been butthurt since the showdown with Velle. I don’t know the full extent of what happened, but I heard through the grapevine—guards speaking when they think no one’s listening—that Velle’s mom died of an overdose.
Anything drug-related is undoubtedly tied to the cartel, and thus, The Ivory. I’msurehe reacted like a heartless fucking vampire, which is likely what led Velle to leave the island withRook and Joy—their throuple is cute as fuck, not to mention badass.
Velle knows as well as I do that sulking and admitting defeat isn’t El Marfil’s style.
So hopefully they’ll be prepared for whatever this is…
“Very good, sir,” Kent stomps off.
And then there were two.
And I’m shitting my pants.
It was bound to happen eventually. I’ve gotten damn good at dodging the cameras, with the help of my mystery friend in the control room. But I’m notactuallyinvisible, despite how I sometimes feel when skulking around here.
With The Ivory spending less time in the prison, he must be watching the camera feeds more regularly, meaning he caught a peep of the sphinx-like girl prowling around the East Wing.
The good news is that he probably doesn’t know it’s me.Probably.
