“Enough to suggest they weren’t just keeping a side operation quiet anymore. They were building something.” Mason taps the screen. “Current intel from Agency sources shows those payments are still climbing. Someone’s consolidating power in Mexico and using Volkov to launder the proceeds.”
“Dragonov?” I suggest, though it doesn’t quite fit.
Mason shakes his head. “Wrong profile. Dragonov’s Serbian, just took over a fractured organization. Moving into Mexican territory that fast would require local connections, existing infrastructure. He’d face too much resistance.”
“So someone who was already positioned,” Wyatt says slowly. “Someone who was constrained while Amador, Zavala, and Delgado were fighting over territory, but who’s been waiting for exactly this kind of vacuum.”
“That’s Zavala’s theory from his notes,” Mason confirms. “He flagged it as someone being groomed from outside the main power structures. Not Gustavo—he made his play and we all know how that ended.”
“Rafael,” I say. The name that keeps surfacing in intel reports with no face attached to it.
“Yeah.” Mason looks between us. “That’s the name that keeps coming up in chatter. But nobody knows who the fuck Rafael actually is. No photos, no confirmed sightings, no clear organizational structure. Just money moving and a shell company name on intercepts.”
“If they’re trying to claim Vicente’s empire...” Wyatt says.
“They’d need to know who’s still loyal,” I finish. “Who might oppose them.”
“Or he’d want to find Vicente and Arturo themselves.” Mason sets down the tablet. “Those two were enemies for thirty years, ran rival operations. Vicente was Amador—the name, the power, everything. Arturo had his own empire, just as strong. Now that they’re allied? Together they control more reach than when Vicente had the physical routes in Mexico. If someone’s trying to step into that vacuum, they’d need to either get their blessing or eliminate them as threats.”
“And if this person learns they’re in therapy together...” Wyatt trails off.
My jaw tightens.
Wyatt winces, and I know he’s thinking the same thing I am—he’s the one who recommended her for this job. Put her in the crosshairs.
Mason looks between us, reading our tension. “A therapist would be the soft target. The way in.”
“She has security,” I say.
“Basic surveillance detection,” Wyatt counters. “Not enough if someone’s seriously hunting Vicente and Arturo.”
Mason picks up his tablet again. “Want me to keep digging on Volkov or focus on this Rafael?”
I check my phone. Almost noon. “Both. Keep tracking Volkov’s meetings with Dragonov’s people, but see what you can find on Rafael. Carefully though—we don’t even know who he really is.”
“Ghost in the machine,” Mason mutters, already typing. “Those are always the dangerous ones. I’ll let you know what I find.”
Wyatt follows me toward the door. “Chris.”
I turn.
“Tomorrow morning. Nine-thirty.”
Not a question. An expectation.
“I’ll be there.”
He nods and heads back up the stairs. I watch him go, then leave. The drive back to the hotel gives me time to think. Volkov. Dragonov. Someone who was once close to Amador’s organization getting payments. Rafael—whoever the hell he is—possibly hunting Vicente and Arturo.
Separate threads. Different operations. Probably nothing.
But parallel ops have a habit of colliding when you least expect it.
32
Nina
I wake slowly, aware of warmth on both sides. Chris is propped on one elbow beside me, tracing patterns on my bare shoulder with his fingertips. Wyatt’s pressed against my back, his arm heavy across my waist, breath steady against my neck.
