I flip through the photos of each member and pause on Van Quiso’s scarred face.
“Oh, I know him.”He waves a hand at the screen.
“What?”
“He was there.In the VIP lounge at the nightclub.Looking all tall and scary, chewing the hell out of a toothpick.”He narrows his eyes at me.“You don’t look surprised.”
“The cartel doesnotwant me in enemy hands.They would’ve been there running surveillance and sketching a retrieval plan.A clean, patient retrieval.Then you walked in.Wearing a bomb.”
Wolf lets out a quiet breath.
“You didn’t follow a playbook,” I say.“Didn’t wait for permission, backup, or other options.You saw the problem and cut straight through it.”
“I skipped a few steps.”
“You showed them how it’s done.”
“Bad Boy Supreme wasn’t bothered.”He nods at Van’s photo.“He flashed me a sexy little smile on his way out.”
“I’m sure he did.He’s a terrible flirt but also deeply devoted to his wife.”I steeple my fingers against my mouth, thinking.“This is the play.We’ll get Dove.That part’s non-negotiable.After that, they’ll try to bargain for you, but I’ll secure your freedom.”
“Yeah, that’s anofrom me.We’re not splitting up.”
“You want to stay with me?With the cartel?”I hold his gaze until the heat burns.“What about Dove?”
The silence is instant.
He opens his mouth, closes it, and looks away.
“You don’t have an answer.”I drop a hand on his thigh and squeeze.“And that’s the answer.”
His jaw works, his frustration loud.
“The Russians can’t stay on the island.”I turn back to the keyboard.
“I’ll handle it.”
“Tomorrow, when I call Restrepo back, I’ll line up our meeting and go from there.Until then, you need to sleep, eat, and study those profiles.In that order.”
“And you?”
I don’t look away from the screen.“I’ll run through every contingency and plan accordingly.”
“Do you like it?”He watches my hands move on the keyboard.“The hacking?The coding?All of it?”
“Yeah.I do.”I stare at the streaming algorithms.“But I’ve always wanted to use it differently.For people who don’t have power.The innocent ones who get taken and killed because no one’s watching.”
“You know… If you hadn’t joined the cartel, that fake video of Dove would’ve been real.Crowe would’ve taken her.Not the cartel.”
“I know.”
“That’s what you’ll be doing with them.Bigger missions.Rescuing more girls like Dove.”
“Yes.”
“But to do that…” He sighs.“You have to give up Dove.”
“And you.”My chest hurts.“There’s no way out of this.”
