So, I turned my attention back to the guys. “Hey! Shut the fuck up!”
They all went silent as Stone walked right up to my face. “You had no right.”
I nodded. “You’re right.”
Stone faltered. “What?”
I sighed. “You’re right. I should have come to you with the information that I knew when I knew it. But you know that if I would have come to you, you would’ve tossed Chloe out on her ass, and we wouldn't have the information we do now. So, at least own up to your part in why I didn’t tell you in the first place and do better. Just like you tell us to do. All right?”
His nostrils flared before he turned to face the rest of the guys. “The only way to stop Carlos now is to play his own game.”
“So,” Chloe said as she pushed off the doorframe, “I suggest we use the information we have to blackmail the son of a bitch.”
Stone raked his hand down his face. “This isn’t a meeting you should be in.”
I chuckled. “Trust me, she doesn’t care.”
Chloe pointed at me. “Bingo. Anyway, while I was sifting through the files this morning—oh, is that coffee? Don’t mind if I do—uh, where was I? Yes, this morning. While I was going through the files this morning, that was the only thing I could think about. We’ve got everything we need to blackmail that son of a bitch into the fucking ground.”
I watched her reach for a mug out of the cabinet like she wasn’t surrounded by a bunch of angry, testosterone-fueled, gun-strapped men. And I loved how bold and brazen she became when she knew what the fuck she was talking about.
She poured herself a mug of coffee. “Because you know that if we threaten to tell his entire fucking cartel that he’s informing for the FBI, they’ll slaughter him. We can use that to our advantage.”
“I can’t believe Lexi knew,” Frost whispered.
Chloe giggled. “She didn’t know until she caught me sneaking out to go see Agent Baker the first time, so don’t beat yourself up. She was just protecting me. After all, her and I have been family just a liiiiiittle bit longer than you two have.”
Puck pointed at me. “And if she’s an informant—or if she was informing at once point—the cartel can’t just kill all of us. There would be major consequences for that. For killing another informant.”
Stone sighed. “Let me give Clancy a call and see what the hell he thinks about all of this.”
I nodded toward his cell phone. “Put him on speaker, I’d like to hear what he has to say, too.”
“What, you don’t trust me or something?”
I shrugged. “Just want to make sure we don’t get wires crossed.”
The tension was palpable, but I wanted to make sure Stone didn’t pull some shady shit just to gain the upper hand with the guys again. He hated being outbested, but Chloe and I had done it and now we needed to keep the focus where our strength lied, which was with all of this information we had downloaded. Stone sucked air between his teeth as he dialed Clancy, and it didn’t take much explaining to the Irishman for him to bombastically approve of our plan.
“I tell ya, ye guys are some lucky ones. I can set up a meeting with Banderas. I want that bastard to suffer for the hell he’s rained down on my family. Wait for my message. I’ll let ye know when and where to mee.”
And less than ten minutes later, Clancy texted Stone with coordinates and a time.
For seven o’clock that evening.
“You think this is going to be too obvious?” Frost asked.
Stone slid his cell phone back into his pocket. “It’s our only chance. West?”
I nodded. “I’ll get the guns cleaned down and our gear checked over.”
“Great. Everyone else? Prepare however you need to, then meet outside sharply at six-fifteen. We end this shit tonight.”
* * *
“West?” Chloe asked.
I strapped myself into the last of my bulletproof gear before I turned to face her. “Yeah, Chlo?”
