“What do you mean, he’s AWOL?” Cash asked. “He messaged me not that long ago.”
“What did he say?” Titus asked. “Show me.”
Jesus. Fucker was so bossy. But Cash got out his phone. “Ahh, it was three days ago. All he said was that he wanted to catch up soon. I mean, it was a weird thing for Ortega to message, but I figured he would let me know what he wanted.”
With Ortega, you could never be sure what was going on in his head. He was a bit of a wild card, to say the least.
Ortega was Dante’s half brother; he also worked for him when it suited him. Ortega was an assassin. He could get in andout of places quietly, taking someone out before anybody even knew that he was there.
The guy was deadly, and . . . unique, but he’d always been a good friend to Cash. When Cash wasn’t able to check on his sister after her attack, he’d sent Ortega to watch over her.
Sure, he’d taken liberty with what Cash had asked him to do. Cash had thought he would just stay in the background and watch over her. Instead, Ortega had decided to ‘help’ Greer. Sometimes his help was a bit out there, and for a while, Greer had thought she had a stalker.
A helpful stalker.
Cash owed him, and if Ortega ever needed him, he would be there.
No questions asked.
“So he could be in Billings,” Titus said, pacing back and forth.
“If he was in Billings, wouldn’t he have come to see us?” Ralen said. “How has he gone AWOL?”
“Apparently, he’s not answering any of Dante’s calls or messages, nor Alejandro’s,” Bonnie said, nibbling on her lower lip. “To say that Dante is upset is an understatement. If he doesn’t hear from Ortega soon, he’s threatening to come to the States to try and find him himself.”
What the fuck?
Ralen and Cash shared a look. “He can’t do that.”
“We know he can’t do that,” Titus said.
“He’d be in too much danger,” Bonnie added. “When I spoke to him last night, I could tell that he’s starting to get stressed. Ortega can go quiet when he’s on a job, but he’s not on any jobs. Dante has checked with all the usual people, but no one has seen him.”
“But he thinks he’s in the States?” Ralen asked.
“He told Dante that he was visiting Alejandro,” Bonnie explained worriedly.
Right. His other brother, Alejandro de Leon, was one of the most powerful men in the entire United States. Ortega just happened to be half brothers with two extremely powerful, deadly men.
Ralen walked over to Bonnie and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “Hey, don’t worry so much. Ortega will be fine. There’s no one who can take him out.”
That was sort of true. Cash wouldn’t like to see the Fox and Ortega go up against each other.
“I know,” Bonnie said. “He’s probably fine. I just wish he would answer his phone.”
“He’ll be up to something,” Titus said, shaking his head. “Won’t have thought of contacting his brothers.”
Cash knew that Ortega could be very focused. To the point that he ignored everything else. So if he had a job to do, he might have forgotten to check in.
“This isn’t the first time Ortega has done this,” he pointed out. “And Dante never threatens to come to the States to find him.”
“No, but usually if he goes silent it’s during a job,” Bonnie said. “Dante wants him found.”
“How the hell can anyone find an assassin who’s used to staying hidden?” Ralen asked. “He could be anywhere. He could still be in Mexico for all we know.”
“Dante tracked Ortega’s phone before he blocked him or turned his phone off. His last known location pinged as being here in the US,” Bonnie explained.
Cash raised his eyebrows and stared over at Ralen, who shrugged. He’d tracked him? Ortega was a grown man who could do what he liked.
