Page 35 of George’s Big Day

On cue, the door opened, Jing looking suddenly better, relieved almost. “Okay, we’re good. We know who that guy’s after, as well as the men on their way here.”

“And?” Colter prodded her.

“Carmello Ortiz wants Dante dead.”

“Hah, told you,” Chris crowed at Dante. “Why would he want me dead? I’ve worked for him in the past, plus I have the protection of the Nueva Leone cartel now. We have no issues.”

“I thought you were protected by the Lima cartel,” Colter said to Chris.

He shook his head. “No. They wanted me to kill a family, and you know I don’t do that. The man in charge got really upset when I protected everyone until they could get out of Mexico.”

“I assume that was someone related to the Nueva Leone cartel?”

“You would be correct.”

“Well, nothing you could do about that,” Colter replied. “You have to follow your conscience, and anyone who knows your reputation knows you don’t hurt spouses or kids.”

“Of course not.”

“Which is great,” I praised Chris. “Truly. But you know I’m––”

“Getting married, yeah, yeah, I know.” He glared at me. “We just have to help Dante work through his brain fart here and remember what the fuck he did.”

“I didn’t do anything,” Dante said defensively.

“Having friends is a blessing, but it’s not always easy,” Hawthorne mused.

“Amen,” Chris seconded.

“No kidding,” Colter muttered, squinting at Dante.

“I didn’t do anything,” Dante repeated, louder that time.

“You did something to the Jalisco cartel. Really try and remember.”

Dante glanced around at all the men in the room with their arms crossed and waiting on him. “I did send a team to Sinaloa to retrieve a couple of my daughter’s stupid friends who had inadvertently gotten into trouble. Could that be it?”

We all waited some more.

“They were working on a farm there for their podcast.”

Chris chuckled.

“What was I supposed to do? Have the cartel turn two very nice college boys without a drop of common sense between them into drug mules?”

“I’m betting your guys didn’t go in quietly, did they?” I asked with a sigh.

The guy on the floor shouted through his gag then, as much as he could, and rocked a bit back and forth, looking more than a bit agitated.

Dante winced. “It was not a normal snatch and grab, no.”

“Lots of casualties?” Colter asked him.

“Not any of my team or the two boys.” Dante sounded indignant.

“It was loud, and it was big,” Hawthorne said flatly. “And the boys couldn’t keep their mouths shut once they got back, letting everyone know that you, Dante Cerreto, saved them.”

“They did,” Owen said, looking at something on his phone. “There’s even a podcast episode devoted to you. From the title, it sounds quite flattering.”