Page 33 of Dark Reunion

“We’re working on it, Sir, but nothing yet.”

“Fuck! Fine, I have other strings to pull. I’ll call Keene, but you better fucking find her before they do, or I’ll have no use for you anymore,” Carlos snapped, then he hung up. The tension stretched between them as Carlos silently accused Dean of having something to do with this.

Maeve was alive and free.

The spark in Dean’s chest flared, brief, and against his will. There was still a long road ahead, but it was a win.

“Mercurio,” Carlos said lightly, testing. “Do you know what distrust smells like?”

“Are you accusing me of something?” Dean tilted his head, leaning back in the leather chair to stare at his father. Dean’s heart pounded hard, but his face remained made of stone.

Carlos studied him, hunting for the tremor under the ice. “You saying that you have nothing to do with what just happened? How Alvarez’s daughter magically found herself a top lawyer, who happens to be part of the Righteous, and then miraculously escapes an armored truck destined to bring her to me?”

“Sounds like you have a leak in your government assets. You should speak to Mr. Keene about that,” Dean replied flatly. He loved the fury it created in his father’s eyes.

“You think you’re funny, but I know you had something to do with this.”

Dean pulled out the phone his father had given him a few weeks back. “Go ahead check it. I’ve had no contact with anyone from the outside. Righteous or otherwise. If something happened to that transport…it wasn’t my doing. And here I thought we were finally finding some sense of peace between us. But now you’re accusing me of betraying you the moment something goes wrong.”

Dean stood and buttoned his suit jacket. “Unless things have changed, business things go wrong all the time, people die, shipments are lost, and people need to be taught a lesson.”

Something like amusement crossed Carlos’s eyes. “So, it wasn’t you?”

“No, check whatever logs you need to, but it wasn’t me,” Dean answered firmly.

“We will find her. I’ll be sending your old teammates after her next. Maybe I should just kill her instead of going to all this trouble,” Carlos pondered, trying to get under Dean’s skin.

“Do whatever you need to.” Dean shrugged.

“Fine. Are you not curious about who would’ve done this then?”

Dean met his gaze at last, the mask fitting like second skin. “Curiosity…it always kills the cat. Just tell me what you want done. You point and I’ll shoot. Isn’t that what you wanted from me?”

His jaw twitched with annoyance at having his words thrown back into his face.

“Later.” Carlos’s smile hardened. “For now, a reminder. No one steals from me and lives long.” He took two steps, then paused as if an afterthought. “How is your family? The fiery redhead and my grandchildren.”

Dean froze.

Where the fuck was this going?

“They are restless. Tired of only seeing this house and the walls that surround the property.”

Every part of Dean wanted to put his father through the balcony door, over the railing, and watch him fall. Instead, he shrugged.

“You’re right, Mercurio, my son. I shouldn’t accuse you until I have proof.” The underlying threat remained unsaid, but it was understood. “Why don’t you take your family out for the evening. Have a nice meal, and maybe ice cream from the spot that you used to frequent as a boy.” Carlos’s head tilted, predatory like. “A family outing.”

Dean blinked. What the hell kind of test was this?

“You’re serious?”

“Yes of course I am.” He looked at the time on his expensive wristwatch. “The night is still young. Take them out, show them the area, and let them fall in love with it. After all this will all be theirs one day.”

Silence lengthened a hair too long as he thought. Say no, and Carlos would read that as disrespect. Say yes, and Dean would count every guard, every turn, every timed light on the route to town.

Carlos chuckled. “You didn’t want to come here and now you don’t want to leave? Funny how things change.” He gestured toward the door. “Go, but of course you must be back by tonight, and you must take a dozen guards with you.”

This smelled like a trap. Like him getting killed on the street would be a good thing. Or maybe with them out of the bedroom, Carlos could have it searched for any traitorous information.