Page 76 of High-Priority Asset

“And it almost cost me my life.”

“You’re safe,” Vargas said. “I’m taking care of the Guzman cartel.”

“What does that mean?” she asked.

“The head of their cartel and all their top lieutenants will be dead before sunrise. Their cartel is like a hydra—many new heads will sprout, and they’ll be too busy fighting among themselves for power and control to worry about me.”

“I can’t do this with you right now.” She pressed her fingers to her temples. “I’ll finish organizing your event tomorrow. Then I’m leaving.”

“I know you doubt me and question whether I’m your father but give me the chance to prove it.”

Isabel backed up with tears welling in her eyes. “I need time away from you. To clear my head. To think.” She turned and rushed off into the house.

Dutch slumped in his chair, his head pounding, and noticed Isabel had left her purse.

The tape was inside. A glass with Vargas’s fingerprint gleamed in the candlelight.

Groaning, Vargas pressed his fists on the table. “Why didn’t you warn me and tell me she knew all of that?”

“I didn’t know that was going to happen,” Dutch said, letting his natural shock over Isabel’s admission come through. “She told me the man who left the queen of spades in her basket spoke to her, but she didn’t tell me what he said. Then everything at the gallery happened.”

“I’ve spent three decades protecting her from the truth. Damn it!” Vargas swept his hands across the table, knocking his dishes to the floor. His glass shattered. He paced back and forth in front of the table, then caught himself and regained his composure. “Go to the kitchen. They’ll give you a plate to take to your room. Get some rest. The sun will rise on a new day.”

And it would be their last chance to get the hard drive. If they let emotion stop them from succeeding again, a lot of innocent people were going to die.

Dutch stood. “Let’s hope tomorrow is better.”

“One more thing. Respect my wishes. Stay away from Isabel’s room tonight.”

Isabel needed him. She needed comfort, a compassionate ear to listen, now more than ever, but under the tenuous circumstances as they were, what choice did he have? “Yes, sir.”

Chapter Twenty

Isabel awoke with a start, jackknifing upright in bed. She squinted against the sunlight streaming in through the windows.

The dream stayed with her, vivid, in high definition. She remembered being six or seven, Emilio buying her toys, playing with her in the yard, him making her giggle, holding her tight and singing her songs, but only when her father wasn’t at the house.

She closed her eyes and heard Emilio’s voice as if he was beside her. Our little secret, mi hija. Don’t tell I came to visit. Te amo.

The fights between her father and Emilio came back to her, as well.

Isabel is my daughter, her father had said. Don’t ever forget that unless you want a war.

A shudder slipped down her spine.

When she was fourteen, her boarding school in Palo Alto had held a father-daughter dance. Her dad was stuck in Mexico on important business. She’d thrown the worst fit over it, and had said ugly, bratty things to him. Emilio came, not wanting her to be disappointed. But at the end of the dance, her dad had shown up as a surprise. There’d been such tension radiating between them, but her father hadn’t spoken to Emilio that night, not a single word exchanged. Like the calm before a Cat 5 hurricane.

Two weeks later, her father, Luis, was dead.

They hadn’t fought over the cartel. They’d fought over her.

The pain that came from the memories was almost too much to bear, like someone had slammed a dagger in her heart and twisted.

Emilio wasn’t lying. She was a product of infidelity, the cause of violence and revenge. Some truths were too terrible and should never be brought out into the light.

Pandora’s box. He’d warned her and now she wished she never knew.

Releasing a hiss, she brought her knees up to her chest and leaned against the headboard. She wanted to leave the villa that very instant, but she had to stay and see this through. For Dutch. For the marshals who were in danger. And maybe for her own sake, too.