Page 13 of Breached

I mentally opened the door to my past and went over some of my time undercover as Eric Noah. I had worked hard to gain the trust of Martin Castillo, Bruno’s uncle and Esmeralda’s brother. For a decade, I had worked my way into their world, gathering information for Frank. He had convinced me that my brothers needed it to get a leg up in the Cartel world. It had come with a cost for both sides. That role had taken so much from me—I could only trust that it had been worth it.

I looked around the room to regain my focus and jumped in.

“Nicole shared some footage with me earlier, and it reminded me of something. She said Bruno had a lot of secrets. I had just come back from a short trip—it was just a few years before Martin Castillo was killed. He was pissed that Bruno had gone to the States and dropped a bunch of his money. He said his nephew told him he was spending it on resources for the future. It didn’t mean much at the time, but now I wonder. I think he was here hiring sleepers to embed them near our safehouses.”

“There’d be no way to track that money.” Frank stepped in. “Getting access to Castillo’s private offshore accounts, even since his death, would be nearly impossible.”

“Yeah, it would be, but it wasn’t from his personal account.” I knew he wasn’t going to like the fact that I never told him this next part.

Cole nodded. “You still have access to Castillo’s old bank records?”

“I do.”

Frank shot me a look. “Why wasn’t I aware of this?”

“Remember, after Martin was killed that day, I had to leave in a hurry.” And, because I don’t trust you anymore. “It wasn’t until way later that I was able to pull much off my servers in Mexico.” I had only shared the information with Cole and Daniel, as my confidence in Frank had tanked. I knew he wanted me back under cover in Mexico, no matter the risk.

Cole ignored Frank and said, “If you’re right, we could maybe backtrack and try to find out exactly where that money went and try to flush out the sleepers ourselves.” Cole looked at Mike, who was still deep into his phone. “What have you got, Irons?”

Mike looked at me then at Cole. “Just got word that Bruno’s in New Mexico, at his mother’s new place.”

The entire room went still.

“Who told you this?” Frank barked, still annoyed that I hadn’t told him about some things. If he only knew just how much I’d kept from my time undercover.

“A source,” Mike answered.

Frank’s face twisted. “You trust this source?”

“We both do.” He would have too if it were three years ago, but Hunter had gone dark, and that would make Frank question his loyalty—we knew better. I jumped in so Frank’s anger didn’t shift to Mike when it was clearly directed at me.

Frank rubbed his face then slid his hands down to his neck. “I need a name.”

“And I need you to trust me and Irons. If we say we trust our source, and he says Bruno is there, he’s there.” I was testing all the limits, but I knew I had leverage. I had no doubt what Frank wanted from me.

The light above the door flicked on and off, indicating someone needed us. Mark hopped up and opened the door. “Hey, there, little lady. What can we do for you?”

“I need to speak to the team.” Nicole’s voice was all business. If she felt she needed to interrupt our meeting, it was for a good reason. Cole gave Mark a nod, and he pulled the door open to let her slip inside. “Sorry, but this couldn’t wait.”

“Of course, Nicole.” Cole pulled out a chair for her. “Take a seat.”

“Thanks.” She placed her phone in front of her. “I got a call from my contact at the Washington Post.” She jumped right in like a true professional, knowing our time was limited. “Sully Sanchez has been trying to reach me.”

That sent my stomach into a knot.

“With the help of Ty,” she looked at Cole to ensure he knew she had done things by the book, “I was able to get in contact with Sully just now.” I shifted uncomfortably in my seat, but I knew contacting a Cartel member was nothing new for her.

“It’s important for you to understand that I’ve carefully maintained my relationships with certain members of the Cartel. I’ve never crossed the line with them professionally or personally, and in return, I’ve gained their respect. It’s helped me stay alive all these years. So, one of those people would be Sully. He’s the one person I would go so far as to say I could even have been friends with, in a different world.” She shrugged. “He’s helped me out with Bruno more than a few times in the past. Anyway, the point here is that he says he has something to share, and I believe it’s worth meeting him. He wants to meet in person,” she added.

“No.” I didn’t miss a beat, and she glared at me.

She pulled her chin in. “Let’s not forget this is part of my job.”

“Was,” I reminded her, and she hissed as she licked her lips. “I’m not being a jerk here⁠—”

“Jerk is far from the word I’d choose to use right now.”

Mark chuckled, but I ignored him.