Chapter Thirty-Five Ryder
Chapter Thirty-Five
Ryder
ángel was parked behind a cheap folding table in a plastic chair, one booted foot hooked around the leg as he stared over at the two of us. “Get held up in traffic?”
“Took a wrong turn.” Right into CIA hell.
“I bet you did.” He gestured to the two armed guys off to my side to give us space.
With my hand at Seraphina’s lower back, I guided her over to the table. We were inside what I assumed was the break room. A few tables, a coffee maker, and fridge. Nothing else.
Reed and Alex were told to wait out front, which didn’t do wonders for my trust or patience.
“Miss Torres.” ángel motioned for her to sit when she remained a statue next to me, and it took all my energy not to wrap my arms around her as though that’d shield her.
“They told you my real name?” The question came out pillow soft, which had to be quite the contrast to how she’d boldly confronted him Thursday night.
Now I knew that “her” was just an act. She’d been Anna in that club. Standing next to me now, she felt safe enough to be herself.
“By ‘they,’ I assume you mean the ice queen?” His dark brows lifted before he revealed, “No, I already knew who you were before I spoke to her.”
Ice queen was too nice for the demon spawn from hell that was my best friend’s ex.
“Please, sit.” He verbalized his request this time. “Nice fight, by the way. You should consider stepping back in the ring again.”
Once Seraphina was seated, I circled the table to stand off to the side. No plans to have my back to the door or to the two armed guards standing by it. “I think I’ll pass.”
His gaze briefly flicked to the light fixture overhead. I took that as a signal this wasn’t really a SCIF and we had eyes on us now.
“I thought we had a deal.” Seraphina’s words lured my focus back to her, her hands slipping to her lap, probably fighting a compulsion to fidget.
“No, we had an agreement to talk and see if we could make a deal. You, though, weren’t forthcoming at our first meeting. Only one of us lied, and it was you, Anna Cruz.”
“I deserve that.” She allowed a moment of silence to pass. “Did you know I worked for Ezra Sokolov before or after we met?”
“I looked you up before we met and discovered you worked for him, but that’s not why I said yes to meeting with you. I’d have never agreed to see you if that were the case.” That wasn’t what I was expecting him to say. “It was when I saw your photo that changed everything.”
“I don’t understand,” she murmured, her hands shifting to the table.
“I recognized you. I knew about the family that was killed in Cabo by mistake. A daughter left behind. The cartel, mi familia , blamed for their deaths. I saw your photo online. This, of course, was back when you weren’t yet Anna.
” He pointed to the floor next to him, the tiles fractured there.
“The cartel was accused of murdering Andrej here in Costa Rica as well, but we all know if mi familia wanted that man dead, his death would have been much more painful and overt.”
My gaze volleyed back and forth between the two of them while I kept careful watch from the corner of my eye of the two men by the door.
“So why’d you meet with me, knowing that? I’m not understanding. It’s been a long day. Please spell it out for me.”
“I figured out what you did and why. You wanted justice for your family, so you went undercover as Ezra’s accountant, realizing the cartel didn’t kill your parents and brother. You believed he did.”
“And did he?”
No way would he give her an answer while we were on candid-fucking-camera.
“Perhaps the better question to ask yourself is why Andrej was killed, which led to the deaths of your family members; then you might find the answer you’re looking for.”
She slumped in her seat, then followed his gaze to the light, and I caught a flicker of understanding in her eyes.
Yeah, we’re being watched.
“You said you have information I could pass over to the cartel, and I assume that intel is a result of your undercover work with the Sokolovs. Sí? ” Before she could respond, he added, “Some of that information may be traced back to its source.”
That rules out the cartel’s watching us. Beth. Of-fucking-course.
“Your family will find out it was you who helped the Sokolovs, and they’ll discover Andrej passed that information over to Ezra back when he was alive.” She interpreted what he said in a more matter-of-fact way.
“The only thing of value I have to give mi familia now is you, the accountant to the man who’s destroying their business.”
“And that’s the deal you worked out with the ice queen?” she asked.
He lowered his eyes to the table, remaining quiet.
“You stopped working with them after Andrej died, or ...?” When he didn’t respond, she pushed forward. “Then I showed up, and you found a new opportunity to pursue. Ezra’s never been your enemy—only your family, right?”
From where I was standing, I was damn certain there was another person he couldn’t stand.
“Did they no longer need you after Andrej died because Ezra came up with a new plan to undermine the cartel?” I had no clue if he would or even could answer her, but I patiently waited, letting her take the lead.
“She kept you on the back burner just in case, though, am I right?” And like that, the bold and brave woman was front and center.
Not necessarily as Anna, but as a woman who was done taking shit from anyone, and I loved that.
“Big Brother is always watching, are they not?” He opened his palms to the ceiling, maintaining eye contact with her.
“The ice queen found out I came to see you and forced you to work for her,” Seraphina said decisively; then her shoulders relaxed as if she was relieved by something. “You didn’t call them.”
“Not everything is always as it seems. If anyone knows that, it is you, sí ?” He stood and shifted up his sleeve, checking the time. “The cartel will arrive later today. The meeting will take place at ten p.m. as long as they agree upon a location.”
“I take it the cartel is waiting until the last minute to pick it out?” I asked him.
“Paranoid, sí . I’m required to have you in my custody to join mi familia thirty minutes before they intend to meet with the Sokolovs. Your new friends will ensure you know where to go once I provide them the location.”
His time frame gave us plenty of room to pull together a team for backup. Not that I intended to allow Beth to hand Seraphina over to him, but I wouldn’t miss a chance to go after both the cartel and Ezra.
“Why here in Costa Rica? Why’d you bring us to where Andrej died?” she asked him. “Can you answer that?”
He rounded the table but didn’t try to bypass me to get to her as she stood. “To bring Ezra back to the place where Andrej was killed.”
To let this also be where it ends for Ezra , is what he said with his eyes. That’s how I interpreted his look, at least. He’d never be able to say that out loud, because he knew Beth was watching us and must also have known she wanted Ezra surviving the showdown with the Moraleses.
“I am sorry about your family.” ángel sounded sincere that time. He nodded his goodbye and started for the door.
She faced him, asking, “Did you ever save him? The no-show fighter, I mean. Did you get him back from the cartel?”
“No. The cartel won that round,” he said somberly, then glanced at us from over his shoulder. “But we’ll win the war.”