Chapter 23
Drew waited for an answer. “Seriously, guys, this isn’t rocket science. You want to get paid to let me go or not? Rodriguez is a dead man walking. Make your money now, while you can.” She tried not to let her growing panic show. She needed this to happen. Her life depended on it.
The shorter one gave a small shrug. “You know what? Fuck it. She’s right. Let’s get paid and then get the hell out of town.”
His partner hesitated a moment and then nodded. “I’m good. Let’s get this done. I’m tired of being sweaty all the time anyway. This place is gonna be underwater with the next big hurricane, and I don’t want to be here for it. Freaks me out.”
Drew held her breath as the taller guy headed toward her, pulling a knife out of his pocket. He flicked open the blade and leaned over her as the door burst open. “Fucking puta! How the hell did she know?” Rodriguez demanded as he stormed into the room.
The tall guy whirled around, tucking the knife back into his pocket. “Boss?” he said as he scurried across the room to stand by the table.
Drew suppressed the urge to scream. She’d been so close.
She’d had her chance, and now it was gone.
Fear and dread clawed their way up her throat, rendering her speechless.
Biting the inside of her cheek, she refused to cry.
She was smart; she’d just had to come up with another plan.
Something else that might work. Giving up was not an option.
“That bitch,” Rodriguez growled as he went over to the bar and poured himself a drink. “The shipment was supposed to be there.” He took a sip of amber liquid from the crystal glass and then threw it against the wall.
Drew saw Dunlop’s reflection in the mirror as he slid into the room.
His eyes darted over to Drew and then skittered away.
Hugging the wall, he moved into the shadows in the corner.
Whatever had happened, it scared the shit out of Dunlop.
He wasn’t nearly as confident as he was before, not that he was ever confident, but now he was cowering.
His skin had a grayish tinge. Drew was afraid he might drop dead any second.
The bodyguards all exchanged glances, and one who’d just returned shook his head slightly at the tall guy, who seemed to be asking something with his eyes. It was hard to interpret what was going on since she only had the reflection in the mirror to work with.
The men in the room were all Rodriguez’s people, which made Drew wonder what the hell happened to the cartel guys? The tension in the room was like the humidity at the swamp, so thick that each breath felt like she was taking it underwater.
A moment later, the cartel guys waltzed in.
Judging from the cold looks in their eyes, they were not happy.
What the hell had happened? Drew tried to be as still as possible, to avoid attracting any attention to herself.
The last thing she wanted was to give Rodriguez something to focus all his anger on, namely herself.
“Belasco is not happy,” the cartel bodyguard who seemed to be in charge commented.
“I don’t fucking care, Miguel,” Rodriguez barked.
“You should care,” Miguel persisted. “When Belasco is unhappy, we’re all unhappy. You don’t want us unhappy.”
Rodriguez whirled around with his arms outstretched. “And what the fuck do you want me to do about it? Huh? My guy set me up, or he got set up. The shipment wasn’t there. I can’t snap my fingers and make it appear.”
Miguel stared blankly at Rodriguez, but the iciness in his gaze made Drew’s blood run cold.
Miguel would have no problem killing Rodriguez.
The cartel would do it loudly and publicly to send a message.
Maybe kill everyone in the room just as a statement.
Drew was nothing but an afterthought. Her death would be insignificant to the cartel.
In fact, they probably wouldn’t even notice that she was dead.
Sweat broke out on her palms with that thought.
“Fix this. You’re on the clock. Get the shipment back tonight…” Miguel didn’t bother to finish the statement. Everyone in the room knew there was an ‘or else’ at the end of that command and that the ‘or else’ meant Rodriguez would die.
Miguel’s phone rang, and, with one last disdainful look, he exited, leaving four cartel guys lurking just the other side of the doorway.
Rodriguez let out a series of curses in Spanish. Then poured himself another drink. “Call Winslow again,” he barked.
One of the guards pulled out a phone and hit the buttons. He waited a beat, presumably listening to it ring, but then shook his head. “Nothing. Still not answering.”
Rodriguez’s fingers curled around the glass on the bar, and Drew thought it might throw this one too, but instead, he just drained the glass in one gulp. He looked around the room, his eyes landing on Drew. She froze.
“That bitch set me up. Winslow isn’t that smart, and he knows I will kill his entire family if he doesn’t do what I want. He didn’t do this. She did. She set up Winslow with a bogus location.”
The tall guy said, “Why, boss? What does she get out of it?”
Drew thought it was a gamble, pushing Rodriguez at the moment, and she braced herself for another outburst of violence. But none came.
“I have no idea, Juan.” Rodriguez stared off into space as if trying to work the problem.
Drew waited, her lungs aching as she held her breath. If this didn’t go well, he could just kill her and go to the meet anyway.
Dunlop made a small sound, and all the heads in the room swiveled his way. Drew’s heart rate skyrocketed. What the hell was he doing calling attention to himself?
“Why are you still here, dumbass?” Rodriguez snarled. “Get the hell out of here. I don’t want to see your ugly ass face.”
Drew willed Dunlop to keep his mouth shut. Just nod and walk away.
Dunlop cleared his throat. “I…I think she set you up.” It came out in a rush.
Drew stared at Dunlop’s reflection in the mirror. When did he get so smart? Was he hiding something? Was his dumb innocence all a ruse? Was he really a whip-smart inside man? Dunlop took a step forward and tripped over his own feet, catching himself on the back of the sofa.
Drew frowned. Nope, same old Dunlop. Keep your mouth shut. She tried to send him the telepathic message as she caught his gaze in the mirror, but he just blinked at her.
“What? You didn’t get enough out there? You want me to put a gun to your head and pull the trigger this time?” Rodriguez demanded.
So that’s what happened. No wonder Dunlop looked gray. That was enough to scare the life out of anyone.
Dunlop cleared his throat; his shoulders hunched near his ear.
“You said that she wants to do the exchange. That she can’t move the shipment, so she wants to get paid to give it back to you.
It’s more trouble for her. Maybe she was setting up an ambush for you, but you showed up with an army, and she backed off.
Or maybe she set it up so she could get a look at how many guys you were bringing with you.
She’d need to know what she was getting into, wouldn’t she? ”
Rodriguez stared at his cousin, eyes unfocused. “She knew someone gave her up to me, and she did this to figure out who it was, while getting a look at my men at the same time.” Rodriguez’s eyes narrowed. “Clever.” He cocked his head. “I can’t reach Winslow because she took him out.”
Drew frowned. This was all just supposition. What the hell was Rodriguez doing?
“She burned Winslow. He’s probably dead in a swamp somewhere to cover her tracks.”
What the hell? What kind of…then it hit her, and Drew tried not to gasp. Rodriguez was concocting a believable story to feed the cartel boss. He was saying it aloud so that the cartel guys all heard his lies.
Son of a bitch. Rodriguez was smarter than she’d given him credit for.
She glanced in the mirror and met Dunlop’s gaze.
He gave her a look like he was trying to tell her something.
What could he possibly be trying to tell her?
Then it dawned on her. Could it be true?
Could this whole exchange be a setup? Did Rodriguez tell Dunlop what to say before they entered the room?
It would make sense since Dunlop didn’t strike her as being able to put the whole picture together on his own.
Was the whole thing with the gun to Dunlop’s head and the throwing of the glass all a ruse to make the cartel guys think Rodriguez was losing it? To what end?
Drew stared at Rodriguez and then let her mind drift over what had happened.
What if Rodriguez, knowing the writing was on the wall, was trying to find a way out?
If he gets Dunlop to help him plant the seed that the Winslow thing didn’t go well because Tessa was trying to take out Rodriguez, or even just trying to get a look at his manpower before the real exchange? Then what…
The pieces of the puzzle clicked into place.
She glanced back into the mirror at Dunlop, who looked terrified, but he gave her a tiny nod.
Then turned to focus on Rodriguez, who was hashing out the whole concept that he was selling out with Juan and Dunlop.
The cartel guys’ faces remained blank, but it was obvious from their overly relaxed posture that they were listening.
Finally, one of them went out and came back in a minute later with Miguel following in his heels. “Belasco is not pleased. He wants to chat.” Miguel held out a phone.
Rodriguez nodded. “Sure, fine.” He grabbed the phone and then headed out of the office.
The cartel guard approached Miguel and started speaking softly in Spanish.
Drew couldn’t catch most of what they were saying because the man was speaking low and fast, but she got the gist of it.
He was selling Miguel on the story that Tessa had set up an ambush for Rodriguez, but backed off when she saw the amount of firepower he showed up with.
The man finished talking, and Miguel looked thoughtful. Then a small smile played at the corners of his mouth.
Drew’s heart started racing again. This was insane. It was like watching two cobras trying to kill each other. She was pretty sure Rodriguez was setting up Miguel and the cartel guys to either get killed or, at the very least, be busy so Rodriguez could get away.
And Miguel, by the look of the smile on his face, was coming up with a way to let Rodriguez be killed and still get the shipment.
It was all guesswork on her part, but Drew knew in her bones that was what was happening.
It was the smart play on both sides. But what did that mean for her brother and his team?
Would they be able to keep Tessa safe and rescue Drew with all the moving pieces?
She swallowed hard. She was pretty sure the chance of her getting out of this alive just took a nose dive, and she was not okay.