Chapter 22
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
IN THE AIR
“Do we know where Jesse is staying in Chile?” Beckett asked Oliver, sitting next to him on Carter’s luxury jet. “I assume he won’t be staying at the billionaire’s mansion.”
“Probably a hotel in the city, but we’ll track him down. And Carter will do his best to book us rooms at the same place,” Oliver shared.
Beckett turned his attention toward Sydney, alongside Mya, at the other side of the cabin near the cockpit. Their seats faced his way, but Sydney and Mya were studying something on an iPad. Most likely researching their new target, The Guarded One.
Oliver must’ve followed his gaze because he said, “Wouldn’t surprise me if Mason Matthews tracks Mya’s phone to Chile and shows up unannounced.” He cursed under his breath. “I’m still pissed he ever let her go to Tulum in the first place. Girls’ trip or not.”
“If you were in his shoes, you think you could stop a woman like Mya from doing what she wanted?” Beckett figured she was a hell of a lot like Sydney in many ways. For one, risking her neck to make contact with a cartel member if it saved others’ lives. However, based on her actions in the jungle yesterday, it was clear she had no real training, military or otherwise.
“I don’t know,” Oliver grumbled, tossing his hands in the air. “That woman aggravates me to no end. Not sure how I’ll work with her.”
“Mmhmm. I’m sure it’ll be unbelievably hard,” Beckett deadpanned. When Oliver narrowed his eyes and pinned him with a WTF look, Beckett added with a wink, “I’m sure you’ll figure out a way to handle it.” Oliver mumbled something and rolled his eyes.
Oliver nudged him with his elbow. “Why don’t you talk to Sydney? You can have some privacy in Carter’s bedroom.” Ah, he was playing dirty now.
Oliver knew exactly why he and Sydney couldn’t disappear into the bedroom.
Gray Chandler.
“Why would I need to talk to her?” The plane had reached cruising altitude, so Beckett unbuckled his seat belt.
Oliver did the same, then stood and braced a hand overhead, peering down at Beckett. “Gray’s a big boy. He’ll be pissed for a bit, but he’ll get over it.”
You don’t get over a woman like Sydney. “And Mason, you know him, right? Will he get over Mya working with Falcon for this op? Or joining the team on a more permanent basis?”
“He’s also a big boy. When he doesn’t have his head up his ass allowing Mya to make reckless decisions like taking a solo trip to Mexico,” he growled and swung his focus Mya’s way again. If the guy’s jaw were any tighter, it’d snap.
“She was with Sydney. Mason knew that,” Beckett reminded him, defending a guy he didn’t even know. “But yeah, I’ll talk to Sydney when we land. If there’s time.”
“Well, that bedroom has seen plenty of action from our team,” Oliver said when resetting his focus on Beckett. “Griffin and Savanna. Jesse and?—”
Oliver let go of his words when Beckett scowled.
“Riiiight. Ella’s your sister.” Oliver grinned. “So, we’ll just pretend I didn’t mention that bedroom, and I’m going to walk away now.” He tossed a thumb over his shoulder and retreated in that direction.
Good idea. Beckett stood a moment later and decided to use the bathroom adjacent to the bedroom rather than the one near the cockpit, which would require him to walk past Gray.
The moment he opened the door and caught sight of the bed, Beckett was slammed with the memory of Sydney’s moans and sighs as he worshiped every inch of her naked body, bringing her to orgasm three times mere hours ago.
“Can we talk?”
His pulse kicked up at the sound of Sydney’s soft voice from behind him. Better that than his dick standing at attention.
He turned to see her leaning against the interior doorframe.
“Should we wait until we land?” Beckett’s focus cut over her shoulder to Gray talking to Carter, but Gray’s back was to him at least.
“It’s a long flight, and we haven’t had a moment alone since . . . Gray.”
He supposed it’d be okay to talk briefly if they kept the door open. “I didn’t eavesdrop, by the way. I stepped out of the bungalow for a quick second to make sure you were okay.”
“Well,” she began, “I did see Cha Cha spying. He has no shame.” A tiny smile formed on her lips, and damn if it wasn’t contagious.
“And?” He smiled and arched a brow.
“You were right about Gray’s feelings,” she whispered, lowering her gaze to the floor between them. “I wish he hadn’t seen us together like that. You know, half-naked. But what’s done is done.” Sydney pulled her gaze back to meet his eyes.
She didn’t mention the part Beckett had overheard—Seth’s cheating. And it wasn’t his place to bring it up. She’d tell him when or if she trusted him enough to share.
“But we shouldn’t let it happen again while working together. Gray’s a friend, and I don’t want to hurt him.” She drew in a deep breath as if needing to convince herself she was doing the right thing. “Plus, we have to put all our focus on the job, especially now that Elaina’s involved.”
He agreed one hundred percent, but that didn’t change the fact he wanted to draw her into his arms and hug her right now.
“Okay,” he said, finally working the word free. “Just friends, then.” Friends? After last night—well, technically this morning—how the hell was he supposed to do that?
The regretful look on her face said she wished things were different too.
When she looked up at him and pressed her full lips together, he wanted to lean forward and suck on that bottom lip before sliding his tongue into her mouth and tasting her one last time.
Friends, sure . . . He didn’t want to have sex with his friends. No, scratch that. He didn’t want to make love with his friends.
“We can do this, right?” Another slow, deep breath sent his eyes to her breasts. “We can control ourselves?” she added as if struggling the same as him to get a handle on her desires.
Beckett reached out and gently grasped her forearm, hoping her body blocked the others from seeing his touch. “We have no choice.” He stared deep into her eyes, his entire body going taut. Every damn inch of him tensing. “But, sweetheart,” he rasped, bringing his mouth dangerously close to hers, feeling her sweet breath on him, “it’s going to be really fucking hard for me to behave.”
SEVEN HOURS LATER
“Were you just checking out my ass?” Mya accused, looking back and giving Oliver the stink-eye.
Beckett dragged a palm over his mouth to hide his amusement and watched the show playing out before him. He’d managed to get a few hours of sleep, and now he and Oliver were sitting next to each other mid-cabin.
“Well.” Oliver lifted both hands and mimed eyeballing the width of something. “It’s hard to miss. You’re literally standing right in front of me.”
Mya whipped around, grabbed Oliver’s wrists, and narrowed the space between his palms. “My ass isn’t that big, by the way.”
Oliver twirled his finger. “Maybe spin back around so I can take another look.” He winked, and she knocked the brim of his ball cap down over his eyes before shifting into the aisle.
“You’re nothing like?—”
“Mason?” Oliver pushed his hat up, his tone switching from teasing to serious in the space of a heartbeat.
Beckett took that as his cue to bail and stood. Slipping past Mya, he looked around in search of the others. Griffin and Jack were asleep in the rear of the cabin near the bedroom. And Sydney?
“She’s in the shower.” Gray’s words had Beckett gripping the seat to his left as if preparing for turbulence. “My sister, Natasha, sent us some intelligence,” he added. Beckett turned to face Gray, who stood near the cockpit with Carter.
“And?” Beckett directed the question to Carter. It was clear Gray was still struggling to see Beckett as anyone other than the man who’d slept with Sydney. “Was she able to locate Cora in Chile? I assume having Jorge Rojas’s name and location would make it easier.” Ever since Emily’s contact had come up empty, they’d been searching for the proverbial needle in a haystack. With any luck, Gray’s sister had found something solid.
“Natasha got a hit. It’s not much. But according to CCTV footage taken eight weeks ago, we can confirm Cora was in Santiago,” Carter stated. “Either she’s pretty damn good at avoiding CCTV cameras, or she’s no longer there.”
Proof of life eight weeks ago wasn’t confirmation that she was still alive.
“Natasha tracked Jorge’s private jet to Juárez three times in the last two months,” Carter continued. “But terminal footage showed him accompanied only by men.”
“So, if Cora never visited the club, then?—”
“Miguel and four of his men visited Jorge in Chile three weeks ago,” Gray interrupted Beckett. “I’m assuming Jorge invited him to Santiago to discuss the sale of the club.”
“The timeline matches up.” Beckett scrubbed a palm over the scruff on his cheek. “I don’t know Miguel, nor was he on my radar when I worked undercover in LA, which means someone traveling with him had to have identified Cora when he visited Jorge in Chile.”
“That’s what we’re thinking,” Carter began. “Natasha’s working to obtain the names of the passengers on board Miguel’s flight to Santiago.” When Carter’s eyes shifted toward the rear of the jet, Beckett turned and followed his gaze. Sydney had just exited the bedroom wearing fresh clothes, her previous outfit bundled tight to her chest.
Gray’s behind me , he cautioned himself, then returned his attention to the team leaders. “So, what’s the next step?”
“I phoned my contacts in South America to see if any were near Chile. Camila, an old friend of mine, happens to be working on a case in Santiago right now. She agreed to wait at the airport for Miguel’s plane, which arrived an hour ago,” Carter explained. “Camila texted me that Miguel and his men, including Jesse, checked into a hotel in the city.”
“Any chance Jesse will be able to use the phone if he gets his own room?” Beckett asked, eager to talk to his brother-in-law himself this time instead of through whatever cryptic channels Jesse and Carter communicated.
“I’m sure Jesse is still working to earn Miguel’s trust, and outgoing calls from a hotel room can easily be traced. Miguel, or maybe even Jorge, will have someone doing that,” Carter said. “Camila has offered us the use of her safe house outside the city, along with her weapons stash. But we should get a few rooms at the hotel too.”
“How is it you have a friend with a safe house and a weapons stash we can borrow, yet you have no contact at the airport who’ll look the other way so we can bring in weapons?” Beckett was only partially kidding.
“He’s losing his touch,” Oliver jested, which produced a small smile from Carter.
“We should bring Elaina and Emily with us to the safe house,” Beckett suggested, remembering their flight was arriving later that evening. “Once Liam arrives tomorrow, he can call the shots when it comes to his family’s safety.”
“Agreed,” Carter answered. “We’ll all stay there tonight. Tomorrow, five or six of us will head to the hotel where Jesse’s staying.” When Carter pinned Beckett with a look that asked, You in on that? Beckett nodded. “In the meantime, Camila’s working to obtain the names of everyone who flew to Santiago with Miguel today. While Natasha does her best to identify the men who traveled with him three weeks ago. It’s possible Miguel took the same guys today though.”
“If one of them is somehow connected to Cora’s time in LA, I’ll recognize him. I remember everything from then.” Though most days, I wish I could forget.
“Which means we need to be careful. If you can recognize this guy, then it’s safe to assume he can identify you too,” Gray pointed out.
That would impact Beckett’s plans to stay at that hotel, but damn it, he didn’t want to keep hidden and not be part of the op.
Beckett thought back to his time in LA. “I turned over the case against MS-13 and the cartel to another detective. I wanted to disconnect myself from it as much as possible before arrests were made to protect McKenna. But yeah, they’d most likely still recognize me as Cora’s original mark at the LAPD.”
“Let’s not jump ahead of ourselves.” Carter patted the air as if sensing Beckett’s concerns. “We’ll wait for intel from Natasha.”
Beckett nodded, grateful he seemed to be calling the shots more so than Gray, who didn’t exactly have any love for him at the moment.
“So, Cora must’ve called Ivy for help around the same time she phoned you,” Sydney said. Beckett shifted to the side to see her walking down the aisle. “Otherwise, Ivy would never have known the club was her best chance to get to Cora.”
“You mentioned yesterday Ivy had no connection to the cartel or MS-13 in LA,” Mya spoke up, “so she wouldn’t run the risk of being recognized when trying to seduce Miguel. Also, since Ivy and Cora haven’t seen each other for years, the likelihood of someone at Jorge’s connecting them as sisters is far less.”
Beckett nodded. “And I guess Cora decided to cover as many bases as possible and called me too.” Only someone stopped her mid-call.
Were they already too late?
What if McKenna’s mom was already dead?
Blood doesn’t make a mother. A.J. had said something like that to him that morning.
When Beckett focused back on Sydney, he couldn’t help but wonder what it’d be like for McKenna to have a woman like her for a mom.
“All I know is it feels like the universe has set us all on the same path for a reason,” Mya whispered, and Beckett looked over at her.
“Yeah, well, it sure as hell feels like the universe has given us a deadline,” Oliver chimed in. “And I get the feeling it’s this billionaire asshole’s birthday on Friday.”
“I hate the word deadline,” Mya said as Sydney sat alongside her. “Implies someone will die if we’re not successful.”
Sydney’s gaze fell for a moment before she shifted her attention to Beckett, a sad look in her eyes when she spoke, “In our line of work . . . that’s exactly what it means.”