11. Thad
Thad
When we’d gotten back to the SUV with the girls, Emerson was gone.
Just like the last time she’d left, she’d disappeared without a word.
And Max had let her.
After the team—sans me, I was too fucking angry to speak—had a conversation, they’d decided not to wait for Garrett’s contact to come and pick up the girls.
It wasn’t the most comfortable of choices, but the girls had all piled into the cargo area of the SUV and we’d driven them across town to a woman named Maria.
When the girls had seen the elderly woman, they’d each pepped up and had run to her. We hadn’t stayed, it was a quick drop-off, then we headed back to the house we were staying at.
No one said a damn word to me.
There was nothing to say. Each of them had witnessed my pain, they knew I didn’t want to talk about Emerson. Besides, there were no words to adequately convey what I was feeling .
For the first time in my adult life I felt tears prick my eyes. What the fuck? I wasn’t some pussy that cried like a baby because my ex had shown up unexpectedly and torn open a ten-year-old wound and left me gutted.
Goddamn her.
Before Declan had rolled to a complete stop, I was out of the car, needing privacy.
Tatiana met me at the door, but instead of greeting me she stepped to the side, allowing me to pass.
I went down the hall to the bathroom, slammed the door so hard behind me the door swung back open, and I used my boot to kick it closed.
There I was again, losing my shit. And once again it was all Emerson’s fault.
I ripped my clothes off, turned on the shower, and stepped under the cold spray.
This was the last time I was going to give in to a temper tantrum like a two-year-old. I’d give myself this one last shower to sulk in private and nurse my broken heart. But after I washed the memory of the woman I loved down the drain, that was it. Emerson would be dead to me.
The only problem was I didn’t know how to let the woman go. I didn’t know how to cleanse her from my soul.
“You awake?” Max asked as he opened the door.
I was, but I hadn’t made any effort to get out of bed. The last time I’d checked my watch we’d only been back to the house a few hours and I was still dog-assed tired.
“Yeah. Any word when we're headed out?”
“Garrett just sent over the file on Emerson that Declan requested, and Tex had intel to share, too.”
Emerson was the last thing I wanted to talk about .
“Listen, we need to talk,” he started.
“If it’s about Emerson, we absolutely do not need to talk.”
“We do, brother, and I think it should come from me before you read it in a report.”
Max was looking at me with something working behind his eyes that looked like pity, which pissed me the fuck off. I didn’t want anyone’s goddamned pity. Not about Emerson. Not about anything.
“Yo!” Brooks stuck his head in the room. “We gotta roll. There was a shooting at the villa where Garcia and Emerson were staying.”
My blood ran cold and there was no way to hide my concern. I was up out of bed and was shoving my feet into my boots before Brooks could finish his SITREP.
“Two men down, one woman. Zane wants us in Garcia’s room to gather anything he left. He also wants Emerson found and detained. He thinks she may know something that will help us find Leon Brown.”
Two men, one woman.
One woman.
Emerson would absolutely go back to the hotel. She was concerned about not having her fucking purse. She’d also mentioned all of her belongings were in that room.
Yeah, Emerson Pierce was tenacious, and she’d go back to get her shit.
This time, Kyle stayed back at the house with Tatiana to go over the latest intel Tex had sent over and the rest of us piled into the SUV.
If there was ever a time I wished Declan would drive faster, it was now.
His erratic driving normally scared the shit out of me.
He’d weave in and out of traffic on the busiest of roadways.
He never obeyed posted speed limits or traffic signs.
Declan drove where he wanted and however fast he wanted to.
But today, it felt like we were going at a snail’s pace.
I was still lacing up my boots when Max reached behind us, heaved a bag over the back of the seat, and unzipped it.
“Here.” He pulled out my tac vest and handed it to me.
I muttered my thanks and while I was securing my gear I asked, “What’d Tex find?”
“There was an attempted kidnapping yesterday in Aruba. Antonia Ruiz was the target. Her bodyguard was killed in the attempt but he managed to get Antonia in her safe room and kill two of the men. Both men are tied to Garcia’s crew.
Might be why Garcia was pissed his stable was light,” Declan informed me.
“What’s so important about this girl?”
“Her father is Emilio Ruiz. Number three of the Forbes list of the richest men in Mexico. Ruiz is also an alleged member of Omni,” he explained.
“Tex found Garcia had ties to Omni. Why would Garcia go after Ruiz’s daughter if they’re both part of the organization?”
“That’s what Zane wants us to find out. He’s hoping there’s something in Garcia’s hotel room. But we have a problem. Word on the street is, Garcia was killed by a rival gang.”
Well, wasn’t Declan full of good news this morning. A gang war on the streets of Morrocoy would make our job harder.
“Shit,” I mumbled.
“Now Garcia’s crew is out for blood, the local and neighborhood police forces are scrambling. Garcia was their meal ticket, his payoff kept the flow of money ripe. Now that he’s gone, the other gangs in the area are trying to make deals.”
“That fast?” Max asked.
“Fuck, yeah. Garcia’s had a stronghold for years. Now that the other gangs in the area have a shot at changing the landscape, they’re jumping on it. Total chaos right now.”
I was rethinking my earlier assessment. Maybe the disorder and confusion would work in our favor. Hopefully Garcia’s crew was too busy spilling blood on the streets of Morrocoy to care about moving the dead man’s belongings.
The swank hotel came into view and I thought about Emerson staying there with her fancy clothes, shoes, and jewelry.
And of course with Garcia, too. She’d said she spent eight months with him.
Eight months sleeping next to him. The thought had me seeing red.
And it pissed me off that I wanted to know, but I did, what the hell was Emerson doing with a man like Garcia?
When we’d found the girls, she’d been gentle with them. Conciliatory and kind as she helped them out of the house, reassuring them we were the good guys and we’d get them help. How could a woman like that be with a man who’d bought, violated, and then sold those same girls?
It didn’t make any sense.
None of it did.
Declan passed the entrance to the hotel and I noted there was only one police car out front. That didn’t make sense either. Three people reported dead and there was one unit there?
“How good is the intel we received about the shooting?” I asked.
“Straight from the police band,” Declan answered, pulling over and parking behind a dilapidated building that left me wondering if the SUV would still be there when we came back.
“If you’re asking about the lack of police presence, I’ll remind you, we’re not in the good ol’ U.S.
of A. Not to mention, the police are a little busy with Garcia’s crew taking out their rivals. ”
Declan put the SUV in park but didn’t get out. Instead, he turned in his seat and pinned me with his gaze.
“You good?” He quickly shook his head when I opened my mouth to tell him to fuck off. “Seriously, brother, you straight?”
All of his normal sarcasm gone, leaving only concern.
“I’m good,” I told him.
“I don’t know what happened between the two of you, but I don’t need to know the specifics to see the fallout. You have to know we all have your back. I wish we didn’t need to pick her up, but we do, if you need to be taken—”
“’Preciate it, but I told you, I’m straight. I’m focused. I’m ready. Emerson Pierce is nothing to me, not anymore. That was by her choice. I was shocked when I first saw her again, but that’s done. I’m over it. She’s nothing more than a job. We straight?”
Now, not only was I lying to myself, but I was lying to my team.
“Yep,” he returned.
“Great, let’s roll.”
The cold dread I’d felt back at the house hadn’t subsided and it wouldn’t until I verified Emerson was alive.