23. Picasso #2
“Just like how the FBI had a list of known people Dax might associate with and gave them a feel for her reach in the criminal world, we now have the same thing for Marco. Seeing who’s backing him will also give us more information about what he has access to.
We are behind on everything because we didn’t know we needed to be looking out for Marco lurking in the shadows.
He took this personally since Dax destroyed the legacy he was being left and decided to take action on it before he was even in power.
Using his ability as no one in our world, he studied everything about Dax for, what, at least two years before taking over and continuing to perfect his plan once in charge. ”
Sprocket paused for a moment to take a swig of his beer before he continued, “Marco knew we’d get to this point.
Dax told him we were coming for him. So now that asshole is going to throw out all the previously-made plans to put us off the trail, but I don’t think he planned for Mariana and Alvaro to be as willing to tell us so much about him and his operations.
Right now, I’m not sure where Martin falls into this, either.
Marco is at most fifty years old with plenty of time to rule this new kingdom of his.
Yet naming Martin his heir and getting him to marry into one of the biggest shipping companies is advantageous for Marco, so it’s a win-win.
All that to say, we need to look at everything like it’s trying to mislead us,” Sprocket determined.
We all sat there trying to sort through everything he’d said and how it was going to be useful to us. God, it was like trying to keep up with Dax when she got like this.
“You’re gonna need to break that down for us into something we of an average IQ can understand,” I commented. “I get parts of what you’re saying but not the whole picture.”
Sprocket nodded then started to pace as if needing to work off the energy his brain was creating.
“Think of it this way, those who back Marco are now considered a threat, just as those who support us are now possible allies. We figure out what they provide for Marco or how he could use them against us or for his own gain. This will give us better knowledge of what his cartel really does because I doubt it’s just drugs and women.
He’s too power-hungry for that, and he’d want a bigger piece of the pie, so to speak.
On the other hand, he could just be using some of these as a red herring to draw our attention away from the ones we really should be focusing on.
Nothing is what it seems with Marco, and that’s why I believe the smartest thing Dax ever chose to do was to let others take the lead.
Everything will be geared toward how Dax looks at the world, not Cam, Magnus, or myself. ”
Now all of this was starting to make sense.
He was right that we needed to quickly gather as much information as we could since we didn’t have much time.
The attacks were becoming more frequent and in all directions.
I’m not sure where it would even be safe for us to be right now.
I worried if we went back to the compound, we’d be bringing our danger to the others who were innocent in all this.
New York was becoming too unpredictable, yet there were things we needed to clean up first. Dante was meeting us tomorrow then we’d have another view into all this.
“I might sound like the dumb one here, but where does that leave us with getting into Mexico?” Void asked.
“Where we started,” Wes commented. “Talking about it brought us to the point where we need the others’ input.
What do the triplets have to offer, what connections does Dante have, and would the CIA even be willing to get us into the country?
It might be smart not to all come in together.
Let’s say Dante or the triplets get there before us and scope things out.
My fear is that the moment Dax enters Mexico, it’s game on. ”
Everyone muttered their agreement with that. No matter how hard we tried, there’d always be a risk of someone ratting us out. Money can only buy you so much when all it takes is a better offer to spill their guts.
“That plan has some merit,” Sprocket agreed. “There’s also the option of finding one of Marco’s locations and attacking it. If he thinks we’re on the wrong trail, it will make him relax, and then when we pounce, he’ll be caught off guard.”
“Hell, if we go with that idea, we could attack just like we did with Diego. Let Marco believe we are making that play so he runs off to another location we are really aiming for,” Wes added.
“It just means we need to figure out that one hiding spot no one should know about, or if they do, would never spill it.”
Leaning back, I took a long draw from my beer, going over in my head the players on his side who we knew about already. If someone had that kind of information, Marco wouldn’t let them out of his sight or control.
Then it hit me. “Holy shit, that’s why he wants his sister back home. She’s off her leash and doesn’t have someone to guard what she says to anyone. There’s no way she doesn’t know where Marco would hide out.”
“After how we left things, I’m not sure we’d be welcomed back to talk to her,” Cognac reasoned. “Maybe Alvaro might be able to talk to her on the phone or something, but I doubt we’re getting another face-to-face.”
“Fucking Marco,” I swore under my breath. “He’s got us by the balls, and I’m really fucking sick of it.”
“I’ll hand it to the man, he’s got a wicked mind I’d love to pick apart but not at the risk of leaving him alive,” Sprocket said with a sigh as he took his seat and drained his beer.
We all jumped at the sound of the front door being opened, but when we saw Cam walking in with a sleeping Dax in his arms, we relaxed.
Thank fuck they were home safe and sound.
Without a word, he took her right upstairs with all of us hot on his heels.
He stripped her out of my jacket but left her in that sexy mini-dress he’d gotten for her.
When I saw the marks covering her body, I snarled, grabbed Cam by the throat, and slammed him against the wall.
“What the fuck did you do to her?” I demanded. “She left without a mark on her, and now she’s covered in welts and scratches, you sick son of a bitch.”
Cam grabbed my wrist, and the next thing I knew, I was the one being slammed into the wall with my arm now twisted up behind me.
“You’ll keep your voice down, take a deep breath, and come downstairs to talk to me about this like an adult.
I’m sure you can remember how to act like one if you dig down deep enough. ”