Chapter 44
Rocco hadn’t come back.
That’s how pissed he was at her.
Jemma had spent the entire weekend alone, missing him.
Thankfully, The Two Carlas had kept her updated, letting her know Rocco had spent the night at the clinic on Thursday, then moved into Dante’s guest bedroom for the rest of the weekend. He was coming to work as usual but in a “mood.”
She was in a mood, too, wondering if she’d made the biggest mistake of her life. Jemma gripped the covers and pulled them over her head. Rocco’s scent was infused within the sheets, soothing and haunting her.
Maybe she’d come on too strong, insisting he stay out of the situation with Nomar. Things were complicated. Trying to be Rocco’s handler, navigate her feelings for him, and hunt down Nomar was becoming too much. The typical strategic precision of her life had splintered. She was all over the place.
Nomar had to pay for Aurelia’s death.
The burden of making that happen was firmly on her, not Rocco.
Nomar was ruthless and wouldn’t hesitate to torture or kill Rocco to punish her if the bastard thought her relationship with Rocco was anything more than what he’d been to her—a target of her undercover operation.
She had to keep it that way to ensure Rocco’s safety.
Nomar could never know that Rocco had infiltrated every wall she’d erected and staked his claim on her heart. Made her want a life she’d never considered. One that felt like a fantasy now within her reach.
Jemma bolted up in the bed.
She wasn’t giving up on Rocco.
He was frustrated by her resistance to his help, but she would make him understand after she’d dealt with Nomar. When Nomar was eliminated, she would show Rocco how much he meant to her. Prove to him that the connection they felt for each other was worth exploring.
Jemma knew there were no guarantees, but for the first time in her life, she’d found a man who made her at least want to try.
Her cell phone buzzed on the bedside table, spinning in a slow circle from the force.
Grabbing the device, she unlocked it and stared at the notification.
Eddie’s burner phone was on. Based on the coordinates, he was somewhere in Samana Bay. On a boat, perhaps? It was a long drive from Dajabon to the other side of the Dominican Republic, but spying on Eddie was a better use of her time than sitting around the bungalow and missing Rocco.
Hours later, Jemma was perched on top of a lookout point, staring down at the super yacht floating near the entrance into the bay from the Atlantic Ocean. She lowered her binoculars, growing bored and impatient with the nonstop partying on deck. Eddie and a few guys she’d cross-referenced to criminal databases as gang members from San Juan were surrounded by half-naked women, drinking and dancing the afternoon away.
So far, she hadn’t seen any signs of Nomar.
But that could change.
Her phone buzzed in her pocket.
Jemma pulled it out, recognized the secured line from Proteus, and activated the Bluetooth for her earbud to answer.
“What’s up?” Jemma asked.
“Is Rocco with you?” Lenny asked, panic in his rushed words.
“No. Why?”
“We have a problem.”
“What kind of problem?” Jemma had learned early on in her days of leading Proteus not to panic when the unexpected happened because the unexpected would always happen. It was a regular occurrence.
The words rushed from Lenny’s mouth. “We got word that the Direccion National de Control de Drogas is at the Dajabon Clinic busting a drug shipment right now. Seems they got intel from an old friend of ours that drugs were being trafficked through there.”
“An old friend went to the DNCD? You can’t mean Eddie Baez …” She raised the binoculars and focused them on Eddie. He was laying on a circular seat on the boat deck while a woman gave him a lap dance.
“Yes, Eddie,” Lenny said. “Twenty million dollars of cocaine was found in a state-of-the-art MRI facility recently added to the clinic. They arrested everyone on site, and we can’t get details out of the DNCD. They have no clue we have a man on the inside?—”
“You can’t tell them. It would blow Rocco’s cover, and we’d have to exfil him. The op would be done,” Jemma said, mind racing.
Lenny faltered. “The op is already done.”
“What are you saying?” Jemma’s blood ran cold.
“The Deputy Agent in Charge terminated the op. She’s flying to Dajabon now to meet with the DNCD and do damage control.”
No. This couldn’t be happening. She was too close to getting justice for Aurelia. If she was forced to go back to Virginia, she might never get this close again.
“Rocco wasn’t at the clinic when the bust happened. The DNCD is looking for him as a person of interest. We can’t find him either. He’s not responding to calls. He hasn’t arrived at any of our Dominican Republic safe houses.”
“You think he could’ve been tipped off?” Jemma asked.
“That’s my guess. But why wouldn’t he have reached out to you? This is the kind of situation where a UC should be in contact with his handler.”
Why didn’t Rocco call her? Sure, he was disappointed and upset with her personally, but this had nothing to do with whatever was going on between them. He was too damn good at his job to let their personal issues interfere with the op. Right?
Jemma was second-guessing herself, wondering if their intimacy had changed Rocco. Maybe when he walked out on her, he walked out on their professional relationship, too? But then he should have called Tank or the Proteus Team.
So why didn’t he?
She paced back and forth in front of the Jeep.
There was a critical piece of the puzzle that she was missing. She thought back through all the details Rocco had learned since she’d stepped in as his handler.
Eddie Baez tipped off the DNCD to the drug shipment. The same drug shipment he was supposed to provide security for. Why? Rocco mentioned Dante was pissed that his team wasn’t going to be used. But El Sombro told Dante he had a different shipment that would need his attention. A shipment that Rocco found out was likely weapons, which relied on a connection provided to El Sombro by Eddie Baez.
Did Eddie betray El Sombro?
Or was this all a part of the plan?
Jemma thought back to the location tucked away in the Samana jungle that she and Rocco had found before. Could something be happening with the arms trafficking while the DNCD celebrated a major drug bust on the other side of the island?
Rocco had been in direct contact with Dante, staying at the enforcer’s home over the weekend. If Rocco overheard Dante discussing the arms trafficking shipment, it made sense that Rocco would follow him, hoping to get intel to share with the DoD and ATF.
And because of what happened between them, it also made sense that Rocco would keep her in the dark. She’d told him to focus on the drug shipment. She would’ve discouraged him from investigating the guns if she knew what he was up to. But Rocco wouldn’t be deterred. It was the more significant threat, even if it didn’t fall under their jurisdiction.
Was Rocco closer than she thought?
Could he be in Samana?
There was only one way to find out.
“I think I might know where he is. If you don’t hear from me in six hours, send the Proteus tactical team to this location to look for me,” Jemma said, then typed the coordinates of the Samana jungle into the phone.
“Got it,” Lenny said, then added. “Be careful, Jemma.”