Beneath the Secrets Part 3(14)

Kara sipped her coffee and glanced around the table, a smile sliding onto her lips. The Walker brothers were a sight to behold—genetics at their best. “There’s enough testosterone at this table to shatter all the windows,” she teased them all and, focusing on Luke and Royce added, “Why do I know you’re all just as difficult as Blake and I’m about to be ganged up on?”

“You seem to like Blake’s flavor of difficult,” Luke commented, his lips curving in a charming smile. “So we’ll take that as a compliment.”

“Let’s talk about our plan,” Royce said, getting right to the point.

“Okay,” Kara said. Apparently there was no small talk for this big guy. “As long as it doesn’t include calling in the feds.”

“Just because we bring them in—”

“No,” Kara said, cutting off Royce. “I know why you’re pushing this. I know it’s to put the brakes on Blake. What you fail to see in your concern for your brother is that we’re both inside the operation in a way the feds only dream of being inside. We not only have a chance to find my sister, and the other women that have been kidnapped, but to bring Alvarez down completely.”

“You’re both too personally involved,” Royce said. “You know that. I know you do.”

“I’ve had time over the last two years to remove myself from the situation,” Blake said.

Kara turned on him. “This is removed?”

He grimaced. “You aren’t helping our case here, Kara.”

“I just think we should be honest about where we all stand. We are both too personally involved.” She glanced around the table. “Maybe that’s what it takes to break into something this big. We’re more inside the cartel than the task force working on this for years. The one insider close to Alvarez the feds had went missing three months ago.”

“You don’t think the feds will see the value in that?” Luke asked.

“I went off the radar,” Kara said. “I’ll be considered a risk.”

“She’s right,” Royce said. “The feds will be concerned. I’m not sure that means they’ll shut her down, but they might.”

“I can’t take that risk,” Kara said. “Not with my sister on the line.”

“The FBI and the ATF will both be all over this,” Royce said. “They won’t throw away an opportunity to take down Alvarez.”

“That’s the point,” Kara said. “They will get involved and they’ll red-tape everything. My sister won’t live long enough to go through the crossed T’s and dotted I’s. I need her out of this thing, and then I’ll hand over everything I’ve discovered.”

Royce gave Blake a pointed look. “It won’t matter if Alvarez is already dead and my brother is either dead or behind bars from killing him.”

“If he’s dead,” Blake said tightly, “then we won’t need to waste taxpayer money on a trial, now will we? And give me a little credit for protecting my own ass.”

“I haven’t seen you act like it’s worth protecting in two years,” Royce bit out.

“Stop pushing me, Royce,” Blake said softly. “You and I both know it won’t take us to good places.”

They glared at each other and Kara cast Luke a pleading stare. He sighed and scrubbed his clean-shaven jaw. “We have a team of men and two scared women upstairs waiting for us to tell them what happens next,” Luke stated. “What do we know about the kidnapped women?”

“How they profile and who’s working this end of the operation,” Kara said, eager to get everyone talking again. “We don’t know who the buyer—or buyers—are, or where the girls are being taken.”

“Human trafficking is second only to drugs as far as profit goes,” Royce said. “It doesn’t surprise me the cartel is into this.”

“Yeah, well,” Blake inserted, “funny thing about that. Mendez hired me to find out who is stealing drugs from him, but he left this part out. Something about that smells fishy to me.” He glanced at Kara. “And you’re too exposed to work this from the front line, Kara.”

“Don’t start, Blake,” Kara warned. “You know I’m staying in this.”

“Hear me out,” he argued. “I’m not suggesting you get out. I’m suggesting you work with our team and let me handle the up-close-and-personal with Mendez and his crew.”

“I have access to documents that Mendez might not give you.”

“He is suspicious of you being more than a secretary. Add to that we came face to face with someone from accounting tonight, who is also working with Eduardo in the trafficking operation. They’re going to worry that you’ll put the pieces together and know who has been doctoring the reports Mendez gets. You’re not only a target, you’re female, and a perfect candidate to get sold off like the other women. It’s too risky.”

“He’s got a point,” Royce said. “All good agents know there’s a time when you pull out of a cover. We have a team of ten men here. We’re going to find out where the women are being taken. You can be right here with us, making that happen.”

Blake’s cell phone rang and he pulled it from his belt. “Mendez,” he reported, and then answered the line. Kara would have tried to read the conversation but it lasted all of thirty seconds. Blake set the phone on the table. “Mendez wants me and Kara in his office in an hour.”