Deep Under (Tall, Dark and Deadly #4)(39)

“Where are you exactly?” I ask, gauging the time I have to enact my plan.

“South America, but I should be home in a week rather than three.”

This news twists me and my plans in knots. “That’s wonderful,” I manage. “Three was forever.”

“It would have been an eternity without you otherwise,” he says, though I worry his motivation is really about assessing my loyalty and dealing with me. “How do you like your new bodyguard?” He asks.

“He just stares at everyone and he freaked the poor receptionist out. When I joked that he’s a robot, his reply was to simply stare her down yet again.”

He chuckles, something I always welcome, as it means for that moment he’s content, a state of mind we all want him to have. “No personality,” he says, “but that’s fine. I’m paying him to protect you, not make everyone feel at ease.”

“His coldness and constant monitoring is rather suffocating,” I say, knowing this will actually make him want to keep Kyle, not the opposite. “I don’t like it.”

“You always have guards. I always have guards.”

“I know, but…is there a threat I don’t know about?”

“There’s always a threat, but with us separated and you on your own in a new place, the chances of you being targeted are higher.”

“Why not use your men?”

“Kyle fits into your fashion industry more discreetly, and he’s from Dallas. He knows that area and his references are exceptional.” There are voices in the background and he answers in Spanish, which I’ve pretended not to understand, but do. “Tell him he’s dead,” he says to the other person. “See how he replies then,” he adds, before returning to me, to say, “Negotiations on a deal are heating up. I need to go.”

“Okay. Thank you again for all of this.”

“The world will know your gift, as we do,” he promises, but unlike Kyle’s, his are jagged edged, promising to cut me and make me bleed. As is his pause, which is followed with, “You haven’t mentioned the photos of your mother.”

That fizzle of unease starts up again. “No, I…they choked me up. I feel emotional, so it’s hard to talk about them, but they are wonderful. It’s such an amazing gesture.”

“It’s a connection to family that doesn’t risk death. It is something I thought you would like.”

The fizzle becomes bitter cold ice at what I know to be a threat, and I go into auto-pilot, barely remembering what he says next or what I say. Suddenly, the call is over and I am standing when I had been sitting. Family that doesn’t come with the risk of death. He was threatening Kara. Wait. My God. I’ve been a fool. If I am front and center in this fashion business, she will come for me. She will find me. And he knows it. He didn’t hire Kyle to keep her away. He hired him to know when she arrives. To know when the time to kill her has arrived. I consider a moment, to wonder if Kyle is involved, and I don’t think so. I really don’t. But this is my sister’s life I’m playing with. I have to find out for sure, because it’s time to accept the fact that my plan can’t work when she’s in danger. I need help.





Chapter Eleven





Kyle





I’ve barely exited Myla’s office when I get a text that reads: Fuck, f*ck, f*ck. Call me at this number. Blake, of course, because who else uses “f*ck” to say good morning, how are you, and what’s for dinner? And considering I’ve known him long enough to decipher three “f*cks” as a problem, I start for the lobby and exit to the parking lot, hoping like hell Kara doesn’t know about Myla, and is now on her way here. Scanning the parking lot, I head for the Mustang, unlock the door, climb inside. Comfortable that my crew has my car under secure watch, I punch in Blake’s temporary number, protocol indicating that it will be blocked, secure, and appear disconnected should anyone else try to use it, as is the case, with all numbers we maintain, once one of us is undercover.

Blake answers his on the first ring. “Holy f*ck. You have Myla, and hell no, Kara doesn’t know. It’s killing me to keep this from her but she wouldn’t stay away. But holy f*ck. You have Myla.”

“I know, man,” I say, relieved that he’s on board with this, but Kara isn’t. “I couldn’t believe it when it was her.”

“How is she?”

“Being manipulated by dreams and family, but smart and strong enough to use it to survive and protect Kara. But I need to get her the hell out of here.”

“Does she know who you are yet?”

“I can’t tell her until I can assure her Kara is not only safe, but will stay that way, and that leaves us with two options.”

“Alvarez dead, arrested, or thinks Myla is dead, which forces her to hide her entire life.”

“I’m not sure he wouldn’t reach for her outside a jail cell,” I say. “She’s too close to him for him to just let her go.”

“So we kill him,” Blake says, no hesitation, decision made. “Let’s talk logistics. Can we get to him?”

“He’ll come for Myla,” I say. “But I need to bring her into the loop, prepare her for what comes next, and I need to extract as much information from her to destroy the cartel and tear down that sex trade operation now, not later.”