The Vargas Cartel Trilogy (Vargas Cartel #1-3)(156)

“And Juan’s successor apparent is dead.” Rever leaned his back against the wall behind him and tipped his head toward the ceiling.

I sat up and stretched my aching arm muscles over my head. “Yes, and Juan is in the hospital, and we killed almost all of his inner circle when we rescued Hattie.”

“Now the attempt on Ignacio’s life makes a lot of sense. I couldn’t believe his guard screwed up and allowed him to get shot.”

“Right, and who directs Ignacio’s personal guard?” I asked, the pieces of the puzzle shifting into place in my mind.

Rever whistled under his breath. “Emanuel directs the Fuerzas Especiales de Ignacio,” he said, referencing Ignacio’s paramilitary unit.

“Dammit.” I rubbed my temples. “If I suspected we were being manipulated, I would’ve let Enrique live. I played right into Emanuel’s hands.” Images of things Enrique did to Hattie flashed through my mind. “Then again, I probably still would’ve killed him for hurting Hattie.”

“Fuck,” Rever said, his voice rough.

“My thoughts exactly.”

“So what are we going to do?” Rever asked.

“You’re going to help me.”

He nodded. “I’m in. That f*cker has manipulated me for the last time.”

I angled my chin to the side. “I have one condition.”

“What’s that?”

“Ignacio has to go too.”

“You’re planning to run the Vargas Cartel by yourself?”

“No,” I said. “You’re going to do it with me.”

He pursed his lips. “I don’t know. I think I’m done with this.”

“You owe me. I helped you with Anna.”

Rever scoffed. “Yeah, well, that didn’t turn out so great. She was jerking me around.”

I shrugged. “A debt for a debt, remember?” I reminded him. He had promised me if I helped with Anna, he owed me a favor in the future.

“I remember.” Rever scrubbed his hands over his face. “Why do you want my help running the cartel? What do I have to offer?”

“You know all the contacts. You know the history. I’d be running blind by myself.”

“What’s going to happen to Ignacio? Are you going to kill him?”

Standing up, I smiled. “No. I have other plans for him.”

Rever’s eyebrows lifted. “Should I ask?”

“No.” I patted him on his shoulder. “But I think you’ll like the outcome.”





Chapter Twenty-One




Hattie



“We’re wasting our time. There has to be another way,” I complained as I sat on the sofa in Ryker’s D.C. apartment to buckle my heels.

I hadn’t done anything about my living situation. The majority of my stuff was still at Vera’s apartment. She was my best friend, but after I saw the email she sent to Evan indicating she fed him information about me, I didn’t fully trust her. Also, I couldn’t imagine what she’d think if I showed up with Noah in tow.

He’d been my constant shadow for the last week, but tonight that was going to change. I’d promised to meet my parents at a restaurant for dinner tonight. Noah wanted to come with me, but I refused. Despite Noah’s insistence that we could introduce him to my parents as a friend from college, I didn’t think the lie would work. After hours of back and forth, we agreed he’d sit at the restaurant bar to keep an eye on me.

Noah glanced at his phone for a moment without comment. “We’re in luck. I have one more lead, and I don’t have any doubts they’ll print the story.” He cocked a brow. “In fact, I know they will.”

My heart skipped a beat. I’d love to wrap up this whole mess in the next couple of days. For the past week, I successfully avoided a confrontation with my parents and my professors while I focused all of my energy on exposing Senator Deveron. Unfortunately, my parents were getting increasingly suspicious.

First, I called them from Mexico pretending I’d taken a road trip to clear my head. Then, I didn’t reach out to them for another week after being abducted by the Alvarez Cartel. My dad had filed a missing person’s report when they couldn’t reach me. Now that I’d been home a week, I couldn’t avoid them any longer. I had to force myself to do normal things even though I felt as though my life had been turned upside down.

I grabbed my small rectangular black purse from the coffee table and opened the front door. “Are you going to tell me or were you planning to surprise me?”

He squeezed my upper arm. “I planned to tell you, but I don’t think you’ll like my idea.”

I pressed the call button for the elevator. “What are you afraid of?”

He smirked. “That you’ll refuse to cooperate.”

“This doesn’t sound promising.” I groaned.

He lifted his eyebrows. “It’s perfect, actually. We should’ve started there rather than with the more reputable places.”

“Noah,” I cautioned as we stepped into the elevator. “You better tell me.”

“Fine, but it’s too late to cancel.” He shrugged. “We’re meeting a reporter from Star Weekly for coffee tomorrow morning.”