The Vargas Cartel Trilogy (Vargas Cartel #1-3)(97)

Rever paced the length of the room and back again. “I realize that, but I’ll pay him enough to make it worth the risk. He can take his family and move across the country and start a whole new life. Change his name. Start a new business. Any business he wanted.”

My eyes narrowed, and I rubbed my temples. Ten minutes of talking to Rever and my head already felt like exploding. His idea was crazy. Rever would need to pay him a shit ton of money to risk crossing the Alvarez Cartel. “Ignacio cut off your access to funds. Where are you going to get that kind of money, because I’m sure as hell not going to loan it to you?”

“I’ve put some things into motion, and if all goes well, I should have plenty of money within the next day or two.” He lifted one shoulder. “I’ll be set for a couple of years even after I pay Emilio.”

I groaned and dropped my head into my hands. My headache just magnified tenfold. “Fuck, Rever. What did you do?”

He folded his arms across his chest, drumming his fingers on his biceps. “Don’t worry about it. The less you know, the better. Let me take care of the money, and you can plan the operation. I’ll give you Emilio’s number. He’s waiting for your call.”

Tugging at the roots of my hair, I pushed out of my chair. “No. Tell me everything or I’m not helping you.”

Anything involving that kind of money was illegal as f*ck. Rever didn’t have a track record of success when it came to making plans. His money-laundering scheme in Las Vegas landed his ass in jail, and that wasn’t the first mess Ignacio and I had to clean up.

“No. I can’t. I don’t want to involve you in the details. If I go down, I don’t want to drag you with me.”

I chuckled, but it lacked mirth. There were a number of reasons why he wouldn’t want me to be implicated, but none of them involved concern for my welfare. More likely, he wanted someone on the outside to get him out if he was arrested again, or he thought I’d stop his harebrained idea in its tracks. Rever never cared about anyone except himself. He believed the world revolved around him, which made me question why he gave a shit about Anna and his unborn child. It certainly didn’t make sense.

“I became involved the minute you showed up at my apartment. In case you’ve forgotten already, you agreed to leave the U.S. and never come back as a condition of your release a month ago.”

“It’s better this way.”

“Then, you need to leave. I’m done helping you.” I crossed the room and opened the door.

“Where I am supposed to go?”

Weariness settled into my bones, and I didn’t bother turning around. The day when I no longer had to deal with the Vargas Cartel or Rever couldn’t come fast enough. “I don’t care, just be gone by tomorrow morning.”

“Wait.” He grabbed my shoulder.

“What?”

“Fine. I’ll tell you everything, but it’s already in motion so I can’t stop it now.”

I closed the door softly and turned to face him, folding my arms across my chest. “Go ahead, and don’t leave out a single detail. I don’t want to be ambushed later. If you lie, I’ll take you down myself.”

Rever dragged his hand through his hair. “I arranged a shipment of ten pounds of crystal meth and five kilos of heroin to be transported to the D.C. area.”

“How did you pay for it?”

“I paid for it before I came to the U.S.” Rever sucked in a deep breath. “I suspected Ignacio would shut down my accounts the minute he realized I left Mexico.”

“So you had this planned from the very beginning and you never intended to tell me about it.”

He ran a hand over his mouth as he shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “I did, but with good reason.”

“Dammit, Rever,” I spat, anger coursing like poison through my veins. I wanted to rip him apart piece by piece. He was reckless, even more so than I remembered. He may have stopped using drugs, but his judgment hadn’t improved. “I wouldn’t have let you stay here if I’d known you were involved in a freelance trafficking scheme.”

“I know, but you were my only option.”

“Did you use Ignacio’s people to supply you the drugs?”

He cringed. “Yes.”

“Ignacio will find out.”

“I know he will, but the deal will be done by then, and there won’t be anything he can do about it.”

I balled my hands into fists. “Except take revenge.”

Rever shrugged. “They knew the risks.”

I shook my head. “How are you moving the drugs across the border?”

“One of Ignacio’s tunnels.”

My eyebrows jumped up my forehead. “Seriously?”

“Did you expect me to make a deal with a rival cartel?” he snapped. “I didn’t have much time. I used the resources and contacts at my disposal.”

This plan had disaster written all over it. Rever had to trust a shitload of people not to double-cross or blackmail him in order for this plan to succeed. “How are you distributing it?”

“The Mexican Mafia.”

“Wow,” I said as I cocked my head to the side. “This is a bad f*cking idea. The Mexican Mafia is unpredictable.”