Hunt Them Down(29)

Always.

“Correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t Father have an arrangement with the Black Tosca?”

Tony chuckled derisively. “She’s the Black Tosca, Anna. Valentina Mieles does what she wants, when she wants.”

Anna didn’t respond, so her brother continued. “She approached me some time ago. In fact, she sent her cousin Hector to make me an offer to buy out the business. I refused. The terms weren’t satisfactory.”

“And?”

“Hector left, and I thought that was it.”

“But it wasn’t it.”

“No,” Tony admitted. “A couple weeks later, our shipments started to get confiscated at the port, and one of our eighteen-wheelers was stopped on the highway. We lost a lot of money, and six of our men are now in jail.”

“You think the Black Tosca is responsible?”

“I know so, and Father did too.”

“That’s why he decided to go against her?”

Tony nodded. “But someone betrayed him, and the only explanation I can come up with is that the Black Tosca had someone inside the DEA feeding her intel.”

“Why the hit on Sophia, then?”

Tony hesitated. “I don’t know, Anna. To show me we’re all vulnerable?” He seemed as though he wanted to add something else but didn’t.

“What is it that you’re not telling me, Tony?”

Her brother didn’t reply. His face had turned pale, and there was a wild grief in his eyes. She could only imagine the agony he was in and how guilty he must feel that his actions had gotten his daughter kidnapped. But she couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something else. Whatever it was, her brother wasn’t ready to share it with her.

“What do we do next?” she asked.

Tony pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. He bowed his head and closed his eyes. “She called me,” he said.

“Who? The Black Tosca?”

“She wants my head, Anna. She literally wants my head,” he said, his voice cracking. “If my severed head isn’t in her possession in forty-eight hours, she’ll burn Sophia alive. And she’ll stream it live.”

Tears flooded Anna’s eyes. This isn’t happening. “And what about the other girl, Leila?”

“They’ll burn her too,” he whispered. “I can’t allow this to happen.”

Her brain went into overdrive, dark images crowding out her thoughts. She tried to push them away, but they became more insistent.

“What will you do?”

“Do I really have a choice? I’ll cut my own head off if it means—”

Anna slapped him so hard the crack of her palm against his cheek echoed in the living room. “Shut up!” she yelled. “Don’t say shit like that, Tony.”

Tony looked stunned, but his voice was flat. “What do you want me to do, Anna? The Black Tosca has my balls in a vise, and she’s tightening the fucking screws.”

Anna knew he was right. The family had taken painful hits from their enemies. But they had to fight back. Somehow, they needed to turn the tables and go on the offensive.

But how?

Then an idea came to her, and she almost dismissed it right off the bat. How could she think about him now? He had betrayed her trust and broken her heart. He had lied about who he was.

Pierce Hunt.

If she was right, Hunt’s quick mind—the one he had used to trick her—his tactical prowess, and his sheer determination could be exactly what she needed.

Would he answer her call? Deep down, she knew the answer to that question. It hadn’t all been a lie between them. It couldn’t have been. She had seen him struggle with his emotions while on the witness stand during her father’s trial. The passion they’d shared—nobody could fake such intensity.

She’d never dialed the contact number written on the small piece of paper he had left on her desk the night before the DEA had barged in and arrested him and her father. Even after the trial, when she’d needed answers, she had resisted the urge to call and had even thought about burning the damn thing. But she had held on to it. She could recite its message from memory.

Just know you’ll always have a home in my heart. If something happens, call this number. I’ll always be there for you.

Chances were he’d tell her to fuck off, but it was worth a try.





CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Miami, Florida

In the formal living room, Hunt had settled into an uncomfortable silence with Jasmine. Moon was in the kitchen fixing everyone a drink, and Detective Milburne was on the phone in the adjacent room. The more Hunt thought about what had happened to his daughter, the more irritated he became. His heart wanted to blame Jasmine and Moon for the situation Leila found herself in, but his brain told him he was as guilty as they were. There was nothing to gain by playing the blaming game.

Hunt also had to concede that it was hard to control whom your child hung out with at school. Sophia Garcia seemed to be a great kid—if a little bit spoiled—and, knowing Jasmine, he was sure she tried as hard as she could to permit Leila to hang out only with peers who would be good influences. He couldn’t fault her for not knowing that Sophia’s father was the Tony Garcia. She had never talked to the man—only Moon had—and it was clear to Hunt that the football star hadn’t known about Tony’s ties to the drug trade. Hunt believed Moon when he told him that as far as he was concerned, Tony Garcia was a legitimate business owner.