Carter Reed 2 (Carter Reed #2)(54)

“My men or the Mauricio soldiers?”

“Your men.”

His nostrils flared slightly. “You trust the Mauricio soldiers, though?”

“You’re still fighting with the elders?”

“More of them are willing to follow me. And it’s not just lip service, but I know there are still a few who won’t support me. I’m close to filtering them out.”

Ah yes. With his surveillance of his own family members. He was still playing detective while I was out there taking lives. Yes. Mauricio politics didn’t seem as important anymore. I couldn’t hold back a disgusted sound. I was growing impatient with him.

Cole narrowed his eyes. “You disapprove?”

“Yes,” I said simply. “You should be fighting your enemy, not your family.”

“I offered to help you—”

“I don’t need backup when I go into one of their warehouses. What I do need is for you and the elders to get your sticks out of your asses and start hitting some of their businesses yourselves. Going from one building to another, then finding their new hideouts is exhausting. It’s taking time, and Emma’s sister may not still be alive.”

“She is.” Cole looked down. His tone turned wary. “Whether you realize it or not, I am helping you. I’m holding down the fort while you’re creating a shitstorm. If you’d give me a heads up, I’d appreciate it. As it is now, I send my men out to try and find what places you’ve hit during the night. We’ve been able to get in there to clean everything up so that the police aren’t called. We’ve been able to keep this quiet, but you’re not making it easy. So far only the Bartels know they’re being annihilated. Carter, we’re going to miss a place that you hit. If you tell us—”

“No.”

“Why? Why won’t you trust me?”

I opened my mouth to explain that no one could know, I couldn’t run the risk of anyone leaking the information, but he held up his hands.

“I get it,” he said. “You’re being smart. Still. A clue would help, and you could only give it to me. I can have my men dispatched.” I shook my head, and he let out his own disgusted sound. “My god. I know, I know. You can’t trust anything. Well, you’re making them scramble. That’s for sure.” Cole sighed. “My men have been watching them too, and they move every night now. They can’t catch you, and they’ve been trying. Half the city is a ghost town because they’re out there, wondering which place you’re going to hit next.”

“Do you know where they’re holding Andrea?”

He didn’t answer, and that was my answer in itself.

“Carter, I’m sorr—” he said.

I cut him off, shaking my head. “Don’t. I’ll keep looking.”

“If it’s any consolation, they’re not sure if it’s you or if it’s us. You haven’t left anyone alive to spread the word that the Cold Killer’s back.” He grinned.

I did not.

He sighed again. “Okay, yeah. I get it. I’ll make some moves on my end. I’ve no doubt that the Bartel elders are meeting every night. If we found one of their meetings, that’d help. They’d know where she’s being held. I’m sure of it.”

“You said she’s alive. How do you know?”

He barked out a short, harsh laugh. “Because they’re trying to ransom her to us. A new picture of her comes in the mail every other day. We’re trying to find out who’s delivering the pictures, but they come from all different angles. Different elders get them in their mailboxes. One was delivered to one of the kids in his backpack. His teacher found it and went into hysterics. We bought her silence. They haven’t demanded ransom yet, but I think they’re trying to scare you off through us.”

“Is she intact?”

“Yeah. She’s thin. It looks like they’re beating her, but she’s got all her parts.”

I didn’t ask what else they were doing to her. I couldn’t think about that. If they did that to her, they would’ve been doing that to Emma. My blood turned cold, just imagining. I forced my mind away. “So you have been helping me.”

“Yeah. I have. Or I’ve been trying. I’ll keep trying too, and I’m close to fortifying the elders. I promise. We’ll be much more effective once we’ve weeded out those who won’t support us. They might not turn on you, but they’ll turn on me.”

“I know.” He didn’t need to keep explaining. “Have the police been in touch with you?”

“Yes. You know that’s why I called.”

I nodded. “What are they asking?”

“They want you. They want to talk to Emma. They know she’s with you, but they don’t quite know why you’re gone. They don’t know about the killings yet. They’re still in the dark, and I think they’ve reached out to some of your colleagues, that other friend of yours. Everyone’s covering, saying they’ve talked to you and you’re busy. But, Carter, once they know the Bartels are losing people, they’re going to swoop in. They’ll come fast and hard.”

“I know.”

“They’re watching us, too. Every day we see a new cop following. It’s tense now. They know about the bombing. We covered everything up with the car attack, but they have to be wondering if a mob war is going on.”