A Covert Affair (Deadly Ops #5)(66)

Lopez’s eyes narrowed. “Names and identities haven’t been released yet.”

Selene snorted, as if that didn’t matter. To someone like Selene Silva, it wouldn’t. If she wanted the names of the victims, her alias would get them.

Lopez continued before she could. “That’s why you’re here. You think Mercado might be involved? And you think or know those women were part of the skin trade?”

“Yes to the first and I don’t know to the second. My source says the police aren’t certain what happened to the women before they died. They could be victims of the skin trade or one sick fuck. Either way, I don’t care. I want to know who’s in charge.” Apparently she wasn’t going to mention the black-market-babies angle to him.

“I’ll see what I can find out. I don’t think Mercado’s your guy, though. He’s kind of . . . old-fashioned, I guess. A gentleman criminal, I’ve heard him called. We don’t run in the same circles, but I know a lot of people he interacts with.”

“Thanks. I’ll double your normal fee if you can get me solid intel in the next couple days. My client is anxious.”

Lopez stood. “I’ll try.”

They talked for a few more minutes before leaving. Nathan kept his disappointment in check even when he and Selene were alone in the SUV. He’d been hoping for something solid and incriminating against Mercado. The darkly jealous part of him wanted the guy to be involved simply because of the way he looked at Amelia, but Nathan really wanted to find out who the leader of this operation was. And if someone was impregnating women and selling their babies on the black market, it would be more than a one-man show. It would be funded and organized.

If Mercado was their guy, they could stop looking and take him down. If he wasn’t, they still had to pin down a monster. Unfortunately there were a lot of them in the world. Finding one was like finding a needle in a stack of needles.

Once they were on the road—headed to a warehouse where they’d ditch this SUV and pick up another in case Lopez had them tailed—Nathan turned his encrypted cell back on. “Gonna check in with home base,” he murmured.

Selene just nodded and continued driving. She’d be heading out of town in a few days if Lopez didn’t make further contact with her. As far as Nathan knew she’d only come down to Miami because of her relationship with Lopez, but she wasn’t going to be part of this op long-term.

He had a few messages and two texts. The first was from Elliott. Rios got the date and we got the info. Job done.

Amelia had gone on another date with Mercado? When the fuck had that happened? He’d just seen her last night.

Frowning, he scrolled to the next text. From Dax. A attacked but fine. Guy caught. Former employee in custody. Check e-mail for full report.

His blood chilled as he reread the text. Amelia had been attacked again. She had to be okay, because she’d gone on a freaking date with Mercado according to when these texts were sent. He could speculate all he wanted about what had happened, but he decided to call her directly. When she didn’t answer he contacted Burkhart next.

“How’d it go?” Burkhart asked after two rings.

“Potentially good.” He quickly relayed everything, then asked, “So we got the intel from Mercado?” He wanted to find out what had happened to Amelia, but he didn’t want to act too eager.

“We’re going through everything from his files now. He’s into some shady stuff, but we haven’t found anything to indicate he’s into either the skin trade or selling babies on the black market.”

That was good and bad. They needed to nail whoever was behind this. “How’s Amelia?”

“Good. She held up well, stayed at Mercado’s for a couple hours. Then he took her to the hospital to see her employee who was injured in the attack this morning. She’s home now, alone. I’ve got one of my guys watching her place just as a precaution.”

Relief flooded his veins like a tidal wave. Knowing she was home safe smoothed out most of his edges. Even if he was pissed she hadn’t contacted him about what had happened.

He wondered if that bastard Mercado had kissed Amelia again. The thought of another man’s lips on hers had all the muscles in his body tightening. It took a moment for him to find his voice. “What happened?”

“Guy she fired about a month ago ambushed her behind her restaurant. Tased one of her employees, so she pepper-sprayed him until he went down. Dax restrained the guy and the locals have him in custody.”

Nathan wanted to know the bastard’s name but reined in his anger. Burkhart didn’t need to know the scope of his rage. Nathan would just read the report as soon as they disconnected. “Are they going to be able to hold him?”

“Think so. Nieto’s personally involved in this case now.”

Good. If the former employee was let go from police custody, Nathan didn’t want to think about what he’d do. The thought of someone hurting Amelia made something dark twist inside him. He wanted to head directly to where she was and take care of her. Didn’t matter that it was impossible right now; his heart was telling him to get over to her place.

“You two headed back to base?” Burkhart asked.

“On our way.”

“Is your friend okay?” Selene asked as soon as he and Burkhart had disconnected.