Page 11 of Lethal Vengeance

“It didn’t quit. I turned it off and took it out,” I bite out.

“You turned it off,” he repeats quietly, eyes narrowed on me. “Where is it now?”

“She has it,” I reply, pushing off the wall. “I need to get back and dress this wound. Are you coming?”

I face him, waiting for his big brain to catch up. It only takes a second.

He whistles. “Did she stab you before you kissed her or after?”

Scowling, I start walking without answering.

“Real or charade?” he asks, his voice carefully neutral.

“Charade,” I reply, watching him frown. “And real. Hell, I don’t know. She’s… complicated. I thought I had her pegged the first week. Cold, calculated, smart. Successful. A tool for the cartel. The only thing intriguing was her independence, but I thought it was only a matter of time until she joined them.”

“So, what changed?” Sterling presses. “I’m surprised anyone could interest you, given your recent infatuation with Henley.”

“First, Henley is happy and where she’s meant to be. Second, I’m not interested in Quinn,” I retort, ignoring the sharp protest from my body. “It’s just… cracks are appearing. Inconsistencies in her actions and responses. I don’t want to say more and influence you or the others.” I rake the hair back from my face into a short ponytail. “She tugs some thread in me that I don’t understand and can’t explain.”

After one final glance around us, we reach our temporary base of operations and enter through a side door. When I raise my foot to take the stairs, fresh blood seeps through the hole in my jeans and drops to the floor.

Sterling eyes the blood and motions for me to keep moving. “I’ll come back down and clean it up. Let’s patch the wound first.”

* * *

An hour later,Zane and Raider return, their hard expressions telling me they didn’t like what they found. While Sterling and I took the easy job of watching Quinn tonight, they went into the bowels of the city to get information on Armando and his business dealings.

Zane halts when he sees the bandage around my leg. “What happened?”

“I ran into a knife. It’s fine,” I tell him.

“She stabbed him,” Sterling cheerfully pipes up.

Zane’s brows lower like thunder clouds. Raider cocks his head to the side, waiting to hear how she got the drop on me.

I quickly explain.

Raider’s cold blue eyes flicker with interest. “Let me get this straight. She stabbed you, kissed you, pulled a gun on you, and stole your comms? She’s… interesting.”

I level a look at him. “I kissed her, but the rest is… accurate. It was a last ditch effort to dissuade Rodrigo, but it backfired. He’s more obsessed and pissed than ever. He’s going to be a huge problem.”

Zane paces around the room. “Rodrigo is her problem. She dealt with him before we got here. She can damn well figure out how to maneuver around him now.”

“He’s hunting her,” I bite out. “For some reason, his leash has slipped. The cartel is likely the only thing keeping him in check, but it won’t for long.”

Zane stops, his face set in stone. “She needs to deal with Rodrigo. End of discussion.” He waits for me to agree, but I can’t.

He sighs. “Based on what we found out tonight, we’re going to have a hard enough time getting those girls out. There are three facilities, and all of them are heavily guarded. Huge buildings filled to the brim with laborers and girls destined for their trafficking operations. Unless she has a magic key, I’m not sure how we’re going to pull this off. Blowing up a facility would be easier than getting two girls out.”

“She’ll have a plan,” I confidently state. “Believe me. Her planning skills rival yours. In fact, it’s going to be interesting to see who leads this mission.”

Zane laughs heartily, unable to picture anyone leading but him. Plus, he’s only seen pictures of her. Dark brown hair, light green eyes, petite, athletic build. She doesn’t look like a powerhouse, but she’s managed to successfully work with the cartel for over a year, and they haven’t killed her. That’s a significant accomplishment.

6

CRUZ

The knock on the door the next morning startles us. Zane looks sharply at Sterling, who is typing rapidly on the keyboard in front of him and speaking into his headpiece.