Page 66 of Rocco

“Makes you feel like some people aren’t redeemable. Aren’t forgivable,” Jemma said, caressing a hand on his arm.

“Doesn’t matter if you save a few lives at the bottom of the chain, convincing gang members to turn away from that life if the assholes at the top keep coming up with worse ways to destroy more lives. It’s a waste of time?—”

“Not entirely,” Jemma said. “You have done a lot of good during your career as a DEA agent, helping kids see that falling under the spell of a drug cartel isn’t their only option.”

Rocco scoffed. “You don’t believe that. You were the one who always believed in a ruthless and relentless pursuit of vengeanceagainst these drug lords. I was the only fool who thought I could convince them they had a better choice than the cartels.”

“Why can’t we both be right? There isn’t one way to tackle the drug problem plaguing the world. We need to fight them as many ways as we can,” Jemma said, slipping an arm around him and pulling him close.

Rocco leaned his head on her shoulder. “There’s only one way to fight El Sombro and others like him. What do we need to do with this intel?”

“We’ll share it with the Department of Defense and the ATF so El Sombro is on their radar. That’s about all we can do since it’s not clear if the guns would be shipped with drugs, putting it under DEA scope,” Jemma said, resting her chin on him. She placed a soft kiss on his forehead. “If you get more information, we will feed it to them. But our focus must be on the drug shipment they’re planning to move through the clinic.”

“Like getting the day and time of the shipment out of Vance,” Rocco said, unable to hide his frustration. “He’s going out of his way to keep me in the dark on this, and I don’t know why.”

Jemma nodded. “You think Dante could help with that?”

“El Sombro pulled him from security on the drug shipment. Probably so he can provide security for the arms shipment. That means I need Eddie to fill me in. He hasn’t responded to my texts and calls so far.”

“Strange. Just continue to be supportive by not revealing the past history between the two of you. Hopefully, soon, he’ll see you as an ally and start to open up,” Jemma said. “And don’t rule Dante out. Just because he’s been redeployed to another shipment doesn’t mean he won’t know what’s happening.”

Rocco shifted as his cell phone buzzed in his pocket and opened the text messaging app.

UNKNOWN NUMBER

When the cat’s away, the mouse will play.

The next text contained a photo.

Rocco grew rigid as he stared at the screen.

Two more texts came through with more photos.

He swiped through each one, detaching himself from Jemma’s embrace.

“What is it?” Jemma asked.

“You tell me.” Rocco turned his phone toward her.

Chapter 42

Betrayal radiated from Rocco’s piercing mahogany eyes.

Heart pounding in her throat, Jemma stared at the screen. Her mind struggled to comprehend what she saw there.

A photo of her with Nomar Ortiz at the beachside restaurant. His hand caressed her neck as he kissed her deeply.

It was a lie.

But Rocco didn’t know that.

The picture presented a story of two lovers stealing a kiss on a gorgeous tropical day.

The exact opposite of the truth.

In reality, it was an unexpected encounter between two nemeses, plotting and planning the other’s demise.

“Where did you get that photo?” Jemma struggled to push away her panic.