Page 60 of Wild Card (Men of Action #4)

“That’s on you, not me. Maybe if you didn’t piss everyone off, you’d have friends.”

Ricardo chuckles. “I have friends.”

“You have gofers who do what you say. There’s a difference.”

“And your friends are exemplary, Rosa? Minions who hang on your every word and pretend to like you? That guy tonight, do you think meeting a random American tourist at a bar was going somewhere?”

“He was hot! And nice.”

“He wanted to fuck you.”

“What if he did? Maybe I want to get laid.”

There’s a low grumble followed by an exhale. “Never mention getting laid again.”

“You brought it up! You always ruin everything!”

There’s a long silence before he speaks again. “Rosa, you are my baby sister and I love you. If anything happened, it would kill me.”

“What would happen? What have you gotten yourself into?”

“Nothing you need to worry about.”

“I love you, too, Ricardo. But you have to back off.”

“Noted,” Ricardo concedes.

“No more storming into bars and beating the shit out of men who are interested in me.”

“Noted,” he repeats.

“Liar.”

“Not apologizing for protecting you.”

There’s another silence as the screen shows them approaching the large building.

“Really, Ric, you brought me to the jail?”

“You know it’s not a jail anymore. It’s my home and place of business.”

“That’s true, but it’s creepy at night.”

“I have to tend to the business I was called away from.”

“Can’t one of your associates take me home while you tend to business?”

“It won’t take long. You can hang out in your room.”

“Not my room. This place is still haunted by prisoners. Last week, I swear I heard sounds coming from the basement.”

“Well, then don’t go down there,” he says lightly, but there is a definite grate to his tone. “And you know my home didn’t house prisoners. It merely held them.”

“Still freaks me out.”

Ricardo blows out another loud breath. “Give me five minutes and I’ll have Len take you home.”

“Thank you, Ric.”

“That’s good enough.” I blow out a breath, feeling a little pressure ease off. “It’s not much, but it’s something.”

Ford steps over. “Fill us in.”

“How much do you know?”

“Read the file, but there is a lot missing.”

“Max’s intel led him to American businessman John ‘Ricardo’ Lewis.

Parents immigrated to the U.S. legally, setting up in Las Vegas.

Ricardo specialized in Finance and Economics, sinking himself into banking, real estate, and technology.

His reputation grew, leading him to partner with a venture capital firm that focuses in Hotel and Casino management.

With his expertise, he can move money without question.

“Ricardo and his sister, Rosa, have dual citizenship. Years ago, he came to Mexico and proposed a new real estate development near Mexico City. He worked closely with the embassy, building relationships and partnering with local businesses. They jumped on the chance to increase tourism, pouring money into the community. He became a big name, respected by all, and virtually untouchable. Then he expanded his reach over here to a more sought-out tourist destination. His connections and reputation made it an easy sell.”

“Real Estate Tycoon reviving a hurting economy. Perfect cover,” Major states. “No one would suspect he’s funneling and funding terrorist activity. What’s up with the jailhouse?”

“Old jailhouse from the early 1900s. Ricardo purchased a year ago and renovated. The permits and plans filed show he left the holding cells in the basement, citing he was preserving history and they’d be used as storage.

He outfitted with high-tech security inside and out—we haven’t been able to get close enough to gather information, until tonight. ”

“Perfect place to hold American military hostages.” Ford glances back at the screen. “Which means Max knew this, too.”

“Question is why’d he let himself get caught?” Ace’s dark gaze swings to me. “And where the fuck is the rest of his team?”

“One of them is watching his accounts and planning to disappear,” Blade snarls.

Realization sweeps across Ace, Major, and Ford’s faces as their minds start reeling.

“The fuck?” Ace hisses. “We have corruption in the core of this?”

“Max believes we do.” I tip my chin to Rand, who inserts a drive into a different laptop, the screen coming to life. “We’re still decrypting all these messages, but it’s definitely a breach. One of Max’s guys is feeding information back to Ricardo’s camp.”

“Jesus, how’d you get this?” Major moves in, scrolling through the information.

“Max. His communication silenced inside the boundary of the property. He left a trail for us, this hard drive being the last thing found.”

“Son of a bitch knew we were coming.” Ford blows out a breath. “Instead of waiting, he went in alone to get to his guys.”

I nod my confirmation.

“We suspect Max knows who the mole is, trusted his other two guys, and left them behind to carry out the ruse of this mission.”

“So, we have three guys locked in a safe house somewhere. One of them a traitor, and two of them babysitting until they get a new directive?”

“Pretty much. They have no idea we’re here,” Blade adds.

“Hayes said Max vetted each guy himself for his team. How’d he miss this?” Ace questions.

“This is intentional. It goes back further than we know. His special assignment in San Diego pulled him in deep with this. He’s been watching for months, setting up traps while hanging in the background, calculating his next move.

He purposely picked this guy for his intelligence team, putting him in the direct line of fire.

They all thought they were black ops. We’re the black ops. ”

“Robbie, Finn, James—they don’t know any of this?”

“My guess is they are figuring it out now. Too risky for Max to relay the info.”

“That’s why the SOB came to us in April. He knew this would go south.”

“Talk about complicated fucking story time. Are there any other secrets he’s hiding behind the curtains?”

I chuckle at Major’s choice of words. “We never know. Every day, we uncover a new piece to the puzzle.”

“Do we even know if they’re alive?”

“We didn’t, but Rosa just delivered our first break. If she did hear something in the basement, that could be our guys.”

“We’re going off the spooked sister’s word that she heard sounds coming from the basement?” Ace shakes his head. “Guess we’ve had less to go on.”

“What’s our plan, Wild Card?”

At the use of the name, my head swings to Ford, who is grinning like a loon.

“You really pulling out that shit?”

“Hell yeah, it’s been a while.”

“Because the name sucks.”

“Seems fitting considering your disappearing act.”

“Sneaking out in the middle of the night…” Major lets his words hang.

“Leaving your team behind…” Ace jumps in.

“Slipping a ring around Willow’s neck…” Ford finishes, raising his eyebrows. “Nice ice, by the way, but rookie move. You didn’t seal the deal.”

“The deal was sealed a while ago. At least my woman wasn’t on her phone on my wedding night. You lost your touch.”

Ace and Major cough, covering their chuckles. Ford cuts his eyes to all of us.

“She scheduled those messages.”

“Sure, she did.”

“How the four of you slugs convinced those women you’re worth shit will forever go down as a great mystery,” Hugo comments. “They need to have their heads examined. If I get one more picture from you fools about fucking twinkling eyes, I’ll puke. What fucking badass uses the word ‘twinkle’?”

His amusement is contagious and I smile the first genuine smile in over a week. “Learn quick. When you find the one, don’t give them a choice. Now if we’re done with story hour, we have a scumbag to interrogate.”

“Lead the way, Frat boy.” Ace motions ahead of him with a smug grin.

“I like Wild Card better,” Rand throws in.

“You’re all fucking hilarious.” I head through the house, a weight off my shoulders.

Rand, Blade, and Hugo are solid.

But man, it’s good to have my brothers at my back.