Page 32 of How Much For A Broken Heart?

Only, my gaze kept landing on Aria who was, for sure, leaning on Ryder.

What the hell is that churning in my gut?

Jealousy? At what? The woman’s familiarity? Fuck’s sake.

I tried not to look at Ryder, but when I cast a quick glance at him, still with Aria leaning on him, I found his unwavering gaze locking with mine.

“Go for it,” I replied, trying to sound more confident than I felt, determined not to let my injuries sideline me from whatever was happening here.

“How long were you undercover with the Cooper River crews?” Ethan asked.

That confused me—surely they already know all this shit? “Isn’t that in your file on me?”

Ethan glanced at his team. “They don’t because it was a need-to-know basis,” he explained, and I guess I was grateful not everyone in this room knew everything I’d done.

“Eighteen months, give or take.” Stick to the facts. “Got a solid persona, called in some favors, started with the supply side, but things escalated fast. Ended up having a whole portfolio with the trafficking operation, reporting to Amos who, at the time, I believed was reporting higher. Then, you showed up with your Sanctuary Foundation.” I pointed at Ethan. “Really put a fox among the chickens. I took my chance, we managed to divert the kids from harm’s way, and I could pass on everything I knew to you and to Sanctuary which is where I guess you all work?”

“Not exactly. We’re Shadow Team; autonomous but funded by Sanctuary.” He tipped his chin at that, as if he was daring me to comment. I didn’t give a shit what they called themselves, if they were like Ryder and Luca, and brave like Ethan when he’d faced down my gun, then I was in their hands and happy for it.

Ethan handed over the tablet. “For you.”

I tipped the screen toward me, balancing it on one knee I drew up, the cannula in the back of my hand pinching. Ryder was at my side in an instant, untwisting the IV and sitting down again before I could even register what he’d done.

The screen had a photo of Amos front and center, and I had to breathe through the immediate anger spiking inside me. He’d played me for a fool, and worse, I’d fallen for his act.

“What do you know about him?”

I closed my eyes for a moment. “Absolutely nothing. As far as I was concerned, he was the go-between, the one filtering the orders, scared of his own freaking shadow. Jesus, this is some Kaiser Söze shit…”

“We’re still working on ID, but even to the best of us, he’s a ghost.”

“I know he had…” I blinked, then shut my eyes again, picturing Amos even as bile rose inside me. “A cap, a sports logo, I want to say a snarling wolf. I never paid much attention, and it wasn’t one I recognized. The logo was shield shaped with pointed edges, gray, black, and red. There was lettering, but it was faded. He hid behind the brim sometimes; fuck, that was part of the act.”

Ethan nodded to Aria who was tapping away at her own tablet.

“On it, boss,” she muttered, and even though I expected some miracle where she instantly found the word, she frowned, and Ethan continued to talk.

Ethan leaned forward; his eyes focused on me. “What connected you to the Cooper River crews? Why them? Did you know they had Annie?”

“I had help, followed rumors. My team had my back, until they couldn’t anymore. James was working a Cooper River case, found links back to the acting DA; that was why we were called in.”

“Your SEAL team?” Ethan asked.

“No, I was private by then, but yeah, my SEAL team had my back if I needed them. They were sent overseas, last I heard, two were dead, the rest disbanded and scattered, but not before they helped me when they could.”

“So, you found out they’d taken Annie and infiltrated the cartel to track her down?”

“Sure, let’s go with that,” I hedged. Getting me into the cartel had been way more convoluted, and I owed my former team everything, but yeah, I’d become a trusted crew member for the Cooper River Cartel to track Annie down, imagining a rescue, and instead realizing she was nowhere to be found, and I was deep in a nest of vipers.

“How did you manage to gain the trust of the traffickers and cartel members? That’s no easy feat.”

I took a deep breath before responding. “I played the long game, slowly proving my loyalty and dedication. I took on riskier roles within the organization, which earned me their trust over time. They saw me as one of their own.”

“What kind of information were you able to gather about operations? Anything else that can help us? Any allies or contacts within the criminal organization that helped you along the way.”

“No. I was on my own. Did what I had to do, kept my head down. Until you decided to turn up.”

Ethan nodded. “Okay.”

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