Page 26 of Scarred Souls

“For whom?”

He didn’t immediately answer, which made me think he was choosing his words carefully.

Yeah. It was his turn to squirm.

Eventually, he cleared his throat and said, “I work with a team of mercenaries who hunt human traffickers. The traffickers also move drugs, so right now, we’re following a fentanyl trail with the hope that it leads us to stolen women who’re being sold as slaves.”

I couldn’t have been more surprised by his answer if he’d told me he was hunting aliens. Sex slavery sat at the top of a long list of reasons why I despised my father and his organization.

A man like Vaughn reaped no monetary gain from preventing human trafficking. In fact, it could be considered one of the riskiest jobs in the world because the people who sold slaves were the most ruthless criminals around. The only reward for stopping them was the satisfaction of saving people’s lives. Why would someone like Vaughn do that?

I angled my head, considering him more closely. The man was a rogue, no doubt, and his willingness to dole out violence didn’t align with my idea of someone who worked for a government agency, so I figured he was telling the truth about being a mercenary. And sure, his personality was grating, but he had come to my aid when I’d been in a dangerous situation.

My original assessment from last night still held up. Vaughn might be capable of doing bad things, but he wasn’t a bad person.

I glanced at Daphne again. Her expression had changed to one of cautious curiosity. I had to admit, Vaughn had me intrigued, too.

I had questions. So many questions. “This team of yours, are you the ones who’ve been working your way through Mexico taking down cartels?”

In the last couple of years, an unknown group had been targeting organized crime, wiping out cartels one by one with stealthy, deadly efficiency. Of course, it didn’t take long for new groups to spring up and take their place. Ballsy move given how brutally their predecessors had been dethroned.

Speculation was mounting over who was responsible. Some said it was a new elite unit of Mexican Special Forces. Others suspected it was a Colombian cartel unhappy with the Mexican narcos eating into their cocaine business with cheap, highly potent fentanyl. Personally, I’d always wondered if my father’s cartel was behind the attacks since they were the only organization left unscathed.

Vaughn’s eyes narrowed. “Do you always pay so much attention to cartel activities?”

“I do when it’s been all over the news. And you didn’t answer my question.”

He rubbed a hand over his stubbled jaw. “Yeah. It’s us.”

A seed of excitement sprouted inside me. If Vaughn was telling the truth, it could mean my father’s days were numbered. It was what I’d always hoped for but never thought would happen.

“Does that mean you’re here to go after the Pacific Coast Cartel?” I asked.

If Vaughn’s mercenary group toppled the PCC, I could finally be free. No more hiding. No more worrying that my father or Jorge would roll into Playa de la Palmera and take me away.

“Would that bother you?” he asked with a heavy dose of skepticism.

What the hell?

Why was Grim acting so suspicious? He’d been prickly last night, but now he was behaving like he’d caught me spitting in his coffee.

“No.” I frowned. “Why would that bother me?”

Daphne came to stand beside me. She’d shifted the shotgun from casually slung over her shoulder to a two-handed grip with her finger on the trigger.

Why was everyone acting so hostile? What was going on?

A cold trickle crept up my spine. Vaughn still hadn’t responded, and something told me I’d finally asked the right question.

“Answer me,” I demanded.

He sneered at me as if I were a piece of shit stuck to his shoe. “Because I found out who you are, Elena.”

That was the moment my blood turned to ice and all hell broke loose.

10

VAUGHN

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