Page 28 of Liaising Kai

Davis lifted his chin, but by this time, Kai was close to him. She set her hand on his arm. “Do as he says, Davis. He’s not here to kill us. Are you, Dario?”

“No, that’s not my job. I was sent to detain you.” He stared at Kai. “I tried to warn you to back off, that you were getting in too deep. These guys don’t play games.”

“Los Esmeraldas?”

“That’s right.”

She put pressure on Davis’s arm, and he sank down to the ground with her. “You know this isn’t over, Dario. They killed a US attorney, federal agents. It may be NCIS right now, but it will be black ops and CIA later. They will not rest until whoever is responsible for those deaths pays…and now, that includes you.” She took a hard breath. “Blood, the blood of innocent children…all of that blood is also on your hands. You can change that right now. Let us go.”

“Shut up!” he shouted, his face twisting, sweat pouring off him, running down his face. He pulled a radio off his belt and said, “I have them.”

The trees around them were so thick they swallowed up the sunlight. There was something unnerving about the silence and shadows, something that told him predators roamed this area, even the animals knew it.

Four men materialized from the trees dressed innocuously in T-shirts and jeans, but there was nothing innocuous about the machetes at their waists and the automatic weapons slung over their shoulders.

Los Esmeraldas. At least they had partial answers.

Dario went to greet them. They only had moments. He turned to Kai. “You should have run, babe. There’s no need for both of us to die.”

She cupped his face in her hands, staring into his eyes, her heart right there for him to see. “If you thought I was going to leave you behind like that…no freaking way. Never.”

“I wish?—”

She covered his mouth. “I know. Trust me. We’re in this together.” She glanced back toward the trees.

He frowned, and the look in her eyes gave him hope. “Always,” he said.

After a few words with Dario, he headed back toward the boat. They swaggered toward them like they owned the world. Kai had been right. Whatever happened to them here, the US wouldn’t rest until they had rooted out and either eliminated or arrested everyone who was involved. That gave him some form of peace for what may come. He’d only wished he’d had time with Kai, time to be with her in every sense of the word.

“Los Esmeraldas, I presume,” Kai said, her voice calm and cool. “Apparently, you know who I am, but you’ve got me at a disadvantage. I’d like to know who I’m talking to.”

The man in the middle with long hair and cold, empty eyes sized Kai up, his gaze glancing at Davis briefly, then returned back to him. The challenge was in his eyes like he’d discovered a fellow predator. Davis might be ruthless when it came to doing his job, but he was nothing like this animal.

“Jonny Z,” he said. “I run the Los Esmeraldas.”

“So you’re the ones who killed an old woman and an innocent family with two small children.”

“The price of doing business.”

“What you do isn’t business. It’s criminal.”

“You won’t have to concern yourself with us any longer.” He said in a chilling, empty tone.

“Why did you kill Eduardo, his daughter, and wage war on the US government?”

Jonny Z laughed, but the humor never reached those dark orbs. “You think this is an interrogation, bitch?”

“I think you want to know what we know, and if that is the case, what do you have to lose? We’re helpless. We’re not walking away. Think of it as my last request. I’m not really up for torture.”

He smirked. One of the men pulled the machete off his belt and circled behind them.

Kai ignored him, but Davis could almost feel that blade biting into his neck.

“Well, don’t you have some big cojones, chica.” He was clearly the leader of this little band of cartel watchdogs. He didn’t say anything for a moment. Kai’s offer was unexpected, but it saved these guys some time. “Eduardo made a mistake, and we don’t tolerate mistakes. He endangered our business in Colombia, and our big fish network in the United States. He paid the price.”

“But why his daughter?”

He shrugged. “She was collateral damage, as were the rest of the deaths.”

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