Page 35 of Heartless

“Yes,” Olivia said. “We thought it was the bravado and ego talking.”

“Well, it’s taken me more than a year, but with Serena’s help, I was finally able to understand what he was talking about.”

“How so?”

“The meeting in Colombia, the one where Ash was on that security detail and Senator Turner was in charge of? We’ve managed to track down a few people who were there with Turner. Turns out, Hector Gonzalez was one of them.”

“And there’s our connection,” Eve said softly.

“So you think Gonzalez was referring to this shadow group when he bragged about having power we knew nothing about?” Olivia asked.

“Yes,” Hawke answered. “Over the last year, this has happened.” Using the remote in his hand, he clicked it to reveal a list of warehouses, labs, and businesses on the screen at the front of the room. “All of these belong to the Gonzalez cartel.”

“They had nothing left,” Olivia whispered.

“Exactly. And now they’re one of the largest cartels in South America, responsible for trafficking more than a quarter of the heroin, cocaine, and opioids throughout the world. They also have labs, some of which are creating lethal and highly illegal synthetic drugs. The way they’re moving, they’re destined to become much larger over the next few years.”

“Who’s running the cartel?” Liam asked.

“Hector’s twenty-year-old son, Juan, is the figurehead, but I don’t believe he has any decision-making power. Neither he nor his mother were involved in the cartel when Hector was in charge. Hard to imagine they’ve managed to develop the business savvy to create this new, even bigger cartel.”

Hawke waited to see if anyone would argue with him. He was being deliberately vague about some things. He could give concrete answers later, but for now, this would have to suffice.

Surprisingly, no one demanded specifics, but Eve asked the question that was on everyone’s mind.

“So, what are we going to do about this?”

“We’re going to destroy the Gonzalez cartel once and for all. And then we’re going to find out who this shadow group is and end them, too.”

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Taking the robe from the back of the door, Olivia wrapped herself in warm cotton. The aches in her body had eased with a hot bath, but the ache in her heart had only grown. Her reserves were almost at an end. Putting her emotions on hold for just a short while, she longed for the oblivion of sleep.

She had spent the last few hours poring over the pages that Serena had printed out for her. It was hard to imagine that such a group existed, but there was no denying that some kind of entity lived within the shadows, manipulating and controlling people and events. To what end was as murky as pond scum.

The knock on her door brought a long, exhaustive sigh. Talking to someone right now was the last thing she wanted. She knew her body. If she didn’t get rest soon, she would not be able to function at all. She pulled the door open and faced the last person she wanted to see.

“What do you want, Kate?”

“We need to talk.”

“Oh, really? You have more lies to tell me?”

“Either let me in your room, or we’ll have this conversation in the hallway. Your choice.”

She considered the woman she’d once called friend. The woman who’d repeatedly lied to her for the last two years.

Apparently reading her thoughts, Kate sighed and shook her head. “All right. I’m sorry I lied to you, Olivia. A part of me felt shitty doing it, but there were extenuating circumstances.”

“There are no circumstances, extenuating or otherwise, that justify what you did.”

“Let me in, and I’ll prove you wrong.”

Olivia stepped back, allowing the other woman to walk inside. She shut the door and went to the other side of the room. If she stayed within touching distance, she feared she would punch the woman into unconsciousness.

Kate settled into a chair by the window, her demeanor one of relaxed casualness, but the lines around her mouth belied a tension the rest of her body didn’t reveal. It wasn’t much, but it made Olivia feel a little better to know that Kate wasn’t as at ease as she liked to pretend.

The woman was always impeccably dressed, and today was no different. Even in black slacks and a light blue silk blouse, she exuded an elegance that Olivia had always admired. With dark brown, shoulder-length hair, emerald-green eyes, and a slender build, Kate Walker was an attractive, vibrant woman.

---