Page 84 of Havoc

“Whaa…?” There was a second of silence. “Shit, okay. Ummm. She’s the chick he lived with for like ten years when he was there. There’s a story there, but I don’t know the details. I think there might have even been a third person involved in it all. Anyway, there was something at some point, but I don’t think it was for too long. I should really dig more.” She’d begun to ramble, which made me panic. I heard a door close on her end. “Okay,” she took a breath, “why do you ask?”

“Because she just showed up here, looking for Grim. Oh, and plot twist, she’s pregnant.” Silence. “Minnie?”

“Fuck.”

Grim

“I’m sorry to interrupt your evening, Grim.” Talya stared across the table at me. I hadn’t seen her since I moved back from Mexico. “But we do need to talk.”

“So you’ve said.”

“Breathe, Grim.”

“Not until you tell me how you found me here.”

“I have my ways, Grim.” At my expression, she made a face. “Oh, for God’s sake, I phoned Jim.”

“Forgive me, but you’re the last person on Earth I thought would show up here like that.” I nodded at her belly.

“Relax,” she rolled her eyes, “it’s not yours.”

“Clearly.” I waved at her to take a seat. “We’d had to have had sex for it to be mine.” Talya had been in love with someone else, but her parents would never have allowed it. When I arrived in Mexico years back, they wanted us to hook up. They were determined she’d marry a man with wealth. Over time, we’d become good friends, and we made a deal to pretend to date to keep her parents happy. It worked for me because it allowed me to develop a relationship with her family. They were big in the local drug trade.

“We’d have made gorgeous babies.” She shrugged.

“Perhaps in another lifetime.” I was fond of Talya but had no interest in being pulled into her world.

“I could use a new lifetime.” She caught a tear with the back of her finger. “Look, Grim, things aren’t good right now. As you know, my parents planned to move their business farther into Rosarito. Things took a bad turn when you left Mexico.”

“So I heard.”

“After Castillo died, it became a war. Any chance your army friends want a round two?”

“They weren’t friends of mine,” I explained, “just acquaintances.” Trigger had let Talya know about the plan to take out Castillo. He knew she held no loyalty to her parents, but she was loyal to her people. He didn’t want to risk her being in the line of fire when the hit on Castillo and his crew went down. Though she was ruthless in her own right, and not someone you’d want to bring to a family dinner, she had a heart.

“Regardless,” she handed me a piece of paper, “your ‘acquaintances’ may want to check this out the next time they use their satellites, nanny cams, or whatever they use now to know when and where we’ll be.” If she only knew just how closely they all were being watched. “It’s time for my generation to step in and take the helm.”

“I can pass it along.” I tucked the paper in my pocket.

“Grim, Papa got a call from a man a few days after you left,” she said in Spanish as some people walked by. We both knew what it could mean if anyone overheard us. The cartels’ reach was wider than anyone could imagine.

“From who?”

“I don’t know,” she leaned forward, “but this man also has a problem with you. He offered a way for Papa to cause you great hardship.”

“Which was?”

“Your hotel.” She watched my face as that sank in. “The man said there were people looking for work, and they would be more than happy to do the job. I guess they are messing about with your workers.”

“I see.” I tried to curb my temper. “Well, that’s already been dealt with, so…”

“Grim,” she squinted at me, “open your eyes. The word is out that you’re the mark. Vegas is the prize, and that pretty young thing upstairs, she’s just as connected to all of this as you are because of your family and your mutual biker friends. Someone wants to control Vegas and is determined to take you and everyone you love down. You’re tangled in a web, Grim, and the spider is heading your way.”

“Why me? Us?”

“Because you control the drugs, you have the most wealth, you’ve teamed up with the bikers and the Italian mafia, and you’re a powerful man many want to see fall. Then they will swarm in and take the spoils.”

She studied me as I digested her words.

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