Page 3 of Velvet Deception

Except a hospital, it seemed. Navigating the maze of all these hallways in so many departments of all the different floorswas no simple route. Trekking through the jungle south of the Cartel’s biggest compound was far easier than this.

It should’ve been simple.

Come in here, find Rodriguez, and kill him in his sleep. The crooked cop and wannabe politician made one mistake too many in attacking Stefan, the boss—myboss. While Martin wasn’t the head of the organization, he was a high-up boss I liked. Martin and I went way back, so much so that I hadn’t hesitated to step up for the request of taking out Rodriguez. He was a hard man to reach, buffered and shielded by his cronies on the force. My best opportunity was now, to ease into his room as he recovered from a slight heart attack and end his life silently without a trace.

Killing Rodriguez would be my pleasure, but I respected Stefan for wanting it done like this. Slipping a drug into his IV would be a silent, invisible means of murder. This way, no one could blame our boss or the Cartel. In fact, it might instigate blame on another, newer Cartel that had formed near the gulf. Rodriguez had made enemies of us both.

If only I could find the motherfucker.

Time wasn’t on my side. This would be the only ideal window of opportunity to kill him to avoid any misplaced blame or incorrectly claimed honor. Since the boss had been attacked and narrowly escaped Rodriguez with his life, many in the Cartel wanted to kill him. Antonio had been most persistent, begging for the chance to prove himself and kill the cop.

I rolled my eyes at the thought of the most annoying ass-kisser in the organization. Antonio had always?—

“Excuse me.”

I didn’t slow as the man spoke behind me. Blending in required that selective deafness.

“Excuse me.” He didn’t give up, raising his voice and tugging on my sleeve.

Dammit.I stopped in the middle of the hallway and kept my face neutral as I turned to face him.

“Excuse me, Dr. Amirez? Oh.” The other doctor raised his brows. “Sorry. I thought you were Dr. Amirez.” He chuckled lightly. “From the back, you sure do look like him. That hair…” He pointed a circle in the direction of his head.

“Nope. Not him.” I smiled, knowing kindness would always put others at ease faster than grumpiness. The art of blending in rested on the ability to slip in and slip out without a lasting impression to damn it all later.

“Have you seen him?” the younger man asked, reverting to a sober and serious expression most of the medical staff wore here. “Or Dr. Thompson?”

I shook my head. “No. I’m afraid I don’t know them. Sorry.”

Turning away from him, I resumed walking. Not only did I not know where those two doctors were, but I also had no clue who the fuck they were. I wasn’t a doctor, but that man’s assumption gave me a boost of confidence that my disguise as one was holding up well.

He’s got to be here somewhere.

Following the arrows didn’t help, either. I assumed that as a heart attack patient, he’d be near the cardiology department, but he wasn’t. All I knew was that the longer I walked around here, someone would notice me.

And that wouldn’t work. I couldn’t stand out.

Where the fuck are you, Rodriguez?I couldn’t ask because someone would recall it. Asking would require my stating who I was and what I was here for, too. My disguise was valid, all the way down to the fake ID card that was made for me, but it wouldn’t work. The barcode on it wouldn’t unlock any records.

“Please!” A woman seated on a gurney reached out and clutched for me before I passed on this part of what seemed to be the emergency room department. Close by, each time the doors opened at the end of this hallway, the sounds of sirens and the glare of flashing lights entered. “Please, help me!”

I stopped instead of jerking my arm out of her grip. As I faced her, I was drawn to the blood streaking down her face from a gash. Bright glints of metal shone from the dangling earrings hung from her ears, though. Small medallions etched with an image of Our Lady of Chiquinquira swayed, catching the light.

“I was just trying to stop them from lighting the fireworks so close to the house and it went off and now I can’t hear! Help!”

I nodded, opening my mouth to say something to get away, but I didn’t even need to pass the buck. A harried-looking nurse rushed up close with gauze and bandages to tend to the obvious head wounds the woman had suffered.

It just had to be Alboradas. Tonight, the night I was tasked with sneaking in and killing Rodriguez, just had to be a busy, hectic evening of fireworks gone wrong.

“Sorry, Doctor.” The nurse dipped her chin as she helped the patient. “I told her I’d be right back and…”

I held my hand up. “No worries.”

It wasn’tmyworry, at least.

Leaving this area of the massive hospital, I tried to imagine where else Rodriguez would be. I picked up my pace, heading down other hallways, but I was still lost.

Dammit.This wasn’t right either. Depictions of babies smiling as they rested on clouds had been painted on the walls beneath cursive letters that declared this the maternity wing.

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