Page 37 of Betrayed

“I need surveillance set up in her shop, her home, trackers on her car, her purse, ears on every call.”

“Done,” Cap stated succinctly. “What else do you need from us besides monitoring?”

“Some other fucking leads that don’t point directly to Marilee Hoffman.”

“Get closer, Arturo,” Sean suggested. “Your gut is going to tell you to do the opposite, to stay away while it plays out, but if you care for her, your priority has got to be proving her innocence. To do that, you have to be on top of this, in her house, her shop, her life. You said since Hoffman’s death mistakes were made, which is what led you to Texas to begin with. I’ve seen your girl; my instincts scream she’s no arms dealer. More likely, she’s a guileless pawn. If I’m wrong... If we both are, she’ll trip up again. And if she’s innocent, you’ll be there to attest to it when the real guilty party fucks up.”

He cocked his head as he considered Sean. He’d heard the story of his wife Mara’s involvement with the cartel takedown a few months back. She’d been embroiled in the middle of it all, going to the extremes of attempting to take out the kingpin alone. Everyone, including Sean, believed she was guilty as sin, but in the end, she proved to be nothing but an innocent victim caught in the crossfire. It gave him a glimmer of hope.

“Stick with it, man,” Lil T urged in support. “I’m with Sean. Go with your gut. You wouldn’t have lasted this long with MI6 if your instincts were off.”

Except when his heart and cock were involved. He kept that to himself.

“Get her to the club more often. Introduce her to the girls. A few Wednesday nights and pitchers of margaritas will have her pouring out her heart and her story out to the other subs,” T added.

“And knowing our women”—Cap nodded in agreement—“they’ll have the case solved before you can bat an eye.”

“Oh shit,” Rick groaned. “Just when we had things calmed down.”

Dex laughed humorlessly. “It seems to be our penance, bud.”

“Do you have the capabilities to run this surveillance outside of San Antonio?”

Jonas chuckled, and the others joined in. Arturo looked at Cap for an explanation.

“We’ve expanded to another office in LA and occasionally take foreign ops,” Cap explained. “But we got our start here and have an established network of trusted associates and subcontractors across Texas. A few hours away is no problem, including Houston.”

Arturo nodded, feeling assured they had him covered.

“Jonas will head up your team. They’ll manage your surveillance and assist in any capacity that you need. The rest of us are available to step in at any time. It’s not far by plane.”

“Bring Mari to the beach,” Jonas suggested. “My wife has family in nearby Galveston and loves having weekend guests. Lexie will work her charm and her lemon drops and you won’t need to wait for Wednesday LBD night to have her baring her soul and spilling her guts.”

He stood ready to get the op underway. “Looks like I’m heading to Galveston.”

“I’ll be leaving shortly, too,” Jonas replied. “We’ll need two to three hours this evening to wire her house.”

As Arturo nodded his agreement, a sense of dread settled like a heavy stone in the pit of his stomach. Sean was correct. He had to prove her innocent before anything else. The means would justify the end, and he’d beg her forgiveness after.

At the door, he turned back, his eyes seeking Jonas. “The cameras, about the placement...”

“Everywhere except the bathrooms will be monitored.”

Upon seeing his frown, Cap cut in. “Our men know to turn off the cameras when the dom is at home.”

Jonas added a caveat. “They’ll see when you leave and turn them back on. You might want to restrict solo activities, however.”

There were a few chuckles from around the table.

“Give the lovely widow our regards,” Dex said with a grin. “Or a sound paddling, whichever is most appropriate.”

“Both are appropriate, but I’ll pass on the first to avoid raising her suspicions until we have this case closed. The second goes without saying.”

More chuckles followed him out the door, although he found nothing the least bit amusing about what lay ahead.

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