Page 8 of Victorious Vice

I have to stay focused. I can’t afford to let my mind wander too much. I have a part to play, a role that I can’t jeopardize with emotions or distractions. Which means…I’ve got to truly leave Raven behind me.

I start going through the files on my iPad again. Faces and names swirl before me, each attached to an extensive list of sins. Extortion, human trafficking, drug smuggling—just another day in the life of these people. My job is to convince these terrible people that I’m one of them, that their secrets are safe with me.

The plane jolts slightly and Elmo looks at me. His eyes are dark and unreadable as they always are, but I note an edge of worry in them. I give him a nod, hoping to reassure him, before turning my attention back to the iPad.

I read the names again. There’s Jacinto Agudelo, the cartel kingpin known for his ruthless business tactics and a penchant for torture. His eyes in the photo are cold, calculating. I’ll be staying at his mansion in Bogotá, and my business will be mainly with him.

Next is Hernando Reyes, a corrupt politician whose greed knows no bounds. And then there’s Isabella Valentini, a fiery redhead who lives in New York and works with a trio known as “the Unholy Trinity,” but who is apparently in Bogotá to negotiate for a Manhattan family.

The list goes on…

Until I see a face that makes me squint. A gaunt, very old woman, with whisps of snow-white hair. Deep wrinkles in her face, but still a shadow of beauty in her weathered features.

She’s not nearly as well put-together as the people in the other photos here.

No name is attached to her photo.

Does this old woman have something to do with why I’m going to Colombia? I can’t imagine they have much use for a woman of her advanced age. Hell, they don’t have much use for women of any age.

Maybe she’s a witness or something. Or the widow of a fallen don.

I shake my head to clear it. This woman is ancillary at best. The other names are well known in the cartel, the men Puzo was trying to recruit to his side.

Puzo’s no longer an issue, thanks to me.

The purpose of this trip is to get these people to make a deal with Mario.

But why…?

How…?

Why is this woman’s picture in here?

I stare at the document, blinking as if that might make her position in all this clearer.

My mind is a whirlwind of questions with no immediate answers. Even Elmo’s usually reassuring presence does nothing to subdue my growing unease. There’s a reason this woman’s photo is in here, but I can’t for the life of me figure out why. Maybe it’ll be made clear once I arrive in Colombia.

My gut tells me there’s more to the story.

There’s always more to the story.

As I stare at this old woman, Raven’s face flickers in my mind again. I’m not sure why. I mean, I’m constantly thinking about her, but why should this old woman trigger the thought?

Something in her eyes, maybe?

Raven has beautiful eyes. So beautiful that you can get lost in them. I swear to God, the first time I saw her, her eyes took me in so much that I barely noticed she had no hair. And her smile is a beacon in the storm that is brewing around me.

I must protect her at all costs.

Which means leaving her in my past.

3

RAVEN

Vinnie’s face.

His handsome face, olive complexion, perfect jawline, rugged black stubble…

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