Page 317 of The Black Trilogy

“Some of the cops tried to come in, so I turned the sprinklers on again,” Mack told me.

“Good thinking.” Downstairs was already ruined. Adding more water wouldn’t make much difference.

Nate stood next to me. “You’re looking remarkably good for a dead woman.”

“It’s amazing what a bit of make-up can do. So, what’s going on?”

“Alex got a name for Blanco out of one of them before he died,” Mack said.

Finally, a breakthrough! About fricking time, but the fact that it took the death of one of my men and the injury of another left me raw inside.

“Great. Who?”

“We’ve done some research, and it fits with your theory that drugs are behind the whole thing.”

“Who is it?”

Mack pushed back her chair and turned to face me. “He’s a Colombian drug lord. I’ve been pulling up everything I can on him, and he seems meaner than a wet panther. He’s been at the top of the pile for years, and one reason he stays there is because he does nasty things to anyone who tries to cross him. The man’s crazy by all accounts, not to mention bloodthirsty. He’s got two sons who work with him, and they’re just as bad.”

Luke clicked his mouse and read from the screen. “Last year, he was suspected of beheading six members of a rival cartel and impaling them on sticks outside their leader’s compound.”

“What’s he called?” I clenched my fists. Tell me, who do I need to kill?

“It’s believed he now controls a larger portion of the drug trade coming out of Colombia than anyone else, and his foot soldiers are totally loyal,” Mack continued. “That’s not surprising. It says here that when one of his henchmen betrayed him six years ago, he made the guy eat his own testicles.”

“His freaking name, Mack?”

“Oh, yeah, sorry. It’s Eduardo Garcia.”

Despite what Nick had said earlier, I really did feel dizzy at that moment. No way. It couldn’t be Eduardo.

In front of me, Mack continued to list his wrongdoings, but I tuned it out, turning her revelation over in my mind and reminding myself to breathe. On paper, yes, it all fitted. Eduardo Garcia was indeed one of Colombia’s primo drug lords, with a taste for violence and a small army at his beck and call. He certainly had the money and the connections to have arranged Black’s assassination and the little visit we’d had earlier in the night.

But I still didn’t believe it was him. Because what—or rather who—the others in the room didn’t know, was Eduardo Garcia. But I did.

“Alex, how exactly did you get this name?”

Alex looked up from his gun and leaned back in his seat. “I warmed the gentleman up by abusing a few pressure points, then when he started sweating, we held him down spread-eagled across the dining table.”

Bradley interrupted, his expression a mix of excitement and disgust. “He shot between the scumbag’s legs, and told him if he didn’t confess who sent him that instant, the next shot would go one inch higher.”

“And then he said it was Eduardo?”

Alex shrugged. “No, I had to shoot his testicles off first. Then he told me.”

Well, no wonder Bradley was looking for a new table.

“So at that point, if I were him, I’d have assumed I was going to die,” I mused out loud. “Everyone else on my side was already dead, so there was nobody to help me. I’d have spilled the name of someone I didn’t like very much and hoped the people who took out my team would also wipe out my enemy. Victory even in death.”

“I suppose that could have happened,” Alex admitted grudgingly.

“In that case, could we look for alternatives to Eduardo Garcia, please.” It came out as a command rather than a question, and all heads turned to look at me.

Mack spoke first. “What makes you so sure it’s not him? It could easily be Garcia, looking at this data. It’s not like any of us have ever met the guy, is it?”

Her questions were perfectly legitimate. In her position, I’d have asked them too. The trouble was, how should I answer her?

“Or have you met him?” Nate guessed the truth first. Darn it, he’d known me too long, and he realised I was holding something back.

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