Page 55 of The Perfect Stranger

I hid my smile well. His time was coming. Finally.

“Who’s the target?

“FBI Agent Nina Cross.”

“Why her?”

“Pretty don’t you think?” Gabriel mused over a photo of a beautiful dark haired woman. The picture had been taken without her knowledge. The wind caught her hair as she looked over her shoulder toward on-coming traffic. “I think once business is done, she and I will get to know each other.” There was a wicked gleam in his eyes, and I felt the pit of my stomach revolt. Up until now, Gabriel had me taking care of his dirty work. The dirty work just happened to be those who deserved to be six feet under. But now? Now I was expected to bring him an innocent woman. A woman he already had sinister plans for.

“What makes you think she can help?”

“She’s a rookie in the Criminal Fraud Division. Still learning the ropes. She is also the only one who is unaware of her connections to us already.”

I shot him a confused look.

“Her father was also an agent. Way back when we were taking control of the east coast. He was easily swayed by the smell of money and worked with us for quite some time until his better moral judgment won. East coast sales were thriving because he turned a blind eye to drug corruption. Having him work against us, potentially narking until we had every uniform cop on our backs, was not an option. My uncle Luis shot him dead personally. It went in the books as just another slain agent caught in the crossfire.”

“So how did you maintain control of the east coast?”

“Agent Delacroix was quick to take his place. Nina’s boss and best friend of her father.”

Agent Delacroix.

The same agent I’d met in the Chief Hanson’s office the night of Yusuf Alamand’s arrest. The same man I had suspicions about two years ago. A counter-terrorism agency working hand-in-hand with the Chief of the Criminal Fraud Division. The same chief of criminal fraud who was now rendezvousing with South America’s leading cartel.

And then there was the smaller fish. Nina Cross. She had no idea who she worked for. She had no idea that the man she saw every day knew her father’s murderer and said nothing this whole time.

“So why not bring him across the border?”

“Let’s just say, Delacroix’s allegiance has been pulled into question. Gone rogue if you will. He’s refusing to lift the ten-year freeze on the account. The FBI has a hold over the monies in the off-shore account because the bank in Cuba is part owned by the US. As of now, the money is frozen. Untouchable by people like the Baja cartel and us. And at this moment, he has the most control, which makes him a dangerous target.”

“Why is he protecting the money for you?”

“Not just him. Thomas Garcia, Nina’s partner, is also in on the action. Two years ago, Garcia’s partner was Evan Jacob’s. Some smart fucker who liked to snoop through Government issued bans on money in off-shore accounts. He was already dreaming of spending up big with money that wasn’t his. The problem was, he like all other government workers, can’t have off-shore accounts themselves to move money into. Any large transfers in US soil accounts would raise suspicion with good old Uncle Sam. Drip feeding the money would then cause alarm from the international holding bank. You see, without us, the cartels, these agents could do nothing but babysit the money. Over the years, Jacob’s formed an allegiance with the Baja Californian cartel. One day he got the balls to hack into the security platform to lift the freeze. Delacroix was straight on it. Jacob’s wasn’t stupid. He knew his boss worked for Los Santos and threatened to expose him if he took that matter further.” Gabriel seemed amused by the whole charade. “Fancy that, brother, three FBI agents specializing in criminal money laundering all holding hands with the cartels. We’re all fucking doomed.” He threw a piece of orange in his mouth mid-laugh. “Delacroix agreed not to pin anything on him, but instead, issued a suspension with pay option just to get him out of the picture. He took it. But now he’s under constant surveillance.”

“So… this girl—”

“This girl is our golden ticket. Delacroix will never suspect his rookie agent would ever have anything to do with it. With him out of the picture, he loses his hefty cut of the deal.”

“And then what? You kill her?”

Gabriel tilted his head and smiled like I needed it spelled out. “No brother, not me. You will.”

“Here.” Gabriel threw a passport on my bed as I packed a duffle bag of clothes. “There will be a man on the other end waiting to meet you. He has everything arranged, including your accommodation.”

“Okay.” I opened the passport with the American emblem on the front. Hunter Anderson the name read. How apt.

I studied the photo with interest. It was greatly different to the last one I possessed. My appearance had significantly changed. When in Special Forces, I had lean muscle, the constant sweating while wearing my gear in the Arabian Desert had kept the weight off. My hair, having been covered with a balaclava most days was kept short with weekly appointments with the clippers.

Now?

Now was a different story.

My body had welcomed the almost daily workouts. The bulking muscle had changed my physique including my face. While I still had a strong jawline, it now bore a constant five-day growth and my hair was longer. The Colombian sun had bronzed my skin, years of killing and stress creating fine lines around my eyes.

“He will also supply you with weapons,” Gabriel interrupted my thoughts, “but I urge you to be discreet.” His tone was serious. A warning. Across the borders in Mexico and Colombia, he could lose control and the governments’ could turn a blind eye. In the States, that wasn’t a luxury one could afford.

“I know how to be discreet,” I assured. I held his gaze until he relaxed.

“The Baja cartel are already on the scent. Word is they want Thomas Garcia killed and Nina Cross for their intel. Don’t get caught up with Garcia, he isn’t our concern, and if they want to take him out, let them. That’s one less fucker on my ‘kill list’ that I have to be concerned about. Let them take the fall. Bring Nina to me. Alive! And if any of those Baja cunts tries to stop you, you have my permission to sort them out.”

I knew what ‘sort them out’ meant. I had seen it too many times when I was first inducted a Saint. A bullet to each eye with a crude carving of LS on their foreheads. Their men would die marked with a rival cartel’s initial. That was getting off lightly. A traitor like myself could expect to be shot in both knees, dropped in the middle of town square and set alight, while folk on their way to work could do nothing but gasp and stare in horror.

I had no plans to kill Nina Cross.

I would bring her across the border to Gabriel’s Mexican base, all the while keeping everyone at a distance. I needed Luis Santos in front of me with my Glock positioned between his eyes. I needed him to beg for his life the way so many La Balsa people had to. I needed him to take his last breath just like my father had. Then, if I survived that, the girl would be set free, unharmed, and hopefully forgiving for what I was about to put her through.

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