Page 75 of Guarding Bristol

Then betrayed him by handing over things to the DEA that would end him.

Why?A howl of rage and agony clawed inside his chest.

He swallowed.Struggled to push back the red tide of rage suffusing him that squeezed his lungs and blurred his vision.This wasn’t some sick prank or a misunderstanding.There was no way to refute what he’d just seen with his own eyes.

Jon had sold him out to the DEA.

“I’ll kill him.”His voice was raspy, hands shaking.“I’ll motherfuckingkillhim for what he’s done.”Him and the goddamned DEA agent.

Who had Jon been working with?Jordan didn’t believe for a moment that he’d pulled this off all on his own.There had to be others.How far had the rot spread?

No one could be trusted now.He had to cull the herd, implement maximum and immediate damage control if he was going to have a prayer at saving himself.Couldn’t risk letting the infection spread any further.

“Where’s Angel?”he snapped at Hawk, his breathing ragged.

“Last I heard, getting himself some insurance to ensure Barros cooperates.”

Jordan didn’t give a shit about the girl anymore.“Tell him to get his ass to the marina and deal with this.Now.”

“You want both Barros and Jon captured?”

“N—” He stopped himself.He wanted them to die for what they’d done, but that was just his wounded ego talking.Better to have them captured so he could have them interrogated and find out the extent of the damage.

And that way he would have Angel there as well.He would have to be dealt with too, of course.No loose ends.Three birds with one stone.And Jordan also wanted to be the one to demand answers.See the terror in their eyes when they realized he knew what they’d done and that they would die for it.

“Yes.Tell him to bring them to me and I’ll double his fee.”Angel would want to know the compensation up front before agreeing.It was just smart business.Too bad he’d never collect a dime of it.“I’ll meet you and him at the marina.Keep an eye on everything until I get there.”He was only twenty minutes away.Half that, if the driver really pushed it.

“Boss?You sure you want to risk—” Hawk said.

“Fuckingdoit,” he snarled.He ended the call and ordered his driver to take him straight to the marina as fast as he could.His next call arranged to have a boat waiting there for him.A fast one.And then he made one last call to arrange his getaway vehicle.

Timing was critical.He wasn’t leaving anything to chance this time.

He couldn’t trust anyone now.Not Jon.Probably not Angel.Or even Hawk.He wondered if any of them guessed that.

He opened a hidden panel in the floorboard and began loading some weapons.It was time to take matters into his own hands.He’d clawed his way up through the shit of this world and through the deadly web of the cartel to get where he was.He’d survived everything they’d thrown at him, the might of the cartel and government law enforcement agencies combined.

He wouldn’t let anyone take his empire from him now.Let alone a fucking undercover DEA agent and some assholes he’d made the mistake of placing his trust in.

****

Angel paused in thestairwell when another buzz in his back pocket signaled a new message from Hawk.He pulled out his phone.

Shit is going down.Jon is the leak.He just met with Barros near the marina.

His eyebrows shot up.Jon had been leaking intel to the Feds?Wow.Ballsy. He hadn’t seen that one coming.

Okay, he responded.And?He wasn’t sure what that had to do with him.I’m busy.

Boss wants you to ditch the girl and deal with this instead.Pronto.Capture them both and bring them to the marina.We’ll meet you there.He says he’ll double your usual fee.

A rush of elation flashed through Angel.This was it.This should be enough to pay for what he needed.It was a huge risk going after two men with training, but if he pulled it off and lived, he could walk away and leave this all behind him.He and Liana could leave for Europe as soon as the money hit his account, with the fake passports he already had stashed with the go-bags she didn’t know about.

He was tempted to turn around and head straight for the marina immediately, but paused, his gaze on the fire door ahead of him that led to the fourth-floor hallway.He was already here.And if the woman was inside the condo, she could prove highly valuable to him on this op by guaranteeing Barros’s cooperation.A DEA agent wasn’t likely to sit back and let an innocent woman die.Especially if there was any kind of connection between them.

Angel was banking that there was.

Got it, was all he said to Hawk in answer, and tucked the phone away.Nobody needed to know how he captured Jon and Barros, they only cared that he got it done.

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