Page 63 of Echoes and Oaths
Later that month, Jinx dropped a bloodied duffel bag at Tomás’s feet. Inside was a cheap burner phone, a thick stack of American dollars, and a flash drive containing shipping routes. Jinx had carefully planted every item. He picked the worst fucker in the compound and the one that consistently watched him as his target. Salazar was a bloody son of a bitch who killed for the joy of it and didn’t care if the person were innocent or guilty. Blood excited the man, and he was more than verbal about his dislike for Mateo Rivas. Two birds, one bullet. Tomás would trust him more, and Salazar would be gone.
"Tomás," Jinx said quietly, "your boy Salazar's been talking to the military unit."
Tomás’s face twisted in rage and then fear. “What did he say?”
“It’s all on the phone.”
Tomás yanked the burner phone from the bag, scrolling through the pre-loaded messages. It didn’t matter that they were fake. To a man already steeped in paranoia, what he was reading was more real than truth could ever be. Tomás shook as he read throughthe messages. He slapped the phone down. “Lies. He told them I didn’t have control of my house. Why? Why would he undermine me?”
“Advancement. He wants to be in your position.” Jinx shrugged as if it didn’t matter to him.
Tomás didn’t hesitate. He barked orders, and minutes later, Salazar was dragged outside and shot in the courtyard. Jinx watched Tomás’s silhouette against the setting sun. The man paced outside in the courtyard, running his hands through his hair and muttering to himself. No one approached him. Jinx was the only one to stay outside. He was Tomás’s protection, and the man was realizing it. A sneer lifted the corner of his mouth. That card was played perfectly.
Two nights later, Jinx caught the scent of betrayal before the first shot was fired.
At a remote jungle airstrip, while Tomás’s latest shipment was being loaded onto a plane, five of Tomás’s men peeled off toward the cargo with stolen rifles and a getaway truck waiting nearby. The move was too obvious. Jinx moved like the shadow he was. By the time the traitors realized they’d been spotted, two were dead, their bodies crumpling near the plane’s landing gear. Another screamed as Jinx tackled him to the ground, snapping his wrist beforeputting a bullet in his knee. He’d be the one he took back to Tomás to show him once again that he couldn’t trust even his own men.
When they arrived back at the compound, Tomás marched up to him, flanked by guards. Jinx was cleaning his weapon, standing over the broken would-be thief like a grim sentinel. Tomás’s eyes, wild and bloodshot, locked onto him with something close to awe, or perhaps desperation.
Jinx said, low and even, "Trust is the only currency that matters. Your men are traitors."
Tomás drew his automatic and shot the man without asking him a question. He looked at Jinx and turned, walking back into the compound. Jinx looked down at the dead man and shrugged. Two guards picked up the trash and pulled him toward the compound's entrance. Jinx started whistling a carefree little tune as he finished cleaning his weapon. It wasn’t an act. He had just advanced his play without having to stage it. The fools were stupid to try when he was on the convoy. They learned that Mateo Rivas hadn’t lost his honed edge. The men around him slowly left the area. Within two minutes, he was the only one in the courtyard. Jinx chuckled to himself. One step closer.
Tomás summoned Jinx to his private quarterslate that night. Jinx knocked on the heavy door, then tapped his earpiece.
“I’m recording,” Brando said without hesitation.
Tomás opened the door. A gun pushed through the chained opening in the doorway. Tomas looked past Jinx, ensured the area was clear, then snapped the door shut. The sound of the chain being removed preceded the door opening. Tomás motioned for Jinx to come in before he shut the door behind him. The room stank of sweat and expensive cologne, the air so thick with fear it was almost visible. Tomás moved in front of him and sat down hunched on the edge of his gaudy gold-framed bed. He ran a trembling hand through his hair. The nervous tic would make the man bald before it soothed him.
"They’re all snakes," Tomás muttered, staring at the floor. "Every last one of them."
He lifted his head slowly, bloodshot eyes locking onto Jinx with desperate intensity. "Except you," Tomás said, voice breaking. "You're the only one I can trust, Mateo. Without you … I'm finished."
“The military wouldn’t dare make a move against you.” Jinx opened the proverbial door, wanting Tomás to walk through it.
“You have no idea. They would.Hewould.”Tomás punched up from the mattress and started pacing again.
“Who?” Jinx asked, feigning ignorance. “No one would be so bold. You run the strongest cartel in Venezuela. People live because you allow it. People die because you order it.”
Tomás nodded. “I tried to get Eira here to protect her.” Tomás pulled on his hair with both hands. “She wouldn’t come.”
“She’s safe.” Jinx didn’t even try to keep the growl out of his voice.
Tomás’s head snapped up. “I didn’t know you were involved with her. I swear. Once I found out, I stopped any type of courtship effort. I knew you’d be back for her. I wanted to protect her.”
Jinx didn’t move. He wanted to reach out and bitch slap the man. Instead, he nodded once slowly. “She told me. It’s why I am loyal to you. You watched out for my family when I couldn’t.”
Tomás blinked and looked at him. “I did.” He seemed to straighten, to stand taller. Thinking of himself as important to Jinx shifted the tables in Tomás’s mind. Jinx could see his mind working.
Tomás dropped his hands to his sides and smiled. The first smile Jinx had ever seen on the man’s face. “I need you to do something for me, Mateo.”
Tomás’s smile dropped as quickly as it had appeared. He paced in short, frantic bursts around his room, sweat glistening on his forehead despite the chill of the air conditioning. This was the only location in the compound with the luxury of a small air conditioning unit. Still, his silk shirt clung to him like a second skin, wrinkled and stained with the day's tension.
Tomás finally erupted. "You need to take out the person in charge of that military faction.”
Jinx narrowed his eyes. “Why? They haven’t threatened you. Even after Salazar gave information to them.”
“You don’t understand. You have to strike first," Tomás rasped, voice cracking under the strain. "Before he moves against me. Before he tears everything apart."
