Page 67 of Devil's Property
Eduardo flailed and the monitors went wild. He was gasping for air, slapping at whatever was holding him down as he struggled to focus. When he did, the look of shock was multiplied when Jago came into the periphery of his cousin’s vision.
“You’re improving,” Jago said with no particular tone in his voice. “Good to see, although I do hope you’ve updated your will, cuz. With no family, it would be a pity if all your hard-earned wealth went to the country you obviously hate with a passion.”
Coughing and wheezing, Eduardo gripped my arm with both hands, glaring up at me as his face turned red. Yet, there was confusion in the man’s eyes. Did he seriously not believe we’d figure out he was either lying or purposely keeping important information? The kind that would help keep us alive?
The entire situation was past being annoying. I was livid and needed recourse.
On top of my heightened annoyance, the goddamn beeping continued.
When I smacked one of the monitors with my fist, toppling it to the floor, Jago lifted a single eyebrow.
“There’s an off button on both,” he suggested, half laughing as he did.
“Then that wouldn’t be as much fun.” I glared down at Eduardo before releasing my hold, immediately reaching into my pocket and retrieving the vial. “What the fuck is this?”
He sputtered for a few seconds and did his best to back away as far as being confined to the bed would allow. “What…” His cough was testing my patience. “What is that?” He turned his head slowly toward his cousin. “What are… you… doing in Mexico?”As he rubbed his neck, I noticed the heavy throb of the cords in his neck.
Maybe I should snap it in response.
“Don’t fucking bullshit us, Eduardo. I know when you’re lying. I’m here because it seemed odd you were worried about a single warehouse. That coupled with hearing the news Fassi had sent soldiers into the area allowed both of us to put two and two together,” Jago told him as he planted a foot on one metal rung of the bed, leaning over and grinning evilly.
Anyone who knew the cartel leader knew when he offered a smile of that magnitude, he was pissed.
Eduardo made a big deal out of swallowing, even glancing at the door as if his men would come in and save him from our wrath. Not a chance. “It’s just an additive. Nothing special. Vitamins. I think B-12.”
“I call it bullshit,” I told him.
“Why lie about it?” He was still doing his best to crawl as far away from me as possible.
I doubled down on what Jago was doing, placing my foot on the metal rung and leaving further over so he had a damn good look at the vial in case there was any question about what we were talking about. “Why the warehouse? What was so special?”
“Did you go there?”
His question seemed rhetorical or as if the man was buying time. He certainly couldn’t think we were that stupid. I glanced at Jago who sighed. “You already know we were there and what we faced. You lost three men in the process. Now, maybe you don’tcare about them, just like you certainly don’t give a shit about the welfare of the people you enslaved to work there.”
At least he had the good graces to allow a sheepish look to cross his face. “Good help is hard to find. I pay them well.”
“I know exactly how much you pay them, Eduardo. You’re a greedy son of a bitch. I suggest you pay them what they deserve and maybe you’ll find loyalty. Did you stop and think one of them might have tipped off Fassi for a nice finder’s fee?”
He acted as if the notion hadn’t even dawned on him. “Shit, I… I didn’t know for certain there’d be an attack, but I had a lot to lose in the building.”
“Especially if the cutting agent holds an extra ingredient,” Jago suggested.
“It’s nothing special. Trust me.”
I was already growing weary of the man’s attempt at lying. He sucked at it. “Then why the massive collection of scientific gear?” He was nervous, more so than I’d ever seen him, and the guy had no balls.
“It belongs to the man I hired to oversee a percentage of my business.”
Jago laughed. “Your more profitable side.” The single good thing I could say about Eduardo was that when one of our shipments of cocaine had been confiscated by the Mexican equivalent of the DEA, he’d been instrumental in helping us regain control. Not without almost getting Kruz killed, but as Jago had reminded us, sometimes you had to think about the end product.
In that case, millions of dollars of party favors could have been lost. The shipment had been some of the last we plannedon bringing into the country. Drug running had gotten too dangerous and far too messy.
Fassi was attempting to take down our regime in any way possible. If not diamonds, illegal drugs. I wouldn’t put it past him to pit another cartel against us so he could sit back and watch a bloody war ensue.
The thought caught me off guard and I momentarily looked away. One of the oldest techniques in the world when a player wanted to overtake a territory was to pit enemies against each other. While they were busy hunting and killing, the new player could easily sweep in and take what they wanted.
This time when I looked at Jago, I could swear he knew what I was thinking. The expression on his face changed.
