Page 91 of Vaquero
“I want to finish the job you gave me,” Eva growled.
“And you will,” Director Strong leveled back at her. “Trust me. The guys downstairs forced you two women apart, just like they should have. Our ROEs only authenticated your cover. Play it like Anastasia’s the betrayer. Let her explain why she was dumb enough to get caught. Or was that part of her plan? Get caught, then point the finger at you and cry betrayer? What’s her weakness? Dig into her. Find out how to neutralize her without killing her.”
The bright blue darkened in Eva’s eyes. “That might work.”
“Are we through here?” Sullivan asked tiredly. “I’ve got shit to do and this isn’t it.”
Strong rolled his eyes. “Sorry I was late to the fight, McQueen,” he said as he stuck his hand at Sullivan. “Always good to see you, but let’s just do dinner next time.”
Sullivan slapped a handshake into Strong’s open palm. “Will do. Let’s hit the trail, Julio.”
Julio lifted to his feet, his eyes on Eva. “You can do this, but only if you believe.”
That brought her head up. “Is that what kept you going? Keeps you going? Believing?”
He nodded. “Yes.”And I pray. And now I love Meg.“I can help if you want.”
She grunted at that. “Not inside the Dolls, you can’t. Trust me. This mob is an all-girl thing.”
“A mean girl thing,” he corrected, concerned that there was more tenderness inside this cocky lioness than even she knew. That could get her killed.
“You’re damned straight,” she shot back at him. “Take care of that pretty foreign-aid-worker. She loves you, ya know?”
Julio nodded before he had time to think how Sullivan might take that news. But he might as well know. Julio loved Meg. But now he cared what happened to Eva Bell as well.
“Here,” he said, working his wallet out of his back pocket. Handing her his business card, he said, “I will come if you call.”
Stretching forward, she took the card, glanced at it, then tossed it to the floor. “No thanks, Juarez. I don’t need your help, but that Navy SEAL does. He’s the one in trouble, not me.”
So, she knew about Hotrod, aka Walker Judge. Wasn’t that interesting?
Julio followed Senator Sullivan into the hall. “Has that helo already returned to Kentucky?”
Sullivan grunted. “So… You and Duncan, huh?”
That he didn’t respond to Hotrod’s disappearance was even more interesting.
“Yes, sir,” Julio admitted openly.
“Thought you were headed to Costa Rica?”
“We have unfinished business with the orphans. They need to be placed somewhere safe. I need to get back to theIwo Jima.”
Sullivan ran a hand over his silvery head. “Shit. I sure hate to tell you, but there’s been an escape.”
Julio knew before Sullivan said another word. “Domingo Zapata? But how?” That far north federal prison was supposedly the most secure on the planet.
“Some idiot guard tried to bully him. Walked straight into his cell. Got in his face and challenged him to fight, the dumbass.”
“Let me guess. That man is dead now.”
A muscle twitched in Sullivan’s jaw. “Not only dead, but damned near beheaded. Domingo had him on his back in seconds, then cut his throat before security could get to them. Grabbed his keys and—”
Julio looked south. “And now he’s headed home.”
Of course Domingo had cut the fool’s throat. The Zapata brothers were both narcissists and schizophrenics with delusional, psychotic skills that surpassed normal people’s comprehension. Domingo had simply, somehow, made a weapon, then bided his time and waited for a testosterone-fueled guard, some egotistical moron who knew better than everyone else, to challenge him. Why had that guard ever thought he could bully a born killer?
“That’s what we suspect. But it’ll take time for him to get from the northern part of Alaska to South America. He’s got to survive the Arctic freeze first.”
Julio knew better. “If you believe that, you don’t know Domingo Zapata, sir. I need to leave. I need to get back to that carrier as quickly as you can get me there.”
Sullivan nodded. “I was hoping you’d consider tracking him, but you’re right. Protecting Duncan and those orphans is more critical. Come to my office. I’ll work the details.”
