Page 28 of Deadly Ruck
"If you're putting yourself at risk, can you be sure he can't hear?" I asked.
This could be nothing more than some sick, twisted game. Pretend she was on our side before she screwed us over. Maybeshe was bored and needed something to do. Why not fuck with us? People did less for shits and giggles.
"I can be absolutely certain," she said without flinching. "I was the one who found this place and set it up. I know how to turn the cameras and microphones on and off. In fact, they're all connected to my phone." She tapped a pocket in her thigh, and the rectangular shape under the leather. "No one can turn them back on except for me."
"Unless they kill you and take your phone," Atlas said.
She shrugged. "Unless that. But they wouldn't know to do that, because he thinks I'm a good little general. In actual fact, I've been working for quite some time to bring him down. You just happened to be the perfect tool to help me do that." For a moment, she seemed sincere. The bravado an act she set aside and showed the real her underneath. A hint of vulnerability amongst women.
"Why do you want to bring him down?" I asked.
Did I believe her? Not really, but I might as well humour her. For now, anyway. It wasn't like I had anything better to do. Okay, I had about a million things better than this to do, but while we were locked in I was out of choices. But I was still looking for a chance to get the hell out of here. It might come from her if I paid close enough attention.
"Because he had my parents killed," she said. "They stood in his way. He wanted me and my sisters to belong to the cartel. In every sense of the word."
Her expression darkened that hint of vulnerability laid bare. In a way, she reminded me of myself. I had to shove that thought away, it was dangerous. Finding things in common with this woman made me the vulnerable one. I reminded myself she was the enemy here, not my new best friend.
Eyes hard again, she went on. "I pretended to be a dutiful woman. I managed to get his trust and work my way up throughthe ranks. Stepping on anyone and everyone that had a part in my parents' murder as I went.”
Now that I believed. Chances were, she had more blood on her hands than me and my brother did. Those boots of hers had likely indented so many skulls she'd lost count. Stepping on people was what the cartel did. They didn't care who, as long as they got what they wanted. She was no different.
She toyed with one of the rings on her ear. “Carlos Jones is the last of them. But he's also the most difficult. He's always surrounded by other people. Oh, I could shoot him in the head, but then I'd be killed too. No, I need to separate him from them, and find a way they can't retaliate until I take over." Her eyes were glazed, clearly thinking about her plans, and relishing the idea of his death.
That made two of us. I was looking forward to seeing him dead too. I should be alarmed at how fast I was losing myself, but then I thought about Storm, Frost and Ramsey, and I was furious all over again.
"Who's to say you wouldn't be worse than him?" I asked coldly.
She smiled. "I might be, but I wouldn't be as bad to you as he would. Or to any other women. The Crimson Vipers have always been led by a man. An old one. That needs to stop. It's time for someone younger to step up and lead the cartel. Someone who doesn't need to exploit vulnerable people in order to feel good."
"Why you?" I asked. "Why not me?"
For the first time, she looked surprised. She didn't laugh, as I might have expected her to. Instead, she looked thoughtful.
"I'm not going to let you take this from me, but that's not to say we can't work together. You have the connections and the background. We'd be one hell of a team."
"What if I say no?" I asked. "What if I go to Carlos Jones and tell him everything you just said?"
She must have considered the possibility. She was obviously smart. She'd thought through everything before she came here. Every variable and every scenario. People like her, people like me, we had no choice. We had to be careful, to make sure we covered every base. If we didn't, we risked leaving ourselves exposed. The moment we did, someone would take advantage. That was as inevitable as the sun rising. More so.
"You won't," she said.
"You said yourself, Chelsea is his weakness," Atlas said slowly. "That gives her a lot of leverage. She might take your place." He didn't seem to hate the idea.
Nyla turned to him slowly. "There's a difference between being his weakness and being his equal," she said bluntly. "He doesn't consider me either of those things, but I have his ear. She never will. He'd hear what she has to say and use her anyway. He considers most women to be nothing more than objects. It took me a long time and a lot of work for him to… I don't know, forget I'm female. He moved on to others and let me quietly work to get where I am now."
She sounded so clinical about it, my stomach turned. "How young were you?" I asked softly.
She pressed her mouth into a tight line. I thought she might not respond. Finally she said, "Seventeen."
"I think I want to cut his nuts off," Dallas said softly.
“Go get in line," Atlas said.
"You're the one who worked with him," I pointed out coldly.
"Pretended to," Atlas said. He looked meaningfully at Nyla.
She looked back at him. "Convincingly."
