Page 47 of Sinful
"Which means Sebastián's been planning this takeover for years," Fenrir says. "Miguel wasn't even sick yet, and Sebastián was already positioning himself."
The pieces are falling into place.
A long-term operation. Years of intelligence gathering,positioning, waiting for the right moment to strike.
And Helle—Helle was one of their intelligence sources.
Unknowingly, but still.
No wonder the guilt is eating her alive.
"This is good," Runes says. "This gives us patterns, connections. We can work with this."
"There's more," Elfe speaks up for the first time. "After Andrés disappeared—after he stopped showing up to class, stopped contacting Helle—Los Coyotes assumed the Raiders of Valhalla killed him. That's why they came for Dad. They think it was retaliation."
"Was it?" Damon asks bluntly.
"No," Runes says firmly. “We never touched him."
Helle's face does something complicated.
I file that away. Something's not adding up.
"So, Los Coyotes are torturing Ivar for a murder we didn't commit," Fenrir says. "And they'll keep doing it until someone takes the fall."
"Then we give them someone," Damon says coldly. "Find whoever did kill Andrés, hand them over. Problem solved."
"We don't know who killed him," Runes says. "Could've been anyone. Rival cartel, personal grudge, random act of violence. Houston's a big city."
Wait.
Houston?
I look at Helle. She's gone pale.
"The body was found in Houston," Elfe says. "Twoyears ago. Shot three times—twice in the chest, once in the head. Execution style. No witnesses, no leads."
Two years ago.
Helle's been in Texas for three years.
The math is right there.
And the way she's sitting—perfectly still, barely breathing, like if she moves she'll shatter—tells me everything I need to know.
She didn't just date Andrés.
She killed him.
Holy fuck.
"We need to focus on getting Ivar back," Starla says, her voice breaking slightly. "Whatever it takes. I don't care about revenge or justice or any of it. I just want my husband back alive."
"We all do," Runes says gently. "And we will. But we need a plan. We need to know where he is, how to extract him, how to do it without starting a war that gets us all killed."
"I can help with that," Damon says. "We have contacts in the DEA. They've been tracking Los Coyotes operations for years. I can get us intel—locations, personnel, everything."
"Do it," Runes says. "Fenrir, coordinate with Damon. Bravos—" He looks at me. "Phantom authorized you to commit Shotgun Saints resources?"
