Page 30 of Demanding Mob Boss

The truth is obvious. She wasn't tricking. Martina Vega wanted her caught. Which means she's a plant. To what end? They already know where the Lucky Charm is or they wouldn't have been tricking so close by.

Ronan's waiting for her answer. Not because we need it but because every truth she gives us makes her less able to hold back when it matters most.

"El Fantasmawants intel."

"And she thinks you can get it?" I ask. Cousins, or not, this woman's boss does not value her life. There were too many risks inherent in the plan.

The fact she is where she is and that her people have no way of tracking her here is proof of that.

"IsEl Fantasmatrying to get rid of you?" Ronan asks.

Yeah, he sees the same things I do.

"No. She trusts me to get the job done."

That's a lot of words strung in a row. Our captive must be feeling better.

"What's the plan? Why drop her people on our streets?" I ask.

Ronan has to put the cloth back on her face twice more before Carmen tells us everything she knows.El Fantasma's plan is to keep us busy with the dealers and the sex workers while she launches an attack against our legitimate businesses. Carmen doesn't know what that attack will be.

I'm not worried. This shit is irritating, but it's not going to distract me from running my organization. Which tells me that Martina didn't tell her cousin the truth about her plan. Could all of this have been an elaborate way to get rid of Carmen?

The woman can't even tell us where her cousin is. Only where she has been.El Fantasmamoves around a lot, never staying in the same location more than a couple of nights. Sometimes, she's in Chicago, but she leaves the city too. Carmen is supposed to oversee activities in Chicago while her cousin is gone.

"She knew you would be taken. She had to guess whatever spyware she has on your person or in your bag was going to be neutralized." Ronan unstraps Carmen from the bench. He strips off her wet top and pulls a generic white t-shirt over her head. It falls down past the hemline of her skirt.

"It was a good plan." Carmen insists, but her eyes tell a different story.

She's starting to doubt her cousin.

"Her actions say she wants to get rid of you. Why? You're her rival," Ronan answers his own question. "Is it professional or personal?"

That strikes a chord with Carmen, and she winces.

"Personal then. What is it?"

"She wants my husband."

She's married. Neither Ronan nor I respond with shock at that news.

"Does your husband know the kind of assignment you signed up for?" I ask. Before Anna, this question would not have occurred to me.

The idea of Anna dressing like Carmen, even if she turned down every wanna be john has me wanting to kill someone. Martina Vega would be a good target.

Now we just have to find her.

"He approved it."

"So, he's part of your organization too?" Ronan asks.

She nods.

"And he wants your cousin too."

"Probably."

"Why?" I ask.

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