Page 85 of No Mistake

“Seriously? When we went to rescue Kelly, did I question your ability to lead the team? Do you question Steve’s ability to focus on the job when he has a wife and child at home? You are way out of line here. I’m good.”

“I just needed to be sure,” Dex said. Ryan accelerated.

“You know me better than that, Dex. Yeah, I fucked up. Once in thirteen years. You might be my team leader, but you need to get over it.”

The rest of the journey went by in silence.

Chapter 15

Back at the Farm, the sun was just coming up and Raven settled back into planning mode. It was going to take some time to form an assault plan that would ensure they got Perez and Vitelli father and son. Vitelli Cartel were still operating because they were untouchable. They had their own army, and no agency had gotten close. The cartel also had various law enforcement officers on their payroll. Vitelli had ears everywhere.

Only Onyx and Sanchez’s team knew Raven were going after them. They would not risk involving any other agency or the Mexican police. Dex kept trying to contact Tracer without luck. They were moving forward, forming a plan that didn’t include him.

By nightfall, the team had a basic plan and they were looking at leaving for Mexico the next day. They would fly commercial, separately so as not to draw attention, then meet at a safe house for a few days while they surveilled the house and confirmed the location of the three targets. Only then could they fine tune details.

Sam dismissed them. “Alright. Go home get some sleep. Wheels up at 0700.”

Ryan headed out, needing to put some space between him and Dex, and wanting to take full advantage of this unexpected down time. He climbed into the SUV. When they got back from Mexico, he was going to have to sort out replacing his car. He missed his Mustang. He was a car guy, always. No trucks or SUVs for him.

He sent Sophie a text.

Hey honey.

No response. She was probably sleeping. He’d shoot home, grab a change of clothes, then head over to her place. Yes, he was meant to get some sleep, but he could sleep on the plane. He had other ideas how to spend the next few hours.

At home, he decided to take a quick shower. By the time he was done, it was close to ten. Still no response from Sophie. Good. Hopefully she would be nice and rested for what he had in mind.

Placing his rucksack on the passenger seat, he cranked the radio and hit the road for the ten minute drive to Sophie’s house. Ryan tapped the steering wheel, replaying the conversation with Dex. Was his brother seriously doubting his ability? Fuck, they had never been like this with each other before. He sighed. They needed to work this shit out. But right now, he was on his way to tell the most amazing woman he’d ever met he loved her. Then he was going to show her just how much. Ryan grinned to himself and put Dex out of his mind. How lucky could one man be?

As soon as he turned onto her street and saw lights on in the house, his gut clenched. Why were all the lights on if she was asleep? He quickly checked his phone, but Sophie had not texted back. Ryan parked on the street a few houses down and crept quietly toward the house. He tried calling Sophie. Voicemail. He tried a couple more times, the same. Something was wrong. Taking his gun, he released the safety and moved toward the front door. The street was quiet, most people already inside for the night. The front door was closed, and nothing looked out of place. He peered through the front window, could see the living room. All looked normal.

Ryan made his way through the side gate to the back of the house. His stomach sank at the sight of the rear door ajar. The window pane had been shattered. Gun raised, he made his way inside, senses on full alert. Deep down, he knew whoever had broken in was long gone. He would either find a body or nothing at all. As he got to the kitchen, he took in the broken mug on the floor, spilled milk, and Sophie’s phone on the counter. Mentally cursing, he cleared the rest of the house, confirming what he already knew.

Ryan made his way back downstairs and dialed his team leader.

“Dex, Sophie’s gone, I’m—”

A small canister came through the broken back window. He dove behind the kitchen island just as the flash-bang went off. His ears rang and his eyes hurt as he tried to stand. Someone was coming in the back door, but then everything went black.

TRACER STARED AT ALEJANDRO Vitelli. It had taken two years to get here. To stand in front of the man who had personally raped, tortured, and murdered his sister. Initially, Tracer thought Alejandro had just ordered it, and Perez had carried it out. It was certainly Perez’s style. But Perez had been in Columbia at the time. After months of digging, Tracer had a witness confirm it had been Alejandro himself.

The witness, a lawyer for the cartel, told Tracer he’d made him watch, so he understood what happens when you didn’t do what was asked of you. The lawyer did not want to be working for the cartel, but if he didn’t, his wife and daughter would suffer the same fate as Sara.

Sara, his beautiful, younger, bright, ambitious sister. She had had a knack with numbers from an early age. After getting her finance degree she had landed a job with a reputable firm in New York. She’d loved her job, her life. Sara had been a social girl with lots of friends. The two of them were close. With Mom in the nursing home and Dad already passed, they were always there for each other. Sara had been a rock when he’d got injured. Always coming by with food and groceries, making him go out and do his physio.

In the couple of months before her death, she’d started dating. Tracer had gotten his name and looked into him. That was what all big brothers did, right? The boyfriend was clean. A stockbroker, had his own place, no criminal history, money in the bank. When Sara said they were taking a trip to Mexico, he hadn't been worried. Sara would send him the odd picture of them on the beach sipping cocktails, and the occasional text. When the pictures stopped, he’d gotten worried. He tried, texting, calling, nothing. He’d flown to Mexico and found where they’d been staying. The hotel manager said they’d checked out three days before, but there was no record of them getting on a plane. No charges to her credit cards, nothing. They had both disappeared. Tracer’s whole life had changed direction in that moment. His sole purpose became to find out what happened to his sister.

Alejandro Vitelli looked older than he expected. The man was in his sixties, white hair, a little paunch. He wore tailored gray pants with an open neck white shirt. He sat behind a huge mahogany desk, smoking a cigar.

Luis Vitelli sat opposite his father, and two armed guards stood inside the door. No one was pointing weapons, but Alejandro went nowhere without protection. Tracer had been searched on his way in and relieved of his own weapons. He didn't like being the only unarmed man in the room, but it was the only way to get close to the boss. To the man he was going to kill.

“It seems we have a situation,” Alejandro said and puffed again on his cigar.

Tracer didn’t answer, too busy working out how he was going to kill this man and walk out of here alive.

“Reborn had their storage facility raided and the weapons seized. They are not happy, and they believe we had something to do with it.”

“The deal was done. Maybe they got followed,” Tracer said.

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