Page 49 of No Mistake

Perez’s face was red; he was sweating. Anger flowed out of every pore. Good. Nothing more than this fucker deserved. He could kill him right now. The man was scum, and Tracer wouldn’t lose any sleep over it. He studied him. Perez looked almost maniacal. The fucker was on something. Again.

“Why did you go after the sister?”

“She’s the one that identified me. She’s a loose end. Needs cleaning up. You should have let me take care of it.”

“You killed a fucking FBI agent and a cop. Her identifying you in the club is the least of your problems.”

“I don’t like loose ends. Neither does the boss.”

Tracer played with the knife in his hand as he ate another piece of apple.

“You’re right. He doesn’t like loose ends. Perhaps you should worry a little more about yourself than the sister.”

Diego interrupted them. “Vitelli wants to see you,” he said, looking at Tracer.

“Sit tight, Ricardo. This conversation isn't over.”

TRACER STEPPED INTO the bedroom and found Chloe redressing the wound.

“Luis, you’re looking a lot better.” He was. He was still pale, but he was sitting up, awake and alert.

“I just spoke with my father. Where is Ricardo?”

“Here. But he’s a liability and your father knows it.”

“I want him at the meet with me. He’s been at my side for the past five years. I trust him.”

“You got shot on his watch.”

“Yes. But he also took care of it by getting the doctor and keeping me out of hospital.”

Tracer was not pleased at this news, but he would play along for now, and then call the boss and find out what was going on.

“Chloe, could you give us a minute?”

Chloe nodded and left them.

“You should know that Chloe is the sister of the head of Westside Emergency room, the military hospital on Coronado.”

“And?” Vitelli said, unconcerned.

“FBI know Perez took Chloe. They have teams looking for him and won’t stop until they find him. He has to stay off the radar. He can’t be running around trying to pick off witnesses or hitting the clubs.”

“I’ll talk to him. He will stay here at the house until the meet. We’ll take care of the doctor, go back to Mexico, and be in the clear.”

Tracer kept his face neutral. “You got it.”

“Good. Then get the doctor back in here to finish this leg. Then get Ricardo and we can go over the details.”

Tracer wasn’t happy but he’d handle it. He left the room and found Chloe waiting outside.

“Go ahead. He’s ready for you to finish dressing the wound.”

She nodded weakly, her frightened eyes killing him. Without speaking, she went back into the bedroom.

Fuck, this whole thing was getting way out of hand. This job really sucked sometimes. Strike that. It sucked all the time. The burner he used to speak with the boss rang. Moving away from the bedroom door, he answered.

“I was just about to call you.”

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