Page 24 of Corrupted Deception

But I returned to my car, and rather than driving away, I drove around the side of the building, out of sight.

She’d be back; I could feel it.

And when she returned, the lying little tempest was in for a surprise.

Chapter Seven

Charlotte Santoro

My eyes hurt. I swear I’d strained every muscle in them and used up half their lifespan in the past twenty-some-odd hours. But I had a lead.

And now, I had a quadruple espresso—yes, quadruple—from the kick-ass all-night coffee shop ten minutes from the warehouse.

“Are you certain,amiga?” Val asked.

I had the laptop open on the passenger seat, and she was looking up at me from the screen, eyes narrowed.

After hours of searching through VPN logs, connection times, IP addresses… “I’m certain the message originated from less than an hour from here, smack-dab in the middle of territoryLos Cazadores Sangrientoshave been trying to weasel their way into. It could be coincidence, but…”

Val scoffed.

“I think there’s at least a decent chance that Silva has been making friends with the cartel.”

Because a slimy South American politician and a Venezuelan cartel? What could possibly go wrong there?

“And you think if he’s using them to send messages, then perhaps, he’s using them to stash his enemies as well,sì?” Val asked, her accented voice lightly tinged with skepticism.

I shrugged. “According to my research, Luis Mendoza headsLos Cazadores Sangrientos’interests here in New York. He was a lieutenant in the cartel, likely sent here byel jefehimself, and hasn’t been back to Venezuela since. Not until he and his sons, Gustavo and Carlos, made a round trip to Maracay, Venezuela just prior to my dad being taken.” Which cast the trip into suspicion, in my opinion. “It’s a long shot, but it’s better than the no shot I had a few hours ago.” A tiny knot of excitement twisted in my stomach.

Val shook her head. “But Silva lives in Caracas,amiga.It is… What do you call it… ‘Quite a leap’, is it not?”

I nodded. Val didn’t know that my father and I had been monitoring one of Silva’s warehouses in Maracay. “But I’m still going to look into the cartel and their connections to see what I can find,” I told her as I turned onto the warehouse’s abandoned street.

“I’ll inquire around as well,amiga.”

“Gracias. If I have to put myself into play—”

Val sighed loudly, eyes narrowed.

Switchbacks and skydiving were my cup of tea. Working creeps without a safety net? Not so much.

“I’ll call you back when I know more,” I said as I turned into the warehouse’s lot.

Once the call was disconnected, I parked near the front door, the rumble of the Audi’s engine fading into the quiet night.

As I stepped out of the car, a prickling sensation crawled up my spine, a nagging intuition that something—orsomeone—was nearby.

It wasn’t the same haunting feeling of imaginary eyes on me that had plagued me all day.

This was different, more visceral.

Every nerve in my body tightened with apprehension as I returned the espresso to the holder in the car and discreetly withdrew my gun.

My ears strained to catch any sound out of the ordinary as I crunched across the few steps to the door.

I slid my hand beneath the corrugated metal and waited with bated breath for the telltale click of the locks. The moment I heard it, I grabbed the doorknob and pulled it open to the sound of Ray’s deep bark.

That’s when I found him, not with my eyes or ears.

---