Page 14 of For The Chances We Take

“That’s not all.” My blood was already boiling, but hearing her affliction sent goosebumps throughout my body. Not the good kind.

“I had this...warning in my gut.” She rubbed her right hand over her forehead, the other one still conducting us. “So I followed them for a while.”

“Of course, the normal choice.” She checked me from the corner of her eyes, unimpressed at my sarcasm.

“He drove them to a dirt road, it seemed to lead to some private property, so I couldn’t go on. Right before they followed that path, he got out of the car to open the gate. What...disturbed me...he was…” She took in a deep breath in distress. “He took off his shirt. On his back, there was a huge tattoo of a scorpion wearing a crown, with a rosary hanging from its tail.”

I stopped breathing for a few seconds, my insides were frozen, and I felt lightheaded. Then I exploded and hit the dashboard. “Son of a bitch!” I bent over, the seat belt restraining my movement, and shoved my hands in my hair. “Fuck! That’s way worse than what I’d imagined. That freaking...I can’t believe she would...how stupid does a person need to be to get involved with a Mexican drug cartel?”

“That’s only one of my questions.” Her fair complexion was paler than usual, and her eyes seemed tormented. “How could she cheat on Danny? How long have she and that guy been together? What are they planning? Is she getting money from Danny to give this guy? How unsafe are Danny and Fee? And what on Earth is someone fromEl Rey Alacrándoing here? This is not even their turf!”

Since her time at the DEA, Mia had dedicated her career to learning aboutEl Rey Alacrán, a well-established and still thriving Mexican drug cartel. She investigated everything about them, from their rituals to their ranks, from their operation to the symbolism of their tattoos. Although in that case, seeing that the man had the cartel logo on his back, it didn’t leave doubts about his involvement with it.

Way too soon, we arrived at the company, but neither of us got out of the car. “Was he here alone?”

“I don’t know, but even if he was, I don’t think he’d be for too long.”

“How do you figure?”

“If he just wanted to get some, he could go to a motel or drive to a bigger town. Bing, bang, boom, and leave this place. But either he’s squatting down at someone else’s property, or he bought or rented the place they were heading to. No matter the option, it seems he intends to stay here for a while. If he’s planning on staying, he’s most likely not planning this on his own. I didn’t recognize the guy, so he must be new or on the rise.” She turned to me with cautionary eyes. “He was reconning.” And that whole line of thought was why we needed her around.

We stayed silent inside the car, neither of us ready to leave and face reality. “Why didn’t you tell me this before? We were together for days.”

She tapped her legs. “We needed to focus on the assignment, and...I think...I was trying to convince myself my eyes had played me.”

“Do you think this has something to do with Pablo?” When Mia was working at the DEA, she, along with other agents led by her, was investigating the increase in drug trafficking on our side of the country. Not around Holy Water, though. They came up with a task force and made some really big arrests.

Right before Mia was fired from the agency and decided to start our venture, she was responsible for arresting Pablo “El Segador” Salazar, the right hand toEl Rey Alacránleader, Carlos “La Sangre” Gomes. The forces were in an uproar over The Bryant Prodigy, yet that wasn’t enough to keep the agency from betraying her.

“I don’t know. He could be here just to expand his business, and this had nothing to do with me. But it bugs me that Andrea is involved somehow. It bugs me that this guy is here at all.” She took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes with her thumb and index finger.

“I know a guy from the DEA, he’s new in this area, but he’s good. He used to work with Danny. I’ll talk to him about it.” I made a mental note to call the guy as soon as I could. If anyone could help us with it, Ethan Cross was the man. Him and Mia’s mentor. “Why don’t you call your guy?”

“I’m not sure where Aaron is right now, but I’ll call him.” Her eyes seemed lost, and she began nibbling the inside of her lips. “You know what bothers me?”

“Is there more?”

“Let’s think of this as business research. You need a liaison for that, someone that can give you inside notes, explain the ins and outs, tell you about the area and the market. Is this person her, or do we need to look for yet another person?”

That didn’t sit well with me. I despised the woman, but I didn’t think she was involved with drug and human trafficking—the two alleged main sources of income for this cartel. That being the case, we should consider that another person in this once safe and close community was a threat. Who?

Still fidgeting with her glasses instead of wearing them, Mia bent her head down, her shoulders slumped. “We need to tell Danny, right?”

I leaned back, resting my head on the car seat. “We do. This is so messed up.”

“He shouldn’t have married her.”

“He was trying to do the right thing for Fee.”

“You don’t get married just because your nutcase of a girlfriend claims to be pregnant. He could still be one hell of a father and not be connected to that witch.” She groaned at her own words and leaned his head on the steering wheel. “I shouldn’t judge him, I know it’s wrong. I just...hate her so much. She’s been putting him through hell since they met, and now this.” She lifted her head to the side to look at me. “He needs to get out and take Fee with him. It’s not like he loves Andrea anyway.”

“Let’s tell him what we know, and then he decides what to do.”

“And if he decides the wrong thing, we convince him to leave Andrea.”

“He decides what to do,” I stated.

“As long as he leaves her.”

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