Total pages in book: 61
Estimated words: 59119 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 296(@200wpm)___ 236(@250wpm)___ 197(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 59119 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 296(@200wpm)___ 236(@250wpm)___ 197(@300wpm)
Holy shit. Could he actually be telling the truth? I mean, he went into such detail, and the story had so many layers.
“I completed my transfer to the LA office and took a desk job,” he said. “My main focus was on Jack and settling into my new role. But over time, I became consumed by the ever-growing Blanco case and putting away the motherfuckers who got my cousin killed. When I was eventually promoted, I wanted more. I wanted to be the field operative I’d been in DC and see how deep I could go.”
I jotted down the name Jack. I assumed that was the kid. Jack Santos? Jack Mercier? Jackson? He should be about eleven years old today, so Squeezy would find him in a school somewhere—if he existed.
He didn’t exist, did he?
“I fucked up royally the day I was given the chance to go undercover,” he went on. “Jack was too young to understand what it really meant, so when Daddy explained how important this was, he obviously agreed and thought it was cool that I was gonna go out and catch bad guys.”
I stopped typing and looked at him. He deserved a fucking Oscar for how well he portrayed a guilt-ridden dad.
“One year in, I wanted out,” he murmured, seemingly to himself. “I worked harder and took more risks, just so I could finish the case and put it all behind me. I had a partner in the DEA—we were approaching Luca Blanco from different angles. She was already in Colombia.”
Luca Blanco. The big boss of the Blanco cartel.
An emotional attachment seeped through when he spoke. He’d been close to this partner of his. Had something happened?
“Either you fell in love, or she died,” I guessed. “Or both.”
He flicked me a glance, disinterested, almost like he’d forgotten I was here. “I’m gay,” he said, dismissing the first guess. “No, she was more like my little sister.”
All right. “Until…?”
His jaw ticked, and he averted his gaze to the floor. “Until she was executed by Vincente Blanco for rejecting his advances.”
Oh fuck.
“That was my only visit to Colombia,” he said. “The one time we got close enough to be invited to a party at Luca’s summer estate. I’d established myself as a freelancer with good connections, and Tania was a coveted propaganda singer for the cartel.”
Fuck, fuck, fuck, this wasn’t good. Vincente was funding our entire mission to bring down Carillo and his men, so there was no way we could let Delgado-Mercier get back to his job—even if he turned out to be one of the good guys.
We couldn’t let him get in the way. What if he somehow managed to find Vincente and kill him? Our support would be lost. Once we had Blake, Marisa, and Shay back…? Delgado could do whatever the fuck he wanted. Not a minute before.
“Her death brought me closer to Carillo,” he said. “He knew Tania and I had been friends.”
So he’d worked the Carillo angle first.
“He’s a step down from Vincente,” I noted. “Wouldn’t it’ve been smarter to get closer to Vincente, given his position? Or did he know about your friendship with Tania too?”
He eyed me for a beat in his calculating way, with a side of exhaustion and discomfort. “Vincente has reached his ultimate goal. He’s happy with his regio position. Carillo wanted to go higher. He was my best bet. Before I figured out he wanted to sever all ties with the Blancos, of course. Now I’m on the wrong team, and my only chance at turning things around is if I can convince Carillo to let me broker a peace deal between him and Luca. Except I gotta go through approximately three channels before I get that far.”
This, I had to write down. If he truly was a federal agent, his target was the head of the entire cartel. But Feds didn’t operate like private contractors or mercenaries. He couldn’t just get close to Luca Blanco and put a bullet in his brain. He’d have to orchestrate an arrest carried out by Colombian law enforcement, before the DEA and the FBI could take over and have Luca extradited.
“You realize they’ll have a replacement in two seconds, right?” I asked. “Luca has four sons.”
“I’m well aware,” Delgado said wryly.
Mercier? Delgado?
Fucking hell.
Which meant…the operation was even bigger. I trapped my bottom lip between my teeth and thought about it.
“You’re gonna switch sides,” I stated. “If you manage to convince Carillo to seek out Luca for a peace deal, maybe even a cooperation…? You’ll switch to Luca’s side, and then you’re in his inner circle. You’ll be able to gather all kinds of intel and evidence.”
His mouth twitched with a pinch of amusement.
“What?” I stiffened.
The fucker let out a chuckle. “Fuckin’ coal mine sabotage… I’m not gonna lie—you had me for a moment. But you’ve completely forgotten your own cover, son. You’re no ecoterrorist, and your name isn’t Dennis either.”