question. Is Bryant in town?” And doing his best to smooth-talk Brea away from him?
“Cutter is still in Dallas. I expect him home Friday. This morning, he got a goddamn concussion. Someone whacked him in the back of the head while he was peeing.”
It was so ridiculous, One-Mile would have laughed except he knew it would annoy Hunter. The good news was, Cutter horning in on his woman wasn’t the reason for her distance. “Thanks. I’ll be home Sunday.”
“Call me if you spot Montilla anywhere in Orlando.”
“Sure.” But One-Mile’s gut said the drug lord was still sniffing around St. Louis, trying to pick up his wife’s scent. He wasn’t letting that fucker go.
Hunter hung up. And One-Mile went back to pacing. How could he draw Montilla out? How could he get a jump on the sadistic asshole and stop his reign of violence? If One-Mile could get word to the drug lord about Valeria’s former safe house, he would be waiting… But they weren’t exactly pals, and he didn’t know who Montilla might be connected to in St. Louis.
But they apparently had a mutual contact inside EM Security Management. Why not kill two motherfuckers with one missile?
Question was, who on his own team should he take aim at? He was only going to get one shot at this…
As much as One-Mile loathed the fucking Boy Scout, Cutter was too forthright and upstanding for this turncoat shit. That left Josiah, Zy, and Trees. Gut feeling? This wasn’t Josiah’s speed. He kept his nose clean and kept to himself. Zy seemed too busy chasing their receptionist’s skirt to pay attention to much else. Not that it had done him much good. Sure, Tessa stared at him like she might be interested in more than a friendly handshake, but they’d likely respected EM’s zero-tolerance policy with regard to fraternization—at least so far.
One-Mile’s money was on Trees. But he needed a test…and after a few minutes of scheming, he came up with a plan.
He dashed off an email asking Tessa to pass an attachment with the exact address and schematic of the St. Louis safe house to Trees. As a professional courtesy, of course, since they’d gone to Acapulco together. Naturally, he left out the part about it being abandoned. He’d also included a note that he’d debrief everyone else when he got back into town.
Like hell.
The communication would look more official going through the office, so Trees was more likely to take it at face value. Their efficient little receptionist would do as requested without asking questions. And Hunter wouldn’t find out until later…if he found out at all.
This was a win-win. If Montilla turned up at Valeria’s former address in the next few days, then he’d have a fucker to mete justice to and a two-timing rat to expose.
He’d deal accordingly.
But he had to jet back to St. Louis now. Tessa wouldn’t forward that email until she came into the office at eight tomorrow morning. Which meant he’d likely see Montilla in twenty-four hours or less.
One-Mile intended to be ready.
After throwing all his belongings back into his duffel, he opened the door and prowled through the dusky shadows. Laila sat in front of the TV.
She glanced over at him, then down at the bag in his hand. “You’re leaving.”
He nodded. “Where’s your sister?”
“Napping with the baby.”
“I need you to listen to me. I’m going to St. Louis to track this motherfucker down.”
Laila nodded solemnly, but he saw her relief. “Thank you. Will you kill him?”
“I’d like to.” But the US government wanted Montilla. If he offed the drug lord on US soil for any reason other than self-defense, they’d crucify him and haul him off to jail. “At the very least, I’m going to get him off your back. Here’s my number. If he turns up here, get out and call me immediately. Do you have a gun?”
“I am not supposed to.”
Because she wasn’t in the country legally. He shook his head. “That isn’t what I asked. Do you have one?”
Finally, she nodded. “I keep it loaded. Because of the baby in the house, my sister is against it…”
“Keep it up high and keep the safety on. He hasn’t started walking yet, so he shouldn’t be able to find it and hurt himself. But never put it more than five feet from you. Never let the battery on your phone die. Watch everyone around you everywhere you go. Sleep with one eye open.”
“I already do.”
One-Mile wasn’t surprised. After all the abuse she’d