Mr. Granger better be alive, she thought. Nicolás was good, but he wasn’t Cole Egan.
Nevertheless, she wanted to see this through. For once, she wasn’t propelled by greed but by vengeance. Her taste for revenge wouldn’t be satiated until she heard the screams of agony from Tony Garcia’s daughter. Only then would her mind allow her to think of something else. She let the silence stretch out a few more seconds, taking pleasure in seeing her accountant sweat bullets. She considered different possibilities and options. That was why she was so good and the one standing at the head of the table. Her ability to seize an opportunity in a chaotic situation and to adapt quicker than anyone else to a changing environment was her key to remaining in power.
She narrowed her eyes on the accountant, but she spoke to everyone.
“I understand your concerns, gentlemen, but you know as well as I do that to succeed in our business, we need to constantly revise our business plan. Taking over the Garcia family’s distribution network will allow us to move a lot more product, and the cost associated with its distribution will drop significantly. I’ve been communicating very closely with our major trading partners, and I’ve assured them that we’ll be operational within the next thirty days.”
“What if Tony Garcia doesn’t surrender?” one of her deputies asked. “His men are very loyal to him.”
“I’m well aware of their loyalty to him,” she hissed, but she continued more calmly, “Tony Garcia’s world is crumbling around him. Within the last thirty-six hours, we killed his father and kidnapped his daughter. He also managed to get shot by one of our men on the ground.”
The Black Tosca gazed at the four stunned, silent faces around the table. They were all looking at her, wide-eyed, waiting for her to continue.
“He’s straddling the threshold between life and death, I’m told.”
A few smiles appeared on the men’s faces. One of them said, “So even if he doesn’t chop his head off, we’ll get him in prison.”
The Black Tosca nodded. “Inside the system, he won’t have the kind of protection he’s accustomed to on the outside. He’ll be an easy mark.”
“So why’s Hector bringing the girls here? I was under the impression that the kidnapping was to bring Tony Garcia to his knees.”
“Let’s just say that there’s another, more personal reason too,” she said, almost shaking in anticipation.
“Will they be here soon?” the accountant asked, cleaning his glasses with a tissue.
“Oh, they’re already here.”
CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE
San Miguel de Allende, Mexico
The last leg of his flight had been uneventful, just like the first one. Upon landing, he cleared Mexican customs under the fictitious name of Terry Lewis—an alias the DEA had prepared for him in case he ever needed to be deployed to Mexico quickly. He exited the terminal and looked for someone holding a sign with his fake name on it. Two dozen taxi drivers were standing around with names on signs. He spotted a tall, dark man with a mustache and slender build holding a sign with the right name on it. The man fit the description Hunt had given him. Carter hoisted his only bag more securely on his shoulder and walked toward the man. They made eye contact, and Carter followed the man at a distance. The man walked silently but briskly through the terminal to the arrivals curb. He hopped into the passenger seat of a waiting late-model Toyota Land Cruiser. Carter climbed into the back seat, and the SUV rolled forward. The driver was an attractive Latina woman with long, dark brown hair that fell to her shoulders.
“Welcome to Mexico, Simon,” she said, her big green eyes looking at him in the rearview mirror. “I’m Abigail. This is my husband, Dante.”
“You guys are really married, or it’s a cover?” Never before had he met a pair of DEA special agents who were married and posted together outside the United States.
“Let’s just say that we work and sleep together.”
Carter chuckled. “Got it.”
“There’s a cooler behind your seat with a couple of sandwiches and a bottle of water,” Dante told him.
“Thanks,” Carter said, opening the cooler. “I appreciate you picking me up.”
“Our pleasure. Hunt told us what this is about. We’ll do our best to help.”
“How do you know Pierce?” Carter asked, grabbing a sandwich and the water bottle.
“I flew helicopters in Iraq,” Dante said. “We crossed paths a few times.”
“If he’s asking you to risk your career for him, I’m sure it was more than a few times.”
“No, not really. But I guess it’s what he did on one of those times that matters, isn’t it?”
“Pierce saved Dante’s life,” Abigail said. “That’s why we’re both willing to risk anything for him.”