Authors: Sara Schoen
“Why are you looking it up? I thought you had someone doing that for you,” Demon said.
“We do, but I volunteered because André is busy trying to find a girl from Virginia, and I don’t want him tracking me down. He can dig up anything, no matter how hard people try to cover it up.”
“Who’s the girl from Virginia?” Demon asked curiously.
I shrugged. “Someone with the last name Night, I think. Her family is looking for her, and he’s running into nothing but dead ends, so it could take a while to find her, if he ever does. She’s probably dead if they haven’t been able to find—”
“Destroy the file on her,” Demon commanded, interrupting me before I could follow that thought any further.
“What? I can’t get rid of it,” I snapped, confused. “They would want to know why, and I don’t have an explanation for it. What does it matter if they’re looking for her? Who is she?”
“They can’t know,” Demon muttered, pacing back and forth in distress. “They can’t know it was her. We made sure to cover everything. She should be impossible to find.”
“Demon, who is she?”
“Don’t worry about it,” he finally answered, after muttering about how he would have to fix someone’s cover story so André wouldn’t be able to find her. “I have another mission to finish before you see me again. I will try to have another meeting with you before Night Stripe is sent in. Don’t give away anything unless you have to, and when she comes, you’d better be ready to finish this because we have other missions to do. This one has taken more time than we thought it would, but until it’s over, keep your head low, and make sure André doesn’t start looking into you as well.” With that, he sped off and disappeared as he rounded the tree he had been hiding behind.
I watched him leave, and silently prayed that whatever plan they had would work. I wasn’t sure how long I’d be able to hold my tongue with Camden dating my sister, and I didn’t want to find my breaking point. Hopefully, Night Stripe wouldn’t be as reckless as Demon made her sound. I was ready for a little down time, even if it was just a short period of time, and I was ready to figure out if Demon would hold up his end of the deal.
Camden wasn’t on the move a lot during the day anymore, which was a blessing and a curse. It meant I didn’t have to do much except stay with him, but on the other hand I was bored out of my mind because he had so much busy work from his father. Occasionally he would make a phone call, or tell me to go pick something up from another cartel member. The plus side of Camden having busy work: I got to relax in his office, taking short naps as long as no one else caught me. I had grown accustomed to not sleeping a full night since I’d joined the military. I didn’t usually need much rest, but I hadn’t slept well the last few days. This was nothing compared to waking up early for training. Knowing there was another agent in the warehouse made me more cautious than usual, and I was constantly overthinking every detail of my day.
I didn’t want to see the other agent, or be seen around them, and I wanted to make sure we weren’t connected in case this mission went south. But, at the same time, I wanted to find out who it was. I wanted to meet them, figure out what they knew, and what it was like outside this mission. I had been cut off from everyone since I joined, and tried to keep my cover perfect. I just wanted to know someone I didn’t have to fake around. There had to be someone to talk to, especially once I finished this mission.
I hoped it would wrap up quickly when Night Stripe arrived. If she was as skilled as Camo, this mission would be over in less than a few months.
If
she behaved and focused on the mission. Demon claimed she wouldn’t know who I was, but I would be able to figure out who she was. That worried me, because if she thought I was getting in her way, I would be in the crosshairs without realizing it. When I put myself in danger with the cartel, I knew anyone would pull a weapon on me. It was that simple. Maybe a few would torture for information or beat the crap out of me, but either way I knew their final solution was to kill me. With her, I wasn’t certain she’d kill me, or compromise my position so someone else would.
I forced down a groan as I turned my attention back to Camden, who was busy on the phone talking to his father. They were discussing a trade with one of their rivals, the Son Reyes Cartel, which Camden was against after the leader held a gun to his head in their last exchange. He deserved it, but no one enjoyed being held at gunpoint. Other than his father, Camden had contacted Danielle, who had called him back a short time later. She’d been blinded by a lie, hoping to find me, unable to see who Camden really was. Someone had to know what the Cardozas were really like.
I lifted my eyebrow curiously. Maybe I could track down someone who had come in contact with the Cardozas and lived to tell their side of the story. I had thought about passing that to Demon before, but I couldn’t find the information and gave up on the thought. There were more pressing matters at hand, which included not having the barrel of a gun shoved into my temple because I’d gotten caught. I knew they were looking for information like that, not the low level stuff I had been sending back with Demon. To get that information, I would have needed someone closer to the top than as I was, someone who knew their way around.
That would explain why they sent in the other agent. Demon said she’d been in the cartel previously. If she could find out who had survived, or who the cartel was tracking down, they would have enough evidence to put away the leaders, and Camden. They would cripple the cartel, and make sure their leaders were behind bars. Once they were out of the picture, taking out the members would be easy. They would have no one to guide them, and tracking them down would take no time at all. They would be destroyed, and wouldn’t be able to recover.
I glanced at Camden as he let out a low groan and rubbed his temple in annoyance to whatever his father was instructing. I bit back a laugh and gestured back to the phone so he could return to jotting down notes before Miguel asked if he was still listening. A glowering expression took over my features once his stare wasn’t on me anymore. I always got along with my family, and it shocked me as I grew up at how many people didn’t get along with their parents. Bringing my friends over was embarrassing because they would talk about how much they hated their own parents. I liked mine, but just like my friends, Camden wanted to be out of his father’s shadow, to be on his own. He took it to a new level by wanting to be better than his father, and it bothered me.
It wasn’t a competition over who could kill the most people, or make the most profit, but Camden didn’t see it that way. He only wanted to take over the cartel so his father would see his abilities. Then Camden would pass it off to his own son as soon as possible, and leave without a thought. It was childish, and a lot of work to go through just to prove something. I could be wrong. Camden did have an interest in running the cartel, but he didn’t like the work. He might change when the time came, but I doubted it.
I also had doubts about the two rookies Demon sent in to
help
me complete the mission. Camo had already stepped on my toes when she snuck up on me in the old office, and it was only a matter of time before she or Night Stripe found a way to get us all killed. I would just have to find a way to keep myself off their kill list. I couldn’t let them see me as a threat.
I fully blocked out Camden’s conversation with his father as they discussed the deal, and focused on Demon’s comments during our brief meeting. He’d told me more information than he usually intended to, possibly because he understood the risks. Deniability wouldn’t help much if someone suspected me of being a traitor, especially so high up in the cartel and as Camden’s right hand man. I would have to be dealt with swiftly, and permanently, before either of the other agents could react. I knew it, but Demon didn’t need to think about it. That part was up to me. His job was to keep me out of the loop, like when he didn’t answer all my questions about the Sandtown mission directly, or about why he needed the Night file destroyed.
A small smile curved at the edges of my lips. It had to be her. She was the girl who’d disappeared in Virginia, vanished because she’d been recruited by CIRA. That would explain why he was proud of her for passing her first mission. He must have recruited her specifically for that mission. Which meant he was the dark haired guy the members claimed to have seen, and the Night girl must have been the agent who went rogue. There were a few stray claims that some had seen her rush out of the compound, and her basic description matched the one in André’s file.
I began to wish I had pushed him for more information. I could have figured out what made her go alone, or maybe how she separated herself from Demon. Reading people was easy, and he made it clear the girl was someone he cared for, so he wouldn’t have willingly let her out of his sight for such a dangerous mission. Something had happened in Sandtown, and she had managed to escape in the chaos, but why? Where did she go, and what had been so important?
The longer I thought about it, the more I needed to know exactly what happened in Sandtown, and not the story Jax’s men had fed to members. There were files, reports, and a few photos from the Sandtown raid hidden away in storage because Miguel tried to record what happened that night. He hoped to prevent a similar attack on other compounds by learning from that raid. He wanted to know if the attackers had been the same agents as before, but the descriptions didn’t match. He had to move the base, and he knew that after the first attack, the second attack meant that base could never be operational again.
I had heard Camden repeat a conversation with his father, about how many deserted, a few were killed, and the chaos caused the ones remaining to get arrested. She had ended that base, and now she was coming for their headquarters. If he knew, they would pack up and move to a different location. At least, he and his father would. She seemed to be out for blood, and I didn’t need someone distracted by anger during this critical point in the mission. There were too many lives on the line, and I wasn’t going to risk my life for her actions.
Maybe I was being too harsh. She could have gotten lost during the chaos, but the way Demon reacted told me there was a lot more to her story. Especially the reason behind her pride for the mission. I was supposed to be pleased with her too, and I couldn’t figure out why. Was it because the cartel had been harmed, and that I could get out soon? Had she somehow done me a favor? I wanted to know, but I would have to wait, at least until she got here.
The phone rang, bringing me out of my thoughts. I hadn’t realized Camden’s call with his father had ended, and that he had been watching me, as if waiting for me to answer a question. I just hoped he assumed my lack of focus resulted from exhaustion. He picked up the phone, and a moment later his eyebrows lifted in shock, and I knew I would be asked to leave. Camden typically dismissed me from his office under matters of extreme importance. I wasn’t sure why, but I didn’t care because now I could go look for the files on the Sandtown raid.
Sure enough, Camden waved his hand to dismiss me, and I got up without having to be told twice. Although before I could make it to the door, he stopped me. “Marco,” he whispered, not wanting whoever was on the other end of the line to hear. “Take the rest of the day off. You need to catch up on some sleep. I’ll have one of the other guys take your spot.”
I nodded in response and left without a word. When I shut the door behind me, I glanced down the halls to see if I had enough of an opening to make it to the files I wanted. The hallway was empty, and it would take a few minutes for the replacement to come. Perfect timing to look for the files I needed. Still, it would be a scavenger hunt since Miguel had moved the files to sporadic rooms, without any organization or reason for putting them there, and they had all gotten mixed together.
Luckily, they were relatively recent, and that meant they could be in this building. If they weren’t, they would be near Miguel’s office, and that was a bigger risk to take. I had an excuse to be here, but if someone caught me near his office, there would be a lot of questions. None of which I would have an answer for. If I needed to go over there, maybe I could peek into André’s file on that girl he was looking into. Demon seemed more worried about that than he should be, which meant she
had
to be someone in the agency.
I told you, Demon
.
I told you I would figure out how to read you one day.
Now all I needed were those files, and I would be able to read those new agents too. Hopefully I wouldn’t run into the rookie while searching, because that was one thing I couldn’t prepare for.
“Marco, we have a problem,” Camden said once he shut the door behind us. A shiver ran down my spine at his words. He must have been sitting on this for the last few days because he had sent me to run errands for him and his father while they were busy. I wasn’t sure what they were up to, but I could guess. He was trying to get another date with my sister, trying to run the compound, wondering who was sabotaging shipments, and considering what to do about those who had tried to escape the Sandtown base.
I heard he’d been running into trouble determining who’d been killed and who’d run away, which was giving Miguel another reason to hold the leadership over Camden’s head. Camden was sick of waiting, and I wasn’t sure what would come from it. I had a feeling it wouldn’t be good.
“What kind of problem would that be?” I asked curiously, handing him the files that had been passed to me on my way over here by one of Miguel’s men. I assumed they were status reports from the Sandtown base move, which had been successful so far, and the shipments and trades we had going on. I hadn’t taken the time to look in them to know for sure, but when I saw Camden grimace I wish I had. It only added to the foreboding sense of doom in the pit of my stomach.
“There’s been an issue with the police lately,” he said tentatively, waving his hand in a gesture that I should sit down. Following the order, I took my usual seat across from him, and waited for him to continue. “They’ve been getting a lot of calls on us, and our meetings. Dad had someone walking into the weapons trade today, and a few deals have been interrupted prior to this incident. I’m worried it’s going to keep happening, and I want to know who’s doing it.”
My body went rigid. The muscles in my shoulders tensed, and my hands tightened around the arm of the chair as I tried to fight the nerves that had started to eat away at me. Normally, I had to feign shock or surprise, but this time, when Camden pointed out clear sabotage, I was surprised because it wasn’t me who had done it. When he mentioned shipments getting destroyed, or a few things being out of place during important trades, I knew it was me, but I wasn’t aware police were being called. It was rare that the police caught on to our plans, and we were always able to intervene in some way. It was so rare that I knew exactly where Camden’s thoughts were going. He knew someone was behind it, and he was worried there was a rat among us.
I wondered if Camo had something to do with it. The number of close calls with the police screamed a rookie mistake. I tried to suppress my anger as my teeth clenched together and my hands balled into a tight fist. Camden didn’t seem to notice, and carried on as if I had been unaffected by the news.
“Luckily, it wasn’t an important meeting,” he said, meaning there was no product there while Miguel and a business associate talked over the deal.
Pity, this could have ended the mission before the rogue agent showed up. I would have preferred to meet her after the mission, with less risk involved. I wasn’t sure who she would hurt, maybe even herself, and then we’d be in deep shit. I had to play it safe. I wouldn’t have time to worry about either of them because I would have to start a man hunt to coax out the rat. The best choice here was to act as if it was nothing and then distract him. That would give me enough time to figure out a plan, ending this before it got out of hand.
“It could have been a coincidence,” I offered. “They could have changed routes or times. You know the police get anxious when they know there’s a trade happening. If someone had called it in once, they would remain on alert for a while.” Camden nodded, realizing I had a valid point. Though it didn’t explain the recent calls to the police.
One shipment had already been snatched after an exchange a few weeks ago. By that time, it was out of our hands, and they couldn’t track it back to us, but it meant the police were on high alert. It wasn’t as if I didn’t want the cartel to be caught, but Demon had stressed them getting caught at the right time or they would all slip through our fingers, and almost five years of undercover work would go down the tubes. “Maybe it was nothing.”
Camden sighed, rubbing his temples lightly. “That’s what I thought at first, but there’s been too much tampering with things in the warehouse lately. Stuff has gone missing, been misplaced, or destroyed. I think one of the new recruits is a rat.” Camden focused on me, seeming to assess how I took the news, but I didn’t react. I held my emotions in check, and kept my face stoic as I waited for him to continue. “We need to find out who it is and end them before they become a problem. I don’t want to have to tell my father that I let a rat in. I’ll never hear the end of it, and I’d never be allowed to take over.”
A wave of relief washed over me once he said Miguel didn’t know Camden’s suspicions. This had just gotten easier. Convincing Miguel he was being paranoid would be impossible, but convincing Camden…
All I would need is a pretty girl, and I knew just the one to take his mind off things.
“Maybe you’re just stressed because you’ve been so focused on Danielle. You’ve been out with her a lot recently,” I said, referring to the late night dates and phone calls. “What has you so worried there’s a rat? Nothing seems to be out of the ordinary.”
“Shipments are missing some product, entire boxes disappear, some are destroyed…and I know we’ve talked about it before, but it’s just gotten worse.”
“I’ll say the same thing I said last time. Mistakes happen. These people are new, so give them a little while longer. Focus on this girl and then you can worry about whipping them into shape later.” I let out a soft chuckle, hoping the statement came across as a joke so he wouldn’t see the deception. I wasn’t certain what Camden would do to his people if they didn’t straighten up. Maybe fire or kill them. It would depend on his mood, but I knew exactly what would happen if one of them got caught.
Miguel once said, ‘The best rat is a dead rat.’ It would be fast, and a permanent solution.
Camden was about to respond when his phone started ringing. “Hello?” he answered, casting a curious glance to the desk phone. I hadn’t noticed his personal phone rang, not the desk phone. It was rare for him to receive calls on his cell, especially since he usually kept it off when he was in the office.
I relaxed slightly once I knew it wasn’t business, and I could take a moment to gather my thoughts about the rat, if there was one. It was possible it had been the rookie, that she’d made a simple mistake. I knew Demon hadn’t sent her in to cause trouble because I had done enough of that already, and I certainly wouldn’t have called the police, especially with nothing incriminating at the scene. She had messed up, and now I’d have to find a way to keep Camden off her tail, and mine.
“Danielle,” Camden said, pulling me from my thoughts. “My personal phone is for
personal
reasons. Any business related inquiries should be directed to my work number.”
I gazed at Camden as a smile curled at the edges of his lips. A smirk of my own spread across my face as I saw the nervous gleam in his eyes. He glanced around the room, as if in search of a way to buy time or answer her questions. It was fun to watch him squirm. He always appeared in control when it came to the women he went out with, but now it appeared as if Danielle had the upper hand. She wanted information about me, Camden wanted her around, and in order to do that he had to give her information. He couldn’t stall forever, because she wouldn’t wait. Which meant it would be easier to pass off whatever information I gave him, even if it was a lie, and he wouldn’t hesitate for a moment.
I knew André was trying to take over because his case had gone south. The girl he was tracking had been found dead on the Appalachian Trail, a weekend hiking trip the family had forgotten about. I shook my head at the thought. How could they forget she had gone on a hiking trip, regardless of how far in advance the plans had been made? Either way, André had found who he was looking for, just not in the way Miguel had hoped. I had overheard André say Miguel was pretty upset by the turn of events, but didn’t say why. He offered to take over my case for Camden, and I had to think of a way to keep it with me. I didn’t want André going into my past and discovering my identity, or who I had become.
“I have my people looking for your brother, so don’t worry,” Camden said. “We just haven’t found anything to report to you yet, but I will keep you updated when I find something.” He paused as Danielle answered. He let out a nervous chuckle as they continued to speak. I wanted to know what she was saying, and specifically what made him nervous. Unfortunately, I couldn’t hear both sides. I could only hear him telling Danielle he had to get back to work and would see her again soon. He also said he would start checking in more so she would be kept up to date on the case, but I knew he just wanted to keep in touch with her.
My tongue raced across my teeth, letting the dull pain calm me. He was just using me, someone who had supposedly died overseas, to be with my sister. It was low, even for him.
“Yes, I will let you know when someone finds anything on your brother. I will see you next week for lunch after your classes.” He hung up, groaning as he slumped into his chair. “She is very intent on finding him. I don’t think this will be as easy as I hoped to have the search swept under the rug.”
“She’s still looking for him? Even though it’s been almost five years with nothing turning up?” I asked, surprising myself at how convincing I sounded. I knew Danielle wouldn’t stop looking for me, I just wish she would see past Camden’s charade and get out before she put herself in danger. She was smart enough to figure out when she was being lied to, so why couldn’t she see it now?
“Oh yes. I don’t think she’ll stop looking for him, but that means I need to look into his case more. I don’t want to drag her along too much, or she’ll stop believing that I’m actually looking for him. Then I’m out of luck, and out of a girl to marry so I can take over.”
“If you really want her to forget about Jackson, and just be with you, then tell her he’s dead. She won’t have any reason to go looking for him then, and it will be all over.”
“I would, but that would mean losing her. I need to find something on him, because if I say he’s dead right away then she leaves and I never see her again. I actually like this one, and I don’t want her to go through everything again. She’s already been through a lot.” For a moment, I liked Camden. It was nice to hear he cared enough about my sister to not crush her heart again, and make her suffer losing her family a second time. That is, until he added, “Much later on, I will tell her he’s been found dead, and by then she’ll be so attached to me she sticks around. I just need a little more time.”
You selfish bastard.
I shrugged, trying to play off my annoyance as friendly disagreement. Camden just laughed, and told me it wouldn’t take that long. Then we could go back to running the business. I was good at that, getting rid of everyone who stepped in his way. I may not like it, but I enjoyed it more than watching him attempt to win over Danielle so he could take over the cartel. Maybe if he cared more about her than the cartel, it would be different, but I doubted it. I would prefer my sister marry someone who wasn’t in a cartel.
“How about I start tonight?” I suggested. “I already started so I’ve scratched the surface. There’s no need for you to go over what I’ve already done.” Also, it would ensure Camden wouldn’t find something to connect me to my undercover alias.
“That would be great,” Camden said, hopping out of his chair and racing toward the door. “It means I can spend more time trying to figure out how to win her over so she stops focusing on him. I have a plan.”
I lightly patted him on the shoulder as he left the room, a fake smile taking over my features when he gave me a thumbs-up. The second his back turned, I glared daggers, tempted to remove the blade I kept concealed at all times and end it all right now. I couldn’t, though, because I had to wait and suffer through it. I couldn’t believe I was helping him lie to my sister, but what other choice did I have? I could turn myself in, tell him to search for the rat, and probably find Camo, or I could help him win over my sister. So far, only one of those options kept everyone alive. I just hoped it stayed that way.