Hidden Agenda (21 page)

They were banging on the door. “Jinx Cawley? Police! We have a warrant for your arrest.”

Michael was the last one out the back door. He slammed it shut behind him.

M
ichael scaled the fence at the back of Jinx's property, biting back the pain that shot through his rib cage. He landed on his feet in a puddle of mud in the neighbor's backyard. Like it or not, he was definitely getting too old for this. Of course, Tomas and his hit squad hadn't helped either.

He ran behind Mason and Jinx toward the neighbor's side gate, noting the wooden doghouse in the corner of the yard.
Great.
The last thing they needed right now was yet another complication to their escape.

The three men slipped through the gate into the front yard and slammed it shut, just as a German shepherd rounded the corner of the house. Michael stopped to catch his breath, bracing his hands against his knees, his lungs burning.

“You okay, man?” Mason asked.

“Yeah, but as soon as this is over, I'm applying for a job as a greeter at my local hardware store.”

“Funny.”

Jinx looked back at them like they were crazy. “Come on, man!”

They made their way through the yard of a vacant house toward their parked car. Michael hit the button on his key fob, and all three men jumped into the car. Michael took the wheel,
zigzagging through the narrow streets for a good ten minutes, until he finally pulled into the back of a deserted parking lot.

“You going to be okay?” Michael said, as Jinx opened the car door.

“Yes, but just don't forget one thing,” Jinx said before getting out.

“What's that?”

“After this,” Jinx said, “we're even.” He took off running and disappeared.

Michael stepped out of the car onto the pavement, anger from the encounter still seeping through him. “If the arrest warrant was just a ruse, how did they know we were there?”

“I don't know.” Mason walked around the car, then leaned against the front. “I was sure we weren't followed.”

“Me too.”

He'd driven using every trick in the book to lose any tails. Either he'd lost his touch, or they'd found another way to track them.

“They used a tracking device on Gizmo's collar to find us the first time,” Michael said.

“You think they're tracking my car?”

“If they were tracking your car, they wouldn't have bothered going to Jinx's house. They'd have been waiting for us when we got back to the car.”

“What about Jinx's parole officer?” Mason asked. “It wouldn't be the first time when one had been bought to look the other way. Maybe if we found that list, his name would be on it.”

“Or maybe the visit was legit.”

But from the look on Mason's face, neither of them believed this was simply a coincidence.

“I'll call Tory,” Mason said, as he took his phone from his pocket. “She'll be able to find out if there's a warrant out for Cawley.”

A minute later, Mason hung up the call. “She can't find any official record of anyone being called to that address, but she's going to keep looking into it.”

“So they were either dirty cops or men posing as cops, which means they had to have found out where we were going from a dirty cop.”

“These guys are smart, Michael. We thought the leak had been plugged with the death of Charlie, but this goes much deeper.”

Michael scuffed his shoe against the pavement, knowing exactly what his partner was thinking. Somehow they'd managed to land smack-dab in the middle of a turf war.

“We need to get ahold of that list,” Michael said. “Because people are going to die if we don't stop this.”

“I know.”

“What about the hotel room?” Michael watched a line of starlings congregating on the power line. The worry in his gut was growing. They needed that list. “Do you think they're safe?”

The intensity of his emotions surprised him. Especially surprising was how Olivia was included in the same, intense concern he felt for his family. Working undercover might have taught him to control his emotions, but Olivia had managed to cross his boundaries, something no other woman had ever done before. Taking risks with his own life was one thing. He wasn't willing to risk hers. Not even if it meant losing Valez.

Mason shoved his hands into his pockets. “We could change locations, but we run the risk of being found no matter where we are.”

“I know.”

“Which is why I think the hotel is probably the safest place right now. Tory's made sure all of our electronics are clean, and she's swept for bugs and tracking devices. I don't know what else to do.”

Michael would have preferred to keep the team limited to just
his family and Mason, but he trusted Avery, her judgment, and her team's expertise. And he wasn't sure they had a choice. He couldn't keep them all safe on his own.

“What now?” Michael asked.

Mason shoved his phone into his pocket. “For now, let's get going. You shouldn't be out here.”

Michael tugged on the edge of his cap. “I can't stay holed up in that hotel room, either. I promised Olivia I'd take care of her and her brother. Because of me, their lives are in danger.”

Mason turned to get into the car, then stopped. “What about Olivia?”

Michael's defenses rose. “What about her?”

“You know I have to ask the question before we go any further. Do you believe she's telling you the complete truth?”

“What?” Michael frowned. “You think she's in on all of this with Valez? You think she let him know we were coming to see Jinx?”

“Honestly, I don't know, but neither do I think we can overlook the possibility. She is his daughter.”

“Who saved my life, risking both hers and her brother's in the process. She didn't have to do that. And now you want to start pointing fingers at her?”

“All I know is that someone knew we were coming. We're out here risking our lives to find out the truth, and if she is involved in this—”

“You're wrong.”

Mason held up his hands and moved around to the front of the car to where Michael stood, his voice rising. “Before you start blaming me, don't tell me you haven't at least considered the idea. Or are you so caught up in her irresistible charm that you've simply accepted everything she's told you at face value?”

Michael clenched his fists. “This has nothing to do with how I feel about her.”

“It has everything to do with how you feel about her. You're attracted to her. I get that. But you can't let those feelings get in the way of the truth. You of all people know that.”

“She saved my life—”

“I don't care if she saved the president of the United States' life. She's the daughter of a cartel leader, yet you're telling me she knew nothing about his involvement. So forgive me if I'm not on board a hundred percent, but I'm starting to have a few doubts about your girlfriend. How does someone that close to Valez not know the truth?”

Michael took a step back, fighting the urge to slug his friend. “How many cases have you dealt with where friends and family were the last to know? How many women are shocked when their husbands walk out on them? Shocked that they've been having an affair or gambling away their savings? The truth is that we see what we want to see.”

“Exactly.” Mason looked up and caught his gaze. “I need to make sure that you're not seeing what you want to see instead of the truth.”

Michael bit back a sharp response as his defenses began to fall. As much as he wanted to deny it, Mason had a valid argument. It was telling that neither man was worried about Ivan's trustworthiness. They both knew that Olivia was the weak spot in Michael's professional armor.

“We have to look at everyone,” Mason continued. “And if you're wrong about her, you're putting us all at risk.”

Michael stared across the empty lot where weeds had popped up through the broken pavement, between shattered glass and empty bottles. The problem was, Mason
was
right about some things. This had gone far enough. It was time to put an end to it.

“Maybe it's time I turn myself in.”

“I'm not asking you to do that,” Mason said. “You know I'd do anything for you. I'd do anything for your family, but we're
all putting our lives and our jobs on the line here. We have to be able to trust each other. And just like I have to trust you, I have to be able to trust her as well.”

Michael slumped against the car, his emotions drained. “I know that she risked her life to save mine. She could have walked off the island without me. She could have dumped me off somewhere that first night, but she didn't.”

Mason caught Michael's gaze. “Do you trust her completely?”

Michael nodded. “Yes. Completely. Have Tory look into her background and check her out for yourself—”

“She already did.”

“Did anything come back?”

“Except for a speeding ticket fourteen months ago, no. She doesn't seem to be close to her father beyond a visit once or twice a year and the support money he sends her that seems to go primarily to her brother's schooling.”

“I trust her, Mason. And it's not because she's somehow managed to make her way into my heart.” Admitting it out loud made it seem real. “Am I crazy?”

Mason shot Michael a smirk as he headed for the car. “Love has a tendency to make you feel like you're crazy. I know. Emily's managed to turn my world upside down, but I wouldn't have it any other way. I just wanted . . . needed to make sure.”

“In the meantime,” Michael said, “we need to find that list.”

Olivia dumped the last swirl of coffee down the sink and started a fresh pot. At the rate they were going, they'd run out of coffee before the afternoon was over. But a potential coffee shortage was the least of her worries. Michael still wasn't back. Avery and her team might not fully trust her, but she needed to do something to keep from worrying about him.

She marched into the living room and stopped in front of
Avery, who was writing on the white board. It was time to prove she was trustworthy.

“I want to be a part of this investigation,” she began. “I can't sit around making coffee and reading the hotel directory while the rest of you work. In case you've forgotten, I'm a reporter. I know how to search for information, follow leads, and investigate. I might not be a detective like the rest of you, but I can dig up information with the best of them.”

Avery nodded. “Okay.”

Olivia paused. “Okay?”

“I do have something you can do, actually.” Avery grabbed a laptop from the desk where Ivan was still working with Michael's father and handed it to her. “I've got a name for you. I need to know everything we can find out about Julio Salazar. Mason told Tory that according to Michael's informant, the man apparently has his sights on taking over Cártel de Rey. We need to know exactly what we're up against.”

Olivia breathed out a sigh of relief. She didn't care if they were only placating her, she needed the distraction. Needed the chance to focus on anything besides the fact that Michael was out there, risking his life, and that Felipe's body was missing. Doing something productive was the only way she was going to make it through the next twenty-four hours.

“I'm on it.”

She found an empty armchair in the corner of the room and went to work.

Tory picked up her phone across from her, read the text message, and frowned.

“Something wrong?” Olivia asked.

“It's nothing.” Tory swept back a strand of dark hair behind her ear. “I just had to cancel my dinner plans for the third time this week.”

“I'm sorry.”

“We're both used to it, so there are no expectations other than my mother's for grandbabies. She doesn't understand how it can take me weeks just to get that first date.”

Olivia chuckled as she clicked on the first link with Salazar's name. At least she wasn't the only one with relationship issues.

The information on Salazar was limited, but there was enough for her to put together a basic background that alluded to a connection to the cartel. She grabbed a pad of hotel stationery along with a pen someone had left on the table beside her. This might be the twenty-first century, but sometimes a pen and paper worked best.