“About what?” Apprehension made his throat thick. If anything happened to her, it would be on his conscience. It would be his fault. She wouldn’t be in this position if Cain hadn’t wanted him here so badly.
“I’m not cut out for this,” she continued.
“For what?”
“For working here. I’m no match for these people.”
Relief washed through him. “You mean you’re ready to leave?” They were finally on the same page, but he’d lie if he said a strange sense of loss didn’t assault him.
“I’m thinking about it.”
The defeat in her voice gutted him. She’d been fighting so hard for that damn spa she had her heart set on.
He searched her eyes, but she lowered her lashes.
“You’ll make it happen, kitten.”
She shrugged. “Sure.” Disbelief rang heavy in the word.
“Come back to the party,” he said in a feeble attempt to lift her spirits.
“I need an early night.”
He was a bastard, but he felt better with her here, safe in the room, than exposed to Juan’s advances on the deck. He’d feel a hell of a lot better with her safe at home too, as far away from this island as possible.
“We’ll talk later.” He was hesitant to leave her alone. However, Leona would haul his ass back to that party if he didn’t return soon. “Will you be all right?”
She did a good imitation of a laugh. “Of course.”
He kissed the top of her head and walked out of the room before his willpower caved in.
Leona was waiting by the bar when he returned. “I was just going to send out a search party. Get the show on the road.”
“Aye.” He gave a cold laugh. “The damn show is on.”
She narrowed her eyes as he stepped around her.
After the evening’s show, with Asia safely tucked away in bed, Sean could focus on the real reason he was there. The first night, he’d taken his time to study the guests. He’d done his homework and had a clear understanding of who was who in Juan’s organization, but he had no idea who would be on the island. Two of Juan’s main players, Garcia and Tony, were on the guest list. They were known as the two aces.
Garcia was referred to as the ace of hearts for his love of women. He had a hand up just about every skirt in Cartagena. He was smooth, handsome, and slippery as an eel. Clever at wiping his tracks, the Federal Bureau of Narcotics never managed to get any evidence on him. Anyway, as Juan’s protégé, the feds wouldn’t touch him. Juan not only owned the government, but also the local police force. Garcia was Juan’s business broker. The middleman between Juan and his wholesalers, he was the one who hooked the big fish. Juan sealed the deals and took care of the negotiations.
Tony, short for Antonio, was called the ace of spades for his habit of shoveling graves. He was the one with the dirty hands, who took care of Juan’s security. He eliminated the competition and the traitors. He bought the cops. As much as Garcia liked women, Tony got off on torturing and killing.
The ace of hearts and spades were a lethal combination. Juan owned vast amounts of land used for the cultivation of coca. The narcs’ earliest efforts to clamp down on his illegal business, before they’d been bought, had been futile. The president was assassinated when he attempted a cleanup operation, and his successor rolled in drug money.
Garcia and Tony had been set up with escorts for Juan’s island party. Both men were married with families back home, but this was no family gathering. Some of the other guests included men such as Stefan Dan, who was an American communications holding group CEO and a big supplier of coke and marijuana to Africa. Since Cain’s team had wiped out the Mexican-Costa-Rican illegal arms operation, Juan relied on Stefan to smuggle his drugs to the ports of South Africa. More was going on down here than a birthday party.
Sean took his smartphone from his back pocket and inconspicuously snapped photos of the guests. Later, he’d upload them to the tablet and send them to Cain. Like everyone else’s luggage, his bag would’ve been searched when the bellboy had taken it away. The tablet was embedded in a mini iPad holder. When switched on, the frontal software mimicked the iPad operating system with Cain’s ePad software carefully disguised. It was a clever piece of technology available to few people around the world, and to be caught with it would be like having spy tattooed on his forehead.
Garcia and Tony walked up to the bar and ordered rum, neat.
“Juan wants to invest more,” Tony said.
“Godfrey will be pleased.”
Sean placed the drinks in front of the men and made a pretense of wiping the counter.
“I’ll set up a meeting,” Garcia said.