I knew the chances were high they would. Champion Security was the best in the business, as well as the only security company worth a damn in the Thicket. Besides, the CEO, Jacob Horn, seemed to have a hard-on for Champ himself. I’d been surprised my mistake had cost us the account.
“Yes, but only on a probationary basis. And only if you aren’t anywhere near the account.” He eyed me with suspicion. “Are you capable of keeping your nose out of HOG’s business after all this?”
Was he kidding? “I don’t want anything to do with that shitshow after this,” I said, telling the absolute truth. “And if I never see Buck Nutter again as long as I live, it’ll be too soon.”
Okay, I was exaggerating. Buck was a nice enough guy, but I wasn’t a gamer. And I’d never really understood his explanation of how kumquats and passion fruits represented coke and meth. Thankfully, he hadn’t completed the final upload of the Magic Seed infiltration for Gustavo Santiago, so he hadn’t actually committed a crime, and HOG Corporate said they wouldn’t press charges, mostly to keep the story out of the media.
“Well,” Champ said, leaning back and running a large hand through his hair. “That won’t be a problem. He’s already in the wind. The minute HOG Corporate finished debriefing him about the magic seed last night, he told his girlfriend and his family that he was going far away where no one could find him. His plan was to lay low for a while and stay away from HOG and the cartel.”
Elvo glanced at me with a smirk. “I believe his exact words were, ‘I’m fixin’ ta get Myrtle Beach drunk, but you know… not at Myrtle Beach or nothin’.’ So he’s most likely at Myrtle Beach.”
He was probably right. “Hope he stays off Santiago’s radar,” I said. “Gustavo will be on the lookout for him when he finds out Buck didn’t actually get the job done.”
Hux clicked the keyboard of his laptop, and the screen lit up on the far wall. “Yeah, about that. We have a slight problem.”
Champ glanced up at the screen. “What kind of problem?”
“He told us the guards took him back to the computer room the night before you left, and he killed the upload of the cartel’s financial data, right?”
I nodded. “And Gianluigi was panicked enough not to double-check before ordering him onto the plane.”
“Right. But…” Hux clicked another few keys and showed a surveillance video from the Champion jet. “Doesn’t that look like a Horn Buck’s showing Carter?”
My eyes froze on Carter’s face. He was so damned beautiful, even as tired as he’d been on the flight. He’d looked wrecked—so exhausted, he almost seemed sad. I’d wanted to talk to him, to hold him, to make him promise we’d see each other again, but I’d wanted him to be well even more. I’d left him alone to catch a nap at the back of the plane well away from my noisy and nosy teammates, but it looked like Buck had yammered at him instead of letting him sleep.
I forced myself to pay attention to what Hux was saying.
“Yeah, so?” I asked, even though I was surprised Buck managed to get out of there with anything at all on his person besides his clothes and the bandage on his leg.
Hux shrugged. “He didn’t have it when we debriefed him. And I somehow doubt Santiago would have let Buck bring his own Horn when the cartel kidnapped him, anyway. So, I’m wondering whose Horn it is, where he got it, and what happened to it between when he landed and when he came in here for questioning.”
I thought back to the little reunion scene at the private jetport. Carter’s grandfather and cousin had been there, and Buck’s entire extended family too. Supposedly, his great-uncle Amos Nutter had wanted to celebrate Buck’s homecoming with painted cows, but there hadn’t been enough time. When I’d heard him say it, I’d looked over at Carter to share a laugh, but he’d kept his eyes on the ground.
My stomach twisted. Carter hadn’t returned any of the texts I’d sent him since we landed. Elvo had assured me we had a security team in place to cover Carter and his family, but hearing clear status updates wasn’t quite the same as seeing and hearing he was okay with my own eyes.
And hands.
And lips.
“Dude, where the fuck are you?” Elvo muttered, nudging me hard in the ribs with his elbow. “You trying to fuck this up for yourself again?”
I glanced at Champ, but he was busy considering Hux’s news.
I cleared my throat. “Could he have handed it off to someone?” Hux and Elvo exchanged a glance. “What?” I asked.
“He could have handed it off to Carter. It might explain why he was showing it to him in the first place,” Elvo suggested.