Hux shrugged. “Some say Elon Musk sent it into space. Others say Warren Buffet keeps it in his subterranean hideout beneath the suburbs of Omaha. Personally, I like to think…” Hux’s cheeks flushed, and his voice went hoarse. “I like to think a mysterious rich benefactor bought and hid it so that someday it’d be found by someone truly worthy of holding it. Kinda the way Excalibur found Arthur, you know?” He cleared his throat and wiped his eyes surreptitiously. “But in any case, we won’t have it for this op.”
“Wow. That’s… a very moving tale,” Kev said, picking the crust off a sandwich with unusual focus. “So I guess that’s out. Darn.”
Carter turned to glare at his cousin. “Tell them.”
Now Kev’s cheeks turned pink. “Moi? Tell them what? I’m not part of this, remember? You all keep making a point of how I’m not a team member and you don’t need my help.”
Carter sat down in the seat next to him and squeezed his shoulder. His voice softened. “Kev. This is really important. You know it is, and you know I wouldn’t ask you if it wasn’t a matter of life and death.”
Kev’s eyes widened. “Life and death? I thought it was a public relations thing?”
I leaned forward so I could see him better around Elvo’s wide shoulders. “That’s what it is for our client, but the information we think is on there is protecting the identities of cartel members as well as their financial transactions. This information could potentially be used to stop an incredible amount of illegal drug production and movement. As soon as we distance our client from the source of the information, we’ll turn it over to the DEA so they can take action on it. And beyond that, the lives of every single person associated with Champion Security could be at risk if the cartel gets desperate enough. They’ve proven that they can get close to us already. That’s why we’re here.” I waved my hand in a circle to encompass the whole enormous house.
Riggs added, “The Cartel de Luna is responsible for importing seven metric tons of cocaine into the United States in the last four years and could be responsible for up to a hundred thousand drug overdose deaths in America alone.”
Kev groaned. “Fine. Fine! I’m your mysterious rich benefactor.”
Hux looked like he’d been shot. His face went slack and pale. “You…? No. Not you. Not this Horn.”
“Yep. Me. With this Horn. Lo siento, HogMasterHux.” Kev gave Hux a smirk that said he wasn’t sorry at all. “Don’t be too sad. You’d never be worthy of holding my Horn anyway.”
Huxley opened his mouth to retort, but all that came out was a sad puff of air. He clamped his mouth shut again so hard his teeth clacked.
Carter turned to me and gave a small, unnecessary nod. We all knew Kev had a big heart and would agree to anything that would help the greater good…
As long as it didn’t involve Huxley.
“Thank you,” I told Kev sincerely, and he nodded.
“Okay, so now that we have a decoy Horn…” I turned back to Quinn. “What’s the best way to approach Tommy Drakes?”
21
QUINN
Everyone turned to me expecting me to have a plan fleshed out rather than just a vague idea of what we could do.
I realized that this experienced team, a group of smart, capable men headed by Champ, respected me enough to value my input, knowledge, and experience. My lungs expanded as I took in a deep, cleansing breath and relaxed.
Part of me felt like I’d finally found my home. Instead of breaking down into a heap of grateful tears, I forced myself to focus on the op.
“Okay, first… I need to show you this.” I pulled a piece of paper from my back pocket and unfolded it onto the table. “It’s a note from Vince—Agent Parler. I found it on my back door this afternoon when Marissa and Levi were leaving. I’m not sure when he could have left it—”
“Motherfucker,” Champ swore, running a hand through his hair. “I might know. Vienna Goodley saw someone trying to break into Taffet Events earlier, which is why I was just a bit upset when you got here.”
Holy shit. Vienna really was protecting the Thicket.
“Champ was just a tiny bit upset,” Riggs reiterated. “Not close to a blind panic, no matter how it might have appeared.”
Champ shot him a dark look. “We’re trying to get security footage from the tax place next door to see if we can get an ID, but I thought it might be someone from the cartel poking around, not fucking Vince.” He took the note off the table and scanned it quickly. “Holy shit. This sounds…”
“A little unhinged,” I suggested. “Yeah. It freaked me out.” Especially since I’d already been an emotional wreck over the Marissa thing.