Kane took a roundabout way back to the plane not only to ensure they hadn’t been followed, but also to check the perimeter of their hiding spot. They were clear.
They set up camp without speaking. They wouldn’t sleep in the plane because that would make them an easy target, but they didn’t want to be too far from their ride home. Kane did another perimeter check, then they ate sandwiches, washing them down with cool beer that had been in Sean’s ice chest.
“I should have pulled the plug,” Kane said.
“I shouldn’t have gone in the first place.” Sean had been thinking about the entire fiasco. “When I was twelve, no way in hell would I go off with two strangers.” He paused. “I wanted to tell him who I was, but there’s no reason for him to believe me. And there’s no reason for him to believe his mother sent me.” Sean drained his beer. “Were the Romeros bad news when our dads were friends? Are you on the Flores cartel hit list? You shouldn’t be here.”
“I’m here because you need me-and Jesse is my blood.” Kane pulled out two more beers, handed one to Sean. “My educated guess is that Gabriella Romero has wormed her way into the Flores cartel for the sole purpose of assassinating Samuel Flores.” He paused. “Not the sole purpose. She doesn’t do anything with a single goal. If she can rip him off before she kills him, that would make her even happier.”
“You’ve already lost me.”
“It’s a long story, Sean.”
Sean didn’t say anything.
“Flores killed Gabriella’s lover ten years ago.”
“Ten years? That’s a long time to wait for revenge.”
“She’s patient.”
“And Flores doesn’t realize she’s out for revenge?”
“He doesn’t even know the connection. Few people do. Gabriella is… complex.”
“Do I hear a hint of admiration?”
Kane shook his head. “Not what you’re thinking, little brother.”
Sean really hated when Kane did that.
“Dante and Gabriella have helped RCK operations… and hindered RCK. They have their own agenda. Their mother died long ago, you know their father was friends with our father. Dante and Liam used to be tight, but they have their own war.”
“What else don’t I know?”
“A lot. Mom and Dad never wanted you to work with me-I’d already left the Marines by the time they died. They didn’t like some of the choices I made, and Duke made sure you didn’t follow in the same path. But you made your own choices when you grew up.”
“Many of them because Duke pushed me in the opposite direction.” Sean rubbed his eyes. He didn’t want to think about his complex relationship with his other brother.
“What I’m saying is, I’ve known Dante and Gabriella for a long time. You were too young to remember them. But it hasn’t always been friendly, especially after Mom and Dad died.”
“And their dad?”
“Lives in Louisiana, last I heard. The key point is, I know Gabriella well. Her fiancé was an Army Ranger, Doug Bonelli. He’d been part of Jack’s unit when he was still serving.”
“Small fucking world,” Sean muttered.
“These people we deal with-it seems insurmountable, but there are only two dozen cartels and gangs who are in serious power. There are hundreds of violent gangs and groups, but they don’t spread out, they’re localized. The most powerful cartels’ network have arms in the States and up into Canada and Europe and the Middle East and even China. They pull in gangs as they need, or hire them as protection, but the power centers are mostly controlled by families or family alliances. Sometimes the violent gangs, the rebels, the upstarts, the so-called private businessmen help them… sometimes they hinder them.”
“Just like the Romeros.”
Kane smiled thinly. “You understand.”
“So is Gabriella going to help us or not?”
“I don’t know. She saw me tonight. She was pissed off, but she won’t do anything until she talks to Dante. I’m hoping she’ll help-or at least stay out of our way. Until I saw Spade with Dominick Flores, I couldn’t confirm that he was working for the Flores cartel, but it’s pretty fucking clear he’s chummy with him. They were sitting together, heads close-that’s not the sign of someone here on legitimate business.”
“Dominick is the oldest brother?”
Kane nodded. “The patriarch, now that their dad is dead. But there are three others. They work as a unit. Dominick is in charge, he’s the figurehead, but he won’t do anything without the agreement of his brothers.”
After several minutes of silence, Kane said, “When Bonelli was killed, I offered to take care of Samuel Flores myself. Gabriella said no.”
There was far more to that story that Kane wasn’t saying.
“She’s not going to back down, and Dante isn’t going to give me anything that will help. He said that Flores’s compound is impenetrable. I reconned the place; he’s right. Not without a large team and going in full-force, which puts the kid at risk. I have some specs on the place. Until tonight, we couldn’t even confirm Jesse was there-but I’m fairly certain he is. There are no hotel reservations in Carson Spade’s name, or either of his business names. Still, we need more information and help in getting inside.”
“You think you can convince her?”
Kane didn’t say anything.
Sean said, “I have an idea. But you might not like it.”
“Shoot straight.”
“I need to get Jesse a note. I’ll explain everything-can you convince Gabriella to give it to him?”
“Possibly.”
“I need proof that Spade is working for Flores. Seeing him with Dominick isn’t going to cut it. We get proof, I can then get Madison to tell Jesse to trust me.”
“She didn’t even want you here. She tried to stop us, Sean.”
“Because she’s in denial. With proof, she won’t be.” He shifted on the uncomfortable ground. He doubted he’d be sleeping much tonight.
“Each cartel has their own primary area, right?” Sean continued. “They’ll associate with shell corporations and lawyers that Spade associates with. I already have every corporation Spade’s firm does business with.”
“You’ve been busy.”
“I sent the list to Jaye. She’s going to run it against known cartel shell corporations.”
“Good, but that’s going to take time.”
“I’m working on another angle. Pinpointing Jesse’s exact location.”
“Short of a GPS chip, how?”
Sean reached into his satchel and pulled out a photo that Kane’s contact in Acapulco gave them. “This is Jesse-he’s playing a handheld video game.”
“Okay.”
“It’s hard to tell which device, but most of the new devices have Wi-Fi. I hacked into the resort Wi-Fi system-not difficult at all, so if you need to pay your friend Nicco for his help, I can plug the holes with a little time and access.”
“Access helps us more than the bad guys,” Kane said and left it at that.
Sean continued. “Based on the time stamp of this photo, I backtraced Jesse’s device. The Wi-Fi system logs specific system information unique to that device, so once that device logs into the system, they don’t have to log in again.”
“Okay.” Kane was sounding more skeptical. Kane was good with tech, though distrustful, but this was the one area where Sean was clearly superior.
“Of course, I’ve rigged all my devices never to divulge any information, but most people don’t do that.” Sean almost smiled. “There are many Internet providers, but I figure Flores will want only the best. That leaves two in this area. They are a bit trickier to navigate-the firewall is much better here than at the resort. But if Jesse used his device at all, I will know.”
“Wouldn’t Flores or Spade have him turn off the Wi-Fi?”
“Possibly, but most adults don’t realize the capabilities of handheld video games. You can’t download a lot of data from the Internet, for example, because they don’t have the storage-the memory is primarily used to play the game and store game progress, but you still need a disk or chip to play. There’s no Internet browsing, for example-most are not designed like that. The one Jesse has, though a new model, is primarily for game playing-including multi-player games, on a limited scale.