Trees’s head popped up. “Classic sports car. Tell me everything you can remember about it.”
She did.
His heart started revving. They might be getting somewhere… He tapped furiously on his keys, looking through bills of sale, pictures, auctions, and car shows before he finally found an image that brought it all together for him. A little more cross-checking later, and he pounded his fist on the table. “Motherfucking bingo. I got you, you son of a bitch.”
“Are you sure?” Laila sounded afraid to hope.
“Oh, yeah.” He reached for his phone and dialed Hunter. “Are you ready for some good news? Because I know exactly where Montilla is going to be in two days. All we need is a plan.”
February 4
Trees stood by the front door at oh-dark-thirty in head-to-toe camo, a backpack hanging from his left shoulder, and frowned. “I should be back in twelve hours. Are you sure you don’t want to spend the day in my panic room?”
Laila shook her head. “I will be fine.”
Since Trees had drafted the plan to corner and grab Montilla with Hunter and the rest of his bosses, Deke and the colonel had blessed the scheme. Together, they’d put all the pieces in place. The mission required each and every available man, and everyone had a role. Time had been precisely accounted for to ensure Geraldo would have no escape.
Trees was locked and loaded and ready to go…but he worried about Laila.
“And you won’t run?”
“No. Since you can save my sister and theirs without me, I have no reason to leave.”
“By the time your head hits the pillow tonight, you and your family should be safe.” Hopefully Kimber would be, too.
But Laila had been quiet, almost withdrawn, since they’d firmed up these plans. Why?
“I have an uneasy feeling.”
She was worried. About him? Maybe that was a stretch. Since giving him the information about Montilla, she had kept to herself. Trees hadn’t pushed or pried, but he’d love to know what the hell she was thinking. He’d also love to touch her again. That would have to wait until the danger passed. But then she would be leaving his house and his life—unless he gave her a reason to stay.
“All right. You have plenty of food here. Barney will keep you company. You know how to work the TV, and you’ve got internet. Call your sister all you want. I’ll arm every alarm and turn on all the cameras in the house. If the house alarm trips, the police will come, but since I’m out in the country, they’re about twenty minutes away. Do you want me to show you how to access the panic room, just in case?”
She shook her head. “It is not necessary.”
Probably not. She had two possible threats. He and the team would have Geraldo Montilla in their sights. Victor Ramos had no idea where to find her. She should be safe. He just hated leaving anything to chance.
“All right.”
“Will you call me when it is done?”
Her request probably had more to do with wanting to make sure that her family was out of danger than her worry for him, but hey, a guy could dream. “Sure.”
“Thank you.”
They stood face to face near the front door, staring at each other in the awkward silence. Finally, Trees couldn’t take it anymore. He lifted Laila against him.
She gasped and wrapped her arms around his neck, blinking up at him. “What are you doing?”
“Telling you I love you, Laila. I know it’s one-sided. I don’t expect you to say anything. I just—” He stopped making an ass of himself by vomiting up his feelings and settled for what connected them. He swooped down and kissed her, a hard press of his lips on hers, trying desperately to memorize the feel of her while giving her something to think about in his absence. But if she was going to reject him, he didn’t want to hear it, so he wrenched away, set her on her feet, and slammed out the door. A last look back at her through the living room window, stunned and red-cheeked, didn’t give him a single clue about her reaction.
Did she love him, too? Even a little?
He alarmed the whole house from the app on his phone. Once it was secure, he turned the engine of his truck over and drove off, not looking back.
Before sunrise, he was at the hangar where the team planned to assemble. After a last-minute equipment check, they boarded the charter plane and took off. As the sun began to rise, they reviewed the plan collectively. In three hours, they would land at the private airstrip in Florida, less than thirty minutes from the event. By noon, Montilla would arrive for the private, high-dollar-stakes classic car race held annually. By then, Trees and the team would be in place.
Finding out the Tierra Caliente’s leader would be there had been a lucky fucking break.
After he’d managed to jog Laila’s memory about Montilla’s love of classic cars, he’d scoured the internet for recent high-dollar sales. He’d found a 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO sold at auction for nearly fifty million dollars to an anonymous buyer. In Mexico. Because fewer than thirty of the classic cars were produced that model year, they now sold for record prices.
From there, Trees had worked backward, on the theory that someone who spent that much money on a car would want to show it off. Sure enough, he’d found a press release announcing that a professional driver by the name of Dantel Resendez had registered for the race in Florida, driving exactly the same rare vehicle. After that, he managed to dig up a picture of Resendez with Montilla, toasting in front of the red vintage sports car. Then he’d hacked the event organizer’s files to find the VIPs attending this week’s event. Montilla was on the list.
Bingo.
The Edgingtons, Deke, and Muñoz had come up with the tactical plan. It wasn’t going to be easy. Montilla traveled with an entourage. But they had tried to account for every possibility and cover every angle. Now Trees could only hope they didn’t encounter any unexpected curve balls.
“Hey,” Zy approached him with a slap on the back. “How are you doing?”
Nervous as fuck to get back to Laila. Driving away from her this morning had been one of the hardest things he’d ever done. There was so much unspoken between them, and he was dying to know what she’d thought about his declaration of love. He was really fucking worried he’d put his foot in his mouth. “Good. Congrats to you and Tessa on your engagement, man. I, um…heard it through the grapevine.”
Zy pulled at the back of his neck. “Yeah, sorry I didn’t call. We were…busy.”
Trees bet they rarely got out of bed. After being artificially kept apart for nearly a year, then nearly splintered in two by Hector Ramos and his crew, they deserved happiness. “Hallie good?”
“Great. She’s bounced back for the most part. The doctors don’t think she’ll remember much, and we’ll get her some therapy when she gets older if she needs it.”
“For sure. So, when’s the big day?”
“We’re working that out, but soon. Definitely soon. You’ll be my best man, yeah?”
“Absofuckinglutely.” Trees only hoped Zy got to perform the same service for him someday, but he wasn’t optimistic.
“Great. Thanks. So…how goes it with Laila?”