“What the fuck?” Sean demanded.
“We don’t have time.” Jack pulled a radio off the second guy. “You’re good, Sean, but you’re not a soldier. Never turn your back on the fallen.”
Sean didn’t need to be lectured, not now. “They have Kane.”
“We know.”
Then it was clear. “That was the plan?” Sean said. “I told Kane it was a flawed plan from the beginning, and he said he had another way in! They will kill him. Dammit, Jack!”
“Pull it together, Rogan. I get it-Kane is your brother. Now focus, or I’ll tie you up in the fucking plane and get your brother and your son back without you.”
Sean forced his heart rate to slow. “You know.”
“I needed to know.” Jack put his hand on Sean’s shoulder. “I would have done the same thing. So would Kane or anyone else. But you have to bury those emotions right now. We have a plan, and I need you. I really need you-but we don’t have time to argue. Flores is going to weigh turning Kane over for the highest bounty or killing him. The first option gives us time, but once he disappears it will be next to impossible to find him. We have hours, not days.”
“They’re going to see this is a trap. They’ll beef up security.”
“That’s where you come in,” JT said. He walked over and dropped a duffel bag at Sean’s feet. “Open it.”
Sean did. Inside was cash and bearer bonds. He flipped through the top stack. “That’s millions in bearer bonds alone.”
“A million in cash and six million in bearer bonds, give or take.”
“Where the hell did you get this?”
“An operation years ago. The less you know, the better. But you’re going to go in and buy Kane’s freedom.”
“They’ll never agree.”
“Seven million is more than three times the highest bounty. It’ll at least buy your way into the compound.”
“I need more information. I’m not walking in with seven million and no weapons.”
“They’ll take your weapons, your cell phone, everything. But that bag has a tracker, and if Carson Spade is their accountant and chief money launderer, he’ll be given the bag to verify the authenticity of the bonds. Wherever it goes, we’ll find it.” Jack stared him in the eye. “Do you trust me?”
“Yes, but-”
“No buts. Do you trust me?”
“Yes.”
Sean’s heart skipped a beat.
“But don’t make me tell Lucy that you got yourself killed trying to save my son. It will tear her apart.”
“I have no intention of letting any of us die tonight.” He looked at his watch and nodded to JT. “It’s time.”
JT left. Sean wished he had more information. He didn’t like going in blind. Without knowing who else was out there, who wanted to kill Kane, how he was going to save his son.
Jack said, “Sean, this is how it’s going down. I don’t need to tell you that anything can happen, but I trust you, Sean. You’re smarter on your feet than anyone I’ve worked with before.”
“I’m not a soldier,” he said, quoting what Jack said to him.
“And that is why this is going to work. JT isn’t the only backup we have-we have Matt Elliott in the wings.”
“The prosecutor?”
“He was a SEAL with JT. They work well together. And if everything goes south, we’ll need a diplomat. Now listen. It’s important you play this right.”
When his dad came back from town, he was in a really bad mood, so Jesse stayed away from him. All he would say was that the bank was fine, but businesses in the States were falling apart.
“Then can’t we go home?”
“Jesse, it’s not that easy,” he said. “Just-just go play your video games.”
“Can I call my mom?”
“Later! Jeez, can’t you see I have a hundred things to do right now? You’re a big boy, do you need to talk to your mom every day?”
He walked away.
“Jesse, I’m sorry-” his dad began.
“It’s fine,” he mumbled and went back to his room.
Earlier he’d seen Gabriella come in and thought they could play pool-Dominick had a wicked cool pool table in a gigantic room designed like some scene from a James Bond movie. They’d played the first day Jesse was here-him, Gabriella, Jose, and one of the guys who worked for Dominick. They’d had fun.
But Gabriella said, “I can’t, Jess, I’m sorry. Maybe later. By the way, I found your game in the atrium. You shouldn’t leave your stuff lying around.” She handed it to him. “I know you like to play all the time.”
He didn’t remember leaving it anywhere, but he’d been looking for it.
“Thanks,” he mumbled.
So first Gabriella then his dad. Play your stupid games. That’s what they thought, because no grown-up liked games. Jose did, and he was fun, but he was also… well, he wasn’t really all that smart. What would his grandmother say? Simple. Yeah, he was simple, but nice. Nothing like his brothers.
Jesse pulled his DS out of its sleeve and a paper fell to the floor. He picked it up. It was folded over, no name on the outside. He hadn’t put it there. Had Gabriella slipped him a note? It had to be.
He opened it. It wasn’t written in girl writing. Small, clear printing slanted to the right.
Jesse ~
I’m sorry I scared you last night at the football game. I approached you all wrong. Forgive me.
I was asked by your mother Madison to find you and your stepfather and bring you both home. It wasn’t until I got to Acapulco that I learned that Carson Spade launders money for a drug cartel. Now, my only concern is bringing you back to the States safe.
You deserve the truth. I don’t want to tell you in a letter, but I need you to trust me and my brother. I am your biological father. I knew your mother when we were both at Stanford. She told me Monday that you were born. I didn’t even know she was pregnant. If I had… everything would be different. I hope we get a chance to talk about this soon. But for now know that I will do everything in my power to get you out of that house. It’s more dangerous than you know.
My brother Kane used to be in the Marines. He’s going to come for you tonight. Be ready. Unlock your window and the set of French doors into your suite. When he gets there, do exactly what he says. I trust Kane with my life. More, I trust him with yours.
I don’t know you, Jesse, but I love you. You are my son. You are a Rogan. And that means you are both strong and smart. Be both tonight.
~ Sean
Sean walked into Dante Romero’s house after his thugs disarmed him.
“I want my gun back,” Sean said.
“So you’re Little Rogan. How long has it been? Twenty years?”
“Gun.”
“When you leave.”
“Your sister betrayed Kane.”
“And what? You plan on killing me?” Dante smiled. “And I heard you were the smart Rogan.”
The comparison between Dante Romero and Sean’s brother Liam was right on, he thought. They had the same innate cockiness and superiority complex… and the same distrustful attitude.
“She promised she would help… then turned him over to Flores. I have enough money to buy his freedom.”
“I doubt that.”
“Don’t.”
“What I mean is, Kane’s head is priceless.”
“I will get my brother back.”
“You’re not like them, are you?”
“What the fuck do you mean?”
Dante waved Sean over into another room. “Relax, Sean. The Romeros and Rogans go way back.”
Sean couldn’t relax. He was worried about Kane and Jesse and he wanted to kill Carson Spade. Sean didn’t like that part of him, the part that would do violence to another. He much preferred destroying people with his brains, not his fists or guns.
Sean hesitated, then followed. Dante was a little older than Liam, who was nearly thirty-six. Just as confident, just as charming. Just as deadly.