Page 79 of Resolution

“Good to know, but how do we know we’re safe from what’s left of the cartel?” I asked.

“In short, I’m mostly sure it’s over. Bannister confirmed that one of the guys killed outside the house was Rafael Sanchez, Oscar Castillo’s half-brother, so there’s really no one to inherit the family business. That doesn’t mean another cartel won’t just swoop in to fill the void. That’s how these bastards work, and we all know nature abhors a vacuum. I’ll know more when I talk to the FBI tomorrow. By the way, you’re a part of this, so they’ll probably want to talk to you to get your account.”

“Snow didn’t say anything to me,” I said, blinking as the lights in the cabin came on.

He nodded. “He will, though. If you failed to notice, he had kind of a lot of shit going on back in the Caymans.”

“Yeah. When do you think we’ll hear something about Trevor? I know SAC Bannister stayed at the hospital back in Grand Cayman.”

He smiled, squeezing my hand harder. “We’ll get an update on that tomorrow too and if there’s bad news, I’m sure we’ll hear something sooner, maybe while we’re on the ground in Houston.”

I nodded and looked around the cabin. The plane was still taxiing toward a jetway. Once we lined up at the gate, people behind us started moving. I sensed it when someone came up behind me, stopping next to my seat, and looked up at the face of Candy Sorensen. He smiled then looked at Miguel. “Hey,ah, the SAC of the Houston office wants to talk to you. Can you speak to him for a second?”

“Now?” Miguel asked. “Candy, I told you, I’m not gonna take the job. I appreciate the offer, though.” He gave me a look of devotion before glancing back up at the man. “Really, I’m not leaving Los Angeles.”

“Yeah, I know, which is why he wants to talk to you.” Candy held up both hands. “Please, just hear him out.”

Miguel looked at me. I swallowed hard. If he left our agency and went to work for the FBI, that’d completely suck but I didn’t say anything.

Miguel broke eye contact and looked back at Sorensen. “When? When and where am I going to have this conversation?”

“Right now, if you want. After everyone deplanes, he’ll board and talk to you for a second before you guys head back to L.A. What do you say?”

Miguel shrugged. “I guess. But it’s gonna have to be a quick conversation. I know the FBI wants their teams back in L.A. to rest up for the grueling debrief they’ll all undergo in the morning.”

“Good.” Candy Sorensen grinned widely before reaching out to shake Miguel’s hand. When he was done, he reached for mine, giving my shoulder a squeeze with the other at the same time. “You take care, Mathis.”

“You too, Sorensen.”

Candy shouldered the duffel he’d dropped on the ground and walked off the plane, ducking as he went out the door. One by one, the team walked by and reached for Miguel’s hand. While some reached for mine, others settled for patting me on the back. I understood why Miguel used to work on a team the way these guys did every day of their lives. When they were working, they operated like a well-oiled machine. In off hours when they weren’t exercising or putting themselves through a punishing run or other training, they were socializing with wives, girlfriends, children. They were a happy, cohesive group.

I wanted Miguel to be happy whatever he did, not worried about money all the time, the way he was now.

We sat in our seats until everyone exited, waiting for Houston’s SAC to board the plane. In a few minutes, a barrel-chested man came on board. He looked around and seemed to spot someone he knew at the back. He motioned to him and I turned to look. Lincoln got out of his seat and came down the aisle toward us.

“SAC Snow?”

“That’s me,” Snow said.

The man stuck out his hand. “SAC Kevin Waters,” he drawled. “I wanted to take a moment to talk to you and Mr. Huerta.”

Lincoln nodded at me. “This is Miguel Huerta and his partner, Raven Mathis.”

Miguel held out his hand. “Miguel Huerta, sir. Nice to meet you.”

“You, too.” He held out a hand to me. “Raven Mathis.”

“Yes, sir. Nice to meet you,” I replied, perplexed as I shook his hand. I really hoped Sorensen had conveyed Miguel’s wishes about joining a Spec. Ops tac team. If he hadn’t, this conversation was going to be embarrassing.

Kevin Waters smiled genuinely. “Mind if I sit? Take a load off, Snow.”

Lincoln sat across the aisle from us in the empty seat, and Waters took the one in front of that, turning to look back at us.

“You probably think I’m here to make the same offer Candy already did, Miguel. Is it okay if I call you Miguel?”

“That’s fine, sir, and yes, that’s what I was thinking.”

“Well, it’s not.”

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