Page 78 of Jasper

“I doubt she’ll have me. I failed her. Like I failed Angel.”

“You didn’t.” Mateo’s little hand squeezed his. “You made sure she was okay.”

“She got shot.”

“It was my fault.” The kid’s head hung down. “My hand was hurting, and I try to move. She pushed up to see what was wrong, and that’s when the bullets got her.”

The kid was stoic. He sat ramrod straight, and there wasn’t an ounce of emotion in his voice, but Jasper knew better. He’d seen it flash for just a second through his eyes.

No way in hell would he let this kid put this on himself.

“No, Mateo, it’s not your fault. You were hurt, and she was trying to help you. That’s what Sloane does. She has this huge heart, and she’s always trying to help people. The people to blame for this are the bastards who rolled up on our place and shot it up.”

“And for that, they’re all going to fucking pay.”

“TíoConner!” Mateo was up and moving so fast, had Jasper blinked, he would have missed it. That kid loved his uncle more than he did his mother or his father. But Jasper didn’t point that out.

Conner and Viktor were identical, but Conner had this air of danger about him Viktor lacked. He oozed it. Lethal. That was the term that came to mind when he studied the man. Conner was a lethal killer, and that was what he needed right now.

“Is it broken?” He examined the boy’s wrist, which was encased in one of those braces.

“No, but Sloane got hurt.”

“I heard.” Conner’s eyes searched out Jasper’s. “How is she?”

“We don’t know.”

Conner handed Mateo off to his sister-in-law. “I spoke with Angel. She’s on her way with Lily and Becca. They were Christmas shopping. Sara, can you take him to the cafeteria and make sure he eats something?”

She nodded. “Sure.” Jasper noticed the way she skirted Conner. While he and Viktor were identical twins, Conner was a mean motherfucker and scared people without even trying. Viktor had to try.

Once Sara was gone, he looked Jasper straight in the eye. “Who did this?”

“It’s a cartel known as theLos Angeles De La Muerte.Sloane saw something she shouldn’t have.”

“What? I need specifics.”

“She saw two of their goons dumping the body parts of the prosecution’s main witness in their leader’s murder trial. No witness, no way to prove he killed the people he’s accused of killing.”

“She saw them?”

Jasper nodded. “They found her quicker than I thought possible. They didn’t even know who she was.”

“They pulled footage off security cams and then ran a DMV facial recognition search. I’m surprised they didn’t find her sooner.” Max fell into the seat Mateo had vacated. He looked tired.

“How do you know that?”

“It’s what I would have done, and the cartel is smarter than the mob. They employ technology to do what muscle used to do. Muscle is only the hit squad these days.”

“He’s right. I know this particular cartel. They’re worse than the one that had Mateo.”

“Fuck.” Jasper rubbed his eyes. “How the hell do we stop them?”

“You don’t.” Conner rolled his shoulders. “I do.”

“Fuck that. It’s my girl they went after, my girl who is lying on an operating table right now, fighting for her life. I’m not sitting this one out.”

“Once you do this, there’s no going back from it.” Conner’s black eyes went hard and flat, a look he recognized. Mateo had that look when he’d talked about monsters and again when he’d said Sloane was hurt.

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