Page 122 of Coff

“She may be onto something, though,” Axel says. “If we take out Ruiz and those three men Brian showed us photos of, maybe someone else will come in and take over who doesn’t have a beef with Brian.”

Logan leans forward, closer to Brian. “What do you think? You know the organization better than us. Would that work?”

Brian wrings his hands together on the table. “It might, but there’s something we haven’t considered.”

“What’s that?” Logan asks.

Brian sighs. “If Ruiz told the cartel about me.”

All the men appear crestfallen.

“Who’s the cartel?” I ask. “Can’t you just take them out, too?”

Ozzie stands up and walks to the end of the table. “The Mexican cartel. And no, you don’t just take them out.”

I lean against the wall and sink to the floor. Ruiz worked for that cartel? While I’d never met the man before, I heard my dad mention his name over the years.

While I had learned my dad was involved in illegal dealings, he was careful to make sure I didn’t know too much. And frankly, I didn’t want to know. But even in my wildest thoughts, I never connected my dad to the Mexican cartel. Why would I? This isn’t an area I’m an expert in. All I know about them is what I’ve read in the news. And frankly, it hasn’t been good.

But Duke. He would likely know how connected my family is. Although there’s no point in my asking him about it. There’s no way he would have any pull with the cartel after just taking over Dad’s business.

Ozzie rubs his temples. “There has to be something we can do. Maybe Delaney is right, and we just need to bomb the hell out of the cartel.”

Logan stands up and puts his hands on Ozzie’s shoulders. “We are not doing that.”

Ozzie slumps his shoulders. “I know, but we have to do something.”

“We will. Let’s wait for Harding to come back, and we can discuss all our options.”

Ozzie nods. “I really don’t want to have to get a new roommate.”

Logan laughs. “Yeah, that would suck.”

The door opens, and Harding walks in without Walker. “I have good news and bad news.”

“Bad news first,” Axel says.

Harding nods. “We have a couple of agents who have been monitoring the cartel for some time, and Ruiz did tell them about Agent Folger.”

“And the good?” Brian asks.

“It appears they only know you were working for Ruiz and not that you worked for the FBI.”

“Can we trust that?” Logan asks.

Harding nods.

“How is that good news?” I ask. “What does it matter if they know he was with the FBI? They know his name.”

Harding leans on the table. “The good part is that Ruiz never told them that Brian was a dirty agent. As far as they know, he was a loyal worker.”

Logan sighs. “Which means the cartel shouldn’t be going after Brian if your information is accurate.”

“Correct,” Harding says. “But just in case, we need to keep you three hidden until we are sure.” She points at Brian, Logan, and me. “And I know just the place.”

CHAPTER28

Logan

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