Page 35 of Engaging his Enemy
When she could speak, she whispered, “Wow.”
He rolled off her and onto his back. “Yeah.”
She moved into the crook of his arm, resting her head on his chest, and listened to the steady, strong beating of his heart. An overwhelming gratitude swept through her. Whatever role Zach was meant to play in her life, she was grateful for this moment.
She closed her eyes and drifted quickly off to sleep.
20
The morning air was thick with a cool humidity as Moto made his way down the bank toward the river. His memory of the exact location was fuzzy, the landmarks that had been important to his teenage mind making it more difficult to find the riverfront property than he had anticipated. In the end, a bar beside a railroad track had been his salvation.
The cabin, such as it was, was isolated. A vast wooded area separated the few properties that bordered the riverbed, and he walked between them on what had once been a path to the water.
He carried his trusted Sig Sauer and two knives, one at his waist and another in an ankle holster. In his pocket, hidden from view, was a pair of zip cuffs in case he needed to restrain his brother. There was no telling what awaited him here, and he was under no delusions about Ben’s motives. He’d considered asking Razorback to join him this morning, but in the end had decided against it.
Ben was his problem alone.
The cabin came into view, its awkward shape punctuated by a ten-foot tree growing out of its side. The water was loud here, rushing by just fifty yards from the cabin. He was old enough now to see the beauty his mother had seen, and as he rounded the corner of the building and his brother came into view, it struck him that his parents would not like to witness this confrontation.
Ben’s face was a mottled mess of healing bruises, and while he looked worse than the last time Moto had seen him, Moto didn’t think any of the injuries were new. “Thanks for meeting me,” Ben said.
“Where were you yesterday?”
“I got sidetracked at the closing. That’s what I needed to talk to you about. DeRegina’s man was there to sign the papers. When we were finished, he said DeRegina wanted to speak with me and I should go with him.”
“Why didn’t you call?”
“I couldn’t. I was in his car.”
“You could have texted me like you did last night.”
“I didn’t think about it. What’s the big deal?”
Moto shook his head. “Go on.”
“So, he took me to this hotel room, and DeRegina was there, and he’s telling me how proud he is of me and what a great job I’ve been doing for the company and that he wants me to take on more responsibility. So, I remind him about the murder charge against me, and you’re not going to believe what happens next.” Ben shook his head. “The fucker apologizes to me. He tells me his men shouldn’t have done that, and that he would take care of all the evidence against me, as long as I keep working for him.”
“It’s like a dream come true, isn’t it?”
Ben cocked his head. “What do you mean?”
Moto shrugged. “You get to keep making money hand over fist, working for your buddy DeRegina. Screw the kids who are getting addicted to meth and heroin and all the other shit he’s got seeping into the community, because you’re upward bound.”
“I came here to give you information to help take him down.”
“Oh, really?” Moto closed the distance between them, anger and disgust warring for the upper hand. “That would be great. Because we missed you yesterday while you were hanging out with your buddies, telling them all about the sting operation we had planned at the port.” He shoved Ben hard, forcing him backwards.
“I didn’t say anything!”
“You were the only one who could have, brother. It wasn’t HERO Force. It wasn’t the goddamn DEA. An agent was killed. Another lost an arm, for God’s sake. Trace and Razorback were injured. They could have been killed.”
“You’ve got it wrong. This guy has all sorts of people on the payroll. He even implied that the federal agent I’m accused of killing was actually working for him!”
“Remember that someday when you find yourself at the wrong end of a gun. Your employer has a way of killing people when the job doesn’t work out, but hey—as long as you’re doing okay right now, that’s all that matters.”
Ben shoved him back. “What the fuck is your problem? I’m trying to help you here, and you keep insinuating I’m one of the bad guys.”
Moto grabbed fistfuls of Ben’s shirt. “You disgust me.” He punched him square in the jaw. “Because of you, the shipment of drugs that was supposed to come into port last night was replaced with a load of fucking fireworks. That was our chance to get this son of a bitch, and you fucked it up for everybody.”
