Page 73 of Hart of Redemption
I slapped a hand over my mouth to swallow my horror. Duke couldn’t go out there alone. Though I suspected that Rosario would be with him and maybe even Gustavo and Rosario’s foot soldiers in Boston.
“I know,” she said. “That was my reaction too.”
That’s what the scribbles on the Post-it note meant—junk for junkyard in South Boston.
She’d been a wealth of information, and I didn’t want to seem cold and blow her off.
“I pray Grace comes home safely,” I said. “I won’t be returning, so maybe you can call me and let me know what happens.”
She nodded.
“I should go.” I gave her a hug. “Be well, Amber.”
I jogged out as fast as I could.
“Night, Joy,” Craig, the bouncer, called. “Careful driving in this thick fog.”
I didn’t even notice the fog, but he was right. It was soupy as hell. I hated driving in it. I’d almost crashed one Christmas Eve on my way home from a party because I couldn’t see but a foot in front of me.
I hurried to my dad’s old and dark Ford Taurus. The last time I’d been home, he asked to swap vehicles to make a run to the dump since he’d been cleaning out the garage.
Once behind the wheel, I regulated my breathing as I started the engine. Then I Googled junkyards in South Boston. There were three listed, but one was a towing service. The pics didn’t look like a junkyard. The second and the third appeared to be true junkyards, but it was hard to tell from the images.
I could wait and follow Duke, but because of the fog, that might be tough. I threw the car into drive and wheeled out of the Monarch. If I could barely see, then Duke would have a problem as well, which meant it would take longer for him to get there. That would give me time to investigate each facility.
As I navigated the streets of Boston toward the highway, I called Gwen—and prayed that whatever happened over the next several hours, Grace and Duke would come out alive.
27
DUKE
Normally, I would be speeding down the highway at ninety miles an hour, but I couldn’t because of the fog. It was as thick as the pea soup I’d made for my brothers and sister growing up.
Rosario, sitting in the passenger seat, was gripping the console with one hand while she clutched the door handle with the other. “You think we ditched those men outside my hotel?”
I hadn’t seen Rosario since she was in Boston four years ago. She hadn’t changed—short black hair cut into a bob, her signature red lipstick, thick eyebrows, and long pointy nails that could slit a person’s throat.
“They’re not following us,” I said, fingers glued tightly to the steering wheel.
She’d disguised herself, leaving the hotel through a side exit and walking two blocks to meet me. The fog was acting as a shield of sorts.
“Panic is not your usual flair. Gustavo and your men will be there. Alexa and Grace will come out alive.” I prayed those things would come about anyway.
She and I knew the risks of what we were facing. I was surprised she was prepared to die for her daughter. Rosario was all about her business, her seat at the top. Not many cartels could say they had a woman in charge who could run a billion-dollar illegal empire and succeed.
I liked the way she ran things. She was loyal, shrewd, and intelligent and had a master’s in business education. She was also a fourth-generation cartel member, so she learned the ropes from those before her, including her father.
“Why don’t we go over the plan again?” I said, trying to take her worries off the impending doom.
“It’s easy. I kill Mateo, and you rescue Alexa and Grace.” One of her flaws was that she let her emotions get in the way of her decision-making at times.
“Rosario, that’s not the plan. We give Mateo the million-dollar ransom in exchange for Grace and Alexa. Once we have them, then your men will drive the truck with the guns through the back gate, if it’s on-site. When Mateo leaves, my brothers will follow him and call Ted Hughes to arrest Mateo for kidnapping.”
In a perfect world, that was the plan.
I’d decided not to include Vince and my team. In the event something happened to me, I needed Vince to continue to run things. He’d protested but knew I was right. He also knew I had Rosario’s army, which was larger than mine.
I thought to ask Jeremy Pitt for the help of his army, but this wasn’t his fight.
