Enforcement. He didn’t do failure well or often, and Rio could see the effects of last night’s accident wearing on him.
“How’re you doin’?” Rio asked.
Tomás lifted his chin toward the tequila-beer mix. “Gonna finish that?”
“That good, huh?”
Tomás took Rio’s question as permission and picked up the drink, finishing it in a few deep swallows. “I feel about as good as you look, and you look like refried hell. What are we doing about this Christo chick?”
Rio had debriefed Tomás on Cassie by phone the night before. Now, his partner propped his elbow on the table and leaned his chin into his hand, gaze distant.
“Whatever we decide, I’m volunteering to handle it.” Tomás’s shoulders relaxed, and he grinned. Fucking grinned. Rio couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen the man smile. “She is one problem I’d like to handle. Mmm-mm. I’d kill to lose myself in her for a few…months.”
He should have said hours. When it came to women, Tomás was never interested in more than hours. The fact that he’d skipped days and weeks and headed straight to months made Rio want to get in his partner’s face.
“You should have seen her,” Tomás said. “She was so fucking scared. A couple of times, I thought she’d pee her pants, but just when I was ready to jump in, she’d take control of Pedro by the balls . Dude, I’m telling you, it was beautiful .”
Beautiful, all right. So beautiful it made Rio want to rid his stomach of the morning beer.
“It was weird, though,” Tomás continued. “Like the fear pushed her toward more danger. You know how we run toward men with guns? I could swear that lady kept pushing herself right into the face of fear.”
A blast of heat hit Rio’s stomach. An image of Cassie from the night before appeared in his head. That flicker of discomfort in her eyes just before she’d kissed him. One that almost made him pull away. But it cleared a millisecond before her mouth connected with his, and, well, after that, he hadn’t been noticing anything other than her lips, her tongue, her hands, her body…
He’d surprised her on the beach. Frightened her. Had that kiss been an impulsive drive to quell a lingering fear? The thought spread the burn in his belly straight up his chest. He didn’t like that possibility at all.
He had to put the whole incident into some distant brain vault and seal it. Kissing her had been an epic screwup. One that couldn’t happen again.
“And then, to top it all off,” Tomás’s voice rose with disbelief, “the woman goes and calls in the incident to American emergency services. Tells them there are smugglers headed to the border. Kollman had to dance around that. He wasn’t pleased.” Tomás chuckled. “What did Talaveria say?”
“I had to hold the phone away from my ear to save my eardrum.” Rio thought of his call to their client. “He’s livid. Wants the damaged cargo replaced yesterday. ”
Tomás shook his head, all traces of his earlier heated thoughts about Cassie gone. “We lost a few of them to hospitals. Word about this is already all over town and traveling at the speed of Mexican gossip. No chick within three hundred miles is going to want to do business with us. And picking them up off the street is too risky so close to the tango transfer.”
Rio could see how the Muertos would be obsessed with the abductions. And if they watched long enough, they’d get an eyeful of the terrorist action too. At which point, they might as well just hand the whole business over to the gang’s head honcho, Suarez, before he slaughtered them for it.
“Saul’s going to make a personal call again today,” Rio said. “See if he can stall.”
Tomás nodded. “So, what is Christo doing here? Shouldn’t be too much trouble if she’s only here for—”
“Months.” Rio cut him off. “She’s planning on staying for a few months .”
Tomás sat back. “What? She’s decided to vacation in the
“How’re you doin’?” Rio asked.
Tomás lifted his chin toward the tequila-beer mix. “Gonna finish that?”
“That good, huh?”
Tomás took Rio’s question as permission and picked up the drink, finishing it in a few deep swallows. “I feel about as good as you look, and you look like refried hell. What are we doing about this Christo chick?”
Rio had debriefed Tomás on Cassie by phone the night before. Now, his partner propped his elbow on the table and leaned his chin into his hand, gaze distant.
“Whatever we decide, I’m volunteering to handle it.” Tomás’s shoulders relaxed, and he grinned. Fucking grinned. Rio couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen the man smile. “She is one problem I’d like to handle. Mmm-mm. I’d kill to lose myself in her for a few…months.”
He should have said hours. When it came to women, Tomás was never interested in more than hours. The fact that he’d skipped days and weeks and headed straight to months made Rio want to get in his partner’s face.
“You should have seen her,” Tomás said. “She was so fucking scared. A couple of times, I thought she’d pee her pants, but just when I was ready to jump in, she’d take control of Pedro by the balls . Dude, I’m telling you, it was beautiful .”
Beautiful, all right. So beautiful it made Rio want to rid his stomach of the morning beer.
“It was weird, though,” Tomás continued. “Like the fear pushed her toward more danger. You know how we run toward men with guns? I could swear that lady kept pushing herself right into the face of fear.”
A blast of heat hit Rio’s stomach. An image of Cassie from the night before appeared in his head. That flicker of discomfort in her eyes just before she’d kissed him. One that almost made him pull away. But it cleared a millisecond before her mouth connected with his, and, well, after that, he hadn’t been noticing anything other than her lips, her tongue, her hands, her body…
He’d surprised her on the beach. Frightened her. Had that kiss been an impulsive drive to quell a lingering fear? The thought spread the burn in his belly straight up his chest. He didn’t like that possibility at all.
He had to put the whole incident into some distant brain vault and seal it. Kissing her had been an epic screwup. One that couldn’t happen again.
“And then, to top it all off,” Tomás’s voice rose with disbelief, “the woman goes and calls in the incident to American emergency services. Tells them there are smugglers headed to the border. Kollman had to dance around that. He wasn’t pleased.” Tomás chuckled. “What did Talaveria say?”
“I had to hold the phone away from my ear to save my eardrum.” Rio thought of his call to their client. “He’s livid. Wants the damaged cargo replaced yesterday. ”
Tomás shook his head, all traces of his earlier heated thoughts about Cassie gone. “We lost a few of them to hospitals. Word about this is already all over town and traveling at the speed of Mexican gossip. No chick within three hundred miles is going to want to do business with us. And picking them up off the street is too risky so close to the tango transfer.”
Rio could see how the Muertos would be obsessed with the abductions. And if they watched long enough, they’d get an eyeful of the terrorist action too. At which point, they might as well just hand the whole business over to the gang’s head honcho, Suarez, before he slaughtered them for it.
“Saul’s going to make a personal call again today,” Rio said. “See if he can stall.”
Tomás nodded. “So, what is Christo doing here? Shouldn’t be too much trouble if she’s only here for—”
“Months.” Rio cut him off. “She’s planning on staying for a few months .”
Tomás sat back. “What? She’s decided to vacation in the
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