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“The man was incarcerated, of course he’d try to escape,” Ben countered.
“Yeah, but why now?” I muttered. “If he leaves, he’d be the second-in-command again, so all of Matias’s efforts would be wasted. Does he or does he not want Matias to rise in the ranks? Why try to escape and take the reins again if his son is trying for it?”
Mia tapped her legs in thought. “Because if Matias fails, he won’t come out of it alive—either by us or by them. But if he succeeds...Pablo is a wanted man. Staying here wouldn’t be safe for him—”
“So, if Matias gets what they want, Pablo might flee the country to run the cartel from somewhere else, and Matias would rule here,” Aaron concluded.
Mia rubbed her eyes from under her glasses and blew out a breath. “What exactly did the Ethan person say to you?”
I racked my brain to organize my thoughts. “From what he heard, Matias would come after us. They mentioned Lisa personally but let it be clear they wanted to bring down the whole company. He also mentioned a coronation of sorts for Matias.”
She nodded at my words, considering whatever possibilities were running inside her head. “What about Matias? What did he say to you?”
Containing my rage at his words, I answered, “Something about us not ending their legacy. They’d start a new one, a better one. And where I thought it was finished, he was building again.”
I had no idea what that meant. And it pissed me off that I couldn’t crack his message. It felt like everything was slipping through my fingers, and I was unable to keep it all together.
“Where,” she muttered, not as a question.
“What?”
“No. Not ‘what,’” she corrected Ben. “‘Where.’ He didn’t say, ‘What you thought was finished.’ He said, ‘Whereyou thought was finished.’”
“What difference does it make?”
“All the difference,” she stated to me. Mia looked around the room, not seeing anything, just letting the reasoning flow through her brain. After a while, she whispered, “The Mansion.”
“The one where you arrested Salazar,” Aaron exclaimed, already understanding something I hadn’t connected just yet. And from the confused look on Ben’s face, he hadn’t either.
She raised from her chair in excitement. “Where their legacy should’ve ended. And where he’d start a new one.”
“That’s why Salazar waited until now to try his escape. He was going towhereit all ended for him.”
“What the fuck are you two talking about?” Ben snapped right before I did.
Aaron turned to me and Ben. “The Mansion. It belonged to Pablo Salazar; it was hislegacy. Mia built the operation and arrested him right in that place. It was supposed to be the end of his era, the end of his legacy. But Matias is claiming he’ll start a better legacywhere we thought it was finished.”
“He’s going to The Mansion,” Mia concluded, already opening the safe to collect our safety apparel and our weaponry. “Just so you know, Aaron, we could supply a small army. So, if that bothers you, turn the other way.”
Giving us the first half-smile I’d seen in years, he stretched out his hand. “Just let me in on the fun.”
Mia ran to her office to change into her tactical gear as the rest of us did the same in mine. We marched to two of our cars and left in pairs—me and Ben, Mia and Aaron. Since they knew the way, Aaron drove first, while I trailed behind.
As Ben texted to make sure our family was safe, we all sped to get my woman back.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
We kept constant communication along the drive, just like we did when we took my baby back. As we drove, Mia sent Ben pictures and blueprints of The Mansion. The space seemed huge, but nothing we hadn’t faced before, even outnumbered. We had no idea how manyAlacránswe’d encounter, so Aaron called for backup and instructed his people on where to find us.
I hoped he knew I’d wait for no one. I was busting the place, with or without help.
We drove all night long. At some point, the snow gave us a break, yet the wind was coming strong. As the sun started to announce its rise, a new sense of doom enveloped us.
One year. One year without him. And there we were again, facing lethal scorpions to save the people we loved.
We were approaching the building—which was indeed enormous—when Mia warned us about Matias’s security detail. If he was planning on a grand ceremony, he’d most likely have his goons around him.
Nothing we couldn’t handle.
