Page 33 of Deep Within Me
Jacob’s cheeks darkened with his blush. A reminder of his desire for her. He seemed uneasy—again out of character for him.
Before Zeke could ask why, Jacob nodded and stood. “I’d never let anything happen to her.”
“I know.” Zeke squeezed his brother’s shoulder in gratitude then left the room.
They weren’t only able to heal the injured, they could reanimate. Both Liz and her father were able to bring back the dead.
And they’d kept that ability from him.
Carreon bristled with fury. He recalled how Dr. Munez had put on a show as he’d struggled to heal Oscar and Anthony, two of Carreon’s most dedicated and important lieutenants. Young men who killed with impunity at his command.
They weren’t dead, yet Munez had claimed they’d been too injured to heal fully. They’d sustained so much blood loss, the only outcome would be brain damage.
Carreon remembered the men’s vacant stares, their slack limbs. Even when he demanded that Munez bring them back to what they’d been, the good doctor claimed he could not. With Anthony and Oscar useless to him, Carreon ordered his other lieutenants to take them into the desert, leaving them to their unfortunate fates.
It had been a lie. A fucking con. And now, Zeke Neekoma had Liz and her father’s gift at his disposal.
Carreon stared at the cell phone on Ernez’s desk, willing it to ring with news he wanted to hear. It did not. At last, he made the call.
“What’s taking so long?” he asked in response to Victor’shello.“Surely, you’ve found something by now.”
He’d ordered the man and Roberto to locate Zeke’s stronghold, hidden within the vast New Mexico landscape. He’d told Roberto not to harm Zeke in the least once they captured him. Carreon wanted to witness the torture.
Victor said nothing. All Carreon heard in the background was a bird’s squawking, which put the man outside his vehicle. Why? Had they found something?
“Answer me,” Carreon ordered.
Victor spoke haltingly. “Most of the men who’d gone to Neekoma’s stronghold last night haven’t returned. They’re either dead or prisoners.”
Carreon gripped the phone so hard the plastic groaned. “Most?”
“Roberto and I just found three of our men.”
“Where?”
“A few miles east of your stronghold. In their vehicle. Dead. Shot.” He offered their names.
Why was Victor telling him this? Carreon didn’t care who they were or if they were dancing with angels on a cloud. “What about the GPS?” It would lead them to Zeke’s hiding place. “Have you looked at it?”
“Can’t,” Victor said then continued, the words pouring from him. “Whoever ambushed them shot out the dashboard. Their cell phones are gone. One of Neekoma’s people must have wiped the main server clean, hacked into it, then put in a virus or something. I don’t know, but nothing’s there. We did find another vehicle at your stronghold, but the information in its GPS was deleted.”
Carreon pushed out of his chair and paced the length of the strip club’s office.
Trinidad watched him from the sofa, running her long, manicured nails over her naked thigh. Having slept for a few hours, she looked refreshed, yet indifferent to the drama.
Dark circles ringed Ernez’s eyes. He hadn’t dared close them, no doubt fearful of what his fate might have been if he slumbered. As he shifted from foot to foot, he kept glancing at the door that led to the back lot, probably craving a moment to go out there so he could enjoy a smoke.
Carreon inhaled deeply then spoke to Victor. “You’re telling me we have no way to find Zeke’s stronghold.”
“We’ll keep trying…looking.”
“Don’t come back until you find it.” He ended the call and hurled the cell phone. It smacked into the wall just to the side of the club’s promotional calendar. The impact separated the phone’s plastic casing with part of it falling to the right, the other to the left.
Carreon went to the sofa.
Trinidad finished her yawn. With maddening apathy, she regarded him.
“You can heal,” he said.