Chapter 35

Chapter Thirty-Five

Could this day get any more intense?

The thought swirled around Cass’s mind. She couldn’t drag her attention away from Javier Cortez, a.k.a. Isaac Warner.

The man responsible for so much pain in her life.

An air of fatigue surrounded him. As if he bore the brunt of all the wrongs in the world on his shoulders.

She should hate the man. Part of her did. All the pain she’d suffered had been because of this man.

Yet another part of her didn’t hate him because his actions had given her opportunities she may never have had—even if her father had been alive.

Without a doubt, if Manuel Ramirez had remained alive and had seen her computer skills, he would’ve used her to help him .

Cass slumped back down in her chair. The reality of what life might’ve been sinking in. In the back of her mind, the idea had always been there, but because of everything happening to her, with her flashbacks etc., she’d thought her father would’ve been honorable toward her. The problem with that was, she didn’t have any proof that he would’ve been.

“Cass?” Irish’s rough voice swept over her like a soothing balm.

Grounding her. Keeping her safe when safety was now becoming a precious commodity.

He squatted in front of her, his hand on her knee warming her flesh.

“I’m okay, I think,” she mumbled, cupping his face, rubbing her finger over the scar on his cheek.

“Are you ready?” he asked.

“Ready for what?”

“Ready to find out why Isaac Warner is prepared to blow up an eight-year operation by walking into our offices.”

When he put it that way, the enormity of what was about to go down hit her. “Shit, this is big.”

His mouth lifted in a ghost of a smile, and the corners of his eyes crinkled up. “It is.”

“Why does everything to do with the Ramirez Cartel and us not make sense?” Cass mused as she thought of the past year and the number of times they’d crossed paths with the cartel.

“Maybe it will now,” Irish said before standing and taking his seat.

Isaac had taken a seat, and everyone was watching him. Cass had no doubt he knew all about Alliez and who was who. Not from his life with the cartel, but because Owens would’ve given him information about their organization the moment Astrid hit the cartel’s attention and Growler was employed to keep her safe. The DEA would’ve had a file about Alliez and their operations within hours.

All the Alliez guys, lips thinned and muscles bunched, were ready to jump to her rescue.

Special Agent Owens was still looking relaxed, but the lines around the corners of his mouth had deepened.

“I think I should explain everything that’s happened to me today and my reaction to Special Agent Warner,” Cass said.

“Only if you want to, Cass. Your business is your business, not ours.” Ox, like always, was thinking of her and not how her knowledge could help them.

She admired the man so much. His strength and the way he handled stressful situations, like the one they now found themselves in .

“I do.” She could feel Irish’s eyes on her, probably willing her not to say anything. That no one needed to know what was going on with her, but she felt that she had to. She sent him a small smile, along with a slight inclination of her head to let him know she was good with what she was about to say. “It’s no secret to anyone in this room that my father was Manuel Ramirez, and my Uncle Gomez is the current head of the Ramirez Cartel. A connection I didn’t know about until very recently. I always thought I’d been born here. Lived all my life in America. Up until an hour or so ago, I remembered nothing of my time with my father. Now I do,”

“Are you okay with all of it? That’s a lot to deal with, and now this.” Her boss was, once again, displaying why he was a good guy and one anyone would want on their side.

“I’m adjusting but, yes, I’m okay. I have to be. Anyway.” Cass reached for the glass of water Irish had placed on the table and took a sip to moisten her parched throat. “I remember the chaos of being taken. Being hidden somewhere then brought back to Mexico, where even more chaos rained down. But through all that, one person tried their best to make me comfortable, even while following orders to treat me like I wasn’t important. Tried to help me through the ordeal by being kind. That person was Isaac. The reason I’m here, and maybe not dead, is because he made a split-second decision to not leave me behind, but to take me back with him. To put me on the helicopter. I’m sure his actions weren’t received well by his superiors.”

Bodies shifted as the reality of what she’d said was taken in by the men in the room.

Irish cursed under his breath, and Cass placed a hand on his thigh, squeezing it to stop him from jumping from the chair, like she knew he wanted to.

Ox, Angel, and Growler were looking at Isaac, waiting to see if he’d comment on what she’d said or if he’d brush it all off as part of his job.

Isaac remained still. His face as impassive as Roderick Martin had been earlier this day. Guess the DEA and CIA went to the same school to keep emotions in check.

What did she expect?

Did she want Isaac to be happy she remembered him? Happy that she’d outed him to everyone in the room, and maybe that the reason her mind had been violated was because of him.

“Why are you here? Why now?” Cass repeated the question everyone wanted answers to.

This time, Isaac sighed, and his shoulders slumped. “ Since the moment I left you with the CIA, I’ve been keeping tabs on you. For the last eight years, from the moment I went undercover within the cartel, I’ve done everything I could to make sure your location and true identity weren’t discovered by them.” He glanced at Growler and looked away quickly. “I’ve done things that I’m not proud of. Things that went against all that I’d sworn to protect and uphold. Things that were necessary to ensure my position in the cartel wasn’t questioned. That I deserved to be as close to Gomez as I am.”

“It was you, wasn’t it?” Cass asked. “You were the one who kept Astrid and Teresa safe.”

“He didn’t keep Teresa safe. He fucking shot her,” Angel ground out.

Isaac slammed his hands on the table. “Do you think I wanted to do that? Do you think I wanted to harm her? I didn’t, but I had to. And you should be thanking me. I got involved after I convinced Ramirez to let me. He was more than happy to let that asshole Phillip do what he wanted with her before finishing her off.”

Tension thickened the air until it was getting too difficult to breath.

Cass watched Isaac as he spoke. Saw the way each word was thrown at them. Frustration. Anger and exhaustion at the situation in every action.

Angel didn’t say anything else. How could he when Isaac had laid out some unsavory truths? The man was right, and Angel should be thanking him for keeping Teresa safe.

“You did the same for Astrid, right?” Growler asked.

Isaac gave a short nod of confirmation.

“Anything else you’ve had a hand in?” Growler cocked his head to one side.

“Obviously he was the one who gave the tip about where Stef and Cynthia were being held, along with the other girls,” Jag said.

Again, another nod from the undercover agent.

The more Cass learned about the man in their presence, the more she couldn’t help but admire him. He’d done so much to help, but how much had he sacrificed?

Did he have any family?

It would almost be impossible for him to have a relationship.

Had he left someone behind when he’d taken on this job?

“You’ve never really answered the question of why now? Why are you putting everything the DEA has worked for at risk? Why didn’t you keep passing information to Owens like you’ve been doing in the past?” Cass asked.

“Speaking of which, you’re taking a hell of a risk, Warner. How did you get here without anyone knowing what you were doing? Where is Ramirez?” Owens demanded.

Isaac’s lip curled in distaste. “He’s occupied and told me to give him some alone time. It’s only the two of us here right now.”

Everyone in the room sat a little straighter at hearing the news that Ramirez was in town and alone.

“We could take the fucker out now?” Irish said. “Why are we sitting here?”

“Because we can’t do that,” Special Agent Owen’s countered.

“Why the fuck not?” Irish pushed back from the table.

For once, Cass agreed with the need for violence. Why not take advantage of the fact her uncle was alone, and in a situation where it would be very easy to eliminate him?

“There are protocols in place to ensure that minimum damage is done. If we go in guns blazing, it’s not going to end up well for any of us,” Owens said.

Frustration welled up, and she could only imagine everyone in the room felt the same. “So how long do we have to wait until the time is right?” she asked, wanting this to be all over with.

Owens glanced at Isaac. “Depends. Whatever Ramirez has planned, it was enough for Warner here to risk his cover for.”

“Can we really trust him? He’s been under so long. Maybe this is all a big trap.” There was no mistaking the anger in Irish’s voice.

“It’s not a trap,” Isaac said, his words soaked in fatigue. “He plans to kidnap Cassandra and take her back to Mexico.”

“As if we didn’t know that was what Gomez had planned by him coming to California,” Irish scoffed.

Cass wanted this meeting to be over. For everything to be over so she could try to get on with her life.

However, until her uncle was dealt with, that wasn’t a possibility.

“Did he say when this was going to happen? And how it was going to be done, considering it’s just the two of you here? Wouldn’t it make sense to have more men involved?” she asked.

Isaac turned to her. “He believes he can just snatch you off the street and into a waiting car. That’s his grand plan.”

“You have got to be kidding me.” This came from Jag. “He really believes it’s going to be that easy. That Cass will be walking alone?”

“I never said he was a smart man.” Isaac smirked. “I’ve told him it isn’t going to work.”

Cass sat back. Was her uncle really that na?ve? To think she’d ever be alone.

Even before this had happened, she hardly went anywhere alone. Why would she, when she could get anything she wanted delivered to her house?

Occasionally she’d gone on solo shopping trips, but recently, if she’d needed a shopping day, she’d gone in a group with the girls. Or if she tried to go separately, nine times out of ten, Ox, Growler, or Angel accompanied them. Always lurking in the background ready to take action if ever needed. Not to mention, they made handy bag carriers.

“I don’t trust Gomez,” Cass murmured.

“What’s your gut saying, Warner?” Ox asked.

“He’s on the edge. He took a risk coming here, without the protection he usually travels with.” Isaac shook his head, as though that still shocked him. “He then dismissed the two guys that were with me. Sent them back to Mexico.”

“Which means what?” Owens tapped his fingers on the table.

“I’m not sure. He doesn’t normally sully his hands with any of the dirty work. Not after he took control. But this is personal for him. He truly believes his brother would want Cass with him. He’s been obsessed with finding her.”

A shiver of revulsion slithered down Cass’s spine. She didn’t want her uncle to be obsessed with her.

Not at all.