Malo - Page 19

“I need to go to Mexico,” I tell him, the words escaping my lips before I can stop them.

He cocks an eyebrow. “For what?” he asks, coolly.

“It’s for Maria’s father,” I explain. “The cartel is holding him down there, working on coming up with this new drug they can use to sell to people out here. She wants him out. And I don’t think she’s going to be able to focus on what we need her to do unless we free him.”

Beast lets out a long exhale through his nose, and I can see he’s genuinely considering this. That’s part of what makes him a good leader—that he never brushes off a suggestion, no matter how crazy or strange it might seem on the surface.

“Malo,” he says, his voice suddenly dropping into a sharp coldness. “You better be fucking kidding me.”

“I know. Lo se,” I reply, raising my hands. I see him glower at me, and he’s right to be mad, it’s not exactly as though I’ve got a good reason for this.

“You better have a good reason for coming to me with this,” he warns.

I scramble to come up with something. I can’t just tell him that it was the look in her eyes that convinced me. That I would have done anything to make her feel better in that moment, even if it included promising things I knew I would never be able to bring to reality.

I sigh. I know I need to be honest with him. If there’s one thing Beast appreciates, it’s honesty, I know better than to try and bullshit him into believing something I don’t even have much trust in myself.

“I want to help her,” I admit to him, finally. “I know how it sounds—I know she was working against us not that long ago, but she’s come to us for help now, and I want to do what I can to make that right. She’s torn up about what’s going on with her father—says he’s some big-shot chemist, mostly in medicine, and he’s stuck trying to turn out new product for the cartel. They’ve been showing her video of him, working with a gun to his head, and she can’t handle it. She’s not used to this world. She needs help if she’s going to be able to keep her focus on what matters here.”

“And you think that means I should give you permission to go running off down to Mexico?” he asks, incredulous.

“I get it, it’s crazy,” I reply, lifting my hands up, conceding the point. “But we need her able to focus, and she’s not going to be able to do that if she’s worried about what’s happening with her father. We get him back to the city, where we can keep an eye on him, then she’s going to be able to keep her attention on what we need her to do.”

Beast drums his fingers on the table, considering it. I’m starting to convince him. I keep talking, trying to fill in the gaps in his head.

“And, if he’s making new product for them, we need to stop that from getting out here,” I point out. “The more addicts they have begging them for a fix, the more people they have to use against us, right?”

Beast nods, slowly. He knows I’m right. An addict desperate for a hit will do anything they can to get it, and if that means throwing themselves in the line of fire to keep us away from the cartel, a lot of them might be willing to do it. We need to whittle down people willing to ally themselves with the cartel, and cutting off their supply chain before it even gets started is one way to make that happen.

“Plus, Maria already told that Rayo guy that we’re working with the Cafarellis,” I remind him. “They’re going to be distracted here in Houston, trying to keep a lid on all of that, right?”

“Good point,” he replies, his eyes narrowing as he considers it.

“If we can hit one of their compounds, we might be able to shake them up, get them to scatter their forces,” I continue. “And maybe pick up some information about what they’re planning next.”

I hold my breath as I wait for him to reply. I’ve pled my case, and I know it’s a good one, but this mission is still crazy enough that he could turn me down without a second thought.

Instead, he grits his teeth, and lifts his chin as he eyes me.

“You think you can handle something like this?” he asks.

I nod at once. “I wouldn’t even be here if I didn’t think I could,” I promise him. “I can handle it. You can trust me.”

He’s had plenty of reason not to, in the past, and I wonder if Sin has said anything to him about me using again. I wouldn’t be surprised if Beast was the one who clocked my high in the first place, noticing me being out-of-sorts the night after my binge, and he sent Sin to talk to me about it so we could keep it low-key. But I hope I’ve proven myself enough to him over the years for him to let me take this on, no matter how crazy it seems.

“You’re not going alone,” he replies.

“I could?—”

“You need another King with you,” he remarks, tapping his fingers on the desk as he ponders on who the best candidate might be. “Can’t spare too many, but… talk to Blue. Bring him with you. He’s good with stealth, and you’ll need that if you’re going to get into one of their compounds.”

I nod. Blue’s a good person to have on your side, no matter what the occasion, but the fact that Beast is willing to spare him for this particular mission means he’s taking it seriously. He must know what an important asset Maria is to us, and how vital it is that we keep her on our side. Getting her father back will put her in debt to us for life, and she’ll be willing to do anything to make sure she gets us everything we need.

“We need to feed the Rosas more information before we do anything else,” he replies. “Draw them out of their hiding places, get them out in the open. How long ’til she can meet with Rayo again, give him some more information?”

“I’ll talk to her about it,” I reply. “See what he’s been saying to her.”

Beast nods sharply, and then rises to his feet. His eyes lock on to mine, and I can tell he’s trying to read into my expression right now—to figure out if I’m actually capable of this, or if I’m about to walk into a mess I can’t handle.