Deadly Games - Cate Noble [63]
“Look, sweetheart—”
“No, you look!” She stabbed her finger against his chest, then immediately withdrew her hand, horrified by her action. Her mother had done that to her father. “Oh, Rocco, I’m sorry. I don’t know what’s come over me. I’ve had a lot of stress lately and—”
She couldn’t say the words. And I’m pregnant.
“Everybody’s got a lot of stress, Gena. What concerns me is the way you internalize yours. You’re alone way too much. And don’t take this wrong, but a couple of times when I’ve called, well, I know you’ve had a little too much to drink.”
“Oh, gee, and when did you last call? All I’ve seen are e-mails.”
Rocco sighed and looked away. She caught a glimpse of how tired and stressed he was. Compared to his fate-of-the-free-world stuff, her stress factors were nothing.
“Quit,” she blurted. “Stay here. With me.”
“It’s not that simple. There are others counting on me. I can’t just quit.”
“You mean you won’t.” She held up a hand when he would have denied it. “I understand.”
“No. You don’t. And this isn’t one of those things we can iron out in an hour.” Rocco shook his head. “I probably shouldn’t have come here to begin with. This is just making things worse, isn’t it?”
No. Telling you I’m pregnant is going to make things worse. Gena started to speak just as Rocco’s phone began to vibrate. He tugged it out and checked the display. “Crap.”
“Go ahead and take it.”
“It was a text. I have to go, sweetheart. I promise we’ll talk about this when I get back.”
“Talk sweet to their girlfriends while texting their whores.”
“Do you even know when that will be?” Gena asked. “Another six or eight weeks, give or take a month? Just leave, Rocco. If I’m here when you get back—”
“If you’re here? Is that a threat? I thought we had an understanding.”
“I’m not sure I can abide by that understanding any longer.”
Rocco stiffened as if he were the injured party. “Fine. Do what you have to do. I’ll be in touch.”
Then he turned and stormed out the door.
Leaving Gena feeling more alone and lost than she’d ever felt in her life.
ChapterTwenty-Three
Monterrey, Mexico
October 5, 7:30 P.M.
Danger was the ultimate high.
And right now, Harry Gambrel was on top of the world. The literal top. Maintaining traction on such a slippery space would be tricky. Balance was crucial.
If he pulled this off he would win, big-time, on a number of levels, including putting Rocco Taylor in the ground. After Rocco had served his purpose, of course.
Failure would mean—
No.
He would not fail. There was too much at stake. Besides, like any good con man, he had more than one backup plan, just in case.
He signaled the pilot, Wally, to start his preflight check. Wally, an ex-patriot drug courier, believed that Harry worked undercover with the DEA. Wally also believed that his pending charges back in Arizona would be erased in exchange for cooperating with Harry.
“You know how good it will be to go home and walk the streets as a free man? To not have to constantly look over my shoulder?” Wally had asked.
Yep. Harry knew exactly.
The scenario Harry had painted for Wally was simple. Harry was posing as a crooked banker, meeting with a money launderer and his wife. Wally’s job was simply transportation for hire. Get the three of them to Acapulco and forget he ever saw them.
And if things happened to go south before they left the airport, Wally was prepared to look the other way. “I still get my deal, even if you take this guy out, right?” Wally had asked.
Harry agreed. Anything to keep Wally relaxed for now.
As soon as they touched down in Acapulco, Ed-guardo and a couple buddies would surround the plane. Gena would be removed while Harry instructed Rocco on what was needed to secure her freedom: Rufin’s formula for SugarCane and another as yet unproven drug nicknamed JumpJuice. Wally’s death would be made to look like a drug deal