The Midnight Hour - Brenda Jackson [97]
"I assume you're calling to let me know my houseguests will be arriving shortly," he said.
Drake laughed. "Fat chance, bastard. I was calling to let you know that Tori and I won't be visiting after all. We figured we wouldn't like the company."
Cross's hand tightened on the phone and his face filled with rage. "Warren!"
"Umm, I see that you remember me. And don't waste time asking about the Red Hunter. Let's just say he's a little indisposed at the moment."
The vein in Cross's neck almost strained in anger. "You'll pay for what you've done."
"Your ass will be too busy hiding out from the cartel to worry about me. It won't be long before they find out that you defied them. They won't like you being a bad little boy. But I thought I'd give you something to think about while you're on the run for your life. You screwed up, Cross. You screwed up tonight but most importantly you screwed up five years ago. You didn't kill Sandy. The CIA outsmarted you. They let you think you killed Sandy but she still lives, Cross. The woman I love is still living and you were too stupid to put two and two together to figure out who she was."
"You lie, Warren!"
Drake would swear he could feel the heat of Cross's fury all the way through the phone line. "If you don't believe me, find put the truth for yourself. I have my woman back and I plan on spending the rest of my life making up for lost time."
"I will find you and kill you both."
"No, you won't. You'll be too busy hiding out to save your own ass. Face it, Cross, your eye-for-an-eye bullshit has become an 'everybody plays the fool sometime. '’You've been played."
The line then went dead.
Cross's knuckles turned almost white as he stood there and continued to hold the phone. Moments later, letting out a loud animalistic howl, he threw it against the wall.
"Miguel!"
The man came immediately. "Yes, sir."
"I need you to make calls to my contacts in the United States. I need information quickly."
"Yes, sir!" He watched as Miguel quickly left. He didn't have time to worry about the cartel's displeasure with him at the moment. He could hold them off for a while, especially when they discovered they no longer had the power they thought they had. One call to a number of rebel groups he had under his thumb would scare off the cartel. Right now he had more important issues to deal with.
Nobody played him for a fool.
Excitement suddenly replaced the anger that was ramming through him. Warren's days were numbered. Sandy Carroll may not have died five years ago but he would make sure she was enjoying her last days of life now. He would take pride in having her blood on his hands; and he would take pride in having Warren's blood on his hands as well.
An eye for an eye.
Cross inhaled deeply. He intended to personally see that Maria's death was avenged.
Drake inhaled deeply and forced himself to breathe out slowly as he hung up the phone. The gauntlet had been thrown down and the battle lines were officially drawn. No, it wouldn't be a battle, it would be a damn massacre, at least that would be Cross's way of thinking.
Drake's gaze slowly moved across the room to the two people who were watching him, Hawk and Tori; but mainly Tori. It was their battle and they were determined to see it to the finish. "Cross will come," he said quietly with absolute certainty. "He's desperate, obsessed, determined, and he strongly believes he'll get his 'eye-for-an-eye' bull."
Drake inhaled deeply again. He didn't want to admit it, but he knew the feeling. He'd felt that way after Sandy had died-or when he'd thought she had died. Especially when Cross had come forward and claimed responsibility. He had wanted to become a one-man hit squad, go after the SOB and blow his brains out; and for a time he had contemplated doing just that.
But Ashton and Trevor wouldn't let him wallow in self-pity or hatred. They had refused to let him sink to Cross's level by becoming a cold-blooded killer, dead set