Page 23 of Rogue Voice
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Aguilar said mildly, stabbing another mollusk with his fork. He looked knowingly at her uncle, who cleared his throat uncomfortably.
It’s done. He’s giving me away to Aguilar.All Bea’s fears rose to the surface, until she was sure she was going to vomit all over the white tablecloth.
“We don’t have oysters like these in Australia,” Rogue drawled. Bea looked up in surprise at his accent, which was thicker than she’d ever heard it before.
“These are Santa Catarina Oysters, flown here straight from Brazil,” Cruz said, his chest puffing out in pride. “The sweetest, meatiest oysters in the world.”
Bea clenched her teeth together and stared at her plate as the slurping continued.Stay still. Never do anything to call attention to yourself.
Alicia, her father’s old housekeeper, had been the first one to offer Bea that bit of advice in the weeks after her father passed away, when her uncle had pulled Bea out of school and taken over the household. Bea had taken it to heart, recognizing the truth in those words, particularly after the woman had been dismissed and sent away, her only crime that she’d been too kind to an orphan girl.
The less her uncle saw of her, the safer she was. Tears rose to her eyes, and she blinked them furiously away. She’d foolishly assumed she could stay safe if she stayed under his radar. But there was no staying safe. She’d never been safe with her uncle.You don’t deserve to be safe.Not when you’ve remained quiet for so long, knowing what you know.
Finally, the slurping stopped and the mountains of mollusk shells were cleared from the table. Moments later, the main course arrived, a beautiful branzino fish, with fingerling potatoes and cherry tomatoes. Her uncle was going all out to impress his associates.
Bea took a small slice of fish and cut into it under her uncle’s attentive gaze. Her stomach clenched. For once, she wasn’t hungry.
“This is delicious, Emiliano,” Rogue said.He’s going all out tonight, sucking up to my uncle as if there’s no tomorrow.Bea didn’t stop to ask herself why it bothered her. Most peoplesucked up to her uncle. Yet, somehow, when Rogue did it, it felt different. She hated it—wished she didn’t have to be here to see it.
“Do you like hunting, Rogue?” Aguilar asked.
Rogue chewed the food in his mouth calmly, then swallowed before replying. “Hunting?”
“Those assholes from the government have made it illegal to hunt jaguar, but there are still options out there. Imagine a cougar head hanging on your living room wall. We could make it happen,” he added, looking engagingly at Emiliano, who nodded, as if this was indeed a great idea. Bea’s stomach rebelled. She swallowed hard to keep the food down.
Rogue put his cutlery down calmly. “Thank you for thinking of me, but I don’t like guns,” Rogue said mildly. The three men laughed, as if the statement were cause for great mirth. Aguilar gave Rogue a disdainful look. “My work here is almost done. I’ll be leaving this weekend, unless there is anything else that needs to be done, Emiliano.”
Bea’s ears perked up.This weekend. That’s only three days away.Her heart beat hard against her chest. She lowered her head, concerned that the four men would be able to detect her agitation. She needn’t have worried. The men continued their conversation as if she weren’t there. That was good. It was the best she could hope for in her current situation, though Bea wondered what it would feel like not towantto be invisible all the time.
“You should smile more, Beatriz,” Aguilar suddenly said. Bea didn’t look up but gripped the fork in her hand tighter. She had a clear vision of what it would feel like to leap across the table and stab him with the fish fork in her hand, hard enough for the sharp silver points to embed themselves in his neck. She shook her head to clear away the image.
This wasn’t right.This isn’t who you are.“May I be excused, Uncle Emiliano?” she whispered. “I’m not feeling well.”
Her uncle nodded quickly, looking almost relieved. His expression struck fear in her heart, because she had a good idea what it meant.
The last thing she heard as she backed out of the room was Aguilar’s throaty promise, “Tomorrow, we will talk, Beatriz.”
11
Rogue
Rogue’s entire body hurt from forcing himself so still when all he’d wanted was to pound his fist into Emiliano’s face. Again and again and again. He felt fucking murderous and he didn’t kid himself what he was feeling murderous about.
Emiliano had come back from his visit with bloodstains on his clothes. It didn’t take a genius to understand things hadn’t gone well for thegrowerhe’d gone to visit. But Rogue wasn’t about to feel sorry for a cocaine grower. Beatriz, on the other hand—the contained fear in her expression when Emiliano had touched her. As if this had happened before. As if she’d known this would happen again.
And that was only the tip of the iceberg. The man was starving his niece. When Rogue had first seen her, he’d assumedher fragile, almost waif-like appearance was normal for her. Now he knew better. The young woman was hungry.
Now, he was making a gift of her to Oscar Aguilar, a man she clearly despised. Rogue didn’t remember ever being so furious before. He knew he wasn’t being smart. A smart man would be careful and keep his distance. Beatriz Cruz was the daughter of one drug lord and the niece of another one. If her loyalties were tested, who was to say what would happen but the overwhelming sadness in her eyes and her fear when she looked at Oscar Aguilar—it was more than Rogue could bear.
He didn’t bother getting into bed. He knew he wouldn’t be getting any sleep tonight, and he had to be awake at three a.m. so he could contact his team. He checked behind the bookshelf, where he’d stashed the small antenna, that together with his phone, would connect him to the satellite at the right time. It was still there.
He already knew what Dark and Thorne would say when he told them about the two drug lords who’d joined Cruz. They’d ask him to get outprontoand let the DEA take care of it when they arrived.
But the DEA wouldn’t be here for another twenty-four hours. And if Rogue got out now, the three drug lords would get antsy.Antsy enough to leave? Fuck, yes. That’s what you would do in their place.If they freaked out now, it would destroy the entire operation.
Then there was Beatriz; he didn’twantto leave her here alone with these monsters.Fuck it.
He had to speak to his team and trust them to understand why he had to stay one more day. He’d get out just before the DEA got here.
