Zane and Cass exchanged an uneasy glance. “I’m sorry,” Zane said. “Before we talk about Hunter, there’s something else. We have news. Bad news.”

Like she really needed more bad news.

“There’s no easy way to say this.” Cass reached out and grabbed Layla’s hand. “John is dead.”

“What?” Layla’s stomach clenched. That was more than bad news. It was devastating.

Zane’s eyes met hers. “We found him at his house with his throat slit. The place had been tossed. Just like what happened to Cass’s place.”

Layla looked at Hunter, who sat with a deep frown on his face. She still didn’t know how Hunter was involved in this mess and how he had the security clearance to be having this conversation. And until she knew his role, she couldn’t talk about the Mejía cartel. “I can’t speak freely in front of Hunter.”

Hunter and Zane shared a look. A look that let her know she was in even more trouble than she had thought.

“That’s what we need to talk about,” Zane said. “Hunter is a contractor for the DEA. He has TS/SCI clearance and has specific permission to be read into our op.”

Layla clenched her fists. “I’m sorry, what?” Hunter had top secret security clearance? She didn’t even know where to start her questions.

“Basically, I’ve been doing freelance work for the DEA for over two years,” Hunter said. “Before I started working with them, I had to go through the whole security clearance process.”

“How does your work fit into what is going on now?” Layla asked as she tried to put the pieces together as quickly as possible.

“Our team is obviously being targeted,” Zane said. “How did the cartel figure out it was us? We’ve been compromised, and Hunter will be working on figuring out who sold us out. We needed someone from outside our agencies who could step in and be objective.”

She frowned. “Does he know all the details of the op?”

“Not yet,” Cass responded. “We figured we’d brief him here to make sure we were all on the same page.”

Layla nodded but didn’t really know what she was agreeing to. How had her world changed so suddenly in just a few moments?

Zane looked at Hunter. “The DEA got intel about a Mejía safe house that was full of drugs and cash. The safe house was going to be the storage area for a large shipment headed north to our border. We had a narrow window to act to secure the safe house, neutralize any cartel activity there, and seize the drugs and money.”

Hunter cleared his throat. “This is all about Mejía?”

“Yes,” Layla responded.

Hunter turned back to Zane. “You must have had some help in the field. The four of you couldn’t have done that alone—no offense.”