“You can go in,” Evelyn said, waving a hand at the door.

Blake motioned Kara forward, reaching around her to open the door, intentionally wrapping her body in his, silently telling her they were in this together, before he pulled it open. Kara walked into the office and Blake followed, shutting the door behind him again.

Mendez sat at his desk, elbows on top, fingers steepled. He gave Kara an up-and-down, lingering on her cleavage in a way that made Blake want to rip his eyeballs out. “I see Mr. Wright’s sense of style has rubbed off on you, Kara,” Mendez commented. “Apparently his skill with a gun has as well.” He motioned to the chairs in front of his desk. “Both of you. Sit down.”

“My father taught me to shoot when I was a young girl,” Kara explained as they moved forward and she settled into a chair. “He believed a woman is supposed to look like a lady but be capable of biting like a shark. He was a fisherman.”

“I read that in your file,” Mendez commented, glancing up at Blake, clearly noticing he hadn’t sat down.

Mendez arched a brow. “Problem, Mr. Wright?”

Hiking his hip on Mendez’s desk, Blake crossed his arms in front of his chest. “Yeah. I tend to get testy when people send me out to the sharks to get eaten. If the same people you suspect of stealing drugs from you are running your trafficking operation, you don’t think that it’s important to tell me?”

“I hired you to find out who is skimming drugs from me. Have you?”

“Funny thing about that,” Blake commented dryly. “The same people I suspect of stealing your drugs almost got you put behind bars last night for trafficking. They’re greedy with your drugs and careless with your business. This shit is way deeper than the pig hole I thought I was wading in. I need facts to continue forward, and I need more money.”

“You do have a profound way with words, Mr. Wright,” Mendez observed, disdain in his voice.

“So I’ve been told,” Blake commented and the only disdain he had was for this man and his cronies. “More money and more information, or I’m out.”

“What did you do with the women?” Mendez asked, shifting the conversation.

“I sent them far away and told them that everyone they ever knew or might know in the future would be slaughtered if they ever said a word about what happened to them.”

“And why not kill them?” he queried.

“I don’t do bloodbaths. Dead bodies come with complications I don’t need.”

Mendez pursed his lips. “I want them dead.”

“Find them and kill them. And good luck. I’m damn good at hiding what I don’t want to be found. Almost as good as I am at finding what others don’t want discovered.”