“Tell me what you know about Jamal, and I’ll walk out of this jungle without a word. You realize my absence alone will raise red flags.”

Abdullah felt a smile form slowly on his lips. The man’s audacity struck him as absurd. He was here, under a gun, and yet he seemed comfortable issuing threats? “If I could give you Jamal’s location right now, believe me, I’d do it eagerly,” Abdullah said. “Unfortunately, Jamal is thinner than a ghost. But then I’m sure you know that, or you wouldn’t be chasing him through this godforsaken jungle. He is not here, I can assure you. He has never been here. You, on the other hand, are. A fact you don’t seem to appreciate.”

“Jamal may not be here, but he is your puppeteer, Abdullah, isn’t he? Only an idiot would think differently.”

Heat flared up Abdullah’s neck. What did the man know?

Casius shifted his gaze. “Your brother spoke quite freely before I cut him. Evidently your competence was of some concern to him. But really, if you read between the lines, I think it was more Jamal who regarded you as stupid.” The man looked back into Abdullah’s eyes. “Why would Jamal feel obligated to take over an operation you had perfectly under control? This was all your idea, wasn’t it? Why did he take over?”

But Abdullah could not dismiss the words easily. In fact, he knew this to be true. Jamal did think of him as stupid—every communiqué dripped with his condescension. And now this assassin had forced the same information out of his own brother before slicing him open.

A tremble ran through Abdullah’s bones. He had to think. This man would die—that much was now certain—but not before he told Abdullah what he knew.

The fool was staring at him as if he were the one doing the interrogating. His eyes glinted fierce, not in the least cautious. He obviously knew more than he was saying.

“I want Jamal,” Casius said. “His offense of me dates back eight years and has nothing to do with you. You tell me how Jamal makes contact with you, and I will make sure your operations stay well covered.”

Abdullah raised an eyebrow. “If it’s true that this operation is really under Jamal’s thumb, why would I give a killer information that might lead to him?” he asked.

Casius drilled him with an unblinking stare. “Because if Jamal isn’t killed, I’m quite sure he’ll kill you. In fact, if I were a betting man, I might say you were already dead. Your usefulness is finished. You’re now a liability.”

Abdullah came very near to grabbing Ramón’s gun and shooting Casius then. Only the man’s arrogance kept him alive. That and the tiny voice that whispered in his ear. Something was amiss.