Street Game (52 page)

“Eventually,” Rio said, “Imelda will send them to the leopard village to recruit for her. She’s got money. Most of those living within the forest don’t give a damn, but some of the younger ones will want the adventure.”

“If I don’t get them first, the elders will have them quietly killed before they ever have the chance to speak to the young ones.” Conner looked around at the team. “If you’re all certain it’s a go, then let’s get it done. Do we know what the children look like? How many females? How many males? And be prepared. Imelda likes to use children to guard her compound. She often takes young ones, and puts a gun in their hand as her first line of defense. She knows it’s difficult for government officials to kill the children.”

“You think she’ll have children guarding the hostages?” Felipe asked.

“I’m just saying we’ll run into them and we have to be prepared, that’s all.”

Rio handed Conner a bottle of water and tapped the tabletop with his finger, a slight frown on his face. “Elijah, is it known that most of your operations are now legitimate?”

Elijah shook his head. “No. When my uncle was killed it was assumed I had him killed to take over the entire operation for myself. I’ve been slowly selling off everything I can that was tainted. I did get out of the drug and gun business. We were never into human trafficking. There are rumors, but I’m considered ruthless.”

“Then rather than change your name and pass you off as security, let’s use your reputation. You’ll have to be there as a friend of Santos’s,” Rio said. “That will only make her more inclined to think Santos is a big fish.”

“That leaves three of us for security detail,” Conner said. “Will a man like Santos have more?”

“As a rule he has a four-man team and two dogs,” Felipe said. “I didn’t want to put any of his regular team in danger. We wouldn’t be able to let them in on what was going on.”

“And your uncle has agreed to this?” Conner asked. “Does he have any idea who he’s dealing with?”

Felipe nodded. “He knows. And he knows she’s a threat to our people.”

“So who exactly is our client, Rio?” Conner asked. “You say Adan Carpio initiated contact. His tribe wouldn’t know of us. My father wouldn’t ask for our help. So who knew about us and how? I’d like to have all the cards on the table before we go any further.”

“Well,” Rio hedged, looking uncomfortable. “There’s a small problem with that.”