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he hoped they didn't kill each other before things were over. "You leave out during."
    Solomon Cross's hands tightened into fists in his lap as he sat at the conference table and met the stares of the seven men looking back at him. They were the heads of the ASI cartel, the kingpin and his six drug lords. He had requested this meeting with them. He was tired of keeping a low profile. It had been five years and he was ready to return to his place among them.
    "Your request has been denied, Solomon."
    He glanced slightly to his right. Manteo Pella had spoken. He and Pella had never seen eye to eye on anything and it left a bad taste in Cross's mouth that of all people it was Pella who had delivered the cartel's decision.
    "May I ask why?"
    It was the kingpin, Jose Delgado, who spoke. "This cartel is still cleaning up the messes you've made, Cross. You're too quick to let emotions get in the way of sound thinking. The only reason you're still with this cartel is out of respect for your stepfather who gave all of us our start. But don't push your luck as to how far our gratitude to him goes. Because of you the organization had to decentralize into several smaller groups, which is a risky way for us to operate. But as long as we have the CIA and DEA breathing down our necks we can't function any other way. That incident in Haiti was inexcusable."
    Cross leaned forward. Inexcusable, hell! He had needed to get revenge for what had been taken away from him. Didn't they know that? Didn't they understand the principle of "an eye for an eye"? He sighed deeply. Evidently they didn't. "That was five years ago."
    "Yes, but the United States government is yet to get over it, and there has been a price on your head since," Delgado said angrily. "They would just love to get their hands on you. In the meantime, this cartel has had to make adjustments."
    Cross slowly stood. Rage flowed through him but he refused to let it show. "Is that your final answer?"
    Delgado met his gaze. "Yes, and the cartel wants you to continue to keep a low profile. Hopefully, within another year we can take a look at your request again."
    Cross nodded then turned and walked out of the room. Damn Delgado and his stinking lords. What they didn't know was that over the past five years he had kept a low profile and at the same time he'd slowly been clipping away at their safety net. When they met again in a year, they would discover they didn't have control over anything. He would. He had more South American government officials, DEA and CIA agents in his pockets than they could ever imagine. And he'd held several secret meetings with Martino, the head of the Uruguay rebels.
    Yes, in less than a year he would be in full control and the first thing he intended to do was to put bullets in each of their damn heads.
     

CHAPTER 2
     
    It was a few minutes past midnight when two black-clad bodies slipped aboard the sleek and elegant-looking yacht that would carry them out further into the Atlantic where* huge military ship was waiting.
    Automatically, Drake and Tori went to opposite sides of the boat, each needing distance from each other for totally different reasons; each feeling the frustrations and anger of having been sent on a mission together.
    As Tori removed her jacket and knelt down to straighten her gear, she stole a quick glance in Drake's direction. With his thunderous expression it was easy to see that he was still angry about being partnered with her. She knew after leaving Casey's office that Drake had stayed behind to convince Casey that he worked better alone. A part of her had hoped he'd been able to do so and had waited for Casey's phone call saying her part in the mission was cancelled. But a phone call never came and as instructed, she'd been packed, ready and waiting at the docks at midnight. So had Drake and he hadn't said a single word to her since. The moment she'd arrived and he had stepped out of the shadows, she had been fully aware of him as a