Chapter 24
Her worst nightmare turned into a hard reality as Rafe revealed the news. Allison couldn’t believe it.
“I’m sorry. There’s no denying it. Diana is helping to smuggle fentanyl.”
“It’s not possible. I refuse to believe it.” She folded her arms. It couldn’t be right. Had all his suspicions proved correct? Never.
“My sister wouldn’t do this.”
Rafe blew out a breath and muttered in Spanish as he paced, glancing at his cell phone. “The evidence is there, Ally. Diana is an accomplice. Agents tailed the van picking up bears stuffed with drugs to North Carolina. At least two of the bears contain fentanyl that we know of.”
“Where?”
He shook his head. “They lost the van a short distance from the border.” Jaw tensing, he studied his phone. “Ally, do you think Paul owns an iPhone?”
“Not sure, but probably. Di bragged he could get her a discount on a new one, so he probably is an Apple guy, not an Android. Why?”
“Apple phones make it easier to track AirTags.” He looked distracted. “I have to go.”
He kissed her swiftly and gave her a sympathetic look. “I’m sorry it came down to this. I’ll do what I can, find out where she is, and exactly her involvement. We’ll talk when I get back. Stay here.”
And then he was gone, roaring off in the night on his Harley, leaving her behind with her misery.
Allison went inside and tried to think. Should she call her parents? Di would need a good lawyer. But where could they find one here? Maybe a lawyer in Miami could refer them to one...
She sank into the sofa and buried her head into her hands. Already assuming the worst: that Di was guilty. It made no sense. Yet, as Rafe pointed out, the evidence was against her.
Allison went to brew some coffee and tried to assemble her fractured thoughts. All this time she’d been thinking the best of her sister, shielding her as much as she could, and Diana had been fooling her all along.
Maybe the glitz and glamor of the drug lifestyle, and the luxury Hector Hernandez could give her, had gotten to her sister.
“But she’s not that shallow,” she said aloud to the dripping coffee maker.
Then there was Paul, who adored Diana and would do anything for her... Allison sighed and poured a cup of coffee, added sugar and cream and went outside. Insects hummed in the trees and brush. It seemed so calming, when all she wanted to do was scream.
Her cell phone rang. Allison glanced at the number and frowned. Didn’t recognize it. “Hello?”
“Ally?”
Oh dear heavens. “Di! Where are you? You okay? What the hell is going on? Please tell me you’re okay!”
The line crackled. She cursed the lousy reception and ran outside to get a better signal. Her sister’s terrified voice crackled over the phone.
“I’m scared, Ally. Hector...warehouse...a gun...forced me.”
“Where are you? Di!”
“Randall...” Diana rattled off the address. “Hurry please.”
The line clicked off. “No, no, no,” she screamed.
Allison called Rafe. No answer.
Coffee spilled over the deck, the mug crashing downward as she raced inside to grab her keys. Warehouse. Was Randall a man? A last name. Randall.
Randall. The name was familiar. Suddenly it clicked.
Paul’s furniture factory was in Randall. She checked on her phone. The town was an hour north of here.
Diana had to be there.
Allison dialed Paul’s phone. He finally picked up. “Allison, I’ve been trying to reach you.”
“The signal here sucks. Listen, there’s no time. Where are you?”
“Just landed in Raleigh an hour ago and I’m trying to get a car. Damn rental agency line is a mile long.”
Her stomach clenched. By the time Paul drove to his factory, it would be too late. “Listen, Paul...”
“I heard from Diana.”
Allison halted pacing. “You did.”
“She’s fine. Wedding jitters.”
Wedding jitters? The panic in her sister’s voice wasn’t bridal nerves. “I don’t know. She’s not like this, Paul. Running away and not leaving any word of her whereabouts.”
He laughed. “You don’t know her like I do, Ally. Diana loves drama and attention. She’s waiting for me at a hotel in Ashville. Look, I’ll go there, we’ll have a romantic evening and everything will be fine. I’ll have her call you. I’m sorry she worried you so much.”
Heart pounding, she tried to sound as casual as possible. “Sounds good. What a relief. Thanks. By the way, is your uncle in town?”
Silence for a minute. His voice came over the phone. Guarded. “Why would he be?”
“I don’t know. I thought with the elopement, he’d want to be there for you.”
“He’s too busy.” Paul sounded brusque. “The line’s moving. Gotta run. I’ll have Diana call you tomorrow.”
The phone went dead.
Now all her suspicions flared. Paul couldn’t be trusted. She knew her sister. No amount of drama or desire for attention would keep Diana from assuring her that all was well.
Allison changed into black clothing and soft-soled sneakers. She called Rafe again as she ran for her bike. Voicemail. Fine.
“I’m going after Diana. You’re wrong, all of you are wrong. She isn’t smuggling drugs. But check out Paul. He claims he’s in Raleigh and Diana is at a hotel in Ashville. How the hell could she be there when you spotted her on camera less than an hour ago?
“And I heard from her. She managed to call me and tell me something about Hector, and holding her captive in Randall. She’s at Paul’s furniture warehouse, Rafe. I’m headed there. I have to save my sister.”
Allison hung up.
* * *
As he headed for the arranged meeting location to join his team, Rafe’s thoughts collided. All this time since the night he’d been shot and almost killed, he thirsted for revenge. Not justice for the men on his team who died. But revenge.
Revenge at the cost of everything else, including his family and worse...
His own damn code of honor and ethics. When did I fall so far down the rabbit hole? What happened? Using Allison to get close to Hernandez and then trying to coerce her sister into being a confidential informant.
Knowing the dangers involved, he’d still forged ahead with his plan.
His phone buzzed, but he ignored it.
Ten minutes later, it buzzed again. Glancing at it with impatience, he sighed. Allison again. Ally. Not now.
Allison was an honest and good woman, and, aw hell, he was in love with her.
Not the idea of her, but her. All of Allison.
Tough and gritty, with a spark for life and dedication to her family that exceeded his own.
She made him look deep inside and acknowledge the guilt lingering there, and yanked off the cloak of the end justifying the means.
Because it didn’t. Not when everything, and everyone else, came at the expense of nailing Hernandez.
For every criminal like Hector Hernandez, ten more waited to take his place. He couldn’t get them all. No matter how dedicated and determined he was, there would always be more bad guys out there to catch, more good men and women killed doing their job to keep the public safe from those scumbags.
Keep women like Allison safe. He couldn’t stop thinking about her, worrying about her.
Caring about her.
He knew what this meant. He was deeply in love with her. He could compartmentalize his feelings, shove them deep inside and focus on the job. Stick with the job because the job was predictable and noble and honorable.
Or head to the abyss of a real relationship and see where he’d land after the fall. Soon as all this was over, he’d do it.
Rafe took a deep breath. Time to jump.
Less than an hour later, he pulled into the parking lot of the grocery store Jase had mentioned. Vans and an array of police cars with blinking lights greeted him. It looked like a goddamn carnival.
So much for discretion.
Jase, Greg and Sam milled around Jase’s black SUV. Leaving his bike running, he walked over to join them. “Report.”
“Sheriff told us there’s only one warehouse in town that has been active.
Town’s economy tanked a few years ago and many businesses dried up or left.
This one is a new business. Belongs to an LLC registered under Dynamic Arts.
Dummy corp. Got the address, flew drones over the suspected warehouse and saw the van that had picked up the bears.
A truck left about an hour ago, heading east for the interstate. We have surveillance on it now.”
“Good. What are we waiting for?”
The trio exchanged grim glances.
“Permission,” Jase finally said. “Sheriff wants part of the takedown.”
Rafe snorted. “It’s our op. My op.”
Greg looked equally frustrated. “Your boss, Lincoln, and my director both agree they need the local cooperation for the raid. So we wait.”
“For how goddamn long?”
“He’s on his way. He wants to use infrared helos to see the amount of people inside the warehouse.” Greg shook his head. “We wasted time arguing this is a covert op. No knock warrant. He finally relented.”
“So we wait,” Jase said. “He said he should be here soon.”
By the time the sheriff arrived, everything could go to hell. Rafe chafed with impatience. Damn bureaucracy. The FBI always followed protocol, but this time, he knew it could cost them valuable time.
Sam checked his shotgun. “Wish we could leave now. Storm the place and get these scumbags once and for all. I hate jurisdictional chest beating.”
Sounded good to him. Impatient to nail Hernandez and put the bastard behind bars, he itched to get going.
Suddenly he heard Allison in his head. “What’s more important, Rafe? That Hernandez is finally arrested or that you do the arresting?”
Allison again. She was right. This wasn’t his case, his show, his moment of glory. For the first time in more than three years, he didn’t give a shit about Hernandez and the glory of taking him down. It was more important that the man was arrested.
Not who did the takedown. Rafe steeled his spine. “Lincoln’s right. You need to wait.”
“But Rafe,” Jase started to say.