Chapter 14
THE WIVES stopped on the west side of El Paso to get gas. Hannah, wearing black BDUs and a cap, filled up both vehicles and went inside to pay. The clerk looked up only long enough to make sure the hundred dollar bills were real. Hannah kept the brim of her cap low over her eyes and her face averted from the surveillance cameras.
She thought she’d made a clean getaway then she stepped through the door. A man blocked the way—a man wearing BDUs, a 1st Armored Division patch, and a smile of recognition.
“Hannah? Hannah Jackson?” He glanced at the embroidery on her cap. “Homeland Security? You went to the dark side?”
Dammit. Hannah couldn’t avoid this but she could deflect it. “Wow, Mark. You made major. Congrats.”
“I lost track of you after we served on that brAC committee.”
Even back in those days, serving on the Base Realignment and Closure Committee had been an undercover assignment for her. “Yeah. It’s been a few years. So…First Armored, huh?”
“Yes, ma’am.” He beamed at her. “I just got back from a tour in Korea.” Mark glanced over his shoulder at the RV and black suburban. “I guess you’re on assignment. Probably means coffee or dinner is out of the question.”
“Sorry. I’m behind schedule as it is. Look, Mark, it was good seeing you again.” Hannah lied through her teeth, but she needed to extract herself from this situation in a hurry. “Best of luck.”
She brushed past him and all but jogged to the Suburban. Jacey was already behind the wheel, the vehicle idling in gear while the RV pulled away. Hannah ducked into the passenger side and barely got the door shut behind her before Jacey followed the bigger vehicle.
“Someone you know?”
“Yeah. But he called me by my maiden name. He’s been in Korea so he may be clueless about the current state of things. Even so, we need to get the hell out of here.”
“Then tell Antoine to put the pedal to the metal.”
“HANNAH? I’VE tracked down Honi’s husband.” Liz’s calm voice crackled over the radio. “He’s at the Border Patrol station in Las Cruces.”
“So he stayed on duty despite his wife being kidnapped?” Hannah’s blood chilled at the thought. Maybe the asshole was dirty after all.
“Evidently. You want me to send directions to your GPS?”
“Definitely. Keep going west. Jacey and I will detour then we’ll catch up.”
“Be careful, Hannah.” Liz sounded concerned. “And…well, you know, just watch your back.”
“Ha, she knows you too well, Hannah.” A chuckle hid in Jacey’s tone despite her grim demeanor.
“Yeah. But we need to find out if we can count on backup from this sonavabitch.”
The GPS unit in the SUV pinged and showed a route highlighted in red. “Got it, Liz. Stay safe. We’ll be back with you in a short.”
Ten minutes later, Jacey waited behind the wheel of the idling SUV while Hannah marched inside to confront David Montoya.
“Helen Tyree to see David Montoya,” she told the man at the front counter, using one of the aliases Sean had created for her. She had Homeland Security ID to back it up and she slapped the same on the counter. “Now.”
The guy got snarly so Hannah turned on her heel and marched into the first occupied office, the front desk guy yelling after her that she wasn’t authorized. She flashed her ID at the man behind the desk. “David Montoya. Now.” This guy was smarter. He grabbed his phone and stabbed a number. “Montoya, get your ass out front. Someone to see you.”
“That’s better.” She took a good look at the man. “You aren’t BPS.”
“Nope.”
“DEA?”
“Maybe.”
“The Los Malvados.”
“What about them?”
The guy was almost good enough to play poker with the Wolves. “Why are they running San Rios? That’s US soil.”
The guy shrugged. “Above my pay grade.”
“That’s too bad.” She paused as David Montoya stepped into the room. About thirty-five, he had dark, Latino good looks and wore his Border Patrol uniform squared away. He appeared fit and trim. She nailed him with a stare. “Why haven’t you reported that your wife was kidnapped by the Los Malvados drug cartel, Agent Montoya?”
His mouth dropped open as the DEA agent sat up, hands thumping on his desk. Blood drained from Montoya’s face as he protested. “No…no…you’re wrong.”
“And you’re lying. She’s being held in San Rios and she’s in labor.”
“The baby? It’s coming? It’s too early.” He swiped a hand through his hair and wobbled on his feet. Hannah guided him, none too gently, to a chair.
“I have agents there. She’s safe for the moment, but there’s going to be a hellava gun battle.” Hannah wasn’t positive of that but knowing drug cartel mentality and the mindset of the Wolves, she doubted any other outcome.
She eyed the DEA agent. “Still above your pay grade?”
“Yeah. Unfortunately. We’ve…I’m ashamed to say it, but the agency has maintained a hands-off policy about San Rios.”
Hannah considered that for a moment. “You got a UC there?” That would explain things, maybe. An undercover cop would complicate matters.
“Don’t know.”
“Then you better find out and get word to him that hell’s comin’ that way. My guys don’t lose.” She glanced at Montoya. “We went in after your wife. Are you going to help us get her back?”
A big bull of a man filled the doorway. His rumpled suit looked like he’d slept in it for a week and he reeked of cheap cigars and tequila.
“What the fuck’s goin’ on here?” He got right into Hannah’s face. “And who the fuck are you, girly?”
Girly? He called her girly? Hannah rocked up on her toes. “Helen Tyree, Homeland Security. Get the fuck out of my face, asshole, before I eat your balls for breakfast.” She pushed back, leaning into him. One hand curled into a fist. The other curled around the butt of her sidearm.
The man backed up a step and Hannah decided that was her cue. “You don’t deserve her, Montoya. We’ll get her back, with or without you, but understand this, her family isn’t happy.”
Montoya’s eyebrows crested high on his forehead. “Her… family ?” He gulped and swallowed around the last word.
“Uh huh. Her grandfather was a member of my team before his death.” A cold smile curled one corner of her mouth at his expression. Good. David Montoya knew exactly who—and what—had gone to rescue his wife. “So, this is personal.”
Hannah shifted her gaze to the DEA agent. He’d settled back into his chair to watch the show but made no move other than to purse his lips and blink. She stepped toward the big man blocking the door. When he didn’t move, she put her shoulder into his solar plexus, and shoved past him.
She didn’t run for the front exit. Hannah strode out like she owned the place. Once through the door, though, she sprinted for the SUV, dove in, and slammed the door as Jacey peeled out of the parking lot.
“I take it that all went well?”
Hannah laughed at Jacey’s acerbic tone. “Well, the DEA knows we’re in town and Border Patrol is pissed. Good times for sure.” She rolled her eyes as Jacey snorted.
“Mac won’t be happy.”
“Nope. But tough titty. I have a bad feeling, Jacey. A really bad feeling.”
“Then why did we bring the whole crew?”
Hannah thought about that for several miles. “Because we can always leave them someplace safe and if we get the guys out, then we can still have Christmas.”
“And if we don’t get them out?”
Staring through the windshield, Hannah didn’t answer at first. How could she? Yet she had to. She owed the wives and children. “That’s an unacceptable outcome.”