Chapter Sixteen
Bitterroot Falls
“It’s time,” Jackson said, back at the Lady Luck Ranch, looking around the kitchen at most of the team.
They had successfully pulled off three rushed raids, coordinated simultaneously, seizing cartel assets.
Winter, Declan and Chance were at DCI headquarters, where everything had been turned in and logged as evidence.
No fatalities, though a couple of livestock agents and four Iron Warriors had been injured.
Now Jackson had to contact the task force. “Are you all set up?” he asked Eli.
Their resident techie was going to mask the location of his cell phone. If anyone tried to trace the call, they would get fake GPS coordinates that would bounce to a new location every sixty seconds.
“Almost ready,” Eli said. “Just give me a few more minutes.”
“Who are you going to speak with?” Christina asked. “Anyone left on the task force could be the mole. You still can’t trust any of them.”
“Department chiefs from DEA, FBI and DHS have flown in,” Jackson said, setting the business cards Takoda had given him on the marble countertop. “They’ve got boots on the ground here and are in charge of the task force. I guess I’ll speak to one or maybe all of them. If they’re available.”
“Wait a minute.” Christina folded her arms, her brow furrowing. “Three department heads are all in Missoula?”
“Yeah.” Takoda nodded. “I met them at the hospital when they arrived and came in to check on the survivors.” He picked up his mug and sipped his coffee.
Jackson moved closer to her. “What’s up?”
“I don’t know.” Christina shrugged. “Maybe it’s nothing.
But Alvaro was waiting to kill me. He said Rio wanted to talk to me face-to-face and watch Alvaro…
” Her voice trailed off as she clutched her throat.
“Watch him eliminate me. He told me that it would probably happen in Missoula. I mean, that can’t be a coincidence. Right?”
Jackson considered what she was saying. “We suspected that Kehoe told someone higher up about you being his asset. If it was to gain access to the Odin’s Eye facial recognition program, then it would explain why he’d risk sharing that.
He’d go to someone he was close to, someone familiar with the task force. ”
“You think the second mole is one of those three chiefs,” Bo said, “and Rio is meeting with them?”
“What if it’s bigger than that?” Christina looked around at everyone. “What if it’s worse?”
Autumn took a seat on one of the stools. “Worse how?”
“This whole time,” Christina said, “Kirk and I thought that Rio Estrada’s identity was such a closely guarded secret so that he couldn’t be found and tracked. To make it harder for a foot soldier or someone lower in the food chain to give him up in exchange for immunity if they were ever caught.”
Takoda set his mug down. “You think it’s more than that?”
“Possibly a lot more,” Christina said with a nod. “What if Rio Estrada’s identity is so well safeguarded because he is the second mole, with a contact at a higher pay grade than Kehoe in the federal law enforcement hierarchy?”
Like a bad smell, the words hung in the air. Those in the kitchen shifted uncomfortably, their expressions varying from disbelief to denial.
“Whoa.” Autumn reeled back. “Do you realize the magnitude of what you’re suggesting?”
“Yes.” Christina sighed. “I do.”
Autumn shook her head. “Someone from the cartel can’t just walk in off the streets and join one of the three-letter agencies. There are background checks, in addition to a robust protocol, put in place to prevent exactly what you just proposed from ever happening.”
“Hear me out.” Christina grabbed a stool and wearily sank down on it.
“Before Pedro Estrada was killed and his son Dante took over the cartel, Pedro sent his younger son, Rio, to live in the United States. Where the kid just dropped off the grid. What if he assumed the identity of an American citizen? What if the ultimate goal was to embed a top cartel member inside one of the three-letter agencies?”
Autumn’s jaw went slack.
“That’s why Kehoe was murdered,” Jackson said.
He had wondered why the cartel would risk killing an FBI agent.
“If an asset is discovered inside the cartel, they eliminate the traitor. But not the handler. Too much heat. They wouldn’t dare to do it.
Not unless that agent posed an equal or greater threat than the asset.
Like Kehoe. Because he had footage of Rio and wanted to run it through Odin’s Eye.
It’s also why Alvaro Aguilar was more concerned about getting all the surveillance footage you’ve accumulated over the years instead of worrying about depots or anything else you might know. ”
“Okay, let’s say your theory is right.” Waylon grabbed a bagel from one of the platters of food that had been laid out on the counter and slathered cream cheese on it. “What do you do with that? How do you test or prove it?” He bit into his bagel.
“You spoke to Rio on the phone, right?” Jackson asked, and Christina nodded. “I’m about to call these guys now. I can request a conference call with all of them. You might be able to recognize his voice.”
“Did he ever use a digitizer or modulator over the phone?” Takoda asked.
“No,” Christina said. “His voice never sounded altered.”
“Well, we’re ready to go.” Eli handed Jackson the burner phone that was connected to the laptop with a USB. “Who are you going to try?”
Jackson looked between the cards and chose Dawn Quinones. Levelheaded woman. Ambitious but not cutthroat. She might, might hear him out. “I’ll start with DHS.”
He dialed the number, and the phone rang and rang. Jackson hit the speaker icon so the group could hear everything.
“Quinones,” the deputy chief intelligence officer said, finally answering.
“This is US Marshal Jackson Powell.”
“Jackson? Where are you? We’ve been looking for you and Christina Ortiz. Is she alive? Is she with you?”
“She is.”
“You have to bring her in,” Quinones said. “After that unmitigated disaster at the airport, we have a lot of questions for you.”
“I understand, but I want a conference call with SAC Baccarin and SAC Garcia. Please patch them in.”
“How about you come in with Ortiz and talk to all of us? We’re here in Missoula, at the US marshals’ building. It’s essential we get the suspect back in custody and this situation under control as quickly as possible.”
“Ortiz is innocent of the charges, ma’am,” Jackson said. “She didn’t murder anyone.”
“Forensics came back. It did corroborate Ortiz’s version of events.
Kehoe was on the ground when he was shot from above.
Not while he was running away. Also, there were bullets from two different weapons found in one of the victims, as Ortiz stated.
I understand Nichols was assigned to investigate the sheriff’s deputy, Brent Phillips, who was the alleged eyewitness.
We have found that the deputy has used large sums of cash to pay for his current lifestyle, including vehicles and jewelry.
Amounts that can’t be explained by his salary.
It’s also a red flag that his body camera was disabled at the time. We’re digging into this.”
Sliding a glance at Christina, Jackson watched relief fall across her face.
He gave her a reassuring nod. “I appreciate the update, ma’am.
I also have evidence that Hector Ibarra was indeed at Ortiz’s apartment the night of the murder and that she followed him to the tunnel where Kehoe was killed.
We should be able to match some of the tire tracks at the scene to those on Ibarra’s vehicle. ”
“That’s excellent work,” Quinones said. “But we still need you and Ortiz to come in.”
“First, I need to speak with Baccarin and Garcia. You have sixty seconds to get them both on the line or I hang up,” Jackson said and waited.
Ten seconds later. “Okay,” Quinones said. “Let me see what I can do. Hold on.”
He glanced at Christina and mouthed, You can do this.
She nodded.
“Jackson, are you still there?” Quinones asked right before time was up.
“Yes, ma’am, I’m here.”
“Okay, good,” Quinones said. “I’ve got Baccarin and Garcia on the line with me.”
“Gentlemen, can you both hear me?” Jackson asked.
“This is Baccarin. I’ve got you loud and clear.”
“Garcia here. Jackson, why don’t you tell us why you’re on the run with a murder suspect?”
“We’ve heard a lot of troubling things from your team,” Baccarin said. “But we want to hear your side of things. In person.”
They’d have to settle for over the phone.
“On our way to the airport,” Jackson said, “my convoy was attacked by a high-level hit man for the Estrada cartel by the name of Alvaro Aguilar. I fled the scene with Ortiz to prevent Aguilar from murdering the suspect, who is in fact an asset for the FBI, recruited by Kirk Kehoe. She has been working undercover inside the cartel. All the valuable intelligence for Operation Big Sky Guardian came from Ms. Ortiz,” Jackson said.
“We did receive a copy of paperwork from Mr. Lockwood, the owner of Ironside Protection Services,” Quinones said, “and have verified Special Agent Kehoe’s signature.”
“However,” Baccarin said, emphasizing the word, “we don’t have anything official on our end here at the FBI. As it stands now, it appears that Kehoe went rogue by recruiting Ortiz as an unsanctioned asset.”
“Is there anything else to substantiate the claim that she is or was an asset inside the cartel?” Garcia asked.
“Besides information that the task force is already aware of. It has been suggested that you might be perpetuating that claim because you were once lovers with Ortiz. Some have even questioned whether you are currently involved with her.”