Chapter 9 #3
“He’ll do much worse,” Gina said, her voice flat, her face strained. “We have to get to her first.”
“Then what are we waiting for?” Mr. Neal asked.
“Like I said—information. As soon as Carson gets back to us, we’ll make a plan and implement.”
Mr. Neal snorted. “I’m not a patient man.”
“Yes, sir,” Chase said. “But we can’t rescue her until we know where she is. Until then, we wait.”
Mr. Neal’s eyes narrowed. “Understand this,” he said. “My daughter and I don’t always see eye to eye. But she’s all the family I have. I love her and will do anything in my power to get her back. Alive.”
“Understood,” Chase said. “And you should know that even though we haven’t known each other long, I have great respect and feelings for Alana. I will move heaven and earth to bring her back alive.”
Chase held Mr. Neal’s gaze for several long seconds before the old man nodded.
Her father lifted his chin. “Once we get her back, I’m taking her home to Maui.”
“I won’t stand in your way,” Chase said. “If that’s what she wants.”
Mr. Neal opened his mouth as if he wanted to say more. Instead, he closed his mouth and returned to the sitting room.
Waiting, for Carson, proved to be painfully tense.
Mr. Neal paced the sitting room of the suite alongside Chase.
Alana’s father called every one of his own contacts in Mexico, searching for someone who could help.
No one offered assistance against the Jalisco cartel.
The US State Department offered to look into the matter if Mr. Neal would go to the consular agent in San José del Cabo and file an official request. Mr. Neal told them what they could do with their request, hung up and resumed pacing.
On a couple of occasions, Mr. Neal and Chase almost ran into each other. When that happened, Alana’s father would glare and mutter something to the effect of Chase having failed his daughter, and what was she thinking getting involved with a washed-up SEAL?
Chase held his tongue, determined to conserve energy for the fight ahead. If Delgado had an army of cartel supporters behind him, it could be a bloody battle in which he and his friends might end up dead. And if that happened, what would Delgado do with Alana?
Chase refused to consider that as an option.
Whatever he and his friends did, they had to get Alana out of Delgado’s hands and back to her father.
Until he had her somewhere safe, Chase couldn’t leave Mexico for the wilds of Montana.
Hank would wait for him to come to work for the Brotherhood Protectors.
He was a reasonable man with a wife and children.
He’d understand Chase’s desire to protect his own wife and bring her back to a safe and secure location.
If it meant taking on an entire army of cartel members, Hank would do it for his family. Chase would do no less for his wife.
Despite the fact he’d only just met the woman he’d married, he liked her. Hell, he’d broken all his self-imposed rules about never marrying for this woman after just a few hours with her. He would never consider leaving her at the mercy of a dangerous man like Raul Delgado.
In the meantime, he waited for Carson to return with word on where to find Delgado and, hopefully, Alana.
Minutes later, a knock at the suite door heralded the return of Carson with the news he’d been waiting for. Alana’s father stood beside Chase as Carson, the resident former SEAL of Cabo San Lucas, shared what little information he’d been able to attain.
“Delgado lives in a compound west of town,” Carson said. He pulled a piece of notebook paper from his back pocket, unfolded it and spread it out on a table. Someone had drawn an image of Cabo with the main roads noted and an arrow pointing to a location northeast of town.
Carson pointed to the location. “Delgado has a compound with walls seven feet high. The guy I spoke with has been inside the compound. He helped to build it and knows all the places Delgado could have stashed Alana. He thinks Delgado will have incarcerated her in the wine cellar. There’s a small storage closet at the back of the cellar with a lock on the outside of the door. ”
Chase’s fist clenched. The only reason to have a lock on the outside of a door was to imprison whoever was on the inside. When he got hold of Delgado, he’d make him pay for taking Alana and subjecting her to being imprisoned in some dark, dank cellar.
“Okay.” Chase drew in a deep breath and looked up into Carson’s eyes. “Now that we know where Delgado’s compound is, we’ll need your stash of weapons.”
Carson met his gaze. “You know, going up against the cartel is suicide, don’t you?”
Chase nodded. “I can’t leave her there, and we can’t shoot up a bar full of innocent people.”
A slow grin spread across Carson’s face. “I was beginning to go crazy here with so much sun, sand and relaxation.” He clapped his hands together. “I’m ready for action.”
Chase’s heart skipped several beats and then thrummed a steady, strong tattoo. Calm determination spread through him like it had with every mission he’d undertaken as a Navy SEAL. “Let’s do this.”