CHAPTER NINE
Washington, D.C. – present day…
“Did you find your niece?” the man asked Pablo.
“Daughter. Just keep using daughter for now,” said Pablo walking next to the man along the gravel path. “No. One of the bodyguards before he died said that Rodriguez took her into his mansion. He probably raped her and killed her.”
“That’s good,” said the other man. “Now you have nothing blocking you.”
“That’s not good. I need her to release the land to me. I need to find a way to come back from the dead if we find her.”
“We’ll find her,” chuckled the man.
“You Americans are always so cocky and sure of yourselves,” frowned Pablo. “If she wasn’t killed, she’s long gone by now. She will blend in with the others.”
“You know what? I have some acquaintances that find people sometimes. Maybe we can get them a picture and see if they can help us out. I’ll tell them that her father, feared dead, was found alive, living in a remote part of the country.
You suffered memory loss but you’re back to your old self again and want to find her. ”
“So easy for you to create a story, isn’t it?” grimaced Pablo.
“Stories are what we do as politicians, Pablo. You know that. We’re helping one another here. If you need the girl, then let’s find her.”
Belle Fleur – present day…
“Ham? We have a call you might want to take?” said Tanner.
“Why would I want to take it? If it’s about a new case, tell them we’re busy,” he frowned.
“Even a new case where an Argentinian is searching for his lost daughter and a senator is requesting our help?”
All eyes turned on Tanner, staring open-mouthed.
“I thought so. I’ll patch him into the screen.” Ham positioned the screen so that only he was visible to the other side. The rest of the men watched on a blind screen, where they saw the senator but he didn’t see them.
“Senator Myles, what can we do for you?” asked Ham.
He was a bit surprised to see the man on the screen.
Charlie Myles had been a decorated Army Ranger, saving his team on multiple occasions.
When he ran for senate, he’d won by a landslide and no one had been able to challenge him in nearly thirty years.
“Ham! How are you? How’s the family?” he asked with a cheerful voice.
“They’re good sir. I know this isn’t a cordial call. What can we do for you?” he asked calmly.
“The state department has someone they’re highly interested in. His name is Pablo Garcia. You may have heard of him.”
“We have,” nodded Ham casually.
“Well, we didn’t know that he has a daughter, Bianca Garcia. The rest of the family was killed by Rodriguez and she may have been caught up in that mess down there but we need to find her.”
“Is she in danger?” asked Ham.
“Well, she might be,” he said searching for the right words. “We think she may have some information that we need on him.”
“Is that so?” said Ham. “She certainly sounds valuable but I’m not sure we can spare the men right now. Argentina is a big place. And Garcia is damn sure not an uncommon name.”
“Well, that’s true,” he nodded. “I’ll send along a few photos of her just in case. I know you boys are everywhere.”
“If I may ask, Senator, why is this girl so important to Garcia or to the U.S.? Do we suspect she was part of the criminal activity?” Ham leaned closer to the screen hoping to see something in the senator’s face, and he did. Annoyance. Anger. And the best one, fear.
“We just think she may have information about Pablo that we need.”
“Well, you know that we like all the information before we agree to anything. What kind of information would she have to share about Pablo?”
“Now, Ham,” he chuckled, “that’s classified.”
“Is that so? Well, last time I checked my clearance is higher than yours, Senator.” Ham waited patiently watching the senator’s face turned red as he rocked back and forth in his big leather chair.
“It’s a delicate matter, Ham.”
“We don’t do delicate, Senator. Let us know when you’re willing to share more information. My best to the family.”
Ham hung up the call and stared at the other men, all frowning, then smirking.
“He’s in on this,” said Coop. “He knows something about Bianca and her family and he’s going to feed her to Pablo.”
“It sure felt that way,” said Christian. “We’ve got to find out what it is he needs her for.”
“AJ, Tanner? Check all the land records, mines, drilling, anything. Check lineage. Is she some lost princess or something? Why the fuck does he need her?” said Ham.
“On it.”