Chapter 24
“Everyone is in position,” Cross said, and down below, Tessa nodded.
Cross gave thanks one more time that Patch and Savvy had thought to bring earbuds.
Being able to communicate with each other and hear what was unfolding with Rodriguez made the chances of the op going as planned rise exponentially.
It was almost midnight. Cross’s anxiety had curled into a ball in his stomach.
This had to go well. Had to. He needed Drew back in one piece so he could spend the rest of his life making up for his stupidity.
He loved her more than anyone else, and he needed her the way he needed oxygen.
It had taken this fucked up situation to make that clear to him, but now that it was, there was no going back.
Drew was his. He just needed to get her home safe so he could show her how much he loved her.
“Anything yet?” Tessa asked. She waited and then shook her head, indicating no joy.
Sanchez had done a fast turnaround, and after arresting Winslow and locking him down so he couldn’t contact Rodriguez, he’d arranged for the two teams already at the other locations to swing around and set up outside.
Their job was to let Rodriguez come into the warehouse and then close the net around him.
They weren’t to enter the warehouse unless Cross or McGuire or Stone called for help.
Cross glanced at his watch. Rodriguez was a few minutes later.
He did some breathing exercises to relax.
No one was coming in unless they had Drew safe and sound.
Too many guns in a closed location, like the warehouse, would guarantee someone would end up being killed by friendly fire.
He wasn’t willing to take the chance that it would be Drew.
Cross looked out from the office and surveyed the lower level.
Tessa paced in front of the table at the back of the warehouse.
The truck was parked on the left side, cab facing out, with Wallace sitting in the cab on the passenger seat just in case anyone tried to steal it outright.
Billy was in the corner keeping a line of sight down the trailer so no one could sneak up on Wallace from behind.
Patch was lying on top of the trailer so he would have the drop on anyone below him. Unless they were going to blow the whole trailer—highly unlikely—it was probably a pretty safe place to be.
McGuire had taken up a position on the other side of the warehouse, behind some pallets that they had reinforced with sandbags and boxes of paper.
It wasn’t ideal, but it would have to do.
They’d certainly used worse options during their time in the military, but it didn’t make any of them feel better about it.
Cross glanced upward. Stone was on a catwalk to ensure no one came in via the roof access. It was a good operational design, but his nerves were getting the better of him. Drew in trouble made him crazy, and getting himself together because of it was possibly the hardest thing he’d done.
Cross reminded himself that Rodriguez knew they were going to be there, so it wasn’t about hiding. It was about surviving and getting Drew back. He glanced down at the sandbags he had against the wall below the window. They should hopefully be enough to stop anything.
He drummed his fingers on the windowsill. “Where the hell is he?”
“He’ll be here,” Tessa said. “He’s not going to miss this.”
Cross was less worried about Rodriguez missing the meet and far more worried about what he had planned. He’d been running scenarios all day with Stone, McGuire, and Patch. Whatever Rodriguez had planned was a wildcard. The game could go either way.
It didn’t help that they were pretty sure he had more guys with him than they’d previously thought.
Hired muscle? Maybe. Did he call in reinforcements from the cartel?
Also a possibility. And which one it was mattered.
Paid guys were less likely to stick it out when the going got rough—and it was going to get rough.
Cartel operators didn’t have a choice. They run, they die.
They have nothing to lose, which makes them incredibly dangerous.
His earbud crackled. “We have visual.” Tessa continued, “Three large SUVs. Repeat. Three large SUVs.”
“Got it,” Cross responded. He glanced down to see Tessa cupping her ear. Her ATF guys were feeding her more intel. It sucked that all of them couldn’t have both earbuds so they could all communicate, but he’d take what he could get, and this was working.
“Shit,” Tessa’s voice came through.
Cross waited a beat, his heart rate spiking.
“Make that four SUVs.” Tessa whirled, looked up at him, and then over at McGuire. “He brought four SUV loads of guys. One stopped further back, but the guys are sure it’s part of Rodriguez’s crew.
McGuire swore. “What the hell did he bring that many guys for? They’ll end up killing each other with that many bodies floating around.”
Tessa held up her hand to indicate she was getting more from her people.
“One is hanging way back out of sight of the other three…They are setting up a perimeter. The other three have pulled over just down the street. They are waiting. Four guys got out of the third SUV, and they are heading into the buildings around them.”
“Shit,” Patch snarled. “They’re setting up like we set them up. They’ve brought the extra guys, so they don’t have to worry about not getting here early.”
Fear unfurled itself in Cross’s stomach and filled his veins. “Tessa, tell your people they have to take these guys without having them tip off the rest of them. Make sure that happens, or Drew will be dead.”
Tessa nodded and started talking rapidly.
He couldn’t hear what she said, but his nerves went on high alert when she froze and then started pacing much faster.
She stopped talking, but froze again, her head cocked.
What the hell was going on? He wanted to run down the stairs and hear it all for himself, but he knew he had to stay focused or this wasn’t going to work.
“The fourth SUV is just sitting there. We have eyes on it, but it’s unclear what they are doing. The guys from the third SUV have gone into the surrounding buildings, and they are now setting up on the roofs.”
“What about your people?” Cross demanded. “Where are they?”
“They have pulled back so they don’t spook Rodriguez’s team. Once we have confirmation that Rodriguez has Drew with him and that he’s in with you guys, my people will take his people on the roofs.” Tessa glanced up at Cross. “Do you think Drew is in the fourth SUV?”
Cross thought about it for a second. He wanted that to be true because then the ATF could grab her while they had Rodriguez occupied.
“No,” McGuire answered for Cross. “Something else is going on.”
Tessa held her hand up again. “We just got confirmation that the guys on the roofs are cartel. My people recognized two of them.”
“Shit,” Patch breathed. “Then that forth SUV is either Rodriguez’s men waiting to take out the cartel guys or the cartel guys waiting to take out Rodriguez’s men. Either way, this is going to be a shit show of gunfire. Team, keep your heads down.”
Cross was trying not to lose his shit. Patch was right. This was going to be a clusterfuck. He sent up a prayer that they would be able to get Drew out alive. The longer this went on, and the increased body count of people with guns, made that less and less likely.
“The guys on the roofs are set. Two SUVs are on the move. They’ll be out front in less than sixty seconds.”
Cross pushed the desk into position behind the sandbags and then set up his rifle. He’d cut a hole in the glass earlier, and now he lined up the muzzle of his tactical rifle with the opening so he could take a clear shot with nothing between him and his target if necessary.
The garage door started rolling up.
Tessa burst out, “Men are getting out of the fourth SUV. Rodriguez’s guys. They are heading toward the warehouses where the cartel has men on the roofs.”
“Make sure your men hang back and see how this is going to play out,” McGuire directed.
Tessa nodded. “Done.”
Cross watched as headlight beams filled the warehouse.
The SUVs rolled in, and he clicked a button to lower the door behind them.
No need to provide the enemy with a direct sight line.
The more they could control this, the better Drew’s chances of survival were, and right now, he needed them to be as high as possible.
He wasn’t leaving here without her, one way or another, and he would kill as many as he had to, to make that happen.
He looked through his scope and settled his breath. Game on.