CHAPTER THIRTEEN
“I’ll let Luna know we’re ready.” Cole sat behind the large desk and tapped out a text message on his phone.
The team had congregated in the home’s massive, high-tech office. The owner liked to be able to run his many companies from this property. He’d equipped this space with everything needed to conduct business remotely.
In front of the desk was a seating area with a big coffee table positioned between two oversize couches that faced each other. The team had settled onto the couches. On the wall opposite the desk, two upholstered chairs faced a large fireplace.
A moment later, Luna’s smiling face appeared on the giant flatscreen mounted on the wall above the mantel.
“Hey, everybody.” She had asked Cole to pull the team together for a video call. “My intel further confirms Rodrigo Munoz is the head of the snake for what’s happening down there.”
Calliope and Lucas had watch and were outside walking the perimeter of the property. In the two days since Munoz and his crew tried to grab Isabella, it had been quiet. All of them knew things could go south in an instant, so it was important to remain vigilant.
“I also have confirmation that Agustin Martín and Jaime Ortega entered the country shortly after Tamarin Rios, and via the same border crossing,” she said.
“Jesus.” Hawk shook his head. “I wonder who else that guy has let in to the country.”
“I explained the situation to Agent Serrano’s commander, and he has agreed to leave him at his station for now.
As soon as his shift ends today, they’ll be installing additional hidden surveillance cameras to observe him,” Cole said.
“Because if Munoz decides to cross into the US at some point, that’s where he’ll do it. ”
“They’ve also agreed to give me temporary access to those cameras,” Luna said. She was so good at her job, she could probably access their system without them even knowing. “What do we do about all of the three-letter agencies who want Munoz?”
“They can have him when we’re done with him.” To Cole, this was personal, too.
He was adamant that Dark Ops be the one to take the asshole down.
The reason OSI and their Dark Ops division were so effective was because their teams were made up of stellar, unbelievably skilled operators—the best of the best—who weren’t hamstrung by the bureaucratic bullshit and red tape that government agencies were.
“We’ll hand him off to the DEA, and they can have their fun with him.” Eddie knew guys at the DEA who’d been working to bring down the Munoz cartel for decades.
And that was assuming there was anything left of the guy when they were done with him.
“How is the deputy doing?” Luna asked.
“He’s actually going to be released this afternoon,” Cole said.
“That’s great news.” Luna tapped a few keys.
Cole’s phone buzzed on the desk. He picked it up, read the message, and set it back down.
“Mark said their forensics team has been working tirelessly processing the school grounds for the past two days. They found spent shell casings from a 9mm and discovered blood droplets leading into the woods behind the school. They also found the mask the guy was wearing.” During the scuffle, Isabella had ripped off the guy’s mask.
“They’re sending everything to Beatrice for processing.
They brought in a K9 who tracked the guy’s scent for about two blocks but lost it near a place called Tom’s Mini-Mart. ”
“Based on Isabella’s description of the guy who grabbed her, I can tell you with great certainty that it was Jaime Ortega.
” Eddie’s teeth ground together at the thought of him touching that little girl.
“She said he felt bad about taking her and that he smelled like a skunk. Which makes sense, since he’s always smoking pot. ”
“All of that tracks with what I found.” Luna clicked keys.
“I’ve been watching the footage from the school’s cameras and scouring the CCTV feeds from the area around the school and San Salsillo.
I got a couple of hits, but the video quality is crap, and I’m working to clean it up.
” She clicked keys, and a quick video clip appeared on the large flat-screen monitor mounted on the wall.
“This one is from a camera near that mini-mart you mentioned. You can barely make out what looks like the front end of a vehicle parked on the side of the building.” A red circle appeared around the area she spoke of.
“Pay attention to the upper right corner of the video. You’ll see a man come into view. Eddie, since you know him, maybe you can confirm if that’s Jaime Ortega approaching the van. He appears to be holding his left arm against his belly.”
Eddie leaned forward. “Yeah, that’s definitely Ortega.”
She sped up the video.
“Two minutes and thirty-five seconds later, you can easily recognize Tamarin Rios entering the store.” She tapped a few keys and sped up the video again.
“Seven minutes and fifteen seconds later, he exits the store carrying three bags and a case of Modelos, then he goes back around the side of the building. A few seconds later, a silver Chrysler Pacifica appears and speeds away from the mini-mart, then turns left out of the parking lot.”
“I assume you can tell us what he purchased?” Cole knew exactly how good she was.
“Other than the beer, he bought three bottles of rubbing alcohol, four boxes of four-by-four gauze pads, medical tape, two jars of salsa, three bags of chips, and ten beef sticks.” She hesitated. “He also bought two packages of large zip ties.”
They all shared a knowing look.
“I found another video taken by a CCTV camera installed on a power pole across from a storage facility about five miles from San Salsillo. From what I could tell, it looked like two men and four children with blankets or jackets covering their heads.” Another grainy image appeared, showing four smaller figures and two taller ones.
“One man is in front of the kids, the other is behind them, and they’re hurrying them away from the storage facility.
” A second image appeared. “This is a still image of them loading into a Chrysler Pacifica minivan.”
“The vehicle by the mini-mart,” Boone said.
“Yes, if you look at the back window, you’ll see the same sticker.” She zoomed in on the grainy image.
They couldn’t make out details of the sticker, but they could recognize its unique shape.
“In the time it took to get from the mini-mart to the storage facility, there’s no way they would’ve had time to drop Ortega anywhere.” Cole looked around at this team.
“He’s in the van while they’re getting the girls,” Eddie said.
“I’m going to do my best to clean it up enough to read the plate number, but it’s pretty rough footage.” Luna wasn’t just a genius; she was also tenacious. She wouldn’t stop until she was satisfied that she’d achieved the best video quality possible.
“Luna, what is the time stamp on the video of them moving the kids?” Eddie’s mind was racing with possibilities.
“Let’s see.” She tapped some keys and tilted her head up to look at one of the monitors on the wall in the operations center. “It was eleven ten. Not long after they tried to take Isabella.”
“So they were at that mini-mart, waiting for their buddy to come back with her.” Eddie turned to Cole. “When he came back wounded and without her, they realized everything went to shit and decided to move the girls someplace more secure.”
“Someplace remote would make the most sense,” Hawk said.
“Exactly.” Eddie nodded. “Problem is, there is no shortage of remoteness around here.”
San Salsillo was sandwiched between the Rio Grande Valley and hundreds of miles of wide-open desert. The fact there was even a town there was a testament to the hardiness of the inhabitants.
“They headed north, and I was able to track them as far as Highway 69E.” Luna clicked keys lightning-fast. “I’m widening the search grid, but unfortunately, as Eddie said, there’s a lot of wilderness out that way, which means fewer cameras.”
“We need a helo but don’t have time to get ours here. I’ll talk to Mark about letting Lucas use the sheriff’s department helo.” Cole picked up his phone and tapped out a text message.
“We’re assuming that van’s a rental, right?” Eddie lifted his glass and downed the last of his water.
“TBD,” Luna said. “Once I get a clean image of the plate, I’ll be able to run it through the database and see if it’s registered to a rental car service.”
“Do you need anything else from us?” Cole asked.
“Not at this time.” She was already focused on her search for the car.
“Let us know when you find something,” he said.
Not if you find something but when you find something. That showed the level of confidence Cole had in Luna’s skill.
“Will do.” Keys continued to click in the background.
During their recent op in Pakistan, she’d been providing overwatch from the ops center, letting them know when and how many tangoes were approaching and their positions.
Unfortunately, she’d had to sit helplessly by, thousands of miles away, and listen to Boone nearly lose his life when the cave he was in collapsed.
“I’ll call you in about ten minutes,” Boone said.
“I look forward to it.” She winked at her fiancé. “Be safe, you guys.”
“Always,” they said in unison before the video call ended.
“That has to be the girls on that video,” Boone said. “I mean, what are the chances there are four kids hanging out in a storage unit?”
“With blankets over their heads in eighty-degree weather,” Viking added.
“Knock, knock.” Lucia stood at the doorway to the large room.
“Come on in.” Eddie stood and offered her his seat.