Chapter 19
NINETEEN
Forty Minutes Earlier
PAUL
“Anything?” Chili switched his polo and reached for a dress shirt. He was about to get dressed in the clothes he often wore when he played the part of a high-class businessman in the horrific world of human trafficking.
I leaned over the steering wheel to get a better look at the house.
We’d spent the night in the woods after we left Bruno’s property.
We’d been escorted for several miles, but once they turned away, we doubled back.
“Nothing yet.” I blinked to clear my vision and spotted Nicole going back into the house.
Her dark hair was heightened by the stark white dress she wore. “Just got a visual on Nicole.”
“Does she look all right?”
“Yeah.”
Bruno had called a meeting with Chili that morning, and every red flag was raised. Why wasn’t Eric included?
We’d known something wasn’t right. It was confirmed when my phone buzzed, and I got a text.
Daniel: Thought you might want to hear this. We’ll talk about what was said when you get back. For the record, I’m not pleased, but it will stay between us for now.
I had pressed on the attachment and played it for Chili to hear as well.
“Daniel, it’s Nicole.” My gaze swung to Chili’s face.
The reception was spotty and there was a sentence missing.
“Don’t send Chili-plan-kill-him.” I knew it.
“Eric-alive—” My stomach sank when I realized she’d friggin’ seen me at the house.
“-meralda- in the States.” Then there were some muffled sounds like someone talking to her, but she didn’t seem scared. Nothing could be understood.
“Oh, shit, Chili,” I looked at him, “they’ve got company!”
“Plan B, it is.” He threw the business shirt in the back and began to pull on his fatigues as I started the engine. I drove down the mountain to get a better view of who was there.
Five minutes later, Chili held up the binoculars from where he lay next to me behind a rock and gave a grunt. “Fuck. It’s Esmeralda.”
“We need to get Nicole out. This is getting worse by the second.” I fought the rough terrain as we drove and hoped we wouldn’t get hung up on an axel.
“There’s a good spot.” Chili pointed just as a loud crack of thunder shook the area around us. “At least if the rain comes,” just as he said it, the heavens opened and the rain poured so hard it almost deafened us, “they won’t hear us coming,” he shouted.
“Look.” I saw a flash of white from behind the SUV Esmeralda had been in. “That Nicole?”
Chili rolled his window down to get a better look. “What the hell is she doing?”
“Only one way to find out.” I grabbed my weapon. “I’ll head southeast, see if I can intercept her. I’ll radio you my coordinates. Stand by.”
“Copy that.” He slid over the console as I hopped out. “Be safe.”
“Copy that.” I raced through the trees and fought to see against the rain.
I cursed as I ran. This area of Mexico was known for this; when it rained, it came on fast and hard.
When I made it three quarters of the way down, I spotted Nicole’s dress as she crawled out of a hole in the barn wall and dashed across the field into the woods.
I picked up speed and almost lost my footing as I tripped over a root.
I stopped for a moment and focused on where to cut her off, and as I got close, I could hear a scuffle.
“No!” Her soft cries told me she fought someone, and my chest tightened. I cleared my mind of everything and muted my rapid heartbeat. “Don’t touch me!” She was at my ten o’clock. I pivoted in that direction and whipped through the branches, thankful for my army jacket.
I ducked behind a tree and saw a man trying to tear her clothes off.
Rage boiled through me, and I shot forward, grabbed his head, and twisted with all my might, snapping the man’s neck. I tossed him to the ground and stared down at Nicole’s terrified face as she pushed her dress down.
“Paul?” Her chin quivered as rain streamed down her face. The nightmare of what just happened showed in her eyes. She lunged forward and wrapped herself around my body and shook as I held her close. We both knew what would have happened if I’d been only few minutes later.
“I got you,” I whispered against her frozen skin.
“You’re safe.” I heard a snap of a twig and knew we were about to have company.
“We need to move. That white dress is a damn beacon, but we don’t have time.
” I grabbed her hand and pulled her along behind me as she hung on and tried to keep pace.
The pelting rain helped cover our sounds, but in turn made it tricky to get good footing on the slope of the hill.
I reached up and squeezed the button on the radio strapped to my chest. “I got the mark,” my voice just above a whisper, “continuing southeast.”
“Copy that, Stonewall One, heading southeast Chili repeated to me. “I will intercept your location in one-point-five miles.”
“Copy that.” I dropped to the ground when someone raced across the path not more than ten feet from where we were.
I signaled for Nicole to stay low. She pointed to her eyes then to the left and held up two fingers.
Indicating that she could see two men through the thick leaves.
I grinned inside; I forgot she was trained by soldiers.
The woman constantly surprised me. I nodded and quickly assessed the situation.
One of her hands moved to my back as she stabilized herself.
Her hand was like ice, and that made me look back at her again.
Shit. That damn white dress practically glowed in the dark, and she also looked frozen. I pulled her to her feet and moved her along a bit farther then handed her my weapon.
“I’m not using this,” she whispered as she held it like a grenade about to go off. “It weighs more than me.”
“Just hold it.” I undid my tactical vest and unzipped my jacket then pulled it out from under and yanked it free. “Put this on. That dress is going to out our position.”
“Okay.” She took the jacket and awkwardly handed me back my weapon.
Once it was on, she wrapped her arms around herself.
“It’s so warm,” she sighed. Then her eyes went to my t-shirt.
It stuck to me like a second skin. She shook her head and bit her lip but didn’t comment.
“I sure hope this rain lets up soon.” She kept her voice quiet and looked around.
She shivered again, so the jacket had only brought temporary relief.
“No, but we can use it to our advantage.” I looked her over and realized a lot of the white dress still showed, but there wasn’t much we could do about it.
She could tie it up around her waist, but it was also her only barrier from the sharp scrub brush we traveled through.
“We need to move. Stay at my six and keep your hand on my back. Whatever I do, you do.”
“Copy that.” She smiled, but I saw her eyes dart around, and I knew she was trying to keep it together. I respected the hell out of that.
“If you see something, tap whichever side they’re on.” I showed her with my hands.
“Got it.”
I held the scope of the gun up to my eye and waited until I felt her hand on my back, then I started to move forward. She kept her hand there and stayed with me without hesitation.
I was thankful my ball hat provided a shield from the rain. With every step, I scanned the trees and was glad there wasn’t any wind.
I wondered where the two men Nicole had spotted had gone.
I figured they couldn’t be very far and kept my ears open for any sound as we moved steadily through the trees.
I tuned in to my senses and repeatedly scanned around us to pick up on anything I might miss with my hearing as the rain pounded around us.
I used my gun to pull back the branches as we went then eased my body past it.
Nicole reached out with her free hand and took each one and let it settle behind us as we kept a steady pace.
Where I stepped, she stepped, and when I looked one way, I felt her hand curl in the opposite.
She had me covered, and I thought about how impressed Cole would be to see her in action. She handled it like a pro.
I froze when I sensed something, and she did likewise. I smelled smoke. Then the familiar scent of tobacco hit my nose. It was too close. Way too close for me to move.
She tapped my right side, and I slowly looked in that direction.
I eased my head back a little and could just make out a man with his hand cupped around a cigarette.
He fumbled with his lighter, and I realized he was having trouble keeping it lit in the rain.
I was thankful his attention was focused on his smoke, but I knew he was going to be a problem.
I held up a fist then motioned for her to stay put.
My mind raced as I tried to come up with a plan.
There were only a few feet between where we were and the Perez soldier.
Rain or not, he’d soon spot us. It wasn’t good.
Then I felt my jacket slide to the ground behind my feet.
What the hell? I managed to look around to see Nicole moving her hand to tell me to circle around behind him while she’d distracted him.
Before I could protest, she started to move, but I grabbed her wrist.
“No!” I shook my head. She lifted her shoulders and indicated we had little choice.
She had a point. We didn’t have time to go around, and if I fired my weapon, we’d give away our location to every soldier in the vicinity.
I slowly let go, and she nodded then stepped through the trees.
As soon as she knew he’d seen her she moved into the woods across from him and flapped her arms and looked around like a crazy person.
I snatched up my jacket and circled around the other side.