Chapter 18
THOMAS
PRESENT DAY
Thomas exchanged a quick glance with Nadia before they followed Cammy back to the ranch house, their shoes kicking up dust as they jogged across the yard.
Cammy’s urgent request set him on edge. But the faint sounds of the news broadcast as they marched up the porch pushed his unease into full-blown panic.
Cammy threw open the front screen door. He grabbed the screen before it hit the wall and bounced back and nudged Nadia into the house before him, his hand on the small of her back.
In the living room, the television glowed with chaotic aerial footage—tactical officers swarming a beachfront home while gunfire erupted from inside.
The air evacuated from his lungs in one brutal whoosh when the camera zoomed in.
“That’s James’s house,” he said.
Nadia’s head rotated sharply to look at him. “What?”
He grabbed the remote off the coffee table and raised the volume.
“—dramatic video captured by celebrated filmmaker Eric Watanabe, who was shooting footage of Hanalei Bay for an environmental documentary when he witnessed the beginning of the assault and what appeared to be a coordinated attack on this beachfront property. Authorities have confirmed a firefight between police and multiple armed suspects…”
Thomas stood motionless, barely registering the remote’s plastic edges pressing deeply into his palms. Nadia moved closer to the screen. “What’s happening?”
“Just watch,” Cammy said, grim. “They’ll replay it.”
The footage started again and Thomas couldn’t tear his eyes away.
Dark figures emerged from the water in broad daylight, moving with lethal precision over the sand and across the expanse of grass to James and Natalya’s home.
Two police officers, the ones Kane had told him had been stationed to watch the property, took cover behind the patrol car’s open doors.
Several shots were fired before both officers were taken out.
Then the suspects turned to the house. They breached James’s home within seconds.
Nadia cupped her hands over her mouth. “My god.”
Thomas broke out in a nervous sweat at his helplessness. He was thousands of miles away and an ocean apart. There wasn’t a thing he could do to protect James and his family other than watch their hell unfold, his mind conjuring a multitude of terrible images of what could be happening inside.
“The suspects appeared from the water,” a reporter voiced over the video, “suggesting they approached by boat…”
The words barely registered with Thomas, his thoughts consumed with questions. What was happening inside the house? Where were James, Natalya and the boys? He begged the universe that they weren’t home. That James had had enough sense to listen to him and go into hiding.
The footage jumped forward showing police reinforcements arriving, and he watched fixated as the chaos unfolded—officers taking defensive positions, a massive exchange of gunfire. This was his worst nightmare. Exactly what he hadn’t wanted to happen.
“Tom?”
He glanced at Nadia, her eyes wide. She looked like he felt. Helpless and in shock. He just shook his head. James had never returned his calls, not since the other night. He had no idea if his brother was alive.
“According to our sources,” the reporter continued, “the homeowners were not present at the time of the attack—”
Tension poured out of him, his relief so intense it nearly brought him to his knees. But it was short-lived, quickly replaced by a nauseating realization he’d already known. It just hadn’t been confirmed until now.
“This just in,” the anchor announced gravely. “Federal authorities have confirmed that the suspects involved are members of the Hidalgo Cartel.”
His blood turned to ice, his hand aching from gripping the remote. He tossed the device onto the couch. “I need to go there.”
Nadia turned to him abruptly, stunned at his announcement. Cammy looked at him with a shake of her head. “And do what?”
“I can’t just sit here.” Here, he was useless. There, he could at least see for himself that they were safe.
Nadia’s green eyes welled with concern, drowning the initial alarm he’d noticed in them. “They found us once, Tom. You’d be exposing yourself.”
“Exactly what they probably want,” Cammy said.
Thomas paced behind the couch, his attention glued to the television.
Every instinct warred with him to act. To board the next flight to Hawaii where he could gather James and his family and bring them back here to Cammy’s where he knew they’d be safe.
But sanity broke through the fog of fear and rage.
The move would be reckless. He’d be putting himself and Nadia, even Cammy, in danger.
On screen, the footage switched to a press conference. A stern-faced woman in an FBI windbreaker stood at a podium.
“We can confirm that the residents were not home at the time of the attack,” she stated. “They have since been located and moved to a secure location that will remain undisclosed for their protection.”
“Thank god.” Nadia exclaimed his exact sentiments.
Cammy’s phone rang. She glanced at the screen, her expression inscrutable when her gaze met Thomas’s. “Excuse me.” She took the call, stepping out of the room.
Thomas watched her go, his mind reeling with unanswered questions and half-formed plans. He pulled out his burner and called James. He needed to hear for himself that he was all right. The call went directly to voicemail. With an impatient edge, he left a brief message for James to call back.
“No luck?” Nadia asked. He shook his head.
The broadcast started to cycle through the video again, and with nothing new being reported, Nadia picked up the remote and turned off the TV.
The sudden silence was jarring. She set the remote on the coffee table and turned to him.
They watched each other, and while they didn’t speak, he felt an entire conversation unspool between them.
She was scared and she was trying not to show him how much.
She was worried for him and for his family.
She didn’t want to be here. She wished she was anywhere but with him.
And despite what she’d admitted on the drive here, he couldn’t make himself believe that she didn’t hate him.
He wouldn’t hope for more.
Thomas tore his eyes away before she saw into the depths of his soul.
He stared at the ground, wishing he could go back in time until, this time around, he could tell James everything their father had told him about Phil’s involvement with the Hidalgos.
James never would have run off to Mexico on his own.
He wished he could go even further back in time to when he’d sat across from Nadia at Joe’s Diner, sharing his dreams with her as easily as they shared a sundae.
He wouldn’t change a thing about those moments.
He just wanted to go there. Life was simpler, less complicated.
When Nadia hadn’t believed him to be the monster he was.
His head shot up at a light touch on his arm. Nadia stood there, looking up at him with her bright jade eyes. He felt himself falling into those two pools that held nothing for him but affectionate concern in that moment. She didn’t know it, but she was his safe space.
Cammy re-entered the room and they both turned to her. She tapped her phone in her palm.
“What did you hear?” he asked, straight to business.
“A lot.”
Nadia folded her arms, edging closer to him.
“I’m sorry, Thomas, but Claire’s still missing.”
The announcement sliced into him. He was beyond worried about his mother, but he showed no outward reaction.
He couldn’t let his fear of what the Hidalgos could do to her after what they’d done to Phil get to him.
He’d shut down. That or he’d go rogue himself and hunt every single one of them down and get himself and others killed in the process. “What else?”
Cammy nodded, knowing she needed to keep this matter-of-fact for him. Treat it like one of her cases.
“Another agent is down. Jonathan Conte.”
Shock knocked him off balance. He grabbed the back of the couch. “Who?”
“Jonathan Conte. He’s with the DEA.”
“Yeah, I heard you.”
“Do you know him?” Nadia asked and he nodded.
“He was Kane’s partner. I don’t know if he was recently, but they worked together back when this mess started.”
“Was he involved with the raid on your company?” she asked and he nodded again.
“I think he also played a part in Ruiz’s extradition to the States.”
“That would explain why he was on the Hidalgos’ hit list.” Cammy tapped her phone.
“How’d they get to him?” he asked her.
“He was on a phone call in his car, parked in his driveway. One of their hitmen walked right up to him and shot him through the window.”
Nadia sucked in a lungful of air, her eyes widening as she fell back a step. Thomas rested his hand on the small of her back.
“So far the feds have been able to keep Conte’s and that other agent’s deaths out of the news.
But after your house and what just happened in Hawaii with your brother, I doubt they can keep it quiet for much longer.
The media’s going to sniff out the full story.
Every hour Ruiz remains a fugitive is an hour closer to widespread panic, especially when the general public learns anyone in any way associated with the raids of eight years ago and the ongoing efforts to dismantle the Hidalgo Cartel could be their next victim. ”
Would capturing Fernando Ruiz put a stop to this? Would his death end the cartel’s pursuit for revenge? Those were questions Thomas didn’t have answers for. Did anyone have the answers?
“Anything on Kane?” he asked.
“Your instincts were on target. Kane has been compromised.”
He briefly closed his eyes and swore under his breath.
“My sources inform me his family is missing. The kids haven’t shown up to school for some time and his wife’s missed work. A wellness check showed nobody was home.”
“Were they kidnapped?” Nadia asked.
“Seems likely. Although there isn’t substantiated proof, the feds are treating it as such.”
“Kane acted under duress. They’re holding his family captive,” he said, convinced.
“Still doesn’t change the fact he gave up your location, Tom.”
He scowled, loathing that Cammy was right.
Walking a tight circle, he gripped the back of his neck.
The Hidalgos were attacking them in broad daylight and under the black of night.
They were exploiting their false sense of security and slaughtering them in their homes.
Was there anywhere safe to go—could they ever truly be safe—if the cartel was this bold and this daring?
Would this ever end? Thomas didn’t believe they would stop until Fernando Ruiz knocked off everyone who had anything to do with incarcerating him.
He’d lose his family.
He’d lose Nadia.
Then he’d lose his own life.
He only saw one option if they were ever to live without the threat of death, and even that wasn’t a guarantee. But it was better than running for the rest of their lives.
“Can you get the papers?” he asked Cammy.
“You sure you’re ready? There’s no turning back.”
He gave her a tight nod.
“Yeah, I can get the papers. I can even get you set up at a new location. Just tell me when and where.”
Nadia looked between them. “What papers?”
“New IDs, social security numbers,” Cammy clarified.
“What is she talking about, Tom?”
“You haven’t told her yet?” Cammy asked, accusatory.
“I was about to when you called us in.”
“Told me what? Tom, what’s going on?”
This time, Cammy didn’t wait for him to explain. “You’re going into witness protection.”