CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
Mia took off the headset and placed it on the desk. “I know this might sound controversial, but I think that went well.”
Mr. Dawson struggled to take off his blazer and lose his tie, resigning to let it pull to one side. “That went well? That went well? You’ve just challenged one of the most dangerous criminals who ever walked in this country. Do you have any idea how much danger you’re in?”
She waved a dismissive hand. “He’s all bark, no bite.”
He tried to pour water into a glass with shaky hands, but ended up pouring most of it on the table. “He’s bite! He’s definitely bite, and he has bitten quite his fair share of victims along the way. We have hostages inside, and I highly doubt you’ll stay out of this, so you’re also a potential victim.”
She rolled her eyes. “He’s desperate and out of sorts. He didn’t get his demands like he counted on. So, he has no plans and is in a surrounded building.”
“The fact that he’s desperate is what worries me,” Mr. Dawson countered. “He’s volatile. There’s no telling what he’ll do.”
She clapped her hands. “Then let’s get back to work and get him quicker. What did you guys find?”
The chatter came back full force within the tent as each group resumed their assignments, following our new instructions. I called Mia and the guys and pointed at the activity in the monitor one of the investigators had shown me.
“They’re working underground on something.”
She watched the graphic and called one of the IT guys. “Can you get us the feed? Work with this team. Point out where this movement is coming from, then get us the images from inside. I need to see exactly what we’re dealing with.”
“We should discuss our attack,” Zach suggested. And from his rigid shoulders and the deep breath he took before addressing his sister, I knew she wouldn’t like his plan. “I should go in alone to deal with Pablo. ”
“Shush, Zachary. Dead people don’t talk.”
He ignored her sassiness. “It’s the safest way to get Delilah and the other hostages out.”
“That’s absolutely out of the question.” Mia turned to the IT agent again, dismissing her brother. “Damn, you’re quick.”
We watched the video he provided and weren’t happy with it.
Beep .
Ben cursed under his breath. “How were they able to sneak inside that machinery?”
“They used military trucks,” I reminded him. “They could’ve fit even more of those along with armory.”
“They seem to be building a tunnel,” Edward volunteered. “That’s where they plan on escaping!”
Mia squinted her eyes at the screen. “Unless it’s a ruse. Why come up with demands if they already have a way out?”
“It seems clear what they’re building,” Edward insisted. “I’m telling you; they’re running away through there.”
She frowned and bit the inside of her mouth, unconvinced.
Beep .
She scrunched her nose. “What is that beeping sound? Is it coming from the video?”
Zach touched her shoulder. “Mia, we don’t need to wait to see how they intend on running away. I’ll go inside. I know I can overpower him.”
“I already told you that’s out of the question.”
“You guys can give me support from outside. If I find him, I can help take the hostages out, including Delilah.”
“Stop pushing this, you’re not going alone.”
“Pablo isn’t expecting you to cave on that; it can be an element of surprise.”
“It won’t be because you won’t go alone. Keep bothering me and you won’t go at all.”
Beep.
“Why are you being so stubborn? You can operate from outside—”
“I’m the primary on this case, and I’m telling you. You. Won’t. Go. Alone!”
“That’s the best course of action. You can’t sneak a whole team inside the building, but you can sneak one person. Me.”
“Damn it, Zachary! Stop pissing me off.”
“If you just hear me out—”
“That’s my final call!”
“ Why are you being so stubborn? ”
“ BECAUSE I CAN’T LOSE YOU AGAIN! ”
Deafening silence descended upon us as Mia and Zach breathed heavily. She took off her glasses to rub her eyes with a shaky hand, while he stared at her with regret, his shoulders dropped.
Beep.
I looked around the room. “Everybody out.” People stared at me in surprise. “ Now! ”
The agents jumped from their chairs and hurried outside. Mr. Dawson peered from Mia to Zach with worry, so Aaron reinforced my order quietly at him. “Only the family stays.”
Mr. Dawson tipped his chin and caved, slapping Aaron’s shoulders. “Call if you need anything.”
He waited for the last agent to leave and then followed the group, leaving Mia, Zach, Ben, Danny, Shane, Aaron, and me, in the tent
Beep.
“You won’t lose me again, Mia,” Zach started quietly.
“There’s no way you can promise that.” She pointed in the direction of the building. “We have no idea of what we’ll find inside. And I’ll be damned if I’ll send you alone to deal with the devil.”
“So, what do you suggest?” He snapped. “Lock yourself inside with them so the cartel can hunt you down like a fucking deer?”
She placed her hands on her hips. “And going in by yourself isn’t just as crazy? I’ve already lost you once, I won’t take that risk again.”
He scoffed. “Are you kidding me? No one here takes more risks than you! You’re a fucking jack-in-the-box. We never know what your next stunt will be.”
“It’s completely different. I’m not willing to risk your life when I make tough decisions.”
Zach raised his arms in exasperation. “That’s way worse!”
“No, it isn’t. If I’m taking risks, my ass should be on the line, not yours.”
He threw his hands into his hair. “And how is that better? You’re taking unnecessary risks to what? Spare me?”
Beep .
She scowled at him. “That sounds like a good reason to me. Last time you only pretended to be dead. We might not be as lucky next time.”
Ben stepped closer. “We just wanted to protect you.”
“‘ Wi jist wintid ti pritict yii .’ Oh, give me a break, Benjamin!”
Zach rubbed his face. “So, that’s what this is about? You’re mad at me for what I did?”
“Yes, I’m mad. No, the issue now isn’t your deceit. It’s because you have a family back home. A woman and a kid are waiting for you. Yet, once again you’re choosing to risk your life, put us all through hell again, and for what? Why? To be in charge? To keep me out? Do you still not trust me?”
He cursed. “Trust was never the issue, and you know it.”
“No, I don’t. I still don’t know why you thought faking your death was a good idea.”
He pointed a finger at her and lost it. “ BECAUSE. YOU. DIED !”
Beep.
What ?
She shook her head, scrunched her nose, and echoed my thoughts. “What?”
He paced in agitation while panting, gripping his hair. “You died! After the explosion. In that fucking ambulance. Your stupid heart just…stopped.” He rubbed his lips with a shaky hand. “Danny had to resuscitate you. But that wasn’t enough. You were brought into the hospital, and I had to watch…” His voice broke as he took in a shaky breath. He blinked repeatedly while his nostrils flared. “You were dead. The doctors were almost giving up on you. Do you have any idea what that did to me?”
She nodded and gulped. “Yes. I do. Because I felt the same pain not long after.”
“I had to do something. After what you did in the company, locking yourself with the Alacráns …that had to stop. ”
She raised her palms at him. “Wait a second. So, you faked your death to punish me? I had no control over what happened, but you chose to play the dead!”
Beep .
Zach placed his hands on his hips and squinted at her. “Are you sure you had no control?”
Mia mirrored his stance, and that’s when I noticed why I always thought there was something familiar about them. There was no denying their genes. “Please, enlighten me. What would you have done differently?”
“How about running away?”
She pointed a finger at him. “You know I couldn’t do that. If I followed Izzie out, they would’ve escaped after us. The only thing I was able to do was make sure she left.”
“Exactly! You made sure she left, but you never intended to do the same, and that’s what drives me crazy !” He rubbed his face again controlling his breathing, and then peered at Ben and Danny, who nodded already understanding where he was going. “I love your women, and I’m so happy you both found them. I’m relieved they’re safe.” He turned to Mia. “But you always do that. Izzie and you were in danger, and you made sure she was out while you stayed behind. Lisa was taken by Matias, so you invaded a mansion crawling with criminals and then jumped right into a fucking frozen lake, granting yourself a sure hypothermia— ”
“How the hell do you know all that?” Her eyes rounded like saucers. “You were there!”
Beep .
“ Of course, I was there !” Zach rubbed his face and leaned against one of the tables, as his head dropped. I’d never seen him look so despondent.
“Do you want to know what tore me apart all this time?” she resumed quietly, unable to keep the hurt from her voice. “It wasn’t just my pain, my grief, or losing you. It was because I didn’t get to carry your casket.”
He recoiled at her words but she wasn’t done.
“I was the one who put you in that fucking box in the first place. And I was unable…to carry you,” her voice broke as she gulped. “It was bad enough that we couldn’t see you to say goodbye. It was even worse to know it was my fault. But not being able to bury you, to carry you during your last moment among us…that nearly broke me.”
She bit her bottom lip to stop her quivering chin. Zach opened and closed his mouth several times. His nose turned Rudolph-ly red just like his sister’s.
“You’re my little sister. My best friend. My partner in crime. I can’t fathom a life without you in it, and I'm tired of wondering when I'll end up saying goodbye to you. I know my decision hurt you, and I’m so sorry for that. But I thought I could make us safe. I thought I could make you safe. You never choose yourself, so I had to choose you. Between the two of us, I’ll always choose you.”
“That might be the problem with you two,” I chimed in, startling them both, who looked at me as if realizing for the first time that they weren’t alone. “You’re choosing each other instead of choosing both of you. You’re always jumping the gun, trying to protect the other, instead of aligning your strategies.” I shrugged. “Instead of being protectors, you should try to be partners.”
They remained in silence until Zach peered at his sister, seemingly calmer. “I like him.”
She granted me a small grin and mouthed, “Thank you.” Beep . “ What the hell is that sound? ”
We gazed around the space trying to identify its source.
Danny played with one of the computers, the one showing the feed for the tunnel. “It’s coming from here.”
We gathered around the monitor, and I frowned. “That’s weird.” I sat on the chair in front of it and started tapping. “This isn’t a live feed.”
Mia leaned over my shoulder. “What?”
“This isn’t showing the current activity on the ground, this is a recording. You see this shadow in the back?” I tapped again to show them. “It keeps coming back. Just like the beeping sound. The video is in a loop.”
“What about the other feeds,” Zach asked .
I searched for the other cameras around the building, which seemed to be showing the real images. “They weren’t butchered.”
Danny’s brows turned into a vee. “So, why corrupt only the cameras from the ground floor?”
“Because they need it,” Mia whispered. She pointed at the monitor portraying the graphics for the underground activity. “Look at that. No weird occurrences going on, yet the feed still shows them building a tunnel. I knew it, it’s a ruse!”
“They want us to believe they’ll run away through there,” I concluded.
“Then where is Pablo running away from?” Her brother asked.
We stayed silent, considering the options, until Mia pointed out.
“‘The badge.’” At our quizzical expression, she explained, “Pablo said something that struck me as odd. He told me ‘ I’m a free bird with a badge. I’m meant to fly. ’ Those weren’t random words. He was talking to his partner inside the DEA. The Badge must’ve been here.” She squinted her eyes in thinking and mumbled. “‘ I’m a free bird. ’ Free bird. Bird, bird, bird. Bird! ”
She ran to the side of the tent and pulled one of the curtains to sneak a glance outside. “How many helicopters did Edward say there were? ”
“Five,” I answered.
“I’m counting six. That’s it! He’s not running away under the ground; he’s flying out of here. One of those helicopters isn’t legit.”
Cursing filled the mostly empty tent as I focused on the computer again. “He’s on the second floor with Delilah. The other hostages are in one of the waiting rooms on the first floor.”
“The Alacráns ?”
“Milling around.”
She nodded and bit her lip to think. “Pablo can’t keep going up. Can you hack the security system and lock him on the second floor?”
I grinned at her. “I was one of the few who increased the security in the building. I can play with it in no time.”
“We can’t let him go to the roof. We also can’t say to anyone why we can’t let him go to the roof. Someone inside is working with Pablo, so the less they know, the safer for us. We’ll strategize and tell the teams the basics, but the main assignment is for us only.”
We all nodded in agreement. If “The Badge” knew we were on to Pablo’s escape plan, they could change its course and screw things up for us.
“How will we go in?” Zach asked. “I know me going alone is out of the question, but we can’t send a team without them knowing. ”
Mia gazed around, and we all stayed quiet, letting her brain do its trick. After a while, she grinned at him. “Yes, we can.”