Chapter 13 #3
I can hear the higher pitch in her tone as she pleads with him for more details.
“Grace, I know you love him, and you’re worried about Lili. But you need to let us do our jobs.”
I want to take the phone from Owen and reassure her, but I know it’s better not to.
“How about if I have him message you?”
More silence.
“Good girl. I’ll have him back to you before bedtime.”
Owen ends the call and looks at me. “Text her. Tell her you’re fine. Tell her you love her.”
I’m not ready to tell her that. Even though it’s true. If I tell her, it might jinx things.
But I say none of that as I pull up my text thread with Grace and type.
Victor: I’m fine, Grace. Write your paper and eat something.
Grace: What about Lili?
Victor: Paper Grace. Now.
Grace: If she’s in danger just tell me. I’m a big girl. Please? I just want the truth.
Victor: Phineas has her. That’s all I can tell you right now.
My phone rings and I’m tempted to hit Ignore.
“Grace, now isn’t the time for you to yell at me.”
“That’s not why I’m calling. Please bring her home,” she whispers.
“I’m doing my best, butterfly. Please focus on something else right now. Sitting at home worrying about her isn’t doing any of us any good.” It’s hypocritical of me. There’s no way I would be able to focus on anything but Lili if I were at home in Grace’s shoes.
“I’m trying. I just… Victor, I love you. And I love Lili. Please bring both of you home safely.”
“We’re working on it.” Hunter stops the car, and I’m saved from responding to her confession of love. “I have to go, Mariposa. Paper. Write it.”
I end the call before she can answer, and Hunter shuts the engine off.
“Samuel’s team says it’s best for us to walk the rest of the way.”
We climb out of the car, and Owen goes to the trunk and hands each of us a weapon. I’ve got my handgun, but Owen’s choices are much higher-powered.
“I assume all of these are legal?” Hunter says as he turns the rifle over in his hands, checking for ammunition.
“It’s even easier to get legal guns here than it is in Texas, mate. Everything is legal.”
That’s enough for Hunter, though I doubt he would actually care if they weren’t legal. We grab extra ammunition and head deeper into the desert.
A few minutes into the walk, a team of three of Hunter’s security steps from behind a large desert rock. I recognize one of them as Samuel Carter. He steps forward, seeming to be in charge.
“It’s better if the three of you stay back.”
Hunter looks at me and then back to his men. “I believe you, Samuel, but there’s no way we’re convincing these two of that, so you’ll have to factor that into your plans.”
I’m glad he’s able to see the futility of trying to keep us from going with him.
We follow the guards until we can see the cabin. The SUV Lili got into is there, and I’m ready to bust the door down.
“Robotic surveillance tells us he’s alone with the hostage. There’s a body in the back of the SUV that matches the man who escorted Lili out of the hospital.”
My stomach churns and rage courses through my veins. Owen’s steady hand on my shoulder is the only thing keeping me from storming the cabin on my own.
“The hostage is visible and alive but appears to be bound and possibly bleeding. We are hoping for a window of opportunity to take him out with a sniper we have in place, but so far, he’s staying out of range.”
“I want him alive.”
Everyone turns to me.
“Mr. Serrano, I understand your desire for revenge, but we have to consider the safety of everyone involved, including my men. A physical extraction puts more people at risk.”
“He’s right,” Owen says. “We have to be smart about this. A physical extraction puts Lili at risk too.”
God-fucking-damn it. I don’t want them to be right. I want him dead but not without suffering first. We joke about my proclivity for torture, but it’s always been a last resort. Today, I can honestly say I’ve never wanted to torture a man more.
“I have to say I’m on Victor’s side on this one. A bullet in the head isn’t enough for what he’s done. I want him in prison for the rest of his life.”
Hunter agreeing with me is a surprise, but he’ll have to live with Phineas ending up at the morgue because there is no way I’m letting him go to some cushy federal prison for the rest of his life where he has a good probability of bribing the right official to give him a pardon or help him escape.
“We’ll do what we can, Hunter, but I’m not putting these men at risk for the sake of your revenge.”
There are only a handful of people who would argue with Hunter Novak while working for him, but he seems to admire Samuel for doing it now because he claps him on the shoulder. “That’s all I ask.”
It takes another half hour of surveillance and planning before they are ready to surround the cabin and infiltrate.
As we’re about to execute the plan, I hear a whisper over the radio but can’t make out what is said.
Samuel halts everything and motions for us to huddle in close.
“We may have a problem. It took a few passes to see it because it’s well masked, but it looks like Draven has the place wired with explosives.”