Delta #2
Yvette and Mac followed Cooper from the room.
Once in the hallway, Cooper mounted the stairs to go up to Ops to talk with Madison and Garcia as Yvette motioned for Mac to follow her.
“Come on, let’s talk to Angel and then we’ll go see Garcia,” she said to Mac.
She led him down the hallway to the reception desk, where Angel sat.
Mac had heard about the woman who had captured Jackson’s heart, made an impression on Shepherd, and changed everything at Shepherd Security, but he’d never met her. Until now.
“Hi,” Angel greeted Yvette and the unknown man as they reached her desk. Shepherd had given her a heads-up about the meeting that had just occurred and the probability she’d be making travel arrangements for the team when she’d arrived at work.
“Hi, Angel,” Yvette said. “This is Mac, Interpol Agent Seth Makris.”
Mac extended his hand. “Hello, Angel. It’s nice to meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you.”
Angel raised an eyebrow and then shook his hand. “Hi, it’s nice to meet you too. Mac, as in the operative who assisted Michaela in Mykonos last year?”
“The one and only,” Yvette answered. “We just left a meeting with Shepherd. We need you to book us on a flight to Cancun for later this afternoon. We can leave for the airport after fourteen hundred.”
“Sure,” Angel answered. She clicked on her keyboard to do a flight search. “Is there a return date?”
“Not yet,” Yvette answered. “And we may not be returning commercial. Just make it a one-way flight.”
“Sorry, I can’t get you out tonight. There are no flights until the morning,” Angel said.
“What about the flight at eight this evening?” Mac asked, pointing at her screen.
“It has a seven-hour layover at George Bush, and this other flight leaving at eight-thirty has an eleven-hour layover in Fort Lauderdale. You’re better off taking an early-morning flight tomorrow morning.
Unfortunately, there are no late afternoon or evening flights.
It’s too bad you can’t make either of these flights leaving just after noon,” Angel said.
“Yeah, I wish, but we can’t. We have to be in a meeting with Shepherd and the rest of the team at thirteen hundred,” Yvette said. “Make our arrangements to fly out as early tomorrow morning on a direct flight that you can.” They stood and waited as Angel finalized their flight.
“Okay, reservations made. I checked you in already too, and I just sent the boarding passes to your phone, Yvette,” Angel said.
“Thanks, Angel. And I’ll share them with you, Mac,” Yvette said, tapping her phone to forward the boarding passes to his phone number.
His phone chimed. He viewed the screen. “Got it, thank you. Angel, you are as efficient as I have heard you are.”
“Thank you,” Angel said.
“Shepherd will be contacting you shortly to book three couples at the resort where our Op will take place. What was the name of it again, Mac?”
Mac gave Angel the name of the beach resort and waited until she pulled it up on her computer.
“Our target is in a Preferred Club Level suite in building one. You’ll need to secure three Preferred Club Level rooms so all have access to the club areas as he will.
Building three is beside it, and buildings two and four are across the resort and offer views into his room. You’ll want one room across from his.”
“I’ll start looking at availability and wait for Shepherd to contact me with the particulars. What will be the check-in date?”
“Tomorrow.” Yvette pointed back down the hall. “This way to go see Garcia.”
“It was nice to meet you, Angel,” Mac said.
“You too. Good luck with your mission,” Angel said.
She watched them retreat down the hallway, wondering who the three couples would be.
Yvette and Mac, one? She’d never known Yvette to leave HQ.
Surely Cooper and Madison would be the second.
But who would be the third? Briana or Laura Lee were the two other female Operators.
Would Shepherd send either of them? More than likely, it was Sebastian Roth, as he and Briana were in a relationship, and he was a medic.
They took the stairs, emerging on the eighth floor, after Yvette had pressed her palm to the scan pad and entered her code at the door onto the floor. “The security here is crazy,” Mac remarked.
“It’s a fortress,” Yvette agreed. “I know you wanted to get back to Cancun tonight. I’m sorry we can’t get a flight out until morning.”
“It is what it is. I have someone watching Ruiz and communicating his actions to me. She’s not trained and will not follow him if he leaves the resort grounds, but at least I know he’s still there.”
An irrational jealous feeling hit Yvette. She? “Who do you have watching him?” she asked with as even a voice as she could muster.
“One of the girls who brings the guests drinks around the club pool. I tipped her heavily to watch him. I told her I was a private investigator hired by Ruiz’s soon to be ex-wife, who suspects he is cheating on her.”
“Is he a charmer?”
“Not that I’d say, though he’s not my type,” Mac joked as they reached the open doorway of Garcia’s workroom.
“You know what I mean,” she groaned. “Is he someone who naturally charms the ladies?”
“The woman I have watching him is immune to his charms and will not betray me to him if that’s what you’re worried about.”
“Hey,” Yvette greeted Garcia, who was as expected in his workroom.
“Hey,” he said, standing. He took a step towards them. “Nice to see you, Mac. Cooper stopped by and told me about the Op.” He thrust his hand out between Mac and himself.
Mac shook his hand, and the two men pulled each other in for a shoulder bump. “You too. Look at you, all cleaned up.”
Garcia snickered. “My preferred look. And my wife prefers it as well.”
“Yeah, that’s right. I heard you got married and had a kid,” Mac said.
Garcia beamed proudly. “That’s right, a son.”
“Congratulations,” Mac said sincerely. “I hope to meet him and your wife at some point.”
Garcia nodded. “When do you fly out?”
“Angel couldn’t get us on a flight until tomorrow morning. We’ll be in Cancun by ten-thirty and at the resort by noon.”
“Cooper relayed a few of the particulars.”
“Did he also tell you that this is probably a career-ending move by Mac?” Yvette asked.
Garcia turned serious. “Yes, he did. I wouldn’t be surprised if this guy is on the DEA’s payroll and that’s why he’s being protected.”
“Or the CIA’s,” Mac said. “Believe me, the thought has crossed my mind. But I don’t care who he is providing what intel to. The asshole is still trafficking in women and children, destroying lives and causing death.”
“I’m getting together some portable surveillance equipment. I also pulled up the resort map.” He tapped his computer.
“Our target is in room one-four-zero-eight, which is here, fourth floor, facing the interior grounds of the resort,” Mac said.
“There are clear sightlines to his room from buildings two and four,” he motioned to the two buildings across the expanse that featured three pools surrounded by lounge chairs and shaded by umbrellas and palm trees.
“My room is beside his, one-four-ten. Building one, fourth floor, room ten.”
Yvette gazed at the map. The resort buildings were laid out in a horseshoe, open to the ocean, with the pools and smaller buildings that looked to be the bars and restaurants in the center.
There were ten buildings of guest rooms, seven restaurants, and a half-dozen other buildings that were bars, a coffee shop and a few little shops. “Nice place,” she remarked.
Mac flashed her a smile. “Wait until you see it. It’s beautiful.”
“Well, maybe I can appreciate it while I get some fresh air on the balcony from time to time,” she said.
“Pack your bikini. I’m checked in as mister and missus. Perhaps the opportunity will present itself for you to join me at the pool to surveil or meet with Ruiz so you can get out of the room while Garcia is monitoring things,” Mac said.
“Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to swim in the pool or walk on the beach, but having Facetime with the target isn’t my jam,” Yvette said.
Mac laughed. “Red, you’d be a natural, I’m sure.”
“That is one thing we will not be testing,” she said.
Garcia laughed. “I’ll pack a variety of tech, including long-distance microphones. We have a new laser microphone that is no bigger than a standard video recorder that will pick up conversations inside a room with the sliding glass door shut. All we need is a clear sightline.”
“What is the max distance?” Mac asked.
“A mile in calm conditions. Less with wind as is normally experienced at the beach. I think it will be sufficient.”
“My only hope of saving my contractor status with Interpol is to catch this guy red-handed with something damning.”
“And if he’s truly just on vacation?” Garcia asked.
“Unlikely, but if he is, I’m fucked.”
“We’ll still get him off the streets, though,” Yvette said. “And we’ll interrogate him and get intel that’s valuable to multiple agencies. It’ll be a win no matter what.”
“You both should come for dinner at my house tonight,” Garcia said.