Chapter Juliette
Juliette
Ruiz sat in the chair, silent and defiant. He’d endured several blows compliments of Lambchop, who knew where to hit and how hard to hit, to not do permanent damage to any internal organs.
“Bella Sanguino,” Mac repeated. He showed Ruiz the picture of her on his phone again that Moreno provided. “We know you trafficked her. Where is she?”
Moreno and Christy Dyer were with Briana Woods and Mother in Briana’s room. Cooper and Madison still followed the couple from San Antonio as they took a stroll down the beach, but they were on comms and listened to the interrogation of Ruiz.
Ruiz gazed at Mac with a bored expression on his face. This time, Lambchop’s fist made contact with his shoulder with the right amount of force to dislocate it, as planned. Ruiz grimaced and groaned out in pain, his teeth clenched tightly.
“That’s one joint,” Garcia said. “There’s countless more on your body he can dislocate before he goes to work on your organs. Bella Sanguino.”
“Long gone,” Ruiz bit out. “Next topic?”
Mac grabbed him by the hair and yanked his head up. “Gone where?”
“To a rich fucker in Dubai. Long gone and unretrievable,” he repeated.
“We can retrieve anyone,” Lambchop said. “I want his name and exact location.”
“What, you think I have all the deets on my clients? I don’t. All I can tell you is he likes virgins; his currency is always good when it hits my account, and I ship the girls per his instructions.”
“How do you ship them?” Mac pressed.
“Usually by the private plane he sends to a little dirt landing strip out in the middle of fucking nowhere. Occasionally, a meeting at sea between here and Isla Mujeres,” Ruiz said.
“When was Bella put on the plane?”
“Last week,” Ruiz said. “As I said, long gone.”
Mac wasn’t done trying to recover Bella, but he switched topics. “Who was the American who visited you at the pool today, the one you owe money to?” Mac asked.
Ruiz tried to hide that the question had caught him off guard, but he didn’t cover his reaction well enough.
“I want a name and how to reach him,” Mac said.
Ruiz shook his head and pinched his lips together.
“Dislocate his other shoulder,” Mac told Lambchop.
“Wait!” Ruiz said as Lambchop raised his fist. “You don’t know who you’re trying to get info on. There’s more going on than your pay grade has let you in on.”
“The American. Is he CIA or DEA?” Garcia asked.
By the expression on Ruiz’s face, everyone in the room knew Garcia had asked the right question. Yvette guessed DEA based on the region of the world they were in. If they were anywhere in Africa or the Middle East, he would be CIA.
“My question is, if a U.S. agency is using you and someone at Interpol is protecting you, why do they still have you on the Red List?” Mac asked him.
“Pop my shoulder back into its joint and I’ll tell you everything,” Ruiz said.
“Tell us about your involvement with the American agent first as a show of good faith, then we’ll pop it back in,” Lambchop said.
“I’m about to pass out here, from the pain,” Ruiz complained.
“Then you better talk fast before you pass out,” Mac said.
“Names and places,” Ruiz said.
“And cash,” Garcia added.
“Yeah, he takes a cut, protection money to stay out of my operation,” Ruiz said.
“We need the name,” Mac said.
“Solomon, Gus Solomon. Or at least that’s what he goes by down here.”
Yvette typed the info into the chat box on the laptop that was open with Caleb Smith at HQ. He’d assign different intel points to the members of the Digital Team to run down. They were all working on this and would work into the night.
I assume DEA, but there’s a small chance he’s CIA
“We were told you have a free pass to travel through any region, regardless of the cartel that controls that area,” Garcia said.
“They all make money from my operation and are supplied with what and who they want,” Ruiz answered. “Put the shoulder back in if you want more.”
Lambchop nodded to Roth, who then freed the hand of the dislocated shoulder.
He zip-tied the other hand to the chair before he maneuvered Ruiz’s shoulder back into its socket.
It took some effort and brought a few groans, curses, and even a scream from Ruiz.
Roth bent his arm up and secured it in a makeshift sling.
“You’re going to want to keep it immobilized for a week or two for the soft tissue to heal. ”
“Who is protecting you at Interpol and why? And why do they still have you on the Red List?” Mac repeated.
“If I’m still on the list, that means it isn’t someone high enough to get me the fuck off it,” Ruiz said.
“And the why, isn’t that obvious?” He glanced from person to person.
None of his captors had figured it out yet.
“You really are dumb muscle in low pay grades. Certain people are getting very rich from my services. Illegal enterprises need slave labor, be it to harvest, process, or traffic drugs or other products. The demand for forced sex workers is higher than ever. I have a vast network with sophisticated communications in place that won’t be easily replicated.
And it all depends on me to exist. No one else can step in and take it over.
They cannot allow me to be eliminated from the picture. I’m too important.”
Mac’s stomach turned as he listened to Ruiz’s egotistical rant, and he was mostly sickened because he believed Ruiz was telling the truth.
Well, about everything except them being dumb muscle in low pay grades.
People were getting rich from the trafficking of slave labor and sex workers, as Ruiz said, and he knew the demand was higher than ever.
“And yet, here you are tied to a chair in front of us,” Mac said. “I could put a round through your head right now, regardless of how important you are.”
“But you won’t do that for two reasons,” Ruiz said, too cocky for a man in his position. “First, if you do, you have no hope of finding Bella Sanguino, and the second reason is because you want to know who at Interpol protects me. They are now your primary target.”
Yvette’s blood boiled, listening to Ruiz.
Etched across the stone faces of the four men she knew very well, she saw the discipline she expected from them.
They wanted to shred the cocky SOB, dismember him, crush him.
But they wouldn’t because you couldn’t get intel from a dead man.
And getting the info they needed was more important than ending the piece of shit sitting in front of them.
“Additional target,” Mac corrected him. “Do not think for a second that you are off the hook for your many crimes.”
“Talking will keep you alive. Nothing keeps you from your day in court,” Lambchop added.
“Then what incentive do I have to talk?” Ruiz threw out casually. “If you want information, there has to be more in it for me than staying alive. I could go to my grave, but I bring all my knowledge with me.”
Yvette’s phone rang an incoming call from Shepherd. “Big Bear,” she told the others. She pressed accept call and brought the phone to her ear. “We have Ruiz detained, and he is sitting in front of us.”
“We have the green light to take him and the entire network down, including whoever is running cover for him at Interpol and any other agency. He gets a deal of immunity and protection if he spills it all,” Shepherd said.
Yvette’s gaze had been on her teammates as she listened to Shepherd. They would have taken the entire network down, even without official approval. Ruiz getting a deal wouldn’t sit well with any of them, especially Mac. She doubted Shepherd liked it. “I’ll let him know,” she said.
“Keep me apprised,” Shepherd said before disconnecting the call.
Her gaze swept over the others, first Garcia, then Lambchop, Roth, and it finally settled on Mac.
“Okay, we have a green light to take down the entire network, all of it.” Her gaze shifted to Ruiz.
“Today’s your lucky day. Complete immunity and protection in exchange for actionable intel.
And I mean every last detail, starting with the exact location of Bella Sanguino. ”
A satisfied smile spread over Ruiz’s face as curses slipped from the lips of the team.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Mac growled.
His hands fisted, and Yvette was sure he was going to punch Ruiz out of frustration and anger.
“Bella Sanguino’s exact location,” he sneered, his face leaning into Ruiz’s.
“On a boat named the Delphi Princess in a nearby marina.”
“You said she was put on a plane to Dubai,” Roth said.
“I lied,” Ruiz said, unremorseful.
Mac exchanged gazes with Garcia and Lambchop.
Yvette wasn’t sure who was going to be the heavy of the three men.
They all had the ability to do it very well.
She didn’t have to wait long for the answer to her unspoken question.
Seconds later, Lambchop’s fist made contact with Ruiz’s face.
His head snapped back, and blood instantly ran from the corner of his mouth where his lip split.
“That’s for lying previously. I’ll fucking break bones for each lie you tell us going forward,” Lambchop warned. “You may have immunity, but that doesn’t mean I can’t beat the truth out of you if needed.”
“Just remember, the offer is out there, but if we feel you’re not cooperating, we’ll fucking end you,” Garcia added.
Mac hit record on his phone and set it on the coffee table in front of Ruiz. “Names, dates, places, contact info, dollar amounts, and accounts. Anything and everything you’ve got,” he said.