Chapter 15 #2
“Motel. Drop off our stuff and tell you what we know. Then the port at sunrise. We’ll go in pairs and get the lay of the land.
Tex sent a list of all the speedboats headed toward Guayaquil.
We don’t know which one might be our target, but knowing where they’re going to dock will be helpful.
As far as he figures, they should be arriving tomorrow or the day after.
If they made any stops, it could be as much as three or four days from now.
If we don’t find Bree within four days, we’ll head to the . Go straight to his compound.”
Smiley didn’t want to think about what condition Bree might be in four days from now, and what might happen to her if Castillo got her to his compound.
But he forced his mind away from those thoughts.
He might not be able to function if he dwelled too long on what she was going through.
His Bree was strong, but even the strongest woman could break.
Kevlar got behind the wheel of the SUV and glanced over his shoulder. “See if you can get Smiley to eat something, will you, Flash?”
Annoyed, Smiley glared at the back of his team leader’s head. He didn’t want to eat. In fact, the thought of food made him sick. But Flash wasn’t going to take no for an answer. He dug into the box of food and pulled out a protein shake. Opening it, he held it out to Smiley.
He thought about refusing, but knew his teammates were just as stubborn as he was. They wouldn’t stop badgering until he’d consumed the damn thing. Snatching it out of his friend’s hand, Smiley brought it to his lips and chugged.
It tasted like shit, but he couldn’t deny that once he had something in his belly, the churning and rolling it had been doing began to wane.
MacGyver grabbed a protein bar and handed it to Kevlar as he pulled out from under the building.
The metal gate closed behind them with an audible clank.
Taking a deep breath, and hoping they wouldn’t run into any trouble on the way to the motel, Smiley stared out the front windshield and prayed luck would be on their side, and they’d be able to find some sign that would point them to what boat Bree would be on and when she’d arrive.
Two days later, Smiley’s prayers hadn’t been answered.
The seven of them had prowled the port, searching for any signs of Bree on any of the speedboats that had come in and generally keeping an eye on things as best they could.
Their job was made more difficult by not knowing exactly what they were looking for.
But nothing they’d seen so far had given them any indication that a woman was being smuggled onshore.
Three of them were now holed up in what would be considered a one-star motel back in the States. The other four teammates were back at the port, watching and waiting.
Kevlar, Smiley, and Blink were supposed to be sleeping so they could trade off with the rest of the team when their watch ended, but none of them were even close to feeling sleepy.
The part of the city where the port was located was one of those places the State Department—and anyone with half a brain in their head—would warn Americans against visiting, or even traveling through.
It was poor, and violence had taken a firm hold.
Every twenty minutes or so, the sound of gunfire could be heard through the thin walls of the room they were in just a few blocks away from the port entrance.
Every so often, they could hear screams and even the occasional explosion.
Smiley had seen several children as they made their way back and forth to the rundown building that called itself a motel, and their condition made him incredibly sad.
All they’d ever known was poverty. Life wasn’t fair, that was for sure.
The sound of Kevlar’s phone ringing seemed loud in the otherwise silent room. None of them were talking. There was no idle chitchat going on. All three men were lost in their heads, thinking about the upcoming search and what they could do to make it successful.
“Kevlar here. Yeah, okay, let me put you on speaker. Okay, go ahead.”
“As I said, my name is Rex. I’m in charge of the Mountain Mercenaries out of Colorado. Tex tells me you and your team are in Ecuador hunting a man named Mateo Castillo?”
“Yes. He kidnapped Smiley’s woman. Had been after her for a while now. Bought her from her ex out of Las Vegas.”
“Vegas. Figures. That was del Rio’s favorite hunting ground. Tex also said that Castillo has, for all intents and purposes, taken over del Rio’s operation, moved it to Ecuador. Is that right?”
“From what we understand, that’s correct,” Kevlar told him.
“Motherfucker. Right. Okay, I’m going to tell you what I know about how del Rio did things.
How his operation was set up. The schedule of the guards, how the women were kept and where.
Everything I can. Hopefully, you’ll be able to use the intel to take this Castillo fucker down once and for all.
You need to send a message that if anyone tries to pick up where he left off after his balls are cut off and shoved down his throat, the same thing will happen to them, no matter what hole they crawl into to try to hide. ”
Smiley approved of Rex’s barely held-in-check violence. His hatred for anyone who worked in the sex trade came through loud and clear. And why wouldn’t it? His wife had been held captive and tortured for years.
An hour later, Smiley was sick to his stomach, and his sense of urgency to find and kill Castillo was higher than ever.
But he also had a better understanding of the business side of the sex trade.
How customers were contacted, how they paid, where the money went, things like that.
Tex and the women he was working with were surely following the money trail right that moment.
They’d want to catch as many men as they could who were using Castillo’s services and buying women from him, as well as finding Bree.
At the moment, all Smiley could think of was his woman. Yes, he cared about the others who might be under Castillo’s thumb, but he was desperate to prevent his Bree from spending even one more second than necessary as a captive.
Rex had offered the services of his mercenaries, but Kevlar declined. As it was, they were conspicuous enough. Adding six more large men to their group would make it almost impossible for the government and the police to overlook their presence.
By the time Kevlar said goodbye to Rex, Smiley was keyed up. He wanted to go back to the port right that moment. Needed to do something other than sit around and worry and imagine all the bad things that might be happening to the woman he loved.
Without a word to the others, Kevlar’s fingers tapped on the screen of his phone. Then he looked up and said, “Our turn.”
Thank fuck.
Glad his team leader was on the same page as he was, Smiley stood. Making sure his weapons were still secure, he strode toward the door, more determined than ever to find the boat Bree was on and liberate her from the men dumb enough to make their living kidnapping innocent women.
And if one hair on her head was harmed…so help those men. Their deaths would be long and painful instead of quick and humane. He needed them to hurt as much as he was right now. As much as they’d made Bree suffer.
Bree didn’t think she’d ever feel normal again. She’d been sick for so long, she could barely see straight…or maybe that was because her eye was still swollen shut. And her ribs hurt like crazy; dry heaving wasn’t the best thing for a cracked rib.
But thankfully, it had been at least a day since she’d last puked, and she’d been able to keep down the water and crackers she’d been given. She was still hungry, but she could practically feel her cells soaking up the water as she drank tiny sips.
She still felt a little green, and was still in pain from the beating she’d received, but as the boat slowed, and as she saw lights twinkling from the small porthole in the side of the vessel, her heart began to beat faster.
They were here.
Where here was, she had no idea. No, that wasn’t true. She assumed they were finally in Ecuador. But she didn’t know exactly where in the country. Regardless, her only chance to evade the hell Castillo had planned for her was to escape before she arrived at his compound.
From what she understood from her captors, that compound was in the jungle.
Far from civilization. Men…customers…flew into the nearest city under the guise of taking a vacation or some such bullshit.
Then they were escorted to the compound, where they could indulge in all the sex they wanted—for a price.
The more they paid, the more they were free to do with the women.
It was disgusting and vile, and scary as hell. Even though the man she’d killed had said that she was to be a reward for the workers at the compound, and not the paying customers, it didn’t make her feel any better. It almost felt worse to Bree.
Hell, who was she kidding? It was all bad. Terrible. Awful. Horrifying.
She had to figure out how to get away before they arrived in the jungle. Because she was not a jungle girl. Bugs freaked her out. And snakes? Nope ropes? Forget about it.
The men were busy on the deck, readying the boat to dock, and Bree frantically looked around for anything that might help her.
The men would have to remove her from the cage, because she could tell it was permanently attached to the floor of the boat.
There were bolts holding the bottom down so it wouldn’t slide across the floor in rough seas.
That would work in her favor. As long as they didn’t bring in another cage to put her in, before taking her off the boat.