Chapter Fourteen
MIGUEL
I had another headache. I needed fresh air and I wasn’t going to get it inside the lobby of the Federal Building. Raven protested but I walked with him outside anyway. We stood in the shadow of the building, sticking close to the wall as I took in a great gulp of air. I wasn’t feeling good. As delicious as the Chinese food had been, it wasn’t sitting well. I found myself trying hard not to throw it all up again. Bending down, I put both hands on my knees, feeling my head spin. I needed to lie down. Raven’s hand rubbed soothing circles between my shoulder blades. I straightened up shakily. My lover’s eyes were haunted as he stared at me, biting his lip.
“You’re not well, Miguel. You need to lie down and you sure as hell don’t need this stress. You’re not fully recovered.”
I nodded. “Yeah.”
He pulled his phone from his back pocket and tapped the Uber app. I quickly grabbed his wrist, then reached for his phone with the other hand. When he gave me a questioning look, I shook my head. “Did you forget we’re in protective custody? We shouldn’t even be outside the building.” I whirled as I heard footsteps coming up behind us. Lincoln, Mac, Cassidy, and Mike were right there. Cassidy and Mike looked totally annoyed.
“I forgot for a minute that you don’t listen,” Cassidy muttered. “Come on, let’s get you back inside the building.”
I nodded, putting my arm around Raven and followed the others back into the lobby. Lincoln and Mac badged us inside. We went through security and were starting to walk toward the elevators when Lincoln took hold of my sleeve, bringing me to a stop. Raven was right beside me, slipping his hand into mine.
“Let’s talk a second,” he said.
“What is it now, Lincoln?” Raven asked, sounding really frustrated. “I thought you, of all people, were our friend. Can’t you see how sick he is?”
Lincoln frowned, staring at Raven with what had to be sympathy. “I am worried.” He glanced at me. “How bad is the head?”
“To be honest, I feel like I should be sleeping for a damned year, Lincoln. The headache is back with a vengeance. I don’t understand it. I felt so good this morning when I got up.”
“Probably residual concussion stuff,” Mac said, pointing to his own noggin. “I got one so bad once, it laid me low for a week. It totally kicked my ass which surprised me too. You never know about these things until you get a really bad one.”
I assessed the big former Green Beret. It was hard to believe anything could kick the man’s ass. I would have put money on Mac McCallahan being near indestructible when he was an operator. He looked like every Hollywood stereotype of a Green Beret, tall, immovable, impenetrable, crew cut and all.
I simply nodded before looking back at Lincoln. “I can’t do what she wants, Snow. Even if Raven wasn’t here…and you guys...all sticking up for me, I just don’t have it in me. I spent years in the Special Forces, went on more Recon missions than I can tell you, but I’ve never felt so physically not up to what they’re asking me to do.”
“We know, Miguel,” Lincoln said. He squeezed my shoulder. “We all know it would take a man at 100 percent to commit to something like what the DEA is suggesting, and we also know you’re far far below that right now. You’d have to be at full mental and physical capability for this and you’re clearly not.”
I nodded. “I’m sorry, Lincoln. I feel for Willis and especially for Tawny, Brian Leopard, and even Aston, if he’s innocent, but I just can’t right now. And to be truthful, I think anyone who agreed to that should have their head examined. SAC Bannister admitted they don’t even have a plan.”
“So, now you understand why we don’t work well with the DEA,” Mac grumbled.
Lincoln let his hand slip from my shoulder. “Like I said, Cass, Mike, Mac, and I argued against it. We need to find a way to draw Castillo out of the house, and to bring the others with him. That was plan B, but you never let her get to it after—” he flicked a glance at Raven before smiling, “your bulldog went after her.”
“Which was kinda hot,” Cassidy said, smirking.
I grinned. I couldn’t help it. “Okay, let’s go back and listen to plan B.” I checked with Raven. “You good with listening? You can’t do what you did. We’re talking…that’s it.”
“Yes,” he said. “I’m sorry.” He smiled shyly at me, taking my hand in his. When he lifted it to his lips and kissed my knuckles, my knees felt weak.
“You got any of those fucking painkillers with you?”
“Yes.” We walked to the elevators as he dug for them in his pockets.
Upstairs, Raven went to the kitchen to grab a bottle of water, and I downed the pills as we retook our seats. I noticed Damon was sitting alone in the conference room with the door closed, phone pressed to his ear. No one else had moved and Bannister was now sitting, scrolling through her phone looking completely bored by our return to the bullpen. I focused my attention on Lincoln’s boss, SAC Bradley, when he cleared his throat. Bannister stood facing us, finally giving us her attention, as she pocketed her phone.
“Okay, plan B,” Bradley said. “We need to get Castillo and Willis out of the house.”
“We need to get all of the possible hostages out of the house, SAC,” Lincoln said.
“Of course,” Bradley agreed, “that goes without saying.” He glanced back at us. “What are your thoughts, Raven?”
“I actually wanted to hear what my partner had to say.” I turned to him.
“Well, we know Castillo wants the fifty million,” Raven said. “Aston brought Tawny down there to meet with the banker to get it for him. I’m guessing they haven’t met?”
“The meeting is scheduled to take place on the day after tomorrow,” Bradley said. “She’s supposed to go with Aston to the bank.”
My jaw dropped. “Why then would you float the idea of me going into Castillo’s house? Why was that plan A to begin with?”
“Plan A is off the table!” Bannister exclaimed. She shot a hateful look at Raven. “Let’s move on.”
Raven narrowed his eyes at her, and I squeezed his hand. “So, Aston and Tawny are supposed to meet with the banker,” he continued. “Why don’t you guys substitute the real banker with one of your guys? Then, he can say something like the funds can’t be accessed for a few days. It’s fifty million dollars, not five. It’s not like Castillo can verify the truth if they stall. Then you can grab Castillo when he’s coming out of the bank.”
“Assuming Castillo goes with those two. He could force Aston to go with Tawny alone,” Bradley said.
“We’ll have to give him some other incentive then,” I said.
“Like what, Mr. Huerta? The man surrounds himself with his men and barricades himself in that house for a reason,” Bannister said. Her tone was as hostile as it could be. I ignored it.
“There has to be an open line of communication to that property somewhere,” I said. “We need to find it and then put the fake banker Raven suggested on the line with him. He can tell Castillo the only way he can facilitate the withdrawal of a sum of money that sizeable is to transfer it to another account at the bank, one he personally has to open. I don’t know. You guys can figure that part out. But we have to make the return of those funds conditional upon transferring the funds to his own account. I think he wants them so bad at this point, he’ll leave that house, even if it means being surrounded by a platoon of his own sicarios.”
“That still leaves Agent Willis trapped in that house with a hundred men,” Bannister said snidely.
“You’re forgetting about Brian Leopard,” Raven said. “Or are you just thinking of him as collateral damage at this point?”
“That’s not what I’m saying at all,” Bannister spat back.
SAC Bradley held up both hands. “Tempers are a little hot here. I think it’s safe to say we all want the best outcome.”
“The scenario Raven and Miguel came up with has merit and frankly, I think you’re greatly exaggerating the number of sicarios Castillo has at his disposal,” Lincoln said. “Raven and Miguel’s plan will split the number of men in half.”
“The FBI can send in a tac team to retrieve Leopard and Willis once Tawny Flores and Aston are out of the house with Castillo,” Mac said. “If the DEA takes care of the guards on the perimeter and grounds, a good enough FBI tac team can take care of the guards inside while preserving the life of the hostages.”
“That might work,” Bradley said thoughtfully. “What is the realistic number of guards inside the house? Obviously, there aren’t a hundred,” he said to Bannister.
“No,” she admitted. “There’s more like ten inside, twenty outside, guarding the grounds and perimeter. The DEA can take care of them. We have our own tac teams.”
“What we need is a Spec. Ops team to augment the FBI tac team with the hostage rescue,” Cassidy said. “Their training in stealth, breach, and retrieval has a proven record under fire as good or better than an FBI tac team…and they’re used to operating in an environment where there’s little to go on such as floorplans. Military tactics are a proven commodity.”
“Military? On foreign soil?” Bannister scoffed. “No way.”
“Not…active-duty military,” Cassidy said, looking at me. “We know some guys.”
“Who?” she asked skeptically.
“We’ve got a SEAL right there,” Mike said, pointing at Cass. “Recon Marine over there.” He nodded at me. I wouldn’t trust myself going in alone but with some painkillers and as part of a team, hell yeah. “And big Mac is our Green Beret.”
Max raised his hand. “Former U.S. Marshal with a Marine Corps background. Tracker and marksman.”
Kindness raised her hand. “Marine Corps. Hand-to-hand, mixed martial arts.”
Perez pointed to himself. “Marine Corps—”
Bannister held up both hands. “I get it. You’re all highly trained.”
“We have a couple of snipers at our disposal as well,” Mac said. He pointed at Lincoln. “His wife is the SAC at the ATF and can kill anything she points a weapon at. One of the guys on her team is a former Marine Corps sniper with more than fifteen years of experience.”
The door to the conference room opened and Damon silently rejoined the group, staying off to the side as the conversation continued.
“Let’s put it this way,” Cassidy was saying. “Get us a rough layout of that house and we’ll put together a team to rescue the hostages including Trevor Willis. Satellite photos will suffice.”
“Well, if you’ve got it all covered, the DEA doesn’t need to be here at all,” Bannister said, folding her arms across her chest.
“That’s not what he said, Bannister.” Bradley frowned at the woman. “All he’s saying is that we’re not going to leave your guy behind. Got that?”
“Got it.”
“Everyone is forgetting about Alex Filmore,” Damon said, speaking up for the first time.
I turned to look at him. “How do you think he’s involved in all of this, Damon?”
He sighed. “I’ve been wondering about that, and I think I know.”
“Well, what is it?” Lincoln asked. “And were you planning on sharing it with the taskforce?”
“I was, but I thought I’d wait until you guys finished bickering.”
“Damon…” Lincoln said.
Thorne smiled. “After all this happened, I decided to bring a big gun into the conversation.”
“A big gun? Who’d that be?” Lincoln asked, dragging his gaze around at the group before going back to Damon. “This conversation is classified as you know.”
Damon nodded. “Of course, but Mark Evans is already read into this, as you know.”
“Who’s that?” Bannister asked, sitting forward.
Damon ignored her as he kept on talking. “He and I have been backtracking Filmore’s movements since he turned up at Castillo’s house, looking at his emails, and his calls.”
“Who is Mark Evans?” Bannister asked, raising her voice.
“He’s the former Associate Director for Military Affairs for the CIA,” Damon said, keeping his voice cool. “He and I are in touch, and like I said, he’s already been read in on this case.”
Bannister threw up her hands. “Great…just great.”
“It’s a good thing, SAC,” Damon said. “He’ll get the satellite images of the house in real time.”
“How’s he going to do that?” Bannister asked, sounding a little less closed off than she had been.
“He’s still got friends in high places,” Damon replied. “Anyway, he and I have been looking at Alex Filmore’s calls and tracking his movements like I said.”
Bannister nodded. “Go on. What did you find out?”
“Remember Salvatore Mancuso? We haven’t talked about him here today,” Damon said.
“The guy who Tawny Flores calls a friend,” Lincoln said.
“Right,” I said, shooting Mike and Cassidy a look. “She claims he’s a family friend, but we know Tawny’s husband hired him before his death, probably at Aston’s encouragement. We also speculated that he’s got ties to the Sanchez Cartel and that he’s probably the one who stole the pigeon’s blood ruby out of Tawny Flores’ safe.”
“Yes. Mancuso flew down there on a cartel plane with Tawny, Brian Leopard, and Agent Willis,” Damon said.
“Okay, but why did you look into him?” Raven asked.
Damon turned to Snow, who nodded. When he glanced back, he was smiling. “Lincoln asked me to do a deep dive into him because the FBI has thought from the beginning that he had something to do with the rogue CIA operatives and the missing jewels. After talking to you and Miguel, Cassidy and Mike were convinced of his involvement in Mendez, and companies plot from the very beginning.”
“Really?” I asked.
Raven squeezed my hand and when I looked over, he canted his head toward Damon. “He’s about to tell us.”
I snorted before looking back at Damon. “Fine. What’d you find, Thorne?”
“We found that not only was Mancuso hired by Benedict Flores with Aston’s encouragement, but that he did indeed have ties to Alex Filmore as well.”
“How?” SAC Bradley asked.
“Mancuso knew him from his time in the Marine Corps,” Damon said.
“No shit.” I was slightly stunned by that.
“It’s true,” Damon replied. “They both served at the joint base in Afghanistan during the time you and I were there.”
“He was there too?” Raven said. He gave me a questioning look. “But you don’t remember seeing him on base, Miguel?”
I shook my head. “Just like Filmore. When I saw his picture on the screen, I thought he looked familiar, as I said. But until I was told he was Alex Filmore, I couldn’t have known that. If Thorne says Mancuso was there at the same time as I was, I believe him. It was a huge base with thousands of personnel. He could have walked by me every day…a lot of people did, Raven…not to mention it was eleven years ago. We were both a lot younger and faces change. It would have been easy to miss him.” I gave Damon a nod. “Sorry, go on, Thorne. You were saying something about you and Mark working backward from where Filmore has been now that you’ve placed him in the Cayman Islands.”
“Yes. According to Mark, the Alex Filmore ID hasn’t shown back up on anyone’s radar since it was last used in Berlin. That was over two months ago, and though, the CIA has been searching everywhere for him, they haven’t been successful. After we saw that feed Noah and Judy found this morning, I decided it would be worth bringing Mark in.”
“And he somehow found out where Alex Filmore has been?” Bradley asked.
“He used the license plates on the Land Rover to trace him back to his hotel on Grand Cayman, not far from where Castillo’s house is. Mark learned Filmore is checked in under his newest alias, Barry Lawson. We ran Lawson’s cell phone records when he checked in and cross-checked them with Salvatore Mancuso’s phone. Those turned up nothing.”
“So, this lead is shit,” Bannister said.
“No, it just means they’re probably talking to each other on burner phones provided by the cartel,” Damon said.
“Like I said, what good is this lead if we can’t connect the two?” Bannister asked, a nasty sneer on her face.
Damon smiled at her and I noticed it wasn’t such a nice smile. “I didn’t say I couldn’t connect the two. What I said was that they were talking to each other on phones provided by the cartel. That doesn’t mean the CIA doesn’t have…unconventional ways to hear those calls. However, I won’t share that because I promise you, that technology is most definitely way beyond your security clearance or anyone else’s in this room.”
I exchanged a look with Raven, noticing how huge his eyes were. The expression made me want to laugh but I somehow managed to tamp that down. When I turned back to Damon, Bannister was now sitting mute with her arms crossed, still watching and waiting for him to go on.
“What can you tell us, Thorne?” SAC Bradley asked.
“There has been constant contact between Salvatore Mancuso and Filmore using his real name and once that one was burned, his new alias, Barry Lawson. They’ve traded phone calls and text messages. They were especially busy over text. It seems that Filmore was the shooter who decided to take Raven out at Trader Joe’s, and he was also the person who broke into the LAPD’s impound lot to get the VIN number off Raven’s truck which had been towed after the shooting.”
“That means he’s the cartel’s hit man?” I asked.
Damon looked at me. “Yes. I’m sure he’s only one of many…we are talking about a cartel here…but in this instance, yes, Filmore wanted to take Raven out that day.”
I wasn’t surprised in the least but judging by the look on Raven’s face, he was. “Was he also the cartel hitman who took out Rufus Modelo, the snitch who very nearly testified against Castillo?” I asked Damon.
“The CIA can’t verify that, but I’d guess that was someone else,” Damon replied. “If he was, he didn’t talk about it with Mancuso or anyone else on the phone.”
“This is all well and good for the DEA’s case against Castillo, but how does this help us get Special Agent Trevor Willis out of his house along with the other hostages?” SAC Bannister asked.
Lincoln raised his hand. “Before you answer that, I’d like to know—if you know—what did Mancuso and Filmore talk about?”
Damon nodded. “They traded texts about how they could get a hold of the rest of the missing jewels.”
“The pigeon’s blood ruby, Brian Leopard’s pin, the Mulberry diamond?” Raven asked.
“Well, the ruby and pin were never discussed, but other items thought to be part of the loot stolen in Afghanistan by the rogue CIA cell were,” Damon replied.
“I understand why they might not discuss the ruby, especially if Mancuso was the one who stole it for Aston to begin with, but why wouldn’t they discuss Brian Leopard’s piece?” I asked.
Damon shook his head. “I really have no idea. Maybe they never tracked that piece down and the pin being part of the theft at Mr. Leopard’s house was simply coincidental.”
“Brian Leopard does wear a lot of jewelry,” Raven said. “He even told us the pin was the one piece worth a lot of money that’d been left at the house while he and Trevor were out clubbing.”
I nodded and eyed up Damon. “There were some rare first edition books stolen along with the diamond pin. Did Mancuso and Filmore talk about those?” I asked.
“No,” Damon said, “but I doubt Filmore would care about books, or understand their value. He doesn’t strike me as a particularly bright type who’d care about literature, valuable or not. The jewels on the other hand, he considers them belonging to him to begin with, and he’s been ruthless about trying to reacquire the gems since losing them.”
“Who the fuck even cares about books?” Bannister stated, standing up and pacing. “I need to know how we’re going to get my agent back. Does anyone care about that?”
“Actually, yes, which is why I’d be happy if you sat back down and listened to the rest of what I have to say,” Damon said, cooly.
“Please, sit down, SAC Bannister,” Bradley said. “Let’s hear what Mr. Thorne has to say.”
“Fine.” She thumped back down in the chair. “Go on.”
“It doesn’t sound like Mancuso is currently inside the house with the rest of them,” Damon said.
“You know this how, Mr. Thorne?” SAC Bradley asked.
“Because he’s been talking to Filmore ever since he went in, giving him updates on the case and what we’ve been doing. He knows the FBI has put Raven and Miguel in protective custody. He doesn’t know where, but he was in the process of setting up a siege on your house,” Damon said, turning to look directly at us. “He knows you were moved. He figured that out about a half hour after the FBI moved you. Castillo’s men were all ready to set upon the house but he scrubbed that plan.”
“So, Filmore and Castillo are working together…I mean, it’s obvious since he’s now inside his house, but wow, that’s crazy to know they’ve been involved with this thing from the beginning,” I said.
Damon nodded. “From the outset.”
“Jesus,” Raven said. “And my grandmother?”
Damon grinned. “They don’t know where your grandmother is. Mancuso and Filmore think she possibly went back to the reservation. We know that, because there have been sightings of some of Castillo’s thugs in Arizona.” He held up his hand as Raven opened his mouth to ask for further clarification. “Don’t worry. They won’t try to hurt anyone since they don’t have the first idea where to look. They’re just desperate. Castillo probably threatened his own sicarios. He’s known for not caring who dies, friend or foe, if it accomplishes his—and his cartel’s—goals.”
I squeezed Raven’s hand, checking on him as I felt the tension going out of him. I turned back to Damon. “Now what?” I looked around at the others. “Is everyone on board with what was suggested earlier?”
“Drawing Castillo, Tawny, and Aston out while the tac teams go get Special Agent Willis and Brian Leopard, you mean?” SAC Bradley asked.
“I’d—” Bannister hesitated before finally nodding. “Okay, yes, the DEA would be on board with that,” she said. She exchanged a look with her two agents, then Lincoln, and Bradley. The two men nodded at her. She addressed Damon. “For what it’s worth, thank you for bringing Mark Evans into this and for using whatever tech was needed to get the information you did. If we’re able to save the life of Special Agent Trevor Willis, I’m going to see to it that you get a medal.”
Damon snorted and shrugged. “That’s nice, ma’am, but trust me, I’m retired and so is Mark. He’s got medals…plenty of them, and as for me, the last thing I need is a medal for serving my country with honor.”
Bradley had a slight smile on his face and seemed impressed. “If this is the way you work, Lincoln…hell, the way all of you work, I can see why you’re so effective.”
Lincoln grinned. “Thank you, sir.” He stood. “Okay, does anyone need a cup of coffee before we sit and figure out how we’re going to do this?”
I checked with Raven as people in the room started talking. “Coffee?”
He grinned at me. “Sure thing. You sit there and let me get it.”
I squeezed his hand as he stood up and brushed by several of the others. When I could finally drag my eyes away from his retreating form, Cassidy and Mike were standing in front of my chair. I rose to meet their eyes.
“We should probably get you back to the hotel so you can rest,” Cassidy said.
“I’m okay…I really am. The painkillers are doing their thing and honestly, I’d rather see that Raven gets back to the hotel to rest. He’s been so worried about me that I know he’s not sleeping.”
“That’s not gonna happen without you by his side, and don’t pretend you don’t know that,” Mike said with a grin. “You’re smarter than that, Miguel.”
I turned and looked at my man walking back across the room holding two cups of coffee. His brilliant smile lit up his whole face. I sighed. “I know it. I really do.”