Chapter 21
21
Sisco sat in the compound, his gaze scanning the computer screen before him, growing more frustrated by the moment. The DEA was focused on the cartels moving drugs to Montana so they could then be transported into Canada. With Raul back in Mexico, their attention was on the southern border. The FBI had other cases piling up, and since Lenore was rescued and they knew who perpetrated the crime, they were devoting less time to the case.
For Sisco, every scrap of information on Raul Mendez had been memorized and analyzed. And the only “ized” left for him was to fantasize about going just one round with Raul to pulverize the asshole who'd dared to take Lenore.
Groaning, he leaned back in his chair and looked around the room at the other Keepers. Sadie and Dalton had their heads together as they planned another mission he was soon going on. Timothy and Todd were working on Freddy's background. Cole, Devil, Landon, and Frazier were studying the intel on the drug cartels' movements between Mexico and Canada. Cory and Casper were off the compound, designing a security system for a new client.
While LSIMT provided security for Lenore and Evie, they weren't officially working the case since the FBI director hadn’t asked for assistance. But Logan didn’t care… he considered them on the case as unofficially as they needed to be. No one threatened one of his Keepers and walked away without the power of LSI focused on them. And they all readily agreed that they needed to do everything they could to protect Lenore.
Scrubbing his fingers through his beard, Sisco caught Devil's eye. Lifting his brow in silent question, Devil said, “I'll send you all we have. But the gist of it is that drugs have started flowing into Montana and from there to Canada. The cartels have discovered the Indigenous people on reservations in the US and Canada. They get them hooked, use them as mules, and they become dealers, making more money than they could ever imagine.”
“Fuck,” Sisco groaned. He hated the idea of drugs moving through the area he lived in but especially hated that the cartels had any information on Lenore since she'd been unwittingly thrust into their view.
“Fuckin' vultures,” Devil growled, his dark eyes snapping.
Sisco looked over at his friend's face, reading his expression. Jim Devlin had been living in Montana, on the Flatfeet Reservation, when Logan found him and asked him to become part of the newly formed LSIMT. It was one of the Indigenous American reservations that allowed non-tribal members to live there. Devil was still making deals, only now to aid the residents on the reservation. On their SEAL team, Devil had been able to get just about anything they needed… extra or better food, a specialized weapon, a vehicle repair, fixing a broken transmitter, or acquiring a state-of-the-art radio. Someone once said that all it took was to make a deal with the Devil, and Devlin could get it. Thus… he became known as Devil.
Turning his attention to Todd, he said, “Freddy is local… at least as a kid. That's got to be why Raul made the connection. Small-time dealer looking to move up. More ambitious than he is smart. He'd make the perfect person for Raul to get him out of the hospital if there was a plan in place. No fuckin' way did Freddy come up with that.”
“There was no evidence indicating anyone at the hospital was in on the planning,” Todd said. “Granted, the knife fight in the jail was planned by Raul, paying someone just enough to make the knife wound need hospital care but not lethal. But no one would know ahead of time what room he'd be in or when would be the best time to get to him.”
“What about the deputy who was killed?” Timothy asked, gaining Sisco's attention.
Sisco's brow lowered. “The deputy who ended up with a bullet to the brain right in front of the women?”
“Listen to yourself, Sisco,” Frazier warned. “Think clearly and not with any emotion.”
“Remember,” Logan warned. “The police didn’t investigate him. He was one of their own, and the town came out in force to honor him at his funeral.”
Sisco frowned, a retort ready on his lips. Then as his gaze traveled around the room again, he shoved the angry quip down and did what Frazier suggested. Sucking in a deep breath, he cast his mind back. “We were coming down the hall. Lenore was close by, and kept looking at Evie in my arms. There wasn't a fucking thing I could do that wouldn't put one of them at risk with a weapon at my side, so close to Evie. If my arms had been free, the situation would have been different?—”
“Got that, man.” Landon nodded. “You were stuck in an untenable situation you'd never found yourself in. As a SEAL, you'd protect your team, but you knew that you all had gone into missions with the knowledge that you might not come out. But with two civilians, one a child you were trying to protect, you had no choice. But think about the deputy. Objectively, what did you see?”
Scrubbing his hand over his face, he realized that within a few seconds of reliving the incident, he'd fallen into the emotional recitation again. “Fuck, this is harder than I imagined.” Steeling his spine, he sat up straight, closed his eyes, and relived the scene as it played out. Objectively. As an investigator and not an unwitting participant.
“The deputy was just outside the doorway. It was the last doorway at the end of the hall. The nursing station was just around the corner, so anyone sitting at the station's computers wouldn't have seen what was happening.” He startled slightly. “But instead of standing on the side of the doorway closest to anyone approaching, he was on the far side. There was a window at the end of the hall, and he had his head turned to stare out the window. I remember wishing he would look our way so I could indicate concern.”
“Okay… good,” Frazier said. “Keep going.”
“He kept his head turned away even as we approached. It wasn't until we were right at the door that he looked around. And there was no fucking way he didn't hear us coming. We weren't making noise, but our footsteps would have been heard because no one else was around.” His top teeth landed on his bottom lip, and he bit down slightly, relishing the sting as he thought of covering Evie's eyes and ears so she wouldn't see or hear what was about to happen. He'd instinctively known there was no way the deputy would be left alive.
Pushing those thoughts down again, he snapped his gaze up. “The deputy must have been in on it. I thought he was young… too young to be in that position alone. Was someone from the local police in on it as well? Someone who assigned him to that position?”
“The deputy was a rookie—only on the force for three months. His partner called in sick that day, but the police sergeant didn't reassign the deputy or get someone else to assist handling the prisoner hospital duty,” Todd reported.
Sadie looked up from where she'd been busily tapping on her keyboard. “Sorry, guys… you had me interested. Deputy Mark Trainor deposited twenty-five hundred dollars into his account the day before he was killed.”
“He was paid to look the other way no matter what was happening and then figured he'd just walk away,” Devil said, shaking his head. “Christ, what an idiot.”
“What about the sergeant?”
“Nothing on him yet. Veteran cop. Been with the Valier Police Department his whole career. Never a blip on his record.”
“A fluke? No way,” Devil said, shaking his head.
Landon looked up from the file in front of him. “FBI questioned the police about how Deputy Trainor was there by himself, and it seems the initial report was wrong. His partner didn't call in sick until the last minute when Deputy Trainor was already on his way to the hospital. The sergeant was looking for someone else to assist.”
“And the partner?” Sisco asked.
“Deputy Louise Baker. Since hearing the news about her partner, she hasn't been back to work. Took bereavement leave and said she was visiting her parents.”
Sisco lifted his brow for Landon to continue.
“And no, she hasn't been seen since. She never arrived at her parents' place in Missouri. She also made a suspicious deposit the day before she called in sick.”
Cole leaned back in his chair, his gaze sharp. “The two deputies were paid for what was planned. Trainor to look the other way when someone came down the hall, and Baker to call in sick. Trainor takes a bullet to the brain, and Baker is probably dead, her body left out in the wild somewhere.”
“Neither one was paid very much to participate,” Timothy said. “But then, on their salary, I guess it was enough. Maybe they were promised more after the escape was to happen.”
“And maybe they had no idea the scope of what they were doing,” Todd surmised. “Too fucking late now.”
“Let's get back to the hospital. Who would have known where he would be?” Sisco said. “Who brought him from the jail the day before?”
Landon scrolled through the FBI report. “He was escorted by two jail guards who turned over the duty to the police department once Raul was admitted.” His eyes widened, and his gaze shot up. “And one of the guards was Peter Trainor… Mark's brother.”
“Damn—”
“I'm checking,” Sadie said, and after a moment, she shook her head. “He didn't make any deposits, but that doesn't mean he wasn't paid.”
“I'm sending all this to the local FBI agent in charge,” Landon said.
“Why the fuck aren't they finding out this shit?” Sisco growled.
“Too many cases. Too much area in their district to cover. And too few agents to cover it all,” Landon replied. Sighing heavily, he slumped his shoulders. “That's why I got out.”
“A jail guard brings Raul to the hospital, probably having known the fight would occur, then passes along the info to his brother, who ends up dead for his trouble. Raul set it all up and got in touch with the others in his crew to get him out of the hospital.” Sisco surmised. “I want to talk to Peter Trainor.”
Landon grinned. “Let's do it.”