Chapter 6
CHAPTER 6
“Fuck.” Austin Costaneda swore under his breath and out of earshot of Colonel Ricci as he
stared at the new text message.
What more could go wrong?
“Can someone give me a ride to the Killeen police station? Melina must have been driving my Bronco when she was taken. I guess I should be glad the cops didn’t leave it wherever they found it.” In truth, he hadn’t thought about his precious truck. He expected it to be home in his garage. He also hadn’t considered where she was when they grabbed her. Another indication of how exhausted his brain was. He’d be sure to ask the local police where they’d found his truck.
His ass was dragging after a mission that went two weeks longer than necessary confirming the location of the latest self-appointed caliphate in Iraq. More times than he cared to count, his team had the pompous ass in their crosshairs, but they hadn’t been allowed to take the shot. Fucking politics.
His tired team had been billeted in the last empty seats on an Air Force transport. He slid in next to some kid who probably couldn’t even legally buy a beer and was forced to listen to his abrasive high-pitched voice for the next several hours At first, the young airman spoke loudly and constantly about how wonderful, kindhearted, and amazing his lieutenant was for allowing him to go home because his wife was about to have their first baby. The asshole finally moved on to everything he’d learned in birthing class…in detail. Austin had no need to learn about afterbirth or how excited the young man was to cut the umbilical cord.
No! No fucking way did he need any of that information. The kid wouldn’t take a hint, continuing to talk even as Austin rolled over facing the aisle and pretended to sleep. About four hours into the long overseas flight, someone a few rows back finally yelled at the soon to be father.
As soon as Austin’s feet hit home dirt, he was informed that his sister had been kidnapped on U.S. soil by a Colombian cartel wannabe boss. She’d worked for the CIA in Colombia for years and he was so excited that her assignment in the cartel-ridden country had finally ended. When she’d texted telling him that for her next assignment she’d be right there in Killeen, Texas for at least a few days, he’d expected to come home to loving arms and excellent food…not assigned to a task force to rescue her.
All he’d wanted to do was go home and crash, preferably on a full stomach of her tremendous cooking. He now had to go to the police station and claim his truck. And yes, his Bronco was not an SUV. It was a truck. It was built on a truck chassis. He could put down the back seat and haul shit. Women drove SUVs. Men drove trucks. The Bronco was a man’s machine. It was built for off-road and Austin took it there as often as possible. He loved the wide-open spaces of Texas.
Austin glanced around at his teammates looking for a volunteer.
“I’ll take you there,” Rolin “Thunder” Biggars offered. “Now that we’re home for at least a couple weeks I need to fill my refrigerator.”
“Thanks, Thunder. I appreciate this,” Austin said as he followed the sergeant to his pickup truck.
Ten minutes later they pulled in front of the red brick police building. “If you need me to come back and pick you up, just call. I’ll be at the grocery store a few blocks down.”
“Thanks again.” Austin tapped the side of the cab twice after he got out. “I appreciate the ride.” If he needed to go somewhere else to pick up his Bronco, he’d call for an Uber. He hated to be beholden to anyone.
As he walked into the station, he was immediately assaulted by garlic-tinged body odor. He bent down his head to double check the text message for a contact person and realized he smelled as bad as most of the other people in the lobby. Austin couldn’t remember his last shower and the pack of wet wipes he’d shared with his team at the extraction base barely took off the camouflage. It was too late to do anything about it. He was there.
When it was his turn, he stepped up to the uniformed officer behind the bulletproof glass at the well-worn counter. “I have a text message from Detective John Levan. They’ve taken my truck into custody since I guess my sister was driving it when she was kidnapped.”
The officer’s eyes grew wide. He glanced down at his rank insignia before meeting Austin’s eyes. “Staff Sergeant, we’re all real sorry to hear about your sister. I can assure you we’re doing everything to find her, but I understand some bigwigs out of Washington are on their way down here.” The officer leaned close to the glass and lowered his voice. “They might be taking the case away from Detective Levan.” He glanced over his shoulder before he continued, “He’s got somebody with him right now but come on back. She’s been there for quite a while. Hopefully he’ll get rid of her soon.”
A buzzer rang and the door next to the counter clicked open. Austin followed the officer to a grouping of three desks in the back corner. After catching the detective’s attention, he pointed to Austin. “He’ll be with you in a minute,” the uniformed officer said before leaving.
“Did the video come through this time?” the woman sitting in front of the detective asked.
After clicking a few keys, the man in the mid-fifties behind the desk smiled up at her. “Yes. We got it. Thanks for helping me. I’m not real good with computers as you can tell.”
“Now, let’s make sure the whole thing came through. Sometimes when transferring video, especially from a phone, the internet will hiccup,” the young woman on Austin’s side of the desk said with great patience. “Do you remember how to get to your videos?”
Oh, shit. This could take a long time. All I need to know is where my truck and keys are.
As the young woman started to describe in detail, step by step what the detective needed to do, Austin had reached his limit.
“Excuse me, Detective Levan, this sounds like it’s going to take more time than I have. I am Staff Sergeant Costaneda. I understand that you are the person I need to see to retrieve my truck that was impounded when my sister was kidnapped. I really need to get my truck back immediately.” In the meeting, they’d made it very clear they wanted the locals out of this situation and that would remove one more thing from the Killeen police concerning Melina’s kidnapping.
The woman jumped up and practically spun in the air. “You’re Melina’s brother?” She shoved her phone in his face. “I have a forty-two-second video of her kidnapping.”
Austin snatched the phone out of her hand.
“I was with your sister when she got taken but I didn’t understand the words they were saying.” She lifted her shoulders and dropped them. “I’m really sorry now that I didn’t study Spanish in college.”
The cell phone was similar to an old one he’d had a few years ago and he was able to manipulate to the videos very quickly. He hit play.
“French was the only thing my high school offered so I took it again in college.”
“Quiet,” Austin ordered with his hand palm out in the universal stop sign. The video was so quiet he put it on pause and found the volume up button. He ran it through twice before starting to send it to his phone.
“What are you doing?” the woman asked.
Without lifting his head, Austin explained, “Sending it to my phone. I’ll need to forward this immediately to the task force.” He finally looked up at the woman. She was younger than he’d expected. He’d guess late twenties or early thirties. That might explain why she was with Melina when she was captured. Perhaps they were friends. “They’re going to want to talk to you.”
Austin shifted his gaze to Detective Levan. “Where’s my truck and keys? I have to get back to base right now.”
“Now wait one minute there, son,” the detective said slowly in a pure Texan drawl. “Ms. Reiser and I aren’t finished. Once she finishes telling me about everything she saw, she’ll be free to leave, and I can deal with you and your truck.”
The whole time the detective was talking, Austin was dialing. “Colonel Ricci, sir, we have a major break in the case. We have an eyewitness to her kidnapping and video.”
“Tell me you’re on your way back to the conference room.”
Austin glared at the detective. “No, sir. Killeen Police Detective Levan insists on questioning the witness. I have just uploaded the video, which I presume she took with her cell phone.” He looked at her for confirmation.
When she nodded, he relayed the information to his commanding officer.
“What’s your name?” Austin whispered to her and held his phone out so she could speak into it.
“I’m Chanda Reiser. That’s capital r, e, i, s, e, r.”
“Sir, did you get that?” he asked Colonel Ricci.
“Got it. We’ll have a pass waiting for her at the gate and you will have a military police escort to our building.”
“Sir, I’m not sure how soon she’ll be allowed to leave,” Austin explained.
Colonel Ricci laughed. “Homeland Security is talking to the police chief right now. I’ll see you in a few minutes.” The man hung up without any kind of goodbye.
Before Austin could say another word, a barrel-chested man a few years older than the detective stormed through the desks. He wore more stars on his collar than most generals on the base. Red-faced and head down like a mean rodeo bull, he was headed straight for them. “What the Sam hell you get involved in?” The man held up his hand. “I don’t want to know…and neither do you. You gather everything that you have collected and turn it over to the staff sergeant. Don’t keep a copy of anything. Don’t talk to anyone, not one friggin’ word, and be sure you tell the officers the same thing.” He balled his fists and punched them onto his hips. “I just got my backside chewed by the assistant director of Homeland Security. Lose everything including your memory of that event because if I have to experience the wrath of Homeland Security again, you will too.”
The chief of police turned and addressed his station. “All y’all listen up. If you are involved in the incident at the grocery store this afternoon, hear me, and hear me clear. There was no incident at the grocery store. That’s our story and we’re sticking with it.”
“I take it this means I can get my truck back?” Austin asked of no one in particular.
The chief held out his hand to the detective who opened his drawer and tossed the senior officer what Austin recognized as his truck keys.
“It’s parked out back. I’ll show you the way.” He started winding through the maze of desks.
“Sir, I need her to come with me.” He pointed to Chanda.
“Come along, little missy. I don’t want you in my station.” He glanced back over his shoulder. “Levan, get everything collected before I get back in here. Since you just started this investigation, there can’t be that much to gather.”
The chief, Austin, and Chanda stepped into the Texas heat reflected by the asphalt parking lot. The chief clicked the button to unlock his truck and the headlights flashed at the same time it beeped. The chief smiled. “Nice truck.”
Austin didn’t bother holding in his proud smile. “I have to agree, sir.” The two men admired the truck as they walked to it, Austin giving a running tab of all the extra amenities. When he looked back, Chanda was still standing next to the door. “Ms. Reiser, you need to come with me.”