Chapter 9
CHAPTER 9
Everyone migrated toward a large boardroom table, so Jacin followed suit and snagged the chair next to Rafe. An Army colonel stopped to talk to Alex for a moment. When they both looked his way, Jacin wanted to shift in his seat but held still. Such a high-ranking officer would surely have the ability to throw him off Alex’s team.
He certainly didn’t look his best, and probably didn’t instill confidence, but he hoped his shock didn’t show on his slightly swollen face when the colonel walked directly to him and thrust out his hand. “Welcome to the team, Mr. Torres.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“Let’s get this meeting started,” the colonel called as he moved toward the head of the table. Screens came to life behind him and seemed to fill the wall. “The other two will be here within five minutes.”
When the black oblong shape edged with gold braid and a gold spear tip in the middle surrounded by the words United States Special Operations Command came up, Jacin knew the likelihood of rescuing Melina increased exponentially.
Deputy Director Gillpatrick’s face appeared in a box on the upper left. “Jacin, believe it or not, I’m glad to see you here. I would expect no less from one of my best agents.”
Jacin was glad for that approval as well as the vote of confidence in front of this team. “Thank you, sir.” As the words left his mouth again, Jacin wondered if that was the only sentence he was capable of speaking in this room.
The USSOCOM symbol disappeared, and General Lyon took its place, according to the name under the box. “What do we know?”
Alex immediately took over the meeting. “My team landed here on base two hours ago including Rafe Silva and Harper Tambini. Rafe is the man Pablo Valez is calling Segundo. We rented a small four-seat Cessna that is fueled and ready to go should we decide to arrive by air on the small airfield designated by Valez. We don’t dare use an airplane any bigger because it’s a grass field primarily used by farmers in the area.”
“The only state that has more personal airplanes and airports than Texas is Alaska,” Bret announced from behind his multiple screens. He looked up and grinned at the blank stares around the table. “Just a fun fact to know and share.”
“He’s a font of information,” one of the Guardian men said. “Sometimes it’s even pertinent.”
“Sometimes,” the man next to him added quietly.
“Flying Rafe into Valez’s hands isn’t my personal first choice of strategy. We have three hours and twenty minutes until Rafe is expected on that landing strip.” Alex’s gaze moved to the CIA box. “Deputy Director Callahan, any luck with the telephones?”
“Yes,” he said with a smile. “We had pings at these locations today from the phone that transmitted the video of Melina. Unfortunately, they have all been post transmission and seem to be moving around the area, in and out of the city of Killeen.”
Routes highlighted over satellite photographs appeared on the computers in front of each seat around the table.
“Griffin. Dex. Remi. Teams of three.” Alex glanced at each of his team leaders. “Check out any site the phone spent more than two minutes at.”
“Suspicions?” Dex asked.
“Absolutely.” Alex nodded. “I’ll listen to your hunches any day.”
Nine men unholstered their weapons to check them then left the conference room.
Before the door could shut, a woman with brown eyes and a purple streak in her hair walked in the door followed by a face Jacin recognized immediately. He’d seen it many times at Melina’s D.C. home. They hadn’t been allowed anything personal while undercover, but she’d often spoken of her brother, Austin, especially after she’d been home for a visit.
The staff sergeant went directly to his colonel and spoke quietly to him for a few minutes before the senior officer turned to face the group.
“Gentlemen, I want you to meet Chanda Reiser.” The colonel indicated the demure dishwater blonde next to him. “As you’ll recall, this is Austin Costaneda, brother to the kidnapped woman. Staff Sergeant Costaneda is one of my men on Delta team red. Alex, can your computer specialist load the kidnapping video, please.”
At Alex’s nod, the video began to play. As soon as it ended, Alex asked Chanda, “Have you ever seen those men before?”
Nervously she gripped her fingers. “No.”
“I interrogated her on the way here from the police station,” Austin offered. “Chanda met my sister in the grocery store while shopping. Melina was behind her at the checkout where she purchased the remaining groceries that Chanda…” He glanced at her and seemed to select his words carefully. “Chose not to purchase at that time.”
Jacin didn’t miss the grateful smile she gave Austin.
“That’s when the bag boy brought out those groceries to me.” Chanda looked down at her hands. “I was arguing with the young boy when Melina came out. She introduced herself and insisted that I take the groceries.”
“That’s exactly the kind of thing my sister would do,” Austin interjected.
“Exactly,” Jacin agreed. “Deep down, she has a very kind heart.”
“That can be ruthless as fuck,” Rafe added.
Chanda continued her story. “We heard tires squeal and stepped between the cars. Two men jumped out of that brown van about the time Melina shoved me down and behind her. She stepped out into the aisle and crouched as if she was going to fight them. That’s when I decided to call the police, but then I got afraid that those bad men would hear me and come after me.”
Her eyes darted around the room. She shrugged. “I realized they wanted to kidnap her. I’m nobody. Nobody would pay ransom for me.” She visibly fought back tears, sniffing in a ragged breath. “I was scared.”
Austin moved in close to her and slid his arm around her shoulders. “Of course you were,” he reassured. “But you did the right thing. The brave thing. You crawled underneath the SUV and videoed the whole thing. And you didn’t get caught.” He rubbed his hand up and down her arm. “You did well. If not for you, we wouldn’t have this video.”
“Yeah, but it doesn’t show shit,” Chanda chastised herself.
“We have more than we did before. Thank you for that.” Alex gave her a kind smile.
“Isolating the audio now,” Bret called from the end of the table. He glanced to Alex for permission.
“Play it,” Alex said with a nod.
The room grew quiet as they listened to the audio once again. All eyes turned to Jacin.
“Do you recognize those voices?” Alex asked.
Disappointed in himself, Jacin shook his head side to side. “No. I’m sorry.” He leaned forward on the table. “I didn’t have a lot to do with the Narváez cartel. Most of the time I was embedded in the Cali cartel dealing with Turi Solis.” Jacin glanced to Rafe.
“The voices aren’t familiar to me either.” Rafe shook his head. “Knowing Valez, he most likely hired local muscle. He was educated in the United States and had plenty of cartel U.S. connections.” He shrugged one shoulder. “Sorry I can’t be of more help.”
“Bret,” Alex called.
“Already on the school connections.” Bret huffed. “How many colleges and universities did this guy attend?”
“Several. He was nowhere near the student his uncle was.” Rafe reached over and grabbed his fiancée’s hand, intertwining their fingers. “Carlos Narváez was extremely intelligent…until he started sampling his own merchandise. That’s when he lost his edge. An edge Valez never had because he’s been using for years.”
“So, we could be dealing with someone who is high?” Colonel Ricci asked.
“Most likely.” Rafe nodded. “And paranoid.”
“Does he have access to anything other than conventional weaponry?” The colonel stepped closer to the table.
Harper and Rafe exchanged a long look.
“Yes, sir,” Harper said with hesitation. “He might. Are you familiar with CHAZ?”
The colonel dropped into a chair. “You’ve got to be fucking me.”
“No, Colonel, she’s not.” The deputy director of the CIA dropped his forehead into his hand and rubbed. Tom Gillpatrick’s eyes darted around before he suggested, “Alex, I don’t believe we need Ms. Reiser any longer. I, personally, would like to thank you for thinking quickly and the video you took of Melina’s kidnapping. You have been extremely helpful to us. I must warn you, as the deputy director of the CIA, you may not speak of this situation with anyone outside this room. Ever!”
Poor girl , Jacin thought. She’s probably pissing her pants.
“Sir, I’ll call Thunder and have him take her home,” Austin said, taking out his phone.
Chanda laid a hand on Austin’s forearm. “Could he take me back to the police station, please? You left my car there.”
Austin looked a second too long at the fingers on his arm before he answered, “Yes. Of course.”
“Please escort Ms. Reiser out of this building,” Colonel Ricci ordered Austin. As soon as the door was closed behind those two, he asked, “What the fuck is the cartel doing with CHAZ?”
“The same thing everybody else in the world is doing with the most lethal explosive on the planet; blowing shit up.” Rafe’s eyes never left Harper’s. When her eyes dropped to the table, he picked up her chin and forced her to look at him. “It’s not your fault. You were forced to make it for him.”
“But just the thought that Valez may now have his hands on CHAZ scares the shit out of me,” Harper replied.
Bret held his hand up from the computer screens. “Just out of curiosity here, and out of self-preservation, how dangerous is this CHAZ?”
“I watched a piece of CHAZ…” Rafe looked to Harper for help.
“About the size of a quarter,” she added.
“…atomize a person and blow a hole in the backyard about five hundred feet around and a hundred feet deep. The percussion blew out windows for a block.” Rafe shook his head. “I couldn’t hear a fucking thing for days.”
“In case you’ve forgotten,” Tom Callahan said from the screen, “that information is classified far beyond everyone in this room’s security clearance. Except you, Harper. Everyone else never heard that explanation. Changing the subject, Rafe, Jacin, do you believe it’s just coincidence that Valez is here?”
Colonel Ricci sat up. “Could he be here for a totally different reason other than revenge on Rafe?”
“No,” Rafe said with confidence.
“No one, including the pilots, knew they were going to bring Jacin here.” Tom Callahan crossed his arms over his large chest and leaned back.
“Melina told me herself that it was a midflight decision to land at this Army base.” Rafe glanced at Jacin. “You’re lucky to be alive.”
“Could Melina have tipped them off somehow?” Alex asked.
“No,” both Jacin and Rafe said at the same time.
Rafe interjected, “I seriously doubt Valez knows Melina was undercover CIA or that she has a direct connection to Delta…” He threw his hands up in the air. “Hell, I’ve known the woman for years and never knew she had a brother, least of all one in SpecOps.” He looked at Jacin.
“I’ve known about Austin since we went through training together,” Jacin confessed. “She rarely spoke of him to others, but they’re close. I can’t imagine how Valez found out about her brother.”
“I have to agree with Rafe and Jacin.” Deputy Director Gillpatrick leaned toward his camera. “Our intel indicates her kidnapping was a means for him to get to Rafe.”
“Very well. I just had to cover all the possibilities. Carry on.” The colonel leaned back in his chair.
Austin reentered the room quietly and took his seat at the table.
“I’ve just finished the analysis on the kidnap video,” Bret announced. “The kidnappers are pros who most likely hit town four days ago,” he explained. “That’s when the van was reported stolen from a used car lot near the airport. The plates are off a Honda Accord that is supposedly sitting in a different car lot about two miles further down the street.”
Rafe’s cell phone buzzed. He looked at the screen and stood up. “I apologize for interrupting, but Valez is calling me. He’s coming in on video.”
“Bring it here,” Bret ordered. Rafe handed him the phone. “You stand right here. I don’t want him to see anything in the background.” He handed Rafe the tiniest microphone Jacin had ever seen. “This shouldn’t pick up any background noise, but you want to keep the murmur down.” Two new pictures appeared on the conference room screen.
Bret pointed his finger at Rafe. “Val?—”
“I told you, motherfucker, to be in Texas by?—”
“I am in Texas, and in case you missed that geography class, it’s a fucking big state.” Rafe glared into the camera.
“Of course I know it’s a?—”
“Shut the fuck up,” Rafe commanded. “I’m the one calling the shots.”
Both Deputy Director Gillpatrick and General Lyon grinned.
Valez started to protest, but Rafe talked over the younger man. “Before I make another move, I want to see proof of life. I want to be able to talk to Melina. I need to see her.”
Jacin was impressed at how outwardly in control Rafe seemed as he talked to the kidnapper. His own emotions were all over the board, and he could not have handled the situation anywhere near as well as Rafe.
He looked across the table where Harper was making notes. After scribbling on the second page, she held it up and pointed to several others before it was turned toward him. A psych profile. Jacin was again surprised at Harper’s ability to take command of the situation and keep her head in the game. In so many ways she was very much like Melina. Had the roles been reversed, he could see his former handler, and lover, doing the exact same thing.
Frustration was obvious in Valez’s voice. While still on video chat, he walked through what looked to be an empty warehouse. Since Jacin knew everything was being recorded, he tried to pay attention to the background, looking for clues as to where his woman was being kept.
When the camera finally turned toward Melina, Jacin almost lost it. Her beautiful face was turning purple and dark blue from the bruises, her lip was split, and blood streaked down her chin. One eye was almost swollen shut, but no one could miss the hatred still there.
Rafe growled and sucked in air through clenched teeth before he swallowed hard. “Hang in there, sweetheart. I’m doing everything I can to get you free.”
“No!” Melina shook her head violently side to side. “Don’t believe him. He’s going to kill you.”
The camera swung back toward Valez, his face filling the screen completely. “Bitch is fucking right. I’m going to kill you.”
“Not if I get to you first,” Rafe threatened.
When the camera swung back toward Melina, the motion almost made Jacin sick to his stomach.
Melina straightened her back as though in defiance and looked straight at the phone. Valez’s voice came through loud and clear. “If you want your whore to live, then you’ll do exactly as I tell you.”
Bret’s hands flew across the keyboard as maps and pictures appeared on all four screens in front of him. He rolled his hand, indicating to Rafe to keep the conversation going.
“So, Valez, what’s your plan?”
Jacin couldn’t wait to beat the shit out of Valez and anyone else involved in kidnapping Melina.
“I’ll give you thirty minutes to get to the airstrip,” Valez sneered.
“That’s not enough time,” Rafe protested. “I said I was in Texas. I didn’t say I was in Killeen. It’ll take me at least an hour to get there.”
“One hour then. Don’t be late.”
The phone screen went blank.
“I got him!” Bret leapt to his feet, arms in the air in victory. He rattled off the address.