Chapter 10
CHAPTER 10
Melina sighed with relief. Rafe was in Texas, and he was coming for her. In many ways, she wished it had been Jacin on his way to save her but the best place for him right now was exactly where he was, in the hospital.
“Change of plans,” Valez announced as he strutted up to Melina and leaned in so close to her face she could smell his putrid breath. Spicy peppers, garlic, whiskey, and cocaine-laced cigarettes did not combine well for close encounters. “If Segundo is as well connected in the United States as he was in Colombia, he’ll be sending men to this location right now, dividing his forces.” Valez withdrew a long thin stiletto knife and waved it in front of Melina’s face. “I could fuck up your pretty face so easy.” He grinned and slowly moved behind her, dragging the sharp cold steel blade on her neck the whole time. Melina didn’t dare move.
With a single slice he cut the duct tape around her chest away from the chair.
She inhaled a deep breath and let it out slowly.
Would Rafe’s men arrive only to find her dead?
The black bag was back over her head at the same time she felt her arms and legs cut loose. She immediately began to fight. She punched in the direction she thought her captors would be. Hands grappled with her legs as strong arms banded around her chest securing her arms to her torso. She twisted and curled in an attempt to squirm her way free.
“Knock her out,” Valez ordered.
Pain searing through her head was her last conscious memory…
…until she heard Valez say, “Wake up, bitch.”
Smack.
Her brain seemed to bounce within her head before the pain in her face registered.
“Just in case Segundo is with his men, I want you to watch him die.” The sickening smell of Valez’s breath was as effective as smelling salts. She was instantly wide awake. She tried to back away from the stench only to discover she was once again duct taped to a chair.
“Open your eyes, bitch. This is going to be good.” She could hear the glee in his voice. “Personally, I’m hoping he’s not there. I want to take him back to Colombia and torture him myself in front of the other cartel capos. I’ll show them I’m good enough to sit at their table…able to take over and run the Narváez cartel. Uncle Carlos was weak. Killing Segundo right there in front of them will prove my power. The Valez cartel will be the strongest in both North and South America.”
Melina blinked several times before she realized she couldn’t see well because her eyes were swollen nearly shut. Through the slits she could make out a large screen television about ten feet in front of her. Glancing around to her side, against a blueish gray wall, was a comfortable-looking cream-colored couch with dark blue accent pillows. A glass and brass coffee table had been shoved against the white marble surrounding a real log fireplace. She could now see that the television perched above the mantel, tilted forward, like a giant black vulture. It was such a contrast compared to the stark white bookshelves that rose above cabinets to the fourteen-foot-tall ceiling. Old books, a volleyball-sized conch shell, colorful candles of varying sizes, and what she would consider dust catchers adorned every shelf. Not a single picture or personal item.
They had taken her to a home that had been professionally staged. Melina wondered if she’d have seen a “for sale” sign in the yard had she been conscious when she’d been brought in.
Valez punched his finger at his phone and grinned when the television came to life. It immediately divided into four sections.
Security cameras , she thought as each quarter showed a different scene looking at the same warehouse. She saw motion in each square as several men dressed in tactical black gear moved in closer to the building, hiding behind whatever they could find. Working dogs entered the building, one from each side.
Melina had never worked much with dogs but knew the military had several trained to detect bombs. She didn’t believe Killeen was a big enough city to have bomb dogs but wondered if maybe they had brought in a SWAT team from Austin, or perhaps even Dallas or Fort Worth.
The men in black moved with well-trained and practiced precision. She couldn’t help but wonder what hell Valez had planned for them. He had obviously wanted them to search for her at the warehouse. She vaguely remembered him saying something about separating Rafe’s men. She said a silent prayer that he was not with those men on the screen but heading toward the runway designated by Valez.
Dogs shot out at a full run from the doors they had entered only seconds before. Men in black utilities scattered as fast as their booted feet could take them.
Valez began to laugh hysterically. “Look at them run away.” He bent his head down to look into Melina’s eyes. His grinning eyes looked almost insane. “I guess they discovered the bombs I left for them. Sorry. Not sorry. No one is going to stick around and save you.” He giggled like a child. “They won’t be able to save you here either.” His gaze moved to Scarface and TT. “Take her downstairs.”
Ambulances and fire trucks descending on the burning building was the last glimpse she had before the two men picked up the wooden dining chair she was duct taped to. They carried her roughly out of the living room, past a dining room with its large table set for a party of twelve, and down the stairs. With Scarface carrying the legs of the chair and her head at TT’s waist with his hands on the top rungs, her knees banged on the stair walls. She was able to roll her hands inside so only the arms of the chair banged the walls and railings. They finally set her down in the middle of a musty concrete room.
“I need a little more security to make sure that son of a bitch will come with me.” Valez dug in a backpack and extracted a small container. When he opened it, she caught the lettering on the lid.
CHAZ.
Melina’s heart sank. This was the most lethal nonnuclear bomb on the planet. She’d seen it in action a few weeks ago. Harper had used a small slice, the size of a quarter, to obliterate Turi Solis at his own birthday party. There had been nothing left of the man for a DNA sample.
The explosion had given Melina the perfect cover to save the only man she’d ever loved in her life, Jacin. While the hundreds of people attending the party panicked, crowding for the nearest exit, she and two of her other agents had searched Solis’s house until she had found Jacin tied to a concrete block wall in the basement. Under the guise that their friend had been too close to the explosion, Melina and her men had gotten Jacin safely to her home on the other side of Cali. A few hours later, Rafe and Harper had shown up needing Melina’s help to escape Colombia. They’d helped her get Jacin into the car. Half out of his mind with pain from days of relentless beatings, he’d gutted his way through guarding the parking lot while she, Rafe, and Harper took out several cartel members so they could steal a helicopter. That was the last time she’d seen Rafe until his picture appeared on Valez’s phone.
Melina couldn’t take her eyes off the waxy rectangle as Valez casually lifted it from the airtight container. As explosives went, CHAZ was very stable, until connected to a detonator. Then it became a destroyer of worlds. Valez set the soft plastic-like brick in Melina’s lap. She tried to wiggle away. There was enough CHAZ to bring down a city block.
Valez had no intention of trading Rafe’s life for hers, not that her life was worth his. He and Harper had just started a new life together. Melina had just ended any chance of a life with Jacin. Rafe would be sacrificing himself for nothing. But surely, he wouldn’t come alone. He’d come prepared to kill Valez…and free her.
But could he make it in time? The thought brought tears to the back of her eyes. Melina’s only regret was who might be taken in the blast. Probably dozens of unsuspecting civilians would die because of her.
“Pablo, don’t do this,” Melina begged. “Rafe will show up. We both know he’s that kind of man. You’ll have what you want. You don’t have to kill me.”
“Shut up, bitch.” Pablo then looked Scarface and TT in the eye. “I need Segundo to think I am going to kill her if he doesn’t do exactly what I say.”
She saw the corners of his mouth quirk up as he bent his head to attach an electronic device to the detonator. “I’m going to tell him this is connected to my cell phone and if he doesn’t come with me, I’m going to blow her to hell.”
He lifted his head and looked at Scarface and TT once again. His grin should have been reassuring. “Don’t worry, it’s all fake.” He pinched off a corner of the malleable wax and popped it in his mouth, chewing loudly. “See? You don’t have anything to worry about.”
Except dying. These two idiots have no idea about the special characteristics of CHAZ. Melina did. Harper had taught her that the bomb elements were so inert you could actually bake a cake out of the granules, but once combined and attached to a detonator…BOOM!
He stood and instructed the men, “Hand me that duct tape.” As Valez fastened the edge to one side of the chair and brought it over Melina’s lap, covering the bomb with silver tape, he continued his orders. “Be prepared for my call. I’ll need you to show him Melina to make sure he understands I mean business.” He made one more loop around Melina’s thighs and the chair before he ripped the tape and smoothed down the edge, rubbing up against her hip in the process.
Melina had to do something. Scarface and TT were probably her best bets. Valez was hell bent on killing her and Rafe. But she doubted her captors understood the destruction of the bomb in her lap. They no doubt trusted Valez. Big mistake.
“I’ll text you when we’re in the air on our way back to Colombia.” Valez glanced down at Melina, trussed to the chair and the bomb. “Once we’re off U.S. soil, you can do whatever you want with her.”
Melina cringed at the hungry look in both men’s eyes.
Valez then added, “Segundo has to see her so don’t you dare touch her until I say you can.”
As soon as Valez left, Melina went to work on Scarface and his friend. “Don’t believe him.” She modulated her voice to exude truth. “Valez is a liar. He’s going to kill us all. This bomb is real.”
“It’s fake.” Scarface looked at her as though she was an idiot. “Valez does not want to kill his best men.”
TT agreed. “We have worked for his family here in the United States and Colombia for years. We’re valuable to him and the other cartel capos.”
“Valez doesn’t give a shit about you or anybody else. You worked for Carlos Narváez, not this upstart wannabe,” she insisted.
Scarface looked at his friend and announced, “I’m hungry and tired of listening to this bitch. Since Valez just left, he won’t call us for a while. We have time to eat and have a few beers.”
“I could eat.” TT nodded in agreement. “She’s not going anywhere.” The two men left the room, closing the sturdy door with a slam that jarred Melina’s ears.
She’d lived in Texas as a child, long enough to recognize a tornado shelter. That was good news and bad news. A room like this meant somebody needed to be protected from Mother Nature’s wrath. Maybe there were other people nearby. She hadn’t noticed any houses during the brief glances through the home’s windows she got while they moved her downstairs. It also meant once that thick metal door closed, she was sealed into the windowless concrete room. Thankfully they’d left the lights on, otherwise she’d be in complete darkness.
As soon as she was sure they were gone far enough not to hear her, Melina took a good look at her surroundings. Leaning forward so her feet were firmly on the floor, she hopped around the room looking for any kind of a weapon.
She was happy they had chosen duct tape rather than the ties. This was one skill they had taught her in the first few days of her training at Langley. If your arms are duct taped to a chair, quickly jerk your fist to your chest. Her hands were free within seconds. She left the tape in place in case her captors returned too quickly so she could place her arms back on the chair and they hopefully wouldn’t notice the torn tape.
She stared at the very unique bomb in her lap. She knew that if it went off there would be nothing left here but a big hole for at least a hundred yards. She hoped to get out of here long before that happened. It took a few tries, but Melina was finally able to loosen one corner of the sticky tape.
There it was. She carefully started to unwind the silver adhesive. She made it to one side of the chair and shoved it as far she could underneath. Stretching her fingers while still hanging on to the unwinding tape, her breasts pressed against the bomb strapped to her lap, she was finally able to transfer the end to her right hand.
Melina glanced at the door before returning to her work. Scarface and TT wouldn’t be able to tell there was one less strip of tape over her lap. Valez had gone overboard securing the bomb with many more layers than necessary. This was going to take a while. She hoped the two men took their time eating and consumed more alcohol than they should.
Her thoughts wandered to Jacin as she dragged her fingernails over the sticky tape, pulling it to the edge of the chair and under again. She wondered when he had become the most important thing in her life. When had his needs and happiness become more important than hers? She’d do anything for him. And she had. She had lied, stolen, and even killed for Jacin. Several times she’d put herself in harm’s way to be sure he was safe.
She was finally down to the last two layers. Melina celebrated a silent victory. She could do this. She could get free of the chair. She could take out Scarface and TT by breaking the wooden chair and using the pieces as clubs and spears. Primitive but effective.
The war room remained quiet until Bret finally said on a sigh, “Everyone got out before the blast. Thank God for the bomb dogs.”
“We’ve said that more than once,” Colonel Ricci agreed. “They’ve saved our asses on almost every continent.”
A map of Killeen took up the center of the big screen then zoomed in on one area. “The phone that sent us the video was located in this neighborhood for nearly five minutes during the time the warehouse was blowing up. It has since left and seems to be headed toward the airstrip. I’ve got it pinned down to these few streets.”
Without turning away from his computers, Bret announced, “We’ll take a look at the video once again, but my impression is she is being kept in an empty house.” Typical real estate photographs filled three boxes in front of them. “These three are in that neighborhood and for sale.”
One of the houses blipped away. “These two have tornado shelters.”
“Excellent work, Bret,” General Lyon complimented. “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I’m glad you’re on our side.”
Mumbles of agreement from around the conference room reverberated like a bass guitar preparing for a concert.
Alex stood up and took control. “Clock is ticking. Rafe, you and the Guardian men will head to the airstrip as team Bravo.” A current satellite view replaced the map of Killeen. “The grass in this area is approximately three feet tall. As you approach the airfield, you’ll need to slow down so my men will roll out on the far side then belly crawl through the hayfield to cover you.” Alex looked at the four men who sat together at one end of the table. Remi, Flynn, Gage, and Jake all nodded as though approving the plan.
Alex stared directly at Jacin then over at Austin. When the team leader’s gaze returned to Jacin, he knew what was coming. “You two are too emotionally involved to lead the raid and rescue.”
“No fuck—” Jacin was cut off when Alex held up a hand and spoke over him.
“You are going in as part of the team, but Griffin is in charge of Alpha team.” Alex indicated the tall man the size of a college receiver. “Harper, you’re on Alpha team. Colonel Ricci, I’d like to have your Delta team ready to back up Alpha. They can go into the neighborhood first and do a sneak and peek to see if we can determine in which house she’s being kept. I’ll remain here in the command center.”
Alex paused for a moment then spoke to General Lyon. “Do these guys have the new communications units we used in Iraq last month?”
“Yes. You can find them in the gear I sent on the transport plane that brought you to Texas.” The general continued to point out, “Those are still in the test phase so they are highly classified.”
“Jake, did you find them?” Alex asked the sandy-haired man on Bravo team.
“No, sir,” he replied. “I’ve been through everything they sent us. There were a few boxes that didn’t seem to belong in our shipment. Would you like me to go check those?”
The general grinned. “If you didn’t ask for the new headsets, I wasn’t going to offer them. They’re in a box labeled feminine hygiene products. I knew no self-respecting special operator would go digging through that box.”
“We will from now on.” Alex returned the grin. His gaze swept the room. “Gear up. Vehicles roll in ten.”
“Alpha, with me,” his new team leader called over the bustling in the room.
“Sir, my equipment is with my team.” Austin indicated the separate room where the Delta team was headed. “I’ll be waiting for you at the vehicles.”
“Very well. We’ll brief on the way.” The Alpha team leader turned to Jacin. “Griffin Mitchell.” Instead of extending his hand, he squeezed Jacin’s shoulder. “I understand you were a SEAL. Me, too. We’ll talk about that later. I hear Rafe is one of us, also.”
“You hear right.” Jacin tried to get the hierarchy set in his mind. “So you work for Alex?”
Griffin pointed to the last door on the right. “Yes. I’m the manager of the Guardian Security Miami Center. You looking for a job?”
“Already have one. At least I think I still have a job in Langley but if that changes, I’ll definitely call you.” Jacin followed Harper into a special operator’s wet dream. Metal tables were filled with every piece of black ops gear imaginable. Rifles of every make and model lined the walls with loaded magazines stacked on shelves underneath. Row after row of handguns were attached to the wall by pegs, their matching bullets on the shelf next to them.
A dark-haired man graying at the temples appeared beside Jacin who was frozen to the floor. “Radical, huh. Christ, I love working for this outfit. I’m Dex Carson. I work for Alex wherever they need me. Also, a team man,” he said, referring to Navy SEALs. He pointed to a stack in one corner. “He had me pull this for you. I’m glad to see you already have boots. The night camouflage is a large, but other sizes are over there. Be sure to grab a vest and a helmet. You’re welcome to take any gun and rifle. Fact is, grab anything you feel comfortable handling. There’s more firepower in the vehicles. Sorry, man, but you really need to get a move on.”
Jacin quickly changed his clothes, found a vest that fit well enough, and for three minutes browsed what was available for death and destruction before grabbing several items.
When he stepped outside, men casually checked weapons and chatted as though it was just another day at the office. Jacin remembered days like this, and for the first time in years, missed the camaraderie found only on a team that worked hard and played hard together.
When Alex emerged from the building, Dex was beside him holding a small cardboard box. At a hand signal, everyone moved in. “Grab a com unit. They are already set and synchronized with the command center. Because all of this has to go down at the exact same time, you’re all linked. Additional briefings will take place in route, so they will not be activated until your team leader gives the signal. Time to roll.”