Chapter 32
NADIA
Coordinates dropped just after noon and the feds hustled Nadia and James to the Phoenix field office.
They sat around a conference table, a mix of agents with the FBI, DEA, and Border Patrol, satellite images and maps displayed on a row of monitors.
She and James were the only civilians. James, though, had a bigger role in what was about to go down.
“So I arrive precisely at eighteen-hundred hours,” James confirmed, studying the route on the map that would take him to an old airstrip on a playa that had once been used as a bombing range by the U.S.
military. Fitting, Nadia thought. Ruiz was giving the U.S.
a big middle finger by using abandoned government property.
But the playa was remote, unmanaged, and flat.
It was also less than sixty miles from the border.
Ideal for a quick departure by air after the exchange.
Intelligence gathered pinpointed this was Ruiz’s escape plan.
Special Agent in Charge Marquez, who hadn’t sat once during the briefing, nodded, her attention focused on the satellite imagery of the coordinates the Hidalgos had texted James less than an hour ago.
“Correct. The playa is long and narrow with only one viable approach. Most recent surveillance showed no activity, but that was two hours ago. We’re expecting Ruiz will arrive by car and whoever is picking him up will be taking off from here.
” She pointed at a town just over the border. “DEA has been monitoring the airfield.”
“And my mother?” James asked.
DEA Agent Nelson tapped a series of keys on his laptop. A closeup image of an old airstrip appeared on screen. “According to latest reports, Ruiz has her. We’re anticipating a simultaneous arrival, you, your brother, Ruiz with your mother, and whoever is on the plane flying in to pick up Ruiz.”
James’s jaw flexed. “Her condition?”
“Unknown. But given the most recent photo and what they did to Phil…”
James flinched.
“That’s enough,” Marquez told Nelson. Nobody needed the image of Phil’s last moments his name alone evoked.
“Where am I during all this?”
Every head in the room turned toward Nadia.
“You’ll stay here. You’ll have access to a live satellite feed and audio,” Marquez explained when she tried to object.
“I’m coming with you.”
“Absolutely not,” Nelson said firmly. “This is a high-risk operation with multiple armed suspects.”
“I didn’t drive all this way to sit in an office and watch TV while Thomas’s life is on the line. I’m not asking to be in the middle of the exchange. But I need to be there.”
Marquez shook her head. “Ms. Jacobs, I understand your concern. But—”
“No, you don’t,” Nadia cut in. “You don’t understand who Thomas is or what he’s doing. You’ve intentionally kept your distance from him so you don’t alert the Hidalgos, but in doing so he’s going into this alone and blind. He’s going there to die.”
“She’s right,” James said.
The agents turned to him. Nelson furrowed his brow. “Explain.”
“My brother has been sacrificing himself for others his entire life. It’s who he is. He genuinely believes his death is an acceptable price for our mother’s life. He doesn’t care if it’s futile. He intends to negotiate her life for his. That’s what he does, what he’s good at. Negotiating.”
“He believes James is far away in Hawaii. Think about what he’ll do when he realizes he’ll have to save both Claire and his brother.
Any sliver of hope he has of making a deal vanishes.
When you storm that airstrip, he’ll try to shield them both from the crossfire.
If Ruiz at all threatens either of them, he’ll put himself in front of that madman’s gun,” Nadia explained.
“All the more reason for you to stay back,” Nelson said.
“No,” she argued. “All the more reason I need to be close. If he’s injured, he won’t fight to stay alive, not unless someone he cares about puts his interests first.”
“She’s right. It’s his pattern,” James added in a heavy voice. “He takes responsibility for everyone then punishes himself when things go wrong. Right now, you need to operate under the assumption he’s convinced his death is the only way to set things right if the exchange turns sour.”
The room fell silent for a beat.
Deputy Bailey, the quiet man in the corner with a U.S. Marshal’s badge on his belt, spoke first. “We could position her with the medical team at the observation point. Quarter mile out, good cover, clear line of sight of the exchange.”
Nadia seized on the suggestion. “Yes. I’ll stay with the medics. I won’t move unless you give the all-clear.”
“She’d be behind our tactical line,” Bailey added. “And if things go south…”
“If things go south and my brother is wounded, having her there could mean the difference between him fighting to survive and giving up.” James looked at Nadia and her relief that he was on her side gave way to a fleeting smile of gratitude.
Nelson and Marquez exchanged looks. Then Marquez sighed. “All right. Ms. Jacobs, understand what you’re asking. This isn’t a movie. Real bullets, real danger.”
She gently touched the graze on her cheek. “I know exactly what I’m asking. I’ve already been shot at once this week. I understand the risks.”
Marquez held her stare before she nodded reluctantly. “You’ll be with the medical team at the observation point. Kevlar vest, comms at all times, and you follow every instruction without question. If you compromise this operation in any way—”
Nadia held up both hands. “I won’t. Thank you.” She met James’s stare and they shared a grave look. They knew the stakes they were going into.
“What happens after I park?” he asked, getting back to the operation’s details.
“Exit your vehicle slowly, hands visible at all times,” Nelson explained. “If Thomas is already there, act as if you expected him. Appear resigned but cooperative.”
“We believe Ruiz will arrive shortly after you both,” Marquez continued.
“Make sure you kill him. I want him dead.”
Nadia’s eyes widened at James’s bluntness.
“Our primary objective is to neutralize the threat and ensure civilian safety,” Bailey said. “That includes you, your bother, and your mother.”
James met his glare. “I understand the official stance on this. But we all know what needs to happen.”
No one contradicted him.
“Let’s continue,” Marquez said, glancing at the clock. “We’ll have snipers positioned here, here, and here.” She pointed at the map. “HRT will be in concealed positions within fifty yards of the exchange point.”
“DEA tactical units will maintain the outer perimeter,” Nelson added. “We’ll have air support stationed two miles out.”
“You won’t be alone for a second,” Marquez assured James, handing him a flesh-colored earpiece. “This connects directly to tactical command. It’s designed to look like a hearing aid. If questioned—”
“Tell them I lost partial hearing. Yeah, I got it.” James pocketed the device.
“We need a code word,” Nelson said. “Something you can say if things go wrong and you need immediate intervention.”
“Uh… Eclipse?” James suggested.
“Too obvious. You’ll alert the Hidalgos something’s going down. Make it ‘sandstorm,’” Marguez ordered. “Appropriate given the location.”
“You heard it, team. ‘Sandstorm,’ whether alone or in a sentence, triggers a full tactical response,” Nelson confirmed. “Once that happens, drop to the ground immediately and stay there until one of our guys reaches you.”
“All right, team,” Marquez announced. “Get Mr. Donato and Ms. Jacobs fitted with vests. We deploy in fifteen.”
“James,” Nadia said when he started following the other agents toward the door. He turned. She reached up and fixed his hair over his ears. “Make sure your ears are covered when the piece is in.” Even Thomas wouldn’t know James wore one.
“Thanks,” he said.
“Don’t be a hero and get yourself killed.” She worried he, like Thomas, wouldn’t trust the professionals to do their jobs.
“I’ve no intention of dying again, Nadia. Not today.” He winked at her and left the room.
She turned to the satellite image on screen, that scar of an airstrip in the middle of nowhere. And she thought of all the years that had led to this. Ten years of lies, deception, and sacrifice. All converging on a patch of dust before sunset.