Chapter Twenty-Three
Pete had called Shep. We were running through possible locations when Catarina walked into the living room with Mason on her heels.
“Carlos has a cousin in Baja,” Shep was saying. “Hold on.”
Catarina stutter-stepped to a halt, tilted her head, and narrowed her eyes. I didn’t get the chance to remark on her strange entrance before she shook the look free and filled us in. “The cousin lives in Tortuga Bay.”
All eyes went to her.
“That was all Tom had on the cousin’s location. And his informant is on the inside.”
“What else did Tom give you?” Pete inquired.
She filled us in on Calista’s father and Tom’s request to keep it from us. I glanced around the room and saw near-identical expressions on all the men’s faces—respect.
“Something wasn’t sitting well with the president’s wife, so I pushed him about it. He told me to drop it. It wasn’t evasion, it went deeper. There’s an emotional connection.”
“Why do you think that?” Shep asked.
Cat stared at Pete’s phone on the coffee table for a second in what appeared to be disbelief before she answered, “It was in his tone. There was a sadness there. The way a man whose heart was broken would not want to talk about the woman who broke it. I asked him if he loved her, and he told me to drop it. The demand was forceful but, again, mixed with sorrow.”
I didn’t know how old Tom was. He looked older than I was, and Maria was a few years older than Catarina—an age gap but not one that would make Tom look like a dirty grandpa panting after a young girl.
“Has Tom spent any significant time in Honduras?” Fallon asked, looking around.
“That would take me weeks’ worth of digging through his aliases. Hold on a second.”
Keys could be heard pounding in the background.
“Jesus,” Shep muttered.
“What?” Pete looked just as impatient as he sounded.
“Guess who was the ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to Honduras?” Shep asked and continued to pound on his keyboard, then went on to answer his own question. “Charles F. Washington.”
“Tom’s father was the ambassador?” Catarina inquired. “Could he have met her when he was a kid? When was this?”
“Two years before Maria was born. His mission ended the year after her birth. According to her birth records, Maria’s mother was unwed. No father listed.”
“Sister,” Pete, Catarina, and Ryan all said at the same time.
“Would be his half sister,” Shep corrected. “The timing matches. And if Sphynx thinks she heard an emotional connection, half sister would explain it.”
Sphynx?
Catarina’s torso swung back, and her gaze remained glued to the phone.
Apparently, no one else in the room caught the slip, nor did they catch Catarina’s reaction. Not to Shep’s voice when she’d first heard him, and not to the use of a nickname no one had heard.
Catarina pulled herself together and asked, “Was Charles married to Tom’s mother?”
“Yes, until he died two years ago.”
“Deathbed confession?” Mason muttered.
“Doesn’t matter,” Pete cut in. “We’ll ask Berta what she knows about Maria’s family. If she knows that Tom is her half brother, that’ll tip her off that we figured it out, and she can confirm. But if she doesn’t know, for Maria and the kids’ safety, I think we should keep that to ourselves.”
Before anyone could give their opinion on the matter, Aiden strangely blurted, “Isla Natividad.”
“What?” Ryan got in there before I could.
“Isla Natividad, six kilometers off the mainland. It’s a small fishing town, mostly uninhabited, with a dirt airstrip.
Twenty-three nautical miles from Tortuga Bay.
If I had a pretty Russian for sale and I didn’t want the cartel getting their hands on her, I’d take her to family to hide, then a small island with a few fishermen living there.
If payoffs needed to be made, it’d come cheap. ”
“Shep can track—”
He cut Pete off. “Already on it. Give me twenty minutes to see if I can get a lock on Carlos and what I can pull up on the cousin.”
“Thanks, we’ll be waiting.” With that, Pete disconnected.
I wove around the furniture to get to Catarina.
“Are we pretending that Cat didn’t have a weird reaction to Shep?” Mason asked. “And Sphynx, what the hell is that?”
Fuck.
“Mase—”
“What? You were across the room, and I know you didn’t miss it. So me standing next to her, I sure as shit didn’t.”
I wasn’t a fan of Catarina being put on the spot. Though after she blew out a breath, she didn’t seem to mind.
“His voice . . . he sounded familiar. I thought I was wrong, then he called me Sphynx . . .” She didn’t finish her thought.
Ryan looked up from his tablet to ask, “Do you know him? Like in real life?”
Cat rolled her eyes.
I knew she refrained from a snappy comeback when all she said was “Yes.”
Mason looked around the room. “Does anyone know Shep in real life?”
There were head shakes and noes all around.
Pete added, “Never met him, and I don’t know anyone who has.”
“Where’s Shep get the money to bankroll the ops?” Cat asked.
“He steals it. And before you ask, that same money pays our salary.” He looked at Catarina.
“And now yours. It pays all of our bills. Not a single person we rescue pays—not for the exfil and not for the safe house. Their captors do. Shep drains all their accounts. If he’s bored, he finds other criminals doing jacked-up shit and takes their money too. ”
I knew Shep paid my salary. I didn’t give two shits it came from stolen funds for criminals.
“You got a problem with that?” Pete finished by asking.
“Me?”
Pete dipped his chin.
Cat thought about it for a moment. Then she smiled.
“Nope. I actually love that the assholes who cause so much pain and destruction with their greed will now be paying my car payment.”
Pete looked at me and smiled.
“Good. Now, Ryan, tell us about this island.”
By the time Shep called back, we’d thoroughly checked out the island the best we could electronically.
We’d also looked into Tortuga Bay and the ocean route to get to the island.
The seaside town was small but had an airfield.
Pete had also called Berta to ask her if she had any allies in that area.
Unfortunately she didn’t. He didn’t ask about Tom’s connection to Maria; that was for a different day when we weren’t on the clock.
“I got two things for you. I ran some of Carlos’s known associates.
You won’t be surprised to know they’re not big into credit, banking, or credit cards.
But I found one, a woman, Gloria Alverez.
She charged gas in El Riito. Then again southwest in Santa Ana.
Again in Mexicali. From there, she caught the 5 and headed south.
I got another charge in Playa Hermosa. The last charge is in Chapala, where the 5 turns into the 1.
That highway dead-ends in Tortuga. It’s a twenty-two-hour drive.
I can’t get her all the way, but in the vicinity.
The rest of the gas would’ve been paid in cash.
“I called Tom. He reached out to his insider in Carlos’s organization and got back to me.
First, Gloria is Carlos’s woman—as in, his girlfriend and also the woman who runs his stable.
She takes care of the girls, and I use that term loosely, but Gloria oversees the prostitutes.
Second, the auction in Juárez is set. Carlos’s second-in-command is handling the sale since he’s not there, and there are no out-of-town buyers coming in, which confirms Calista isn’t there.
I think it’s a safe bet Carlos and Gloria took Calista to Tortuga. ”
“Any word in any of those dark holes you peruse about a Russian being sold in Mexico?” Aiden asked.
“I don’t bury the lede.” Shep blew out a breath. “I would’ve led with that.”
Pete looked like he was deep in thought.
“What’s on your mind?” Mase asked Pete.
“I don’t like leaving those other women up for auction.”
“We can’t save—”
“Them all, yeah, Mase, I know. But I know there’s an auction; it’s sitting heavy in my gut.”
I was about to suggest calling Takeback, but then I remembered Mia shouldn’t go anywhere near Juárez, and getting her to stay behind would be like me convincing Catarina to sit this op out.
It just wasn’t going to happen.
“Me, Ryan, Gavin, and Fallon hit Juárez,” Aiden suggested. “You, Mase, Cat, and Jack hit the island.”
“Shep, what’s your intel on the auction?”
“I don’t have much. Word is there are ten girls. They’re from Carlos’s stable. He’s rotating out.”
I wasn’t the only one who grunted in disgust.
“I can have a workup in a few hours. First I need to make the arrangements for the flight down to Baja. There’s a larger island north of Natividad. Cedros. It has an airport. It would also be a good place to handle the sale. It’s worth checking out the island before you head to Natividad.”
“El Morro,” Ryan confirmed. “Fifteen kilometers.”
“Correct. Did you get the workup I sent over on Calista Ventura?” Shep inquired.
“Yeah. Thanks for that,” Pete answered.
I still didn’t know who the model Tom had referenced was, but the pictures Shep had sent over, along with a full dossier on Calista, proved she was pretty enough to be a model. Long blonde hair, blue eyes. I thought she resembled Kate Hudson if Kate had longer hair.
The report also included her occupation—freelance investigative journalist. Something Tom had conveniently left out.
She had written numerous articles on the sex trade and an exposé on Washington elites using high-dollar escorts, and the women who serviced these men.
She hadn’t named any of the men but gave enough detail that it didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out who the piece was about.
She also smartly wrote under pseudonyms—three of them to be exact. And she didn’t only report on trafficking; under one of the pen names, she exposed corruption. Meaning if her pseudos ever got out, she’d be in danger. Which seemed moot seeing as she’d already been kidnapped.
“Good. I’ll hit you back soon.”
“We have a plan,” Pete announced. “We hit both targets.”
“Copy.”
“Wait.” Mason stopped Shep from disconnecting. “Are we just going to pretend that Cat and Shep don’t know each other?”
Catarina’s hand shot to the side so fast, Mason didn’t have time to stop her backhand to the solar plexus.
“Damn, woman,” he grunted.
Shep said nothing.
“You do know her, right?” Mase continued, like he hadn’t just had the wind knocked out of him.
“Sphynx,” Shep said.
Catarina went statue still.
“I’m calling my marker.” With that, Shep disconnected.
Catarina frowned. Then her lips twitched. After that, her eyes went to the floor.
“What the hell was that about? What’s sphynx?” Mase pushed.
“I’m Sphynx. Or that’s what some of the guys called me. It’s a hairless cat.”
“Like that grumpy cat with no fur?” Aiden asked.
“Yes, Aiden, that’s what hairless means.” Cat offered no more explanation.
“So you know Shep,” Mase continued.
She lifted her eyes, but her gaze was faraway.
“In another life, yes.” Her tone sounded wistful.
My gut twisted. “And the marker?”
“To keep his secret.”
“Were you two . . . did you . . .” Ryan stumbled, then put up his hands. “None of my business. Sorry.”
It was my business, but I wasn’t going to ask her in front of the team.
Thankfully, she put me out of my misery.
She glanced over at me and answered, “Never.”
That was good enough for me. Cat wouldn’t lie. She’d evade if she didn’t want to answer but she’d never flat-out lie.
“I’m not sure if I’m pissed or jealous Cat knows Shep,” Mason muttered.
“We got work to do,” Pete reminded him.
Right.
Everyone scattered except for Catarina.
She turned to face me, and I knew what was coming.
“You don’t have to convince me.”
“I can’t betray his trust and tell you who he is.”
“Baby, I’d never ask you to break anyone’s trust.”
“Okay. It’s just, it’s the same as Tom asking to keep a secret—”
Before she could finish, I tagged her around the waist and hauled her close.
“It’s not remotely the same, and I get it, baby. Stop worrying.”
She leaned closer and relaxed.
“Kiss me so we can get to work.”
“Are you asking or commanding?” she sniped.
“Commanding.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Jack.”
“Catarina.”
One side of her mouth hitched up.
Fuck it.
I bent forward and kissed my woman.