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“The fuck was that?” Alejandro studied me when I didn’t respond. “Boss?”
“He’ll get nowhere with her, anyway. Let him try.” I shrugged, which probably made him wonder where the hell my head was.
“What if Chili comes by and wants to see her? I’m sure he’s uneasy his fourth girl was a day late. We don’t want to mess things up with our buyer.”
“If that happens, we tell Chili the truth,” I shrugged again, “that I had no idea what Castillo was up to. That I was under the same impression he was at the tunnel the other day. We tell him the girl’s not here, that she’s with Castillo, and to give me some time and we’ll see if there’s a deal we can make for him.”
Of course, I wasn’t going to let Alejandro know what I really thought. Castillo wanted Lexi dead, but not before he made Blackstone’s life a living hell first. I knew she’d never talk, especially to Castillo. I figured I’d get her back here once he realized it. I just hoped he didn’t mark her up too badly. I planned to sell her off to Chili for a cool four million if it was the last thing I did. She was going to be my ticket to the big league, and she sure as hell wasn’t worth anything to me dead. Now, I just needed to change Castillo’s mind.
“Eric,” Alejandro came closer and stared me right in the eye, “come on. Why don’t you let me take you to church? It’s been a while, and frankly, you’re scaring the shit out of me right now.” I pursed my lips and set my glass down. He was right; I did need it. I could use a clear head.
“You know what, I think that might be best.” I grabbed my wallet, a wad of cash, and my phone, and we headed off to the house of God.
Alejandro and Filippo stayed outside with the truck. I went up the steps and took a deep breath in through my nose then let it out through my mouth and stepped inside. The church was quiet at this time of night. I disliked crowds, and despised children being there even more. Their loud whispers and complaints about how uncomfortable the pews were as they wiggled about always put me on edge. Leave them at home, for God’s sake. They didn’t want to be there, anyway. I needed to be alone with my thoughts.
I shoved a wad of cash into the collection box and lit some candles for a few friends. I drew the cross and kissed my fingers and felt the peace of the place seep into my head. Then it immediately disappeared as I felt someone watching me. I looked up to see the priest. He caught my eye and gave me a friendly smile from where he stood in the shadows near his office door. He took a few steps toward me.
“Welcome, my son.” He kept his distance and gave me a small nod. “Shall we pra—” His words were cut off as he suddenly looked over my shoulder. I glanced behind me to see what had caught his attention.
“Boss.” Alejandro’s voice was urgent as he wiped the sweat from his forehead. He looked nervous for interrupting me in the one place he knew was my sanctuary. Because he knew better, I was instantly alert. “The girl escaped.”
Ty
“All right, listen up.” Cole looked around the room. We were all gathered and had braced ourselves to hear what Cole would say about Lexi. “Before I lay it on you guys, let’s welcome Moore to the house.” He paused as murmurs and polite nods were tossed out to Moore. “I apologize for dropping you in the deep end.” Cole grimaced at him.
“I’m here now. Use me.” Moore was all business.
“Proof of life for Lexi came in an hour ago.” The room went still, and a few stole a glance at our brother. Keith’s knuckles were white as they gripped the leather on the armrests of his chair. “They’re asking for two million for an even exchange.”
“Which, of course, is bullshit,” Mark shot from the back of the room.
“Agreed, but we’re going along with it.” Cole held his hand up. “As we speak, Dusk’s team is getting the money together. Then we follow their instructions and meet their contact to make the transfer. At that point, Blackstone will follow the contact and see where it leads us. John.” Cole looked at him.
“They’ll be looking for a tracker.” John leaned forward and looked down at his notes. “We know how they work. The money never leads to where the victim’s being held. So, instead, while Dusk distracts the contact, Chamness will put a tracker on their vehicle. We’ll need it if we lose visual.”
“Frank forwarded the video of Lexi being taken to some people he knows. They have eyes on the border and are familiar with a lot of the Cartel’s people.” Cole pulled our attention back to him. “One male was identified as Julio Garay, who has ties to Denton Barlow.” The room went so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
Moore looked at me with a puzzled expression as Cole’s face twisted into something painful.
Daniel filled him in. “Barlow went after Logan’s wife, Savannah.”
“A few times.” Mark added. “Fucker’s dead now, though.”
“Jesus.” Moore shook his head and looked back at Logan.
“Dusk and Blackstone will check out the last known places Garay’s been seen. We have forty-eight hours to find Lexi or at least some kind of clue as to where she’s being held.”
“What about the proof of life?” I spoke up. “Often, when we’d get photos of where our men had been taken, the captors didn’t think of the shit in the background. Did you get any pics we can study? Look at the materials of the room, types of clothing, belongings, anything that might help us narrow down her location?”
“We’re in the process of doing that,” Cole looked at me, “but these guys aren’t the Taliban. They’re a lot more sophisticated. They’ll often plant local products from other towns in the pics just to throw us off. There was one thing, though, that caught our eye.” He tapped the remote, and part of the POL photo popped up. “They’ll often tag their trophy victims, and Lexi would definitely be a big prize.” He glanced sympathetically at Keith. “Whoever has her did exactly that.” He pointed at the screen, and I studied the oval marking on the wall. “I’m not surprised. This photo will be circulated everywhere among their people, and they’ll want to take credit. I just wish we could figure out who it was. We’ve put it out to all our contacts, and hopefully one of them will recognize the mark and we’ll hear something that’ll give us a lead.”
“We got a hit.” Daniel shot up from his seat, and Keith followed. Daniel typed something in the computer and brought up a map of Mexico. I glanced at Frank, who stared at his phone as though he was also waiting for something. I wondered just what kind of resources Washington really had when it came to this kind of exchange. “My informant says he saw a woman matching Lexi’s description two days ago, right here.” He circled a street in Rosarito on the map. “We know this place well, guys. If he’s tagging his photos, he might be tagging his territory too.”
Cole tapped his fingers on the table and stared at his father, who gave him a nod.
“Change of plan, boys. We ship out in an hour.”
In less than thirty, I was ready. My weapons were checked, and I was fully dressed in all my gear. I had time, so I walked back to the house, and as I stepped inside, I heard Cole talking in the kitchen. He was giving Savannah a CliffsNotes version of what happened. He told her that Daniel was with Mia doing the same thing. I turned toward the stairs to let them have their privacy. I fingered the rope bracelet Halim had given me. I decided to wear it for good luck. The wolf dangled at my wrist. It reminded me of the past and of all those we’d saved over the years in Afghanistan. It made me feel that those years were worthwhile. It meant a lot.
