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“It’s been rumored that he is here, slipping over the border and hooking up with ‘friends.’ Friends who are moving their cocaine, namely,a gang who’s accepting the drugs, storing them, then shipping them out all over the world.
“Understandable,” Professor said. “This country continues to be a relevant transit hub for cocaine due to its strategic location and vast maritime territory, a perfect conduit to Colombia, Mexico, and the US.”
“There’s a lot of money to be made,” Gator said. “Unfortunately, drug trafficking and greed are turning this country into a security nightmare with contract killings, drug control disputes between armed groups, and forced recruitment of their youth.”
“We’re here to remove at least one of those cogs in the wheels,” Kat said and shut down another Shadow Syndicate—Sombre Sindicato— or as they refer to themselves, Sombre. “Now onto the Navarros and their plantation. It consists of ninety-six acres and produces coffee in the tons per year. Their profit is bolstered by their very exclusive and profitable hotel, Maravilla Natural. It’s part of the estate and located on an additional one hundred and fifty acres of untamed tropical forests purchased five years ago. The plantation was founded in 1808 and is still family-run by all the Navarros.
“Jorge and Isabel Navarro are the eldest living relatives who work both properties in a reduced capacity. They had two children, Francisco and Raul. Francisco died in a farming accident, leaving Raul to take over running the estate. He married Emma Solano, who he met in San Diego, and they had five children: Sofia, Anna, Maritza, Diego, and Carmen. They and their respective spouses are all part of the family business.”
Kat clicked to the first picture, showing the family. “Sofia married Victor Morales. He is their marketing whiz, and she is currently practicing medicine while helping out when necessary. They have one son who’s five and a daughter who is two.” Sofia and Victor and their daughters were all smiling for the camera.
“Anna is married to the processing manager, Marco Quesada, and they have a nine-month-old son. She handles all the hotel administration and Marco is responsible for the harvest of the final green bean product. She has her MBA, and his degree is in crop science and engineering.” She put their family picture up, Anna holding a chubby baby on their back patio.
She moved to the next sibling. There was a collective male response to her photo. Couldn’t Kat have gotten something other than Mari standing at the edge of the pool, clad in a hot pink bikini testing the water with her toes, and looking at the camera with a playful, sultry look that simply sizzled? She looked like a billionaire’s plaything. Except she was anything but. The front of his jeans suddenly felt snugger. “Maritza is unmarried and unattached.” Kat’s gaze flicked to him, then back to the screen. “She is the face of the company and the head roaster, making decisions about what coffees to present to the market. She actually has a Masters in Coffee.” She was heart-breakingly beautiful. His life had suddenly gotten so complicated. He was going to be her personal security detail, and the person who was forced to pump her for information, looking for any dirt he could find. God, he hated this mission.
“Diego is married to Fernanda, and they have two daughters, ten and twelve. He oversees all the cultivation and the greenhouse, holding a degree in Botany. His wife also has an MBA, and she handles all of the accounting and finance for the plantation and hotel.” The picture of them was the cutest. They were all dressed in the same T-shirt with the logo while planting trees. He noted that Fernanda was quite a beautiful woman.
“Their youngest, Carmen, is graduating from high school and is planning to join Anna in running the hotel when she’s finished with college.” Carmen’s solo photo was from her school picture, and he was reminded again of his younger sister, Daisy. All in all, it was a beautiful family, and he wanted no part in destroying it.
“What we don’t know is who the shipping person is. We need to run that down, unless you can find out the information directly from Maritza,” Kat said.
He clenched his jaw and gave her a curt nod while Joker watched him. Everything in him rebelled.
The best thing he could do for himself was put on his running clothes and get the hell away from people, especially his CO. The pressure was building in Joker, just like the pressure of going to Mari’s room tonight pressed in on Buck and made him want to pummel something.
As the meeting ended, Buck, lost in thought, didn’t immediately leave. When he rose and turned to go, Joker stood in the doorway to the office, his arms folded as he watched Buck. Kat was leaning against one of the tables, her butt up against the lip.
Joker didn’t say anything for a moment, then growled, “What was that?” There was something there that hadn’t been there before…the openness in his boss was gone, replaced with nothing but inflexibility. Buck knew the man was in charge. It didn’t have to be said, but even when he wanted to be accepted by the team, Joker never pulled his punches. He made his decisions and expected the team to carry them out. But now he was resolute, and there was no mistaking that this man came from Jackman Navy Royalty, that he was destined to become an admiral someday.
He met Joker’s obvious agitation with an impassive expression. He wanted him to spell it out, so the words meant something. “What was what?”
Joker scoffed, his moss-green eyes flashing. Lifting his chin in obvious confrontation, he said, “Your interaction with Maritza was tense, broadcasting that you are reluctant to engage her. I could see it. Kat saw and so did Russ.”
Buck swore softly. When he looked at Kat, she nodded. He’d wanted to get the hell out of here before he said something he would regret. Buck stared at his CO, his respect for Joker off the charts, compounding with every mission they completed. He looked away and exhaled heavily. Outside he could hear birds singing in this idyllic setting, but for him, it was paradise lost. “Tell me the parameters,” he said flatly, his fury barely controlled. “Is getting her in the sack part of the mission?”
Joker’s eyes were as piercing as a hawk. His face was leaner and etched with something that was dogging him, but he still had the same aura of power. He stepped forward, a calculating glint in his eyes. “Whatever you have to do here to get her compliant is what’s necessary. If you act differently from your time with her in San Diego and LA, she’ll feel it.”
“She’s not involved, LT. I know it. My gut says it.”
Joker came over to him, his face mottled with barely controlled rage, his eyes hard as steel. “I know you don’t want to be here, Buck. I understand what your problem is, but get over it. Now.” He jabbed Buck in the chest, his expression hostile. “This is a classified mission. Don’t risk your career on principle when you were aware of what you signed up for.” He jabbed him again, his fury making him tremble. It took all of Buck’s common sense to override his own anger. Putting hands on his LT was not going to happen. “If she cares about you, then she will understand why we needed to keep this information from her. If she doesn’t understand, do you really want that kind of trouble in your life?”
Buck shifted, his gut tied up in knots.
Joker shoved Buck’s chair angrily against the table, then paced back and forth, fury radiating from him in waves. Kat pushed off the table and took a couple of steps. The tension in the room was brittle.
Buck’s face stiff and expressionless, he watched and waited, not even attempting to convince him again. This was nonnegotiable, and he was going to have to comply no matter how hard it was going to be. Everything about being part of the brotherhood kicked in hard.
He stared at Buck, his gaze cold and unyielding. “You engage her and dig into her business, find out what’s going on here, give us the players. That’s the mission. It might not be one you approve or want to participate in, but that’s what we got. Are we clear?”
Buck wanted to hit something.
Joker gave Buck one last, drilling stare, his tone ominously quiet. “If you don’t want to do it for the mission, do it for your brothers who almost died out there.”
Cold hard reality hit Buck, and his emotions were split so hard he felt he was being torn in two.
“It’s an order, Buck. Find a way back and do what needs to be done. The sooner, the better.” He felt as if he were standing in the middle of no-man’s-land as Joker left. Without a word, Kat went after him.
With anger eating away at him, he swore savagely, so damned mad he could barely see straight. He would think this through rationally, but not now. Now he had to clear his system, or he would do something irrevocable.
