“I know everything I need to know about Jemma. She’s a fighter. She won’t give up and she will know deep inside that I will find her and save her from you.”
The man scoffed. “Like a siren, she lures men to their demise. You are only the latest caught in her web of lies.”
“Jemma has never lied to me.”
“Hasn’t she? Did she tell you about us. The history that she and I share? Did she?”
Rocco was quiet, rage wafting from him.
Jemma hadn’t trusted him with her secrets. He couldn’t help but wonder if she had, would things be different now? Would he have been able to stop her from being dragged away by a man who wanted to destroy her?
“Your silence speaks volumes as they say,” the man shook his head. “One day you will thank me for taking that bitch off your hands,” the man said with pity in his eyes. “She couldn’t tell you the truth because she’d have to reveal her ultimate secret—she’s a DEA agent.”
“What did you say?” Rocco asked, stunned by the man’s revelation. He’d thought Jemma’s situation with the man had been personal, like an ex-boyfriend. But maybe she’d been so determined to protect Rocco because this man was related to a past DEA case. But which one? This could be the key to finding her if he could keep the man talking.
“You heard me correctly. I’ve been where you are, seduced by her wiles and so in love that I didn’t see her treachery coming.Count yourself lucky that you didn’t endure the devastation of her betrayal,” the man said.
“Who are you? What did she do to you?”
“She destroyed me. Her biggest mistake was not ending me. Now I will repay her and destroy her life as well,” the man said, vengeance creeping into his voice. “If you get out of this situation, you should rebuild your life and forget all about Jemma. Don’t come after her because I won’t be as generous as I am tonight.”
With those final words, the man strode toward the SUV. One of the goons opened the back door and the man got inside. Rounding the vehicle, the goon got into the front passenger seat. The SUV executed a one-hundred-eighty degree turn and headed along the dirt road away from the clearing in the jungle, leaving Rocco covered in dust and … alone.
Chapter 49
Twelve hours later, Rocco was ushered out of the Santo Domingo DEA headquarters in an unmarked SUV with Lenny and Fallon by his side.
A Proteus tactical team had arrived hours after Jemma was taken, freeing him from where he’d been trapped under the cargo container door. Despite his protests and insistence that they go after Jemma, the team had refused and forced him to get evaluated at a local hospital.
Rocco was the poster child for doctors making the worst patients as he put pressure on the ER doctors to release him. He was bruised and dehydrated but suffered no serious injuries. After getting fluids, he ignored the pain in his legs and convinced the team and the doctors that his mobility wasn’t impaired. The doctors signed off on his release and he was delivered to the deputy agent in charge of Proteus Special Operations at a DEA safe house. His mind reeled as he learned about the bust at the Dajabon Clinic and was briefed on the plan to hand him over to the DNCD as a response to their search for him. Rocco was left with no choice but to follow the plan without any assurance that the Proteus DACcould get him out of this mess. The situation was tense. The DNCD had been left in the dark on the Proteus mission, weakening the trust between the two organizations.
He’d endured the grueling questions, proving that the evidence provided by Eddie Baez to implicate him in trafficking drugs was fabricated. With DNCD satisfied with the validity of his role as an DEA undercover operative, they’d released him and cleared his name.
To protect his cover, the DNCD issued a press release that Rocco was no longer a person of interest in the drug bust due to anomalies in the evidence obtained from the clinic. At this time, they were still investigating the source of the trafficking and had no leads. This would put El Sombro at ease that Rocco wasn’t a threat to him or his organization. The drug lord had no idea Rocco was the reason his top lieutenant was lying dead in the Samana jungle with his head blown off.
But Rocco had no plans of continuing the undercover operation. The DAC could find another undercover agent to topple El Sombro.
There was only one thing Rocco was focused on and he planned to make that clear to Lenny and Fallon now.
“I want in on the plan to find Jemma,” Rocco said. “I didn’t give you the video from the Samana jungle to hand over to the DoD for their arms trafficking investigation. The man in the video talking to Vance took Jemma. Do you have any idea who he is?”
Lenny didn’t look at Rocco as he said, “That man is Nomar Ortiz, former enforcer of the Ortiz Cartel. The same cartel Jemma dismantled in her early years of being a DEA agent. He vanished with his young son after the bust and has been on the DEA’s most wanted list since then. Although his appearance has changed significantly over the years.”
“Are there any leads on Ortiz’s location? How are we going to find where he took Jemma?” He didn’t like repeating himself. Forsome reason, Lenny and Fallon were being cagey about how they were going to rescue Jemma.
Fallon said, “We’re starting with a comprehensive review of Jemma’s activities since the Ortiz Cartel operation to see if we can better understand why Ortiz would target Jemma all of a sudden and after all these years.”
“It’s not all of a sudden. He’s been in contact with her several times in the last three years,” Rocco said, giving them an abbreviated version of Jemma’s encounter with Ortiz at the club in La Placita and showing the pictures of Jemma and Ortiz at the beachside restaurant in Dajabon. “It’s clear that he’s out for revenge against her for sending his family to prison.” He didn’t add that he believed she was out for revenge and vengeance against Nomar Ortiz. He wasn’t sure why. Was it fueled by the man’s hatred of her? Or did she have another reason to go after Ortiz? Whatever the reason, it wasn’t to put the man in prison with his other family members. If that was her end goal, she would have pursued him as an official Proteus mission.
Something about the interaction with Nomar Ortiz was personal for Jemma. She didn’t want justice. She wanted him dead.
Fallon cast a furtive glance at Lenny. “Tell him what we know. We have to work together to figure out where Nomar has taken her.”
Lenny looked skeptical as the SUV pulled to a stop in the parking lot of a private airfield. “This is a classified Proteus matter. I appreciate you sharing what happened with us. We will put the information to good use to find Jemma.”
Rocco bolted forward, glaring at Lenny. “If you have information about Jemma, you need to fill me in.” He stopped short of saying what was in his heart—that he loved her and he’d never stop searching for her until he found her, with or without their help.
“No, I don’t,” Lenny said. “Your assignment with Proteus hascome to an end. That plane is waiting to take you back to San Juan to report to your former Group Supervisor, Cedric Pedersen. The two of you will work together to figure out the best way to reengage you with DEA activities for that office. Thank you for your service. I wish you the best of luck.”
