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“Awesome!”
When he had the screen up, he made a call to Pete at the DEA and gave him the news. Then he called his captain and brought him up to speed. “I need backup. I’m following them.”
His boss said, “I’ve already called the FBI. They’re en route. I’ll tell them to liaise with you. Do you have any idea where they might be going?”
“I think I might. Hector gave up a location of a safe house off of I-10 a few hours from here. They might be heading there. I’ve sent you my report. The address is in it under the bullet-pointed items. I think that’s where everyone needs to home in on.”
“I’ll pass that on to the DEA as well. Where do you want to meet everyone before going in?”
“If I remember right, there’s a small town not far from the house. I’ll check on that and let you know.”
Heart soaring because he finally had a plan of action, he spent a few moments on his laptop finding the meetup and then sped from the house, headed for the interstate.Hold on, Vic. I’m coming, honey.
***
Vic stayed close tothe car door and kept her eyes down. The less attention she drew, the better. One of the thugs rode beside her, with Hector and his captor behind. They were heading south down I-10, and she wondered where they were taking her. Wherever it was, it wouldn’t be a good outcome for her, she was sure of that.
She’d hoped to get some clues from their conversation, but this crew wasn’t a very talkative bunch.
Suddenly the guy beside her screamed and lunged toward her, punching her in the face. Her head slammed into the window. Apparently, one of the men she’d killed had been his cousin. Hell, could anything else go wrong? She rubbed her cheekbone where the man’s fist had connected and kept her eyes down. Her teeth had cut the inside of her mouth, and she tasted blood.
But Cal was coming, and for sure he’d notified her boss, so the DEA would be all over this. They’d find her. But would they be in time to save her?
***
Hours later, Cal arrivedat the meeting place ahead of everyone else. The FBI and their armed response unit weren’t far out, and more Rangers were also en route. The DEA was still two hours away. He wasn’t waiting on them.
Thirty minutes ago, Vic’s phone had stopped moving and then, shortly after, had quit transmitting. Cal’s imagination played out horrible scenarios of what might be happening. But he couldn’t go off half-cocked. He needed backup.
Stomach acid burned his esophagus, and he took a drink of the morning’s stale coffee. He tapped the steering wheel with his fingers, unable to sit still.What’s happening to Vic, dammit? God, where’s the FBI? Where are those Rangers? They should be here by now, dammit!
He stared back down the access road in his rearview mirror. Nothing. He squeezed his eyes shut.Calm down, man. Calm down. You’re no good to Vic if you’re strung out.
He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. When he looked in the mirror again, he saw a black Suburban and an armed response van come into view.
“Thank God.” He got out of his truck and waved them over into the parking lot of the gas station where he was stopped.
He talked to the agent driving the Suburban and went over the plan they’d discussed earlier before instructing them to follow him. He then put in a quick call to the Ranger en route, telling him that they were going on ahead and giving him directions to the cartel location.
Now that they were ready to go, Cal’s anxiety fled, replaced by a sudden deathly calm. He’d do whatever it took to get Vic back safely.
He had Hector’s directions to the safe house. He just hoped that they were accurate. He hadn’t tried to check them out, fearful of being discovered before his backup arrived. He had a good description of the place, however, and that should help.
Fifteen minutes later, they were close. He pulled up next to a copse of trees, rare in the broken, desert landscape, and stopped. He went to the Suburban’s window again. “We need to go in on foot from here. It’s about a half mile. Stay in these little arroyos and gullies as we close in.” There were also some large cactus that might provide some cover.
Moments later, the group set out, Cal in the lead. He’d put on a protective vest while waiting for the FBI to arrive.
Not long after, the house came into view. It was surrounded by trees, he noted, which was good. They would help screen them from view.
Cal led them closer, following an arroyo that meandered not far from the house.Hang in there, Vic. I’m close.
***
Vic braced herselffor the next slap.
Whap!
Damn, that hurt. How many blows did that make? Her lips felt swollen and sore.
