by Elle James
Blade hurried up to Hector and spoke to him in Spanish telling him what he needed. He asked where he could find Maria, the housekeeper who cleaned the last bungalow by the beach.
Hector glanced down at the tablet with a frown, touched the screen several times and finally glanced up to tell Blade that Maria should be cleaning the bungalows. That was her primary responsibility. Hector checked his tablet again and stated that Blade should find her in the bungalow past number fifteen. That was the last one she had completed and marked off. The man tilted his head and narrowed his eyes. “Is there a problem?” he asked in English.
Was there a problem? Blade almost laughed. Hell yes, there was a problem. Sophia had been taken and he had to find her as soon as possible. “I wanted to ask her for extra towels,” Blade stated.
“I can have Maria bring you the towels. No need to tell her yourself. If you need anything, all you have to do is ask the concierge for it. My staff will see to you.” Hector pulled his radio off the clip on his belt and spoke into the microphone.
“Thank you.” Blade left the laundry room and raced back out to the long sidewalk in front of the bungalows, counting off as he passed one after the other. He reached number fifteen and didn’t slow until he spotted the cleaning cart outside of bungalow number seventeen, a couple doors down from the very last bungalow. Maria stepped out, carrying an armload of linens.
He called out, “Maria.”
Startled, the housekeeper glanced up. “Señor Blade.”
In Spanish, he explained the situation of how Sophia had been abducted from their catamaran excursion.
Maria wrung her hands, a frown pulling her brow low on her forehead. “No Bueno. No bueno.”
“I notified the Mexican police, but they were no help,” he told her.
Maria snorted. “They work for the cartel.”
Blade raked a hand through his hair, his heart pounding in his chest. “If you know anybody who might have a connection to the cartel, and know where they might have taken Sophia, I need that person’s name. I need help.”
Maria shook her head. “It is not safe for me to name names.”
“If not a name, a location. Anything. I’ve got to know where they’ve taken her.”
Maria touched his arm. “I’ll ask my cousin. He might know someone who can help. They will not be satisfied with just her. They will come after you next.” Maria’s mouth formed a thin line. “They will exact revenge.”
Blade had figured as much. “That’s why I need to find Sophia before they find me.”
She nodded. “Give me some time. I will contact my cousin.”
“We don’t have much of time,” Blade said.
Maria nodded and pulled a cellphone out of her apron pocket. She walked away, scrolling through her contacts. When she found the one she wanted, she initiated the connection and spoke quietly in Spanish to the person on the other end of the line.
Blade strained to hear and translate her words.
Maria spoke in a soft murmur.
Blade only caught every sixth word or so. From what he did glean from her conversation, she was telling her cousin about Sophia being kidnapped and that the cartel had her.
After a few minutes of rapid-fire Spanish, she ended the call and turned toward him. “My cousin will meet with you at the Iguana Café at four o’clock this afternoon.”
“How will I know how to find him?” Blade asked.
Maria shook her head. “Don’t worry, he will find you.”
With no one else to turn to, Blade nodded. At that moment Maria and her cousin were his only hope. “I’ll be there.”
Again, Maria touched his arm. “I’m sorry about your woman.”
Blade didn’t even have the stomach to tell Maria that Sophia wasn’t his woman, especially when he was wishing she was.
With a couple of hours to blow before four o’clock he went to the business center of the resort, logged onto the computer and searched for anything and everything he could find on the cartel for that region. He focused on Calderón, the current cartel leader. Searching for his place of residence. He wondered how every social media site could keep track of every person on earth, and yet he couldn’t find anything on Calderón’s location on the internet. What he needed was a good hacker, or someone associated with the dark web to find Calderón and his location. With his gut knotted and his frustration levels at an all-time high Blade continued to slog through the internet praying for any kind of hope to find Sophia.
As he was sitting at the computer terminal the door opened, and Ramón, the night security guard stepped in. “Ramón, cómo estás?
Ramón responded in English. “I am well, but I understand your woman has been taken.”
Blade nodded. “Word travels fast. How did you find out?”
“Maria and I share the same cousin and none of us like the cartel. Especially when they attack our loved ones. Too often we pay our dues just to keep them from targeting us, but the resorts are our livelihoods. When the cartels interfere with the guests who bring money to the resort’s we are not happy.”
“Are you here to tell me anything different than what your cousin’s supposed to tell me at four?” Blade asked.
Ramón shook his head. “No, señor. I am here to take you to my cousin by four o’clock.”
“Don’t you have to work tonight?”
Ramón shook his head. “No. This is my night off. I will help you find your woman.”
Blade heaved a sigh. “Thank you.”
“Targeting tourists is not something we will tolerate. If word gets out that it’s not safe at the resorts, people will stop coming. We will lose our jobs and won’t be able to put food on the table for our families.”
Blade frowned. “Will helping me put you in danger?”
Ramón nodded. “But if someone doesn’t stand up to the cartel, then we all fail.”
“I don’t want to put you in danger,” Blade said.
“It is not unusual for resort staff to supplement their income with side jobs like chauffeuring tourists around the Yucatan Peninsula. I will be your chauffeur today.”
Blade grinned. “Thank you, and I’ll pay you.”
“That is not necessary,” Ramón said.
“Maybe not, but in keeping with the front of being my chauffeur, it would make it more plausible.”
Ramón nodded. “Are you ready?”
Blade pushed to his feet. “Might as well. I wasn’t finding much on the internet having to deal with where the cartel stays.”
“And you won’t find anything there,” Ramón said, “They move often enough to keep other gangs or cartels from targeting them. Hopefully, my cousin will know their latest location.”
“And what about your cousin?” Blade asked, “Are we putting him in danger?”
Ramón’s lips pressed into a tight line. “My cousin won’t care. He hates the cartel.”
“Did they do something to make him mad?” Blade asked.
The guard’s jaw hardened, and he nodded. “They killed his family. As far as he’s concerned, they have nothing to hold over him anymore. He’d like to see them rot in hell.”
“Then that makes two of us.”
Ramón shook his head. “Make that three.” He gave a tight smile. “And if Maria was anybody to be counted, that would be four. There are many more who feel the same, who’d like the cartel to be ended. But as soon as you end one, another gang takes over. Sometimes, it is better to have the enemy you know, than the one you do not.”
“True.” Blade glanced at his watch. They had half an hour to get to the location he was supposed to meet Maria’s cousin. Having Ramón with him would make it easier to determine who the cousin was. And as soon as Ramón dropped him off he could send him on his way so that he wouldn’t be involved in case the cartel was there ready to gun him down.
Ramón led the way through the resort hotel traversing all the back corridors to an exit leading out onto a parking lot near the rear of one of the
buildings. Apparently, the parking lot was for employees only, with a mish mash of vehicles parked there. Ramón led him to a dark, four door sedan and opened the back door for him.
“I can ride up front,” Blade said.
Ramón shook his head. “Not if I’m chauffeuring you. It is safer for you and for me if the cartel thinks I am only transporting you like an Uber driver.”
“Good point,” Blade said.
Ramón drove Blade through the less touristy streets of Cancún, stopping at a café where locals enjoyed a meal.
“Our cousin will find you here,” Ramón said. “I will wait for you two blocks ahead at the autobody shop. Look for me behind the building. And watch your back.”
“How will I know who your cousin is?” Blade asked.
“Don’t worry,” Ramón said, “He will find you.”
Blade climbed out of the car wishing he had a gun or any other kind of protection. The patrons of the café looked up as he stepped in between the occupied tables to find one that was empty.
Without looking too obvious he studied the people at each of the tables. Other than a brief glance in his direction, they returned to their meals, none of them making eye contact with him.
Blade chose an unoccupied table near the rear of the dingy café and sat with his back to the wall. He’d selected the table because there was another empty table beside it and he hoped that Maria and Ramón’s cousin would take that seat or sit with him. If Maria’s cousin didn’t want to be too obvious, he’d take the table beside him.
Blade checked his watch. Four o’clock on the nose. He looked around, hoping to find his contact.
A waiter stopped at his table and dropped a laminated menu in front of him. “¿Qué quieres beber?” What do you want to drink?
The thought of eating or drinking anything made Blade’s stomach knot even more. He couldn’t consider enjoying a meal when Sophia was somewhere possibly being tortured. He glanced at the menu to appear normal in a very abnormal situation. “Una cerveza.”
The waiter nodded. “Si, Señor Blade.”
Blade’s head shot up and he met the waiter’s gaze. How had he known his name?
Chapter 11
In Spanish, the waiter said, “You may want to check both sides of the menu.”
Blade’s pulse quickened. He carefully turned the menu over so that only he could see the other side. A folded note was taped to the back. He pulled the note off the back of the laminated menu and pocketed it. He glanced at the waiter and nodded. “Fajita taco, por favor.”
The waiter disappeared and returned in a minute with a fajita taco on a plate.
With the note burning a hole in his pocket, Blade waited for a chance to open it while no one was watching.
As the waiter set the plate on the table, two men entered the restaurant. Both had broad-shoulders and dark, heavy eyebrows. They scanned the crowd of guests with narrowed eyes.
Blade’s waiter glanced toward them and frowned. He turned to Blade and said in English, “Time to leave.” His tone was low and urgent.
As Blade stood, the two men who’d entered the restaurant spotted him and started across the room in his direction. Blade tossed money on the table, grabbed the taco and headed for the back door.
A shout sounded from behind him. As he reached the back exit, he glanced over his shoulder to see the men racing toward him. As they passed the waiter, the one in front tripped and fell on his face. The other one tumbled over the first, landing with a crash on the floor.
The waiter motioned for Blade to continue, then he bent to the jumble of men lying on the floor, apologizing for his clumsiness.
Blade ran out the back door. He headed in the direction of the auto body shop where Ramón had said he’d be waiting. A door slammed open behind him. He glanced over his shoulder to see the two men who had fallen in the café racing after him.
Blade ducked down a side street, dropped on his belly, and rolled beneath what appeared to be an abandoned vehicle.
Footsteps pounded from around the corner onto the side street where Blade hid. He could see the feet of the pursuers as they ran past the vehicle he hid beneath. Once the two men had turned onto the next street, Blade rolled out from beneath the vehicle, and ran back the opposite direction to the alley behind the buildings.
Eventually, he came to a lot filled with vehicles in various stages of repair. Working his way through the numerous vehicles, he found Ramón’s dark sedan parked beneath a shade tree.
Blade eased up to the car. After ascertaining it was Ramón behind the steering wheel, Blade slipped into the back seat.
Without a word, Ramón started the engine and drove out of the lot. As they pulled out onto the street, Blade caught a glimpse of the two men who had been chasing him. They turned toward Ramón’s vehicle.
Blade ducked down.
Ramón drove past them, heading in the opposite direction from the resorts.
Lying on the back seat, Blade pulled the note out of his pocket and unfolded it, revealing a set of numbers.
“What did our cousin have to tell you?”
Blade frowned and sat up, checking through the rear window for anyone following them. “It appears to be a set of coordinates.”
He entered the numbers on his cellphone’s map application, but it didn’t bring up the location. He tried again. It wasn’t working.
“Where to?” Ramón asked.
“I need access to a computer,” Blade said.
As Ramón drove, Blade pulled out his cellphone and dialed Rucker’s number. It rang and rang and rang, until finally his voicemail came on.
“Leave a message, I’ll get back with you,” his voice said.
“Call me,” Blade said and ended the call. Where the hell was Rucker? He tried Mac’s number and got the same response. One by one he went through the members of each member of his team. None of them were answering their cellphones.
The vehicle pulled to a stop and Ramón leaned over the seat.
Blade looked up from his cellphone.
The security guard had stopped in front of an internet café in one of the touristy sections of Cancún.
“I will wait for you here,” Ramón said.
Blade got out of the vehicle and hurried into the internet café. Most people had brought their own devices and were using the internet the café provided. There were several computer terminals that could be used as well. He paid the clerk at the counter and sat at one of the empty seats in front of a monitor and keyboard.
He entered the numbers from the note into the search bar and waited to see what came up. When that didn’t work, he went to a site that specialized in GPS coordinates and entered the numbers in there. A map appeared on the screen. He switched to a satellite image of the map and zoomed in on the coordinates. It appeared to be nothing more than a spot in the jungle west of Cancún.
Blade switched back to the street map. Several different roads would get him almost all the way there. He studied the location on the big screen of the computer and then entered the coordinates on his cellphone in the same application.
If the coordinates were the location where they’d taken Sophia, he’d need wheels to get there and his team’s help to extract Sophia from the cartel’s clutches. Where the hell were they?
Once he had the coordinates locked in on the map on his phone, he left the internet café and climbed back into the vehicle where Ramón waited. So, he had coordinates. Did he trust Maria’s cousin not to lead him into a trap? “Ramón, what can you tell me about your cousin?”
Ramón pulled out into the road shaking his head. “He and I played soccer together as kids. We both joined the Mexican Army when we were old enough. I stayed four years and got out. I’m not sure what he did. He left the Mexican army, but where he went from there not many people know. Some speculate that he joined the French Foreign Legion.”
Which would explain his use of the coordinates, Blade thought. “Why did you leave the Mexican military?” Blade
asked.
“Probably the same reason why Maria’s cousin did. We were fighting a losing war within our own country. The cartels rule.”
Blade leaned over the back of the seat and showed Ramón the map on his phone. “Based on what Maria’s cousin gave me, I assume these are the coordinates where they might have taken Sophia. Are you familiar with these roads?”
Ramón pulled over to the side of the street and shifted into park. He stared at the phone, zoomed in on the roads and nodded. “I am familiar.”
“I need to get there.”
“If it is a cartel location, they will have guards on the roads coming into the compound.”
Blade nodded.
“I would take you there in this vehicle, but you have already been seen in this car.”
“And I don’t want to draw any more attention than I have to you,” Blade said, “I’d prefer to go in alone, but I need transportation.”
Ramón shook his head. “You do not have to go in alone. I will go with you, but we need different transportation.” He smiled. “And I have a cousin who can help us with that. I will take you there.”
Blade sat back in his seat as Ramón zig-zagged through the streets of Cancún, heading south.
Ramón drove up to a stucco walled residence and honked his horn. A minute later a short stocky man opened the gate and allowed Ramón to drive through. Once inside the walled compound Ramón parked the car and got out. He opened the back door for Blade and Blade got out as well.
The yard around the residence was littered with a number of motorcycles and motorcycle parts. The short stocky man who’d opened the gate had grease on his hands and beneath his fingernails. He pulled Ramón into a hug and clapped his hands on his back.
Ramón smiled and laughed and then turned toward Blade. He spoke to his cousin in Spanish.
Their conversation flowed so fast, Blade didn’t have a chance to keep up. He only caught a few of the words, not enough to make sense of it.
The short stocky man smiled, nodded and waved a hand around the cluster of motorcycles.
Ramón shook hands with his cousin and then turned to Blade. “Xavier has agreed to loan us two motorcycles.”
