by Elle James
“That’s awful.” Sadie had joined them in the basement, carrying a sleepy Emma on her hip. “I don’t blame you for wanting to escape.”
Alejandra gave Sadie a brief nod. “I started documenting all of the clients, partners and connections to the cartel. I noted how much money was involved, what products and services. Once I had all that information, I compiled it into a notebook and mailed it to a lawyer in the States, asking him to hold it without opening it. If I did not call him every three days, he was instructed to mail it to the DEA. I’m due to call today.”
“How did you escape?” Rafe asked.
She glanced down at her baby, her face softening. “El Chefe didn’t know that I wanted to leave. I kept my plans to myself. I had fake passports made. I told him that a good friend of mine from college was dying of cancer, and that she’d asked to see me and Bella before she passed. I told him she lived in Chicago. He allowed me to fly to the States to see her. I kept my cellphone and called when I landed to reassure him I was indeed visiting a friend and would be back soon.
“As soon as I left the plane, I tried to disappear into the city, but he’d arranged to have men follow me. At first, I think to keep me safe. When I noticed I was being followed, I ducked into a shopping center and then into a women’s changing room. From there, I made my way through a rear exit. I’d lost them, but I knew they would report back to El Chefe. Before they could notify him, I called him to say I had enjoyed a little shopping and was stopping to get something to eat before I joined my friend. I had hoped when his men called, he’d be placated by the fact I’d initiated a call and checked in. I’d hoped it would buy me time to find a safe place to hide. Then it started to rain. That’s when I spotted El Chefe’s men and ducked into an alley. They passed the alley and kept moving. That’s when Briana found us.”
Rafe studied her expression, trying to determine whether she was telling the truth. “Briana said she found your phone in her purse after she’d dropped you at the shelter.”
Alejandra’s cheeks reddened. “When I realized El Chefe would eventually figure out that I had not gone to a friend’s death bed, I knew he could trace my cellphone. So I put it into Briana’s purse, figuring she would take it away with her. It’s my fault he went after her. If she hadn’t helped me, she wouldn’t be on her way to El Salvador.”
“Why would he take Briana when he wanted you?”
Alejandra shrugged. “Apparently, he figured out that Briana helped me. And he knows me. I won’t let someone else die because of my defection. He’ll offer to make a trade. And when he does, I’ll go to El Salvador, so that Briana can come home.”
The baby stirred in her mother’s arms and whimpered.
Alejandra looked up. “I’ll make that trade, but I have one request.”
“And what would that be?” Hank asked.
“Please, someone take my baby. Give her a home and the love she needs to flourish. Bella deserves a better life than the one she had with me.”
Swede called out. “They stopped in Monterrey, Mexico.”
Alejandra nodded. “They’ll fuel up there. There’s a ranch outside of Monterrey with an airstrip and jet fuel for men who don’t want to land their planes at public airports to refuel. El Chefe’s shipments stop there when they fly from El Salvador to the US and back. It won’t be long before they land, full stop, in El Salvador.”
“At this point, everything we know is conjecture,” Hank said. “We don’t really know what he plans to do with Briana.”
Tears glittered in her eyes, but she blinked them away. Her chin lifted. “I guarantee he will try to make a trade. He wants me. He thinks that all this information is in my head,” she said, tapping her temple, “and that if I get loose, I can tell whoever wants to know about all of his dealings. Leaking that information could bring a stop to his operations, or make his clients lose their trust in him and want him dead.” She held out her hand. “If you have a burner phone, one that can’t be traced, I’ll prove to you that this is his plan.”
Hank fished in his front pocket for and pulled out a cellphone. He handed it to her. “This is the burner phone I used to communicate with the men who’ve been guarding you. The number is taped to the back.”
Alejandra dialed the international number direct to El Chefe and waited. She switched the phone’s audio to speaker so that all could hear. Voicemail picked up on the other end. The message was in Spanish. She left a message, also in Spanish. Then, in English, she added, “Call this number.” She left the number for the burner phone.
Moments later, the phone buzzed. Alejandra answered using the speaker option.
A man speaking angry Spanish yelled into the speaker.
She spoke to him in a calm, resigned tone.
Rafe only picked up a few of the words she spoke in Spanish, but at one point, he heard her mention “Señorita Briana Hayes.” He wished he’d paid more attention in high school Spanish class. At the end of the conversation, he picked up the words, “Estaré ahí pronto.” I will be there soon.
Alejandra ended the call and looked across at Hank.
Hank turned to his man, Taz Davila.
Taz nodded. “It’s like she said. He wants to make a trade. He has Briana, and he’s not going to give her up until Alejandra shows up in El Salvador.”
Rafe turned to Hank. “So, what are we going to do? I know Briana wouldn’t want us to turn over Alejandra to the cartel.”
Alejandra shook her head. “It’s the only way. He will not let her go, until he has me. If I’m not there in a certain amount of time, he’ll start hurting her. Eventually, he’ll kill her.”
“She’s not in El Salvador yet,” Hank said. “Let me talk to some of my contacts and see what we can come up with.”
Rafe’s eyes narrowed. “Sounds like an extraction mission to me.”
Alejandra frowned. “What do you mean by contacts?”
“I have some friends in high places who might be able to help us,” Hank said.
She shook her head. “Some of the clients and partners on my list are high up on the political chain in the US. If you stir that hornet’s nest, I won’t be able to get to El Salvador to make the trade. They won’t let me live that long.”
Hank nodded. “Understood. I’ll present it as purely an extraction case of a US citizen. I won’t mention that it’s a trade.”
“El Chefe gave me twenty-four hours to get back with him on arrangements for my return to El Salvador. He will expect me there shortly afterward.”
“Good,” Hank said. “That gives me time to work my connections.”
Over the next twenty-four hours, Hank performed miracles. He organized a plane to transport his team of Brotherhood Protectors. He contacted his source in the Special Operations Command and arranged for an extraction mission using Rafe’s former Delta Force team out of Fort Hood, Texas. He also contacted the DEA, who had undercover boots on the ground in El Salvador. They would perform reconnaissance of the cartel’s stronghold.
Two DEA agents were mobilized quickly and were at the airport when the plane carrying Briana landed. They witnessed a dozen of the cartel’s men escorting Briana off the plane then departing in a convoy of vehicles that headed toward El Chefe’s compound.
Rafe was amazed that by the time the Brotherhood Protectors boarded the plane Hank secured to fly them to El Salvador, that they were fully equipped with weapons, ammunition and protective gear. The items had been stored in crates marked as movie cameras, props and electronics, supposedly destined for a remote location within the country of El Salvador to prepare to film an action-adventure film, starring Sadie McClain.
They remained in close communication with the Delta Force team that had been mobilized and was scheduled to arrive by commercial flight around the same time. They would meet on the ground in the target country and form a formidable team that would be ready, and in place, when Alejandra appeared to make the trade for Briana’s freedom at El Chefe’s compound.
Rafe
hoped all went according to plan, and that they were able to extract both Briana and Alejandra from the cartel leader’s clutches without losing either woman or any of the team of Delta Force soldiers.
He understood plans were only good for starting a mission. They rarely executed exactly as intended.
Chapter 10
The men who’d loaded Briana into the Jeep and transported her down the hill to a clearing where a helicopter waited didn’t say a word to her. She asked them where they were taking her, but they remained stoically silent, refusing to give her an answer. They secured her wrists with zip-ties, thankfully in front of her, and then strapped her into the helicopter, an armed guard on either side of her.
Thirty minutes later, the helicopter set down on a landing strip on a large ranch where a jet airplane waited. Briana’s heart sank into the pit of her belly. She was in for a much longer ride than she’d imagined.
A couple of men speaking Spanish marched her up the steps and onto the jet. At that point, she figured she was on her way to meet the man Alejandra had tried to escape. She was on her way to El Salvador to answer to El Chefe Diablo, the Devil Boss. The only thing that kept her from breaking down into tears was the knowledge that they’d spared Rafe’s life. Even if she never saw the United States again, she would know that Rafe was alive and he’d be doing everything in his power to find her and bring her home.
The men who accompanied her on the plane carried military-grade rifles. If she wasn’t mistaken, they were AK-47s. Russian-made rifles she’d seen pictures of in news clips from all over the world. They did give her water to drink and allowed her to use the lavatory aboard the plane. It wasn’t like she could escape through a window. Not at 35,000 feet in the air. She must have fallen asleep somewhere over Oklahoma or Texas. When they landed to refuel, it was daylight and the signs at the landing strip were in Spanish. She wasn’t sure where they were, but she suspected Mexico. The men with the guns didn’t allow her to leave the plane, and they were on their way again as soon as the fuel trucks had finished filling the plane’s tanks.
By the time they landed at their destination, Briana was bone tired. She’d slept a little, sitting up, but she was worried about Rafe and heartsick for Lucy. The last she’d seen the dog, she’d been lying on the ground after being hit with a club. The pain in Briana’s wrists, where the hard plastic of the zip-ties had rubbed the skin raw, seemed inconsequential in comparison to Rafe’s and Lucy’s suffering. So far, the men who’d kidnapped her hadn’t done more than shove her a couple of times. She was sure the Devil Boss had a harsher punishment in store for her once she arrived at his compound.
Dread built with every passing mile they drove away from the airport and into the jungles of El Salvador. If she could, she’d escape, but making her way back to civilization might prove to be difficult and dangerous. She wasn’t sure what kinds of animals she might encounter, but they would be preferable to the men of the cartel who had, as Rafe had warned, killed entire families, including women and children, because their boss didn’t like the sound of their dogs barking.
Briana had read that cartels were notorious for making examples out of people who crossed them. Sometimes they hung them in their villages or mowed them down at family gatherings. The fact that Briana had assisted Alejandra in her escape and evasion of El Chefe’s men made her a prime target for retribution.
By the time they reached the cartel compound, Briana’s belly rumbled. She hadn’t eaten since the night before, and the heat and humidity of the jungle left her feeling dehydrated. What she wouldn’t give for a tall jug of ice water.
The compound consisted of high stucco walls with a heavy wooden gate. Two guards stood on either side, also equipped with AK-47s. When their cavalcade arrived, the guards met the first vehicle, their weapons drawn, ready to fire into the vehicle. Whatever the driver of that vehicle said was enough to convince the guards to stand down and allow the vehicles to enter the compound.
Once inside, Briana studied the layout. If she planned an escape, she’d need to know how many buildings stood between her and the walls and how many guards she’d have to get past to get through the gate or go over the top of the wall. Two guards at the gate, men on the wall behind the gate. A man on the top of the first building closest to the gate with a rifle aimed at the vehicles entering. Her heart sank deeper. She wasn’t a trained combatant. She didn’t have the skills to fight her way free. But she had a brain and courage. She would figure out how to free herself.
Briana couldn’t wait for someone to rescue her. That might never happen. She wasn’t an important political figure or a celebrity. The US government didn’t send the army to rescue a single female kidnapped from the mountains of Montana. Especially one they’d never heard of. If she wanted to live, she had to get herself out of the compound and to the nearest US consulate or embassy.
First, she had to get the zip-tie off her wrists.
The caravan of black SUVs came to a halt in front of a palatial stucco house with white columns and curved arches.
Briana half expected the Devil Boss himself to step out of the building to greet his prisoner.
He didn’t.
She was dragged out of the SUV and marched into the building, through a wide foyer and down a hallway to a tall wooden door. The guard in front of her knocked and said something in Spanish.
A voice inside barked a response.
The guard opened the door. Her escorts shoved her through and stood beside her in front of a large desk made of ornately carved mahogany. A man with thick black hair and a dark mustache sat behind the desk, his arms crossed over his chest. For a long moment, he stared at Briana, his eyes narrowing.
Finally, he stood and walked over to her. “You are responsible for depriving me of my property.”
Briana’s brow twisted. “And what property is that?”
“Alejandra Villareal,” he said, his lip curling back in a sneer.
Briana lifted her chin. Though she was shaking inside, she refused to let the man see an ounce of fear. “I’m not familiar with how things work in El Salvador, but in the US, slavery has been abolished. People aren’t considered property.”
He backhanded her, the heavy ring on his finger cutting into Briana’s cheek.
Pain shot through her face. She lifted her bound hands to press against the gash his ring had opened on her face. Tears welled automatically in her eyes. Briana blinked, refusing to let even one fall.
The cartel leader glared at her. “You should not have interfered in a matter that did not concern you.”
“Helping people in need is always my concern. I would do it all again. Alejandra is not your property.”
“You are wrong. Alejandra belongs here,” he said, his tone forceful. “Tell me…where is she?”
Briana lifted her chin. “I don’t know.”
He nodded. “I thought not. We found the women’s shelter where you took her outside of Chicago. They said they did not know of a woman and a child meeting Alejandra’s description. We searched the building and did not find her.”
Thank God. Briana fought the urge to smile. She hoped no one had been injured during the search.
“Alejandra was there. We know from tracking her cellphone. We didn’t get there in time. Your friends took her before we arrived. It’s funny how people will talk when you threaten their children. The shelter organizer refused to answer our questions, but one of the guests was eager to give us answers when we took her three-year-old daughter.”
Briana gasped. “You bastard.” Anger burned deep in Briana’s gut. If she’d had her .40 caliber pistol on her, she’d have shot this man who would use a child as a pawn in his vicious game.
“When we had all the information they had to give, I had my men burn the shelter to the ground.”
Briana sucked in a sharp breath. She felt as if she’d been sucker-punched in the belly. “You are not a man. You’re not even an animal. Animals have more compassion than you.”
His lips curled in a sneer. “I did not build an empire by being kind to strangers.” His brow lowered. “Alejandra will return to El Salvador, or she will be responsible for your torture and eventual death.”
Briana’s gut clenched. Death didn’t worry her, as long as it was swift. The idea of being tortured sent shivers of fear throughout her body. She refused to let it consume her. Her mother had always told her and her brother to never borrow trouble. Never fear something that had yet to happen. And in this case, she had to do something to keep it from happening. Briana had to find her way out of this situation before the Devil started down the path of torture.
He said something in Spanish to one of the guards. The guard left the room and returned with a tray of food and drink and set it on a small table near a chair.
The Devil Boss nodded to the tray. “For now, you are my guest. But that will change if Alejandra does not come to her senses and return.”
Briana’s belly rumbled loudly. She wanted to tell the man where he could shove his food and drink. She wanted to rebel against anything he wanted her to do. But reason forced her to consider her need for sustenance to help her in her escape. She might have to traipse through the jungle for days without food or water. Better that she consume what she could when offered. She didn’t know when her next meal might come.
The Devil Boss spoke again in Spanish. One of the guards pulled a wicked-looking knife out of a scabbard strapped to his leg and came at Briana.
She backed away, running into the guard behind her.
The guard laughed, grabbed her bound wrists and sliced through the zip-tie, scraping her skin with the sharp edge of the blade.
Briana winced. As soon as the plastic tie popped free, she pressed her wrists to her sides to stop the bleeding.
El Chefe frowned. “He cut you?”
Briana’s chin rose. “It’s nothing,” she lied, holding her wrist tightly against her jeans.
