A second later, he poked his weapon out the window and opened fire.
The pickup veered right then left. The driver lost control, and the truck slid sideways on the trail. A second later, the right-side tires caught in a rut, and the pickup flipped off the ground. It tumbled through the air, one side over the other, throwing the truck bed’s occupants into the jungle and onto the road. The horrific crash seemed to happen in slow motion until the top of the pickup’s cab smashed into the ground and rolled to a violent stop.
Pablo retreated to his seat with a proud smile on his face. “They won’t be a problem anymore,” he said amid a trickle of acrid smoke seeping out of his gun’s barrel.
“Nice job, Pabs,” Sean said. Then he took another look in the side mirror. “Unfortunately, they had backup.”
Two more pickups appeared in the mirror, lined up one behind the other. Like before, gunmen in the truck beds took aim with automatic rifles and opened fire.
Bullets whizzed by the SUV as Tommy spun the wheel to the right, accidentally going down the wrong road at the fork.
“I said go left!” Pablo shouted.
“In case you hadn’t noticed, they’re shooting at us!” Tommy defended. “I’m just trying to not get shot!”
Pablo stuck his head back out the window and started firing again.
Sean did the same, carefully squeezing the trigger one pull at a time to maximize accuracy. His weapon popped, and a round found the left headlight of the truck directly behind them. He fired again. The round zipped through the windshield, the vacant headrest, and into the gunman’s knee standing behind the cab. The guy grimaced and dropped into the truck bed. Sean couldn’t see what happened from his vantage point, but he figured the bullet must have hit the guy somewhere for him to disappear so suddenly.
Pablo resumed his attack, recklessly spraying hot metal into the jungle behind them, occasionally hitting the mark. It only took him a few seconds to empty the first magazine. He climbed back inside and set the weapon down in the back, trading it for the other one that still had a full complement of rounds.
“Pabs,” Sean said, ducking back inside for a moment. “Hand me the other rifle.”
“Are you sure? I was going to—”
“Pabs,” Tommy interrupted, “you really do want to let Sean handle this.”
The truck jumped over a bump and cut to the left as the trail veered in a sharp 90-degree turn.
“Fine,” Pablo relented.
He passed the second rifle to Sean, who took it and pulled the slide back. Sean stuck the barrel out the window and was about to lean out to open fire when a barrage of bullets cracked through the glass in the back and pounded the metal tailgate.
Sean sprawled back inside for cover while the gunmen in the truck behind them emptied their magazines. The second pickup wheeled around the first as the men reloaded.
Sean had no intention of giving them even a fraction of a second to resume the attack. He popped out of the window, locked his sights on the driver and tensed his finger on the trigger.
Suddenly, he felt momentum pulling him forward. His back rammed against the door frame as Tommy stomped on the brakes. The SUV slid in the mud, and Tommy had to let off the pedal, opting to feather it rapidly until the vehicle came to a controlled stop.
“What are you doing?” Sean asked, doing his best not to sound condescending.
Tommy didn’t answer. He didn’t need to. Sean twisted around and looked at the road ahead. Four more pickups were blocking the path along with a dozen armed guerrillas.
“Oh no,” Sean said.
“That,” Pablo said, “is why I told you to go the other way. This trail goes right through a guerrilla camp.”
Chapter 28
Washington
“What do you mean she’s gone?” Emily roared. Her voice echoed through the conference room and out into the hall beyond. “Where did she go? Please tell me you have her location.”
Heads turned in the room as each person looked to another for an answer. Smalley was the closest to Emily. He cleared his throat before speaking when he saw no one else was going to say anything.
“We…um…we don’t know where she went, Director.” He stammered, struggling to find the right way to give her what was the ultimate bad news. “We’re working on it. Apparently, she took a private jet to Belize, but our people on the ground there said there’s no sign of her.”
“No sign of her?” Emily couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “How is that possible? In this day and age, when we can track almost everything and everyone on the planet, especially a high-profile politician, how in the world did she just disappear?”
Smalley drew a long breath while he collected his thoughts and carefully pondered what to say next. The last thing he wanted was to tick her off more.
“Director Starks, we’re working around the clock here. We did what you asked and sent people to her office and her home. When we learned she wasn’t there, we put out an APB. It wasn’t until it was too late we found out she’d left the country.”
“She gave a press conference, Detective. On national television.”
“Yes, ma’am. We know. We weren’t aware she was going to be making an announcement of that kind until after the fact. There’s no way any of us could have known that.” He put his hand out to both make a point and plead for a little leniency. “Heck, you, me, none of us even considered her to be a suspect in all this until earlier today.”
Emily put her hands on her hips and hung her head. He was right. It wasn’t entirely his or anyone else’s fault. They’d been too slow to identify Pike as a suspect. One of the thousands of questions racing through her head was whether or not Pike knew they were going to come after her or if the timing of her announcement was mere coincidence. If it wasn’t coincidental, that meant there was a leak in her team. She looked up at the eyes staring back at her, searching for the one who may have given up the information. No answers came.
She let out a long sigh and shook her head. There wasn’t a mole. No one in that room would have told Pike what was going on. If the congresswoman held a press conference, that meant she’d planned it in advance, at least by a day or so. That meant no one would have been able to alert her to what was happening.
Still, it was a shady coincidence. Maybe Pike knew eventually the house of cards would crumble and she’d be implicated in the murders. That wasn’t out of the realm of possibility, though the plan had been enacted so carefully, with such precision, it would have been surprising if the congresswoman had lost faith so quickly.
No, leaving the country had to be part of the overall scheme. Everything had been timed perfectly. If Pike really was the one behind all this, she’d planned it with the utmost care. Nothing would be left to chance.
“It’s not your fault,” Emily said after letting the room simmer in uncomfortable silence. “It’s none of our faults. There was no way we could have seen this coming. None of it. Not the fact that Pike is now our primary suspect or that she was going to leave the country. No way we could have anticipated all that. If we could, it’s my fault for letting her slip through our fingers.”
“Don’t be so hard on yourself, Director,” Smalley said. His kind words were a bit of a shock. Up to that point, Emily thought he resented her for coming in and taking over the case. “Like you said, there was no way to know this was going to happen. But it’s not like we don’t have any leads. We know what part of the world she fled to, if she was indeed fleeing the country. We’ve got eyes and ears on the ground down there in Belize, Mexico, and Honduras keeping a lookout. If she pokes her head out, we’ll have her in custody before she can say the word attorney.”
Emily stepped over to a window looking out toward the Capitol. She stared for a long moment, keeping her thoughts to herself.
Why Belize? The question kept rising to the surface in the ocean of questions that flooded her mind.
“Everybody, take the rest of the afternoon off. I’ll see
you all tomorrow.” She didn’t turn around to see everyone exchanging confused expressions and curious glances. When the noise died down and she was alone, she slumped into the closest chair and put her head back against the headrest.
She ran a hand through her hair and then tightened it into a ponytail. “What are you doing in Belize?” she said out loud. “Do you have a summer home there?”
It took a second to hit her, but as soon as it did she pulled out her phone and did an internet search for Belize. When the results popped up, she tapped on the map and zoomed out.
Belize was on the Mexican border, next to the Yucatan.
Sean was down in the Yucatan. At least, last she checked. There was no telling where he was now. When he and Tommy were working on a project, they could bounce from one country to the next at a moment’s notice. One day they’d be off the coast of Mexico, and the next they could be in the middle of the Arctic Circle.
She pulled out her phone and called Sean’s number. It went straight to voicemail. She figured he was either out of range or too busy to answer.
“Hey, Sean,” she said after the beep. “It’s Emily. This is sort of a random, short-notice call, but I was wondering if you might be able to help me with something. I know you were down in the Yucatan with Tommy. Maybe you’re not there anymore. If you are, give me a call back. I’m in a strange little pickle right now, and I was hoping you could help me out. No, I’m not trying to get you back into the agency. I just have a question about a person who fled the country and might be down in your neck of the woods. Anyway, call me if you get a chance, and if not, no big deal. Just thought I’d take a shot in the dark. Hope you’re well.”
She ended the call and set the phone down on the table. Standing alone in the conference room, she stared out through the windows at the busy office. People rushed around, performing their routine police tasks. Emily remembered when she was like them, taking orders from the higher-ups, doing menial tasks she didn’t really understand. She’d been fully submerged in the red tape at that point in her life. Now the responsibilities were much more significant, but at least she was in charge—for the most part. There was only one person to whom she answered directly.
The phone started ringing, and she looked down at the screen. She frowned. “How does he do that?”
It was the president, calling from a number only she had.
“Yes, Mr. President?” she answered, putting the phone to her ear.
“You know, I’ve told you more times than I can count that you don’t have to call me that.”
“I know, sir. And I’ve told you more times than I can count that when I’m on the clock, that’s what I’m going to call you.”
He chuckled. “I respect that, Emily. When I retire in two years, though, you’ll have to cut it out.”
“We’ll both be retiring, so that shouldn’t be a problem.”
She’d already made the decision to call it quits at Axis, though she hadn’t told anyone yet other than the man on the phone.
Emily had served the agency for a long time, though she wasn’t even close to what most people considered retirement age. The truth was, she could still do the job effectively for another decade or so if she wanted, probably more. The job was mentally, physically, and emotionally taxing, but she’d learned how to deal with that through the years.
The real reason behind her early exit was the man on the line with her. She wanted to spend time with him, time she was denied while he was president. They had to play things cool. On top of that, the guy was almost never in one place for very long. He was constantly traveling or deeply entrenched in a meeting that involved who knew how many political agendas.
She’d learned how to deal with being the president’s girlfriend, but Emily looked forward to the day when they were just John and Emily.
“It’s funny,” she said. “I was just thinking about you, and then you call.”
“We must have that connection.”
Emily knew what he was talking about. They’d discussed it before during a wine-induced conversation that drifted into spiritual philosophy.
“Hmm,” she agreed with a smile. “That we do.” Then she remembered she was talking to her boss and he was likely calling for other than personal reasons. “What can I do for you?”
“Something just happened in Mexico. I think you should take a look into it.”
“Mexico?”
“Yes. There was an explosion. It wasn’t much, but big enough that one of our task forces noticed it on satellite imagery. The area is a hot spot for cartel activity, so we do a good amount of surveillance there to try to keep the drug runners in check.”
She wondered why they hadn’t simply bombed the area if they knew it was a drug cartel compound. Then again, that sort of action would have repercussions, especially since Mexico was an ally. Probably best she wasn’t the president.
“I know you’re working on this murder investigation, but I thought you’d want to know about this since our mutual friend is down there.”
Emily couldn’t remember if she’d told the president about where Sean was going or if he’d found out some other way. Not that it mattered. He knew.
“Yes, sir. I was just trying to get in touch with him. We think our prime suspect may have fled to that area of the world.”
“Prime suspect?” he asked.
“Yes. We believe that Lilian Pike may have been the one pulling the strings behind the killings.”
She waited for half a minute before he responded.
“So, you think she faked the attack on herself, including the gunshot wound?”
“I’ve seen crazier, so yes, we believe she may have been the one who orchestrated everything.”
“And you have evidence to prove it?”
“I have a suspect who just left the country with very short notice to the rest of Capitol Hill. Seems kind of sudden after being attacked just a few days ago.”
“I’m not questioning your motives or your thoughts on the matter. Just surprised, that’s all. If you think Pike is the one behind all this, then by all means, bring her in for questioning.”
“We were about to, and then she had a press conference announcing she was taking a leave of absence. Before we could get to her, she’d already left. We believe she flew into Belize, but who knows where she is now.”
“So, she anticipated your move.”
“That’s the only thing I can figure.”
“Well,” he said, “perhaps you need to pay a visit to the Yucatan. I’m concerned about Sean and Tommy. I know they were going to be in the area where that explosion happened. The Mexican government isn’t helping us out with this one. They won’t even send a unit over to investigate. So, we’ll have to do it ourselves. Only downside is that we’ll be there illegally.”
“Not if we’re there on vacation,” she said with a playful smile.
He let out a chuckle. “I wish we could, my dear. I wish we could. Won’t be long now. No, I was thinking you could send someone down there to check it out. Now that you’ve told me about Pike, I’m even more inclined to issue the order.”
Emily thought about it for a second. “I do have an agent available I could put in play down there if that’s what you’re suggesting.”
“I don’t know,” he confessed. “At first, I was just thinking maybe have your people keep an eye on that area. But we’re already doing that. It might be good to have eyes on the ground to recon the cartel camp and see what you can dig up.”
Emily nodded. “I’ll put someone on it right away, sir. I need to find Pike anyway. Now I can kill two birds with one stone.”
“Okay. Sounds good. Thanks for doing this, Em…I mean, Director Starks.”
“You’re welcome, Mr. President.”
Chapter 29
Playa del Carmen, Mexico
Erika closed the door as quietly as she could. She had no trouble picking the lock to the beach home overlooking the Gulf of Mexico. The security guards ha
d a regular patrol path they walked that was easy enough to time to avoid detection.
She surveyed the dark living room and the kitchen just beyond to make sure no other guards were in place. The last thing she needed was to be accidentally shot by some rent-a-cop.
Satisfied no one else was in the house, she turned and went up the stairs to her left, tiptoeing as she went to stay as silent as possible. At the top of the stairs, she turned right and made her way stealthily down the hall until she reached a door on the left.
It was closed, though Erika suspected it was unlocked. She reached out, grabbed the doorknob, and gave it a gentle twist. Sure enough, it wasn’t locked. She cautiously turned it all the way until the bolt came free of the plate and then gave the door a tenuous push.
It swung open with only a minor creak, but it was already too late. The owner of the house was sitting in the corner, wide awake, with a gun in her hand laid across her lap.
“I was wondering when you’d show up,” the woman said from the shadows.
“It took longer than I anticipated,” Erika said.
“Yes. I saw you had trouble getting away from the authorities in Atlanta.”
“It went according to plan. I have the amulet.”
“I’d hardly call it according to plan, but yes, you accomplished the mission objective. Well done.”
Erika stepped all the way into the room and closed the door behind her. She took the amulet out of her jacket and walked over to the bed. After setting the glowing object on the edge of the mattress, she stepped away and stood by the wall opposite her employer.
“I’ve already wired the money to your account,” the woman said.
“Yes, I saw that. Thank you. A big leap of faith considering I had what you wanted. You’re very trusting.”
The woman in the corner let out a long sigh and leaned forward, revealing her face. “Trust,” Lilian said, “is something this world needs more of. Besides, you wouldn’t cross me. You know what I’m capable of.”
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