The Defender

by Lindsay McKenna

  “What have you found?” he demanded, out of breath.

  “Good news,” Cade said. “One of our deputies canvassed the area. A neighbor across the street saw a black van pull in. They saw two men carrying something out of the building to the back of the open van. They said it looked like a person, but they couldn’t be sure. They also took six crates and put them into the van, as well.” Cade smiled grimly. “Best of all, they got the license-plate number.”

  “Okay, you’ve put out an APB on them?” Joe asked, barely able to think.

  “Done,” Cade said.

  “I’m getting our hacker to see if Garcia ordered these two dudes in the van to kidnap Katie,” Roger said. “He’s searching right now.”

  Terror filtered through Joe. “It’s not enough. They’ll kill her.”

  Janet moaned.

  Shooting a look toward the woman, Joe asked, “Did you find Katie’s cell phone in this building?”

  Janet mopped her eyes with a mangled tissue. “N-no. Why?”

  “Katie always carries her cell in the back pocket of her jeans,” he told them. “Can we get the cell phone company to search for her signal?”

  Snapping his fingers, Roger said, “Damn good idea!” He quickly made a call to the communications company.

  Joe gave his boss Katie’s cell number. His throat ached with tears. He swallowed several times, trying to think through his roiling emotions. Katie had been kidnapped. Garcia had done it, there was no question. Janet’s sobs were loud and upset him even more. If there was anything good about the situation, it was Janet promising Cade that she’d tell him everything about Los Lobos. She said she’d been betrayed by Xavier Lobos.

  There had to be something else he could do! Joe knew that if Katie had been kidnapped, it meant Garcia’s men didn’t intend to keep her alive. She was his cartel’s enemy and would be used to send a message. It would be a powerful one to Janet and Los Lobos to leave the area permanently. They might keep Katie alive to force their hand. Once Katie had lost her importance, she’d be killed.

  * * *

  KATIE SLOWLY REGAINED consciousness. Her shoulders were aching like fire. Continually jostled from side to side, she heard men’s voices somewhere in the background. Her head throbbed. Where was she? She only knew that she was in a vehicle. The place was dark except for weak light coming through the front windshield. Katie could hear the racing of the engine and the whine of spinning tires. They were moving at high speed. She was lying with her back against the van wall, her hands tied behind her. Katie blinked several times and tried to think. Think! Her mind rolled around like a loose ball in her skull. Slowly, events trickled back to her.

  Kidnapped! She’d been taken by force from her mother’s business. The gag in her mouth tasted dry and dirty. Nostrils flaring, Katie looked up and saw six huge wooden crates rocking back and forth. They were unsteady because the van was moving erratically at high speed. The smell of marijuana was thick.

  Struggling to clear her mind, Katie jerked at the ropes binding her wrists. She rolled away from the wall, landing against the stacked crates alongside the other wall. She looked forward. Two men were talking in Spanish. One was excitedly jabbering away on a cell phone.

  Cell phone...

  Groaning, Katie lifted her arms until her shoulders screamed in pain. Her fingers were numb from the tight ropes. She fumbled to reach her rear pocket. Had the men taken her phone? Unsure, she gritted her teeth against the rag in her mouth, frantically forcing her hand downward. The ropes bit into her flesh and she felt the warmth of blood trickling as she pushed against the building pain. She had to reach her cell. Grunting, ignoring the pain, Katie used every bit of her strength.

  There. Oh, God. My phone! It’s still here!

  Had the men been in such a hurry they’d neglected to pat her down? Their sloppiness might save her life. Katie’s fingers were trembling so badly she couldn’t pull out the device. She had to be careful because if it dropped, the men in the front might hear it clatter to the metal surface. She forced herself to slow down, get a grip on the phone with her numb fingertips and ease it upward. Once it was between her hands, she gripped the phone and pressed the button on top to turn it on. Katie had no idea if it would work because she couldn’t see what she was doing. And how much of a charge was left on it? Katie knew law enforcement would be looking for her signal.

  If only...if only...

  She eased the cell phone to the metal deck, praying it was on. It would be hidden by her body. Rolling to the other side of the van, Katie pretended to be unconscious. Breathing hard, fear arcing through her, she prayed nonstop the phone was working. God, please, please let them find me before it’s too late...

  Closing her eyes, breathing harshly, the terrible taste of the material in her mouth, Katie pictured Joe’s face. She loved him. Her heart pounded over the knowledge that she was going to die. And she’d never be able to tell Joe or her mother that she’d forgiven them.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  “WE’VE GOT A SIGNAL!” Roger said. Rapidly, he wrote down the position of Katie’s cell phone.

  Joe could barely contain his emotions as the agent handed the information to Cade Garner.

  “That’s U.S. 89, the highway leading to Star Valley,” Cade said, scowling. Lifting his head, he told Hager, “I’m putting out an all-points bulletin on the van. Most of the sheriff’s deputies live in Star Valley.” He gave them a triumphant grin and ordered the dispatcher to alert them to the situation. He asked them to be on the lookout for the van, giving the license-plate number.

  Cade drilled Hager with a dark look. “I called in our helicopter and it’s on standby outside. We can transfer the cell signal onboard.” He jabbed a finger at Joe. “The helo can carry four people. I want Joe to go with me. That leaves an open seat if we find Katie.”

  “Good planning. I’ll stay here to coordinate with your commander on this,” Hager said.

  Joe grabbed his gear, hot on Cade’s heels. They rushed to the rear of the large building where a huge circular concrete landing area was located. A black helicopter, blades turning, waited for them. Joe followed Cade. Luckily, he knew helos very well and had made hundreds of helo trips on a CH-47 while in Afghanistan. As they rushed forward, the wind buffeted them.

  Climbing on board, Cade took the left seat next to the deputy piloting the helo. He quickly pulled on a helmet and plugged in the jack to connect with the inter-cabin communications system. Joe squeezed into the back seat. Breathing hard, urgency thrumming through him, he shut the door and snapped the seat belt in place. Katie. Oh, God, let her be safe. Let her be alive. He grabbed the helmet, pulled it on and jammed the jack into the outlet on the frame. He could hear all communications now, inside and outside the helicopter.

  Cade locked the door, threw the pilot a thumbs-up and quickly pulled the safety harness across his body. He twisted dials on the instrument panel that would coordinate all players via radio and cell phone connections. In moments, the latitude and longitude of Katie’s phone meshed with a map of the area and appeared on the display screen.

  Joe’s eyes narrowed on the display. There was a red dot on the highway heading toward Star Valley. “It has to be the van Katie’s in,” he said, pulling the mike toward his mouth. The helo began to vibrate, the whine of the massive engine roaring into the cabin.

  Cade switched several more frequencies and added the sheriff’s cruisers to the growing links. “Yeah, I got a cruiser within two miles of the van. He’s hightailing it and should get a visual on it in about thirty seconds.”

  Joe felt the helicopter break from the earth. The machine shuddered, the engine roaring as the pilot guided it vertically for a thousand feet. At altitude, the pilot pushed the bird into forward motion.

  Hurry! Hurry! Joe’s gaze remained glued to the ever-changing display. He saw a green
dot—the cruiser—coming up rapidly on the van. Was it the right van? No one knew yet. Joe waited, barely able to breathe.

  “Bingo!” Cade yelled, a feral grin crossing his face. “It’s the van! I’m ordering the cruiser to back off. I’m moving another cruiser in from the opposite direction to lay out spike strips to blow the tires on the van. That will stop it.”

  The landscape sped by. Joe wiped his mouth. His heart was beating so hard he thought it would leap out of his chest. Sweat trickled down the sides of his face. Katie was in danger and she could die. If the van ran over the spikes it could cause it to go out of control. And then what? What kind of condition was Katie in? Tied and helpless? Dead? Joe shut his eyes, not wanting to go there. He loved Katie with his life. She was a good person caught in a terrible plot not of her own making. Fists curling and uncurling, Joe watched the summer landscape unfold below as the helicopter sped along. The pilot followed the highway toward Star Valley, flying in the same direction as the van. Soon, they would see the vehicle. And then what?

  Cade coordinated the trap, constantly engaged either with the cruisers or strategizing with Hager and the commander back at headquarters.

  Joe’s eyes narrowed as the helo paralleled the two-lane highway. Up ahead, by craning his neck, he could see a speeding black van. The cruiser had fallen back two miles behind it. Grabbing the binoculars, Joe tried to get a bead on the fleeing van. It had two vertical doors in the rear. They were closed. The sides of the van had no windows. The van was wobbling.

  “How fast is that bastard going?” he demanded of Cade.

  “Deputy clocked him at a hundred and twenty miles an hour.”

  “Dammit.”

  “Yeah, I’ve got two more deputies in Star Valley stopping all traffic. If this van goes streaking through there, it could hit an innocent driver.”

  “What about the spikes? Hitting one of them at that speed could flip it,” Joe said, worried.

  “Yes,” Cade said, his voice grim. “But we have to stop them. If we don’t...”

  Joe sat back, his heart racing. The shaking and shuddering of the helicopter around him soothed some of his tension. The pilot had the bird at maximum speed as it raced closer and closer to their target. Joe saw the van weaving across the centerline. Cade had ordered a cruiser five miles south of Star Valley to halt all traffic heading into the valley.

  “There are the spike strips,” Cade said, jabbing a finger downward.

  A cruiser was parked far off the side of the highway. With the binoculars, he could see the strips laid across the highway. No way would the van hit them and not blow its tires.

  “Get lower,” Cade ordered the pilot. “Get in front of that van. Hurry!”

  The helo shifted and changed position, streaking by the hurtling van. “What’s the plan?” Joe asked.

  “We’re going to get in front of the strips before the van hits them. Get ready to bail once the van stops.”

  Joe pulled the .45 from his side holster. After locking and loading the pistol, he slid it back into the holster, making sure his Kevlar flak jacket didn’t interfere with his access to it. His gaze riveted on the van, he felt the helo turn and plunge toward the highway. In seconds, they were only twenty feet off the ground, hovering half a mile from where the van would run over the strips.

  Joe’s throat ached. His eyes narrowed. His breath hitched.

  The van hit the strips.

  * * *

  KATIE HEARD ARGUING between the two men up front. The van was going very, very fast. She was getting rolled about, seemingly as it moved from one lane to another and then back again. How fast were they going? She heard the screaming tires below her. The entire floor of the van vibrated. Looking up, she noticed the massive wooden crates moving and wiggling back and forth. One could fall on her. And they looked very heavy.

  She tried to wriggle closer to the back doors, her booted feet finally connecting with them. Grunting, Katie lifted her legs and slammed them into the metal. Her boots thunked solidly against the doors. She twisted her head and strained to look forward. The men were still heatedly arguing and hadn’t heard her.

  Katie spotted a handle halfway up the door. Scooting down, after being tossed back and forth, Katie worked her way close enough so that her feet could perhaps reach the handle. Any escape was better than none. Katie tried to lift her legs. With the rope binding her ankles, she had to scoot closer in order to rest her butt against the doors. Was she tall enough to reach the handle with her feet? Sweat ran down into her eyes as she struggled to lift her legs. She blinked away the stinging perspiration. Elation soared through her. Her feet were able to touch the handle.

  Suddenly, the van lurched and Katie went flying to the left, slamming against the wall.

  The men in front screamed. Brakes shrieked. The van bobbled out of control.

  She smelled the burning brakes and was pinned against the wall. The vehicle whipped drunkenly then suddenly tipped, and in seconds, she felt the vehicle flying through the air. The crates tied to the other wall creaked and swayed. The smell of burning rubber filled the van. Katie was jerked and flipped up to the ceiling as the vehicle crashed to the earth. The roar and grate of the heavy van skidding violently seemed to go on forever. Katie then dropped to the floor. The vehicle rolled and landed on the driver’s side. Metal cracked and bent. Glass exploded inward, spraying thousands of shards into the van. It groaned and halted. There was sudden silence. Katie choked and coughed as black smoke rolled into the vehicle. Oh, God, the van’s on fire!

  * * *

  JOE BARELY HELD BACK a scream as the helicopter landed. The van had hit the strip and instantly gone airborne. It sailed off the highway and slammed into the earth. Soil and rock exploded into the air. The van flipped on the driver’s side and came to a grinding halt fifty feet off the road. The engine burst into flames.

  Joe jerked off his helmet and leaped out on the heels of Cade, who was running toward the fiery van. Digging the toes of his boots into the soft earth, Joe sprinted toward the rear of the vehicle. The rear doors had popped open, bent and twisted. Black smoke was rolling out. A huge wooden crate had fallen out, smashed, the contents strewn across the earth. Katie! Where is she? Breath tearing out of him, Joe ran as fast as he could. He saw Cade race to the front of the van, pistol drawn.

  Katie! No one had been positive she was in the van. She had to be!

  Skidding around the rear of the van, Joe couldn’t see a thing for the black smoke purling out of it.

  “Katie! Katie!” he yelled, crouching beneath the virulent smoke. His eyes watered as he inched forward. He hacked and coughed. He shoved his pistol into the holster and reached blindly into the van. His wildly searching hands struck a wooden crate. And then his fingers ran into material. A leg. It had to be Katie! Cursing, Joe hauled out a huge crate that was blocking the opening. He dove back into the thick smoke, his hands outstretched.

  There! He felt material, leg and boot once again. It had to be Katie! Joe’s hands ran into the ropes tied around her ankles. Get her out of here! Lunging forward, his hands following the line of her body, Joe found and gripped her shoulders. With superhuman strength, he jerked her upright and backward into his arms.

  Joe tumbled out of the vehicle. He landed with a thud a few feet outside the burning van. Katie’s unconscious body lay on top of him. Gasping for breath, coughing violently, Joe scrambled drunkenly to his feet. He scooped Katie back up and into his arms. The van could blow at any moment....

  He’d run fifty feet when the van exploded. A huge boom flattened the two of them. Joe landed on his side, taking the brunt of their fall. Katie was semiconscious as he broke her fall. As he got to his knees, he placed himself between her and the van. Katie was coming around, her eyes dull and confused. Cade and two other men, their hands up, were far enough away from the van not to be injured by the explosion. />
  Quickly, he untied the rag from Katie’s mouth. Her face was wan. With shaking hands, Joe untied her hands and feet. Katie moaned. Her eyes fluttered open, more focused and alert.

  Coming to her side, Joe slid his arm beneath her shoulders and lifted her into his arms. “Katie? Katie, it’s Joe. Are you all right? Talk to me....”

  Joe’s voice was low with urgency. Katie coughed violently and pressed her hands to her chest. She felt the strength of his arms around her. She realized her hands were miraculously no longer tied. And neither were her legs. The popping and crackling of a fire in the background got her attention. Looking up, she saw the van fully engulfed in a fire. Mouth dry, she turned and focused on Joe. His face was sweaty, black streaks across his brow and cheek. His eyes were filled with anxiety—for her. Reaching up, she touched his jaw. Never had she felt safer. Joe was holding her. She was no longer a prisoner. Sobbing once, Katie stretched her arms upward, sliding them around Joe’s shoulders. Joe drew her tightly against him.

  “It’s okay, Katie,” he whispered raggedly against her ear. “God, I love you, I love you. And I almost lost you...” He kissed her smoke-filled hair, her damp temple and rocked her in his arms.

  All of Katie’s fear dissolved in those moments as Joe pressed kiss after kiss against her hair and cheek. She surrendered to him, the gentle rocking motion soothing her terror. Other sounds impinged upon her. There was a helicopter nearby. Fire-engine sirens filled the smoky air. Lifting her chin, she felt Joe release her so she could look around. She tried to speak, managed to croak out, “How did you find me?”

  “We got a trace on your phone,” Joe told her, his voice raspy. He kept a hand on her shoulder, kneeling next to her as she slowly absorbed the hectic scene around them.

  Gulping unsteadily, Katie looked up at Joe. “I thought I was going to die, Joe. Thank God for my cell phone...” Hot tears began to trickle down her cheeks.