Hidden Prey

by Cheyenne McCray

  Landon took a few precious moments to move in a crouch to the bedroom. Tori waited in the corner behind the door.

  “Are you all right?” he asked her over the gunfire.

  “Y-yes.” She sounded terrified.

  “Stay down,” he spoke in a firm but calm tone, trying to keep her from panicking. “Be ready to leave when I come back and get you.”

  “I will.” Her voice trembled as she said the two words.

  He moved back to the living room to see the door riddled with holes and a concentration of firepower directed at the doorknob and lock.

  The gunfire stopped and, in the next moment, a man slammed the door open with his body. Men charged inside. Light from the lone streetlight spilled into the room through the open doorway and Landon could see the men coming through.

  He picked off the first man with a single bullet to the forehead. From behind the door, O’Donnell had rolled onto his side and he shot the next man. A third man had made it through and swung his weapon around to fire at O’Donnell, but Landon put the gunman down.

  Landon swung his Colt toward the door again. Reinforcements had better arrive soon.

  Shots were fired from the kitchen. More men came from that direction and Landon hoped Johnson would be able to hold them off.

  Landon remained on one knee beside the couch. From his vantage point, he could see the doorway to the kitchen as well as the front.

  Sirens now sounded in the distance. Landon prayed the men in blue from BPD would arrive in a hurry.

  More shots from the kitchen and another man came through the front door, spraying bullets as he charged in.

  Landon ducked back behind the couch until the gunfire paused. He rose up from behind the couch and shot at the gunman. The man twisted to the side just as Landon fired and the bullet hit the man in the arm instead of the chest. The gunman dropped his weapon and ducked behind a chair.

  At the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, FLETC, Landon had been one of the best sharpshooters and he rarely missed. Unfortunately, this was one of those rare times. Landon dared a glimpse around the side of the couch, to see the man peeking out. Landon got off several shots but he didn’t know if he’d hit the man.

  A loud crash, the sound of shattering glass, and Tori’s scream came from the bedroom.

  Landon turned and bolted down the hallway, peered around the corner, and saw a man had come through Tori’s bedroom window. The blinds lay on the floor and broken glass glittered on the carpet. Moonlight now streamed through the window and exposed the gunman.

  The man raised his gun and took aim at Tori, who froze in place near the door.

  Landon analyzed the scene in one blink and fired at the gunman in the next blink, hitting him solidly center mass. The man dropped to the floor and Landon kicked away the weapon. The man’s body spasmed and blood leaked out of his mouth. Then his eyes simply stared up at the dark ceiling.

  Everything went quiet in the house save for approaching sirens.

  Landon swung his gaze from the dead man to Tori. “Are you hurt?”

  She couldn’t seem to take her eyes off the dead man. “I’m okay.” Her voice shook. “Do you think they’re gone?”

  Emergency personnel cut sirens and tires screeched to a stop outside. Landon glanced to the window where flashing blue and red lights could be seen through the blinds. “I don’t know if these bastards are all gone or dead, but it sounds like backup has arrived.”

  Footsteps pounded on the front porch. Shouts of “Police!” came from the front and the back.

  O’Donnell called out, “We’re federal agents.”

  “Put down your weapons and raise your hands.” Lieutenant Liam Marks’ hard voice came from the living room. “We’ll check your creds. Until we do, don’t make a move.”

  “They’re with me, Marks.” Landon held his hands up so he wouldn’t get shot as he stood in the hallway and looked into the living room lit only by flashlights.

  “Damn, Walker.” Marks motioned to his men to stand down and holstered his weapon. “What the hell happened here?”

  “Long story.” Landon lowered his hands. “This was a safe house.”

  Marks looked over the wreckage and the bodies. His officers were checking pulses and confiscating weapons. “Some safe house.”

  Landon noticed the Jimenez Cartel tattoo on the exposed left wrists of a couple of the men’s bodies. No doubt most, if not all, of them had it.

  Another officer stood on the threshold of the open front door. “Paramedics are pulling up right now.”

  “Johnson,” Landon shouted when he didn’t see the agent.

  “One of the bastards shot me in the leg.” Johnson sounded pissed off more than hurt as he spoke from the direction of the kitchen.

  “Shit.” Landon growled the word. “I’ll be right in.” He couldn’t leave Tori alone.

  “Don’t worry about me,” Johnson called out. “The BPD boys have it under control.”

  A police officer stepped from the kitchen into the living room. “An ambulance will be here any moment for Agent Johnson.”

  More sirens shrieked in the distance.

  The power came back on and light flooded the house. Marks tucked his flashlight back into a loop on his utility belt.

  Landon nodded behind him, signaling to Tori to come out.

  She followed him into the living room and Marks glanced at her in surprise. “I didn’t realize you’re the protected witness in this place.”

  Tori nodded but said nothing. The sheen of fear hadn’t left her expression.

  “It’s all right.” Landon met her gaze. “The cavalry’s here. We’ll get you someplace safe.”

  She visibly shuddered. “I thought I’d be safe in a safe house.”

  “You should have been.” Landon frowned as he turned back to Marks.

  “Who the hell is after her?” Marks asked.

  Landon moved closer to Marks and Tori followed. “The Jimenez Cartel.”

  “Jesus.” Marks’ expression hardened. “How’d they find her?”

  “I have an idea.” Landon narrowed his gaze. “And I intend to find out if I’m right.” He pulled out his cell phone and turned to Marks. “Can you stay with Tori for a few moments while I make this call?” When he turned back to Tori he said, “Don’t move from this spot.”

  “I’ll make sure she doesn’t.” Marks stepped closer to Tori.

  Landon gave her a reassuring look. “You’re safe now and I’m going to make sure you stay that way.”

  Tori gave him a slight nod. He turned away and walked out of range of being overheard by anyone. He pressed the speed dial number for the RAC, Sofia Aguilar.

  “Sofia, all hell broke loose at the safe house.” Landon clenched his phone as Aguilar answered. “Somehow, Jimenez’s men found her.”

  “Is our witness all right?”

  “Ms. Cox is fine.” Landon thought about how close Tori had come to being shot. “She’s scared but safe. For now.”

  Landon watched as paramedics rushed to wheel a gurney into the kitchen. “The bastards hit Johnson. He has a gunshot wound to the leg.”

  “God damn it.” Aguilar’s voice went even harder. “How is he?”

  Landon glanced toward the kitchen. “I’ll check with the paramedics and report back to you.”

  “I’ll be in contact with his family and get them to the hospital once he’s there.” By the tone of her voice, Aguilar’s temper had shot sky-high. “How did Jimenez’s men find her? You’re certain they were his men?”

  “Yes.” Landon’s own anger hadn’t diminished. “I haven’t checked all the bodies, but I saw the cartel’s tattoo on two of them.”

  “Tell me what the hell happened.” As Aguilar spoke, paramedics rushed in the front door. A BPD officer directed them to the kitchen to take care of Johnson.

  “Not a lot to tell. One minute everything is fine and the next the cartel is coming down on us.” Landon shifted the phone to his other ear and told he
r his theories of how the cartel may have found them. “I need two clean vehicles with agents you trust.”

  Aguilar paused before responding. “I trust all our agents, but I’ll handpick who is sent to you. We’ll have the vehicles swept and I’ll also send two SUVs to get her to another safe house somewhere in the county. One of the agents will have the address.”

  “We need to make sure the vehicles are never left unguarded from the outside.” Landon still couldn’t believe they’d been found so easily. “We’ll leave as soon as they arrive.”

  “It will be taken care of,” she said. “Call me if there are any other developments. In the meantime I’ll call the ASAC.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” Landon disconnected the call as Aguilar no doubt hung up to dial the Assistant Special Agent in Charge in Phoenix to update him.

  Landon glanced at Tori who worried her lower lip with her teeth. “You doing all right?”

  She shrugged, but it was not a casual movement. “I’m okay,” she said once again.

  Landon didn’t believe her for a second.

  O’Donnell moved close to Tori, Marks, and Landon. The agent had a few minor abrasions on his face and hands, likely from being close to the wall when the bullets had been slamming through wood and drywall.

  “Thanks for staying with Tori.” Landon turned to Marks. “O’Donnell can take over from here.”

  “Any time you need help, call.” Marks’ expression grew even more concerned when he returned his attention to Tori. “Be careful.”

  She rubbed her arms with both her palms. “I will.”

  As Marks left, Landon spoke to O’Donnell. “Don’t let her out of your sight and don’t take her out of the house.”

  O’Donnell shook his head. “Wouldn’t dream of it.”

  Landon turned and headed for the kitchen. When he moved inside, he saw paramedics lifting Johnson onto a stretcher. Blood soaked his right pant leg. Paramedics had placed an oxygen mask over his nose and mouth and hooked him up to two IVs.

  “How is he?” Landon asked one of the paramedics.

  “Agent Johnson lost a lot of blood and there’s no exit wound so the bullet is still inside,” she responded. “But he’s stable. We’ll get him to the hospital.”

  A big, powerfully built man, Johnson still managed to appear tough, but he did seem exhausted.

  Landon went to him and placed his hand on Johnson’s arm. “You’re going to be fine.”

  Johnson gave a thumbs-up before closing his eyes.

  * * *

  Tori thought her heartbeat would never slow, but it finally did. As she looked around her at the devastation, her gut twisted and she felt sick. So many dead bodies with limbs at unnatural angles and wide, sightless eyes. Blood splattered on the walls and in puddles on the floor.

  With a small cry, she clapped her hand over her mouth and ran for the bathroom. She dropped to her knees in front of the toilet and her stomach heaved. Everything came up. She vomited and vomited until nothing was left. She vaguely realized someone held her hair back, away from her face.

  When she raised her head, Landon stood beside her and let her hair slide from his hand. As he handed her a wet washcloth, she felt a moment’s embarrassment that he’d seen her throw up.

  She wiped her lips with the cloth as she rose and flushed the toilet. She went to the sink where she washed her hands then tried to rinse the acidic taste out of her mouth. Her eyes were red and watering and her face flushed. She splashed cold water over her face and used a hand towel to dry off.

  Landon rested his hand on her shoulder as she composed herself. “Thank you.”

  He brushed hair away from her cheek. She turned and started to walk into the hall, but he stopped her. “You don’t have to go out there.”

  “I’ll be fine. I just got a little sick.” She tucked her hair behind both ears. “I don’t have anything left to throw up anyway.” She still had the awful taste in her mouth. “But I could use a drink of water.”

  Landon turned to O’Donnell. “Would you mind getting bottled water out of the fridge? I’ll take Tori into one of the bedrooms where it will be quiet.”

  “Sure thing.”

  Landon escorted Tori to the master bedroom in the back. Thankful no bodies were there, she sat on the edge of the bed. O’Donnell showed up with a bottle of water for her and one for Landon.

  Gratefully, she drank the water. The buzz and hum of voices and activity faded away as her thoughts narrowed in on what had happened. Jimenez’s men had found her and had come to kill her. For the second time in as many days, she’d come close to losing her life.

  She closed her eyes, trying to block everything out. Instead, she heard the shouts of men breaking into the house, cries of men dying, a man coming through her window and aiming his gun at her.

  Oh, God. She couldn’t believe all of this was happening.

  Her eyes popped open and she thought she might be sick again. She swallowed. Her hands shook as she took another drink of water and tried to calm her thoughts.

  “We’re ready to go.” Landon touched her arm and she started and glanced up at him. O’Donnell stood behind him. “We have another safe house to take you to. This won’t happen again.”

  They walked through the living room, dodging crime scene personnel. Tori did her best to not look around her at the bodies or the blood.

  The surrealness of the scene made her feel as if she were in a waking nightmare that might never end.

  Just as they reached the front door, two black SUVs with dark-tinted windows pulled up in the driveway. Agents climbed out of the vehicles and circled the SUVs while three came to the front door.

  In the next moment, agents surrounded her, dwarfing her. They swept her toward the vehicles and before she knew it she sat inside on the bench seat in the back, Landon on one side of her and an agent sitting on her other side. Another agent sat in the front passenger seat as the driver climbed in. The SUV had been kept running.

  Once again they drove in circles through Bisbee to make sure they weren’t being followed. Instead of staying in Bisbee, they headed toward Sierra Vista. When Tori had first arrived in Bisbee, she wouldn’t have believed she’d be traveling back through the Mule Pass Tunnel so soon, this time running from a drug cartel.

  For the first time since they’d been attacked tonight, Tori thought of Gregory. She knew deep inside something bad had happened to him and the thought made her ill. If she had thought of him sooner…

  Her eyes widened as another thought hit her. She turned to Landon, trying to keep panic out of her voice. “My parents. We need to check on them.”

  “I already called.” Landon put his hand on hers and gave a reassuring squeeze. “The agents on duty said your parents are fine and there has been no sign of anything out of the ordinary.”

  Tori let out a long, slow breath. “Thank you.”

  He squeezed her hand one more time. “Everything will be fine. I promise.”

  She wished she could believe him, she really did. She had a hard time believing anything would ever be fine again.

  Chapter 12

  Diego clenched the cell phone, straightening in his office chair. His voice grew cold as he spoke with one of his underlings in Arizona. The man should have erased the problem. “Tell me again how you failed me.”

  “I am the only one who survived.” Carlos’ voice wavered. “Everyone else—killed by the American agents.”

  “Why are you alive?” Diego let ice into his tone. “You ran like a dog.”

  Carlos sounded as if he might piss himself. “I needed to report to you.”

  “You needed to eliminate the woman.” Diego held back his fury. “I wish to speak with Alejandro.”

  The tremble in Carlos’ voice clearly made it difficult for him to get the words out of his mouth. “Yes, sir.”

  Alejandro came on the line. “Pablo and John called just now. They know where Tori Cox’s mother and father are and they have both the woman’s and her boyfriend
’s computers. If we need any more information then we should be able to find it there.”

  “Good.” Diego leaned back in the padded leather office chair. “Make sure you send men who will not fail this time.”

  “I will, Father.” Alejandro never showed weakness, which pleased Diego greatly. “What do you want me to do with Carlos?”

  Diego did not hesitate. “Shoot him.”

  A moment later he heard Carlos begging for his life, then a single shot.

  Alejandro came back on the line. “It is done.”

  “Good.” Diego drew in a long breath then let it out. “Have his body dealt with and send men to take care of the woman’s family. Have the mother and father held hostage until we get the woman.”

  “It will be taken care of, Father. We still have the tracker on her phone.”

  Diego disconnected the call and set the cell phone on his desk. He clenched his jaws tight and reined in his emotions. He did not lose control. This temporary problem would be dealt with, with swift finality.

  A knock on the doorframe had Diego peering in the direction of the door. His granddaughter stood there and she appeared confused. He mentally cursed himself for not making sure he had locked the door so she would not hear anything she should not.

  He put on a smile for her. “How is my angel?”

  She smiled back. “Maria brought dresses for me to try on when I am Quinceañera. You said you wish to approve of the dress I am to wear.”

  “Of course.” He pushed back his chair and left the encrypted cell phone on the desk. He kept his personal mobile in his pocket. The encrypted cell phone had more security.

  Angelina waited for him to reach the doorway, then linked her arm through his. “She has them in my bedroom. You can wait in my sitting room and I will model them for you.”

  Diego patted his granddaughter’s hand. “I am looking forward to seeing you in the dresses.”

  They walked together to Angelina’s bedroom suite in the wing on the opposite side of his home. He preferred her as far as possible from where he held his business dealings. When they reached her sitting room, he sat back in one of the richly upholstered chairs.