by Christi Snow
The man walked up to Penelope and looked her up and down. “You’ve caused poor Thomas a fair amount of trouble my dear.” He waited for a response.
Since she was pretty sure ‘Fuck You’ wasn’t going to go over well so she simply said, “I’m sorry. That was never my intention.”
He nodded and sat down in a plush leather chair, the only piece of furniture in the room. He had his elbows propped on the armrests and his fingers were steepled so that she could read the ‘PURE RULE’ tattoos on his knuckles. He wore his suit with a relaxed elegance, although the tattoos peeking out around his open collar belied the professional look. He was attractive, but had cold, soulless eyes.
He watched her for several uncomfortable minutes before finally saying, “But now we’re faced with a conundrum. You have my book. I have two prisoners and an operation going to hell faster than we can say ‘Texas ranch’. Do you have any ideas as to what we can do about this situation we find ourselves in here?”
She didn’t know how to respond to that so she just remained silent and watched him.
He turned his glare to Thomas and pulled a gun out of his pocket. Penelope couldn’t stop the gasp that escaped her lips at the sight of the weapon. A cold shiver snaked down her spine.
Thomas said, “Now wait a minute. Let’s not over-react. This is all fixable.”
“You think I’m over-reacting? Maybe I should just shoot her now for all the trouble she’s caused.”
He pointed the gun at her, but Thomas stepped in front of her. “You don’t want to do that. We can still get the book back and we can’t recover it if she’s dead.”
“You make a good point, so I think I’ll kill you instead.” He turned the gun on Thomas and then shot him point-blank in the head.
Penelope flinched violently as she watched Thomas’s body collapse. She was covered in his brain matter and gore. She stared down at his body in open-mouthed horror. Thomas was dead and somehow she’d been the cause of it. He had been a friend. And now he was dead at her feet. She dry-heaved, but having thrown up already, there was nothing left to come up.
The sobs shook her body. She was hysterical and knew that, but it was like watching herself through a television. She couldn’t stop.
The boss stood and took the two steps to get close enough to her to backhand her across her face. Her head snapped to the side and her face was on fire, but the hit did its job. She was refocused.
He started laughing as he told the remaining two men something in Spanish. They took hold of her arms and dragged her back to the basement.
This time they left her at the top of the stairs before they took her light and locked the door behind. She slowly felt her way down the stairs. Movement from below told her Damon was searching for her in the dark. “Penelope, are you okay? I heard a gunshot.”
Okay? Her stomach continued to roll and her legs were a quivering mass of jelly. She had parts of what used to be Thomas clinging to her. No, she was definitely not okay. But she didn’t need Damon to know that. “I’m okay. Stay back from the bottom of the stairs so I don’t fall over you.” Her voice sounded hollow and weak to her own ears. She was sure she wasn’t fooling Damon.
Finally she reached the bottom step, just as her legs gave out below her. She sunk to the ground and tried to gain control of her sporadic breathing. Damon inched up beside her and leaned into her trying to comfort her as best he could with his hands behind his back. “Shh, I’m so sorry, Penelope. You shouldn’t be here. I’m sorry.”
She reached up to him and gave a hysterical laugh as the ridiculousness of the situation hit her. “It’s not your fault. I’m here because of a book.”
“A book?” He sounded confused.
“I know.” Her laughter morphed into hiccupping sobs. “I don’t understand it either.”
“What was the gunshot?”
“Oh, just the boss killing Thomas because of this whole mess. His brains are all over my shirt. Did you know I used to date him? And now his brain is all over my shirt.” She shook and sobbed uncontrollably.
He curled his torso around her further. “Don’t think about it. Maybe someone heard the shot and will come investigate.”
She shook her head and slowly her brain began to function again. “I don’t think so. We’re at the far edge of the Martin ranch. They don’t come over here this time of year and I’m pretty sure we’re too far away from the main house for them to have heard it.”
“Did you find out what’s going on?”
“Yes.” She gave a hysterical sounding giggle, “Oh my God. All of this. Thomas is dead. Hannah and Aaron, too. All because I took a book out of the bookstore. From what I understand it’s a book that they’re using to transport information to the various branches of the Mexican Mafia.”
“Where’s the book now?”
“It’s in the saddlebag on Colt’s motorcycle.” She shivered at the thought of the unexpected danger she’d put him in. “I can’t let them know that though. I won’t endanger Colt’s life.”
“Penelope, trust Colton. He can take care of himself and maybe save you too. Just do what these guys say and let Colton figure out the rest. That may be the only way you survive this.”
Trust Colton. That’s what everything boiled down to, didn’t it?
Chapter 37
Gone without a trace. How many people disappeared like that every year and their friends and family never found out what happened? To never know if they were dead or alive.
Never. Know.
The thought scared him to his very soul.
It had been three hours since he found out she was missing. Three hours that felt like three years. Every minute another section of his heart died.
He paced around the reading nook of the bookstore, trying to work through his aggression. They were all still at the bookstore, waiting for some word that never seemed to come. An hour ago, the group decided it was better to stay away from him and let him prowl the bookstore on his own. He didn’t know what to do and it was driving him fucking nuts. So he paced and held his cell phone, waiting for it to ring. Someone needed to call. He needed to know. Something. Anything.
He stared down at it, willing it to ring. He’d been doing that for so long, it actually startled him when it did ring. He fumbled it trying to hit the ‘answer’ button. His heart went into hyper-drive, but he finally managed to hit the right fucking button. “Robertson here.”
“Colton, this is Bart. Is your girl still missing?”
“Yes, why?”
“Where are you?”
“Raider Readers on 19th Street.”
His voice was terse when he spoke. “I’ll tell you when I get there. I’ll be there in ten.”
Colton hung up the phone and continued to stare at it until Chris interrupted his reverie. “Who was that?”
“Bart Matthews. It sounds like he may have some information about Pen’s disappearance.”
“Bart from Homeland Security?”
Colton nodded mutely.
“Damn, what the hell is going on here?”
“I sure wish I knew the answer to that.”
Before either of them could contemplate it further, Colton’s phone rang again. “Robertson.”
“Mr. Robertson. You have something I want and I have something you want. I propose an exchange.”
His gut clenched. This was it. Finally, something was happening. He scrambled over to the register where he’d stashed his notepad and pen. “I’m not discussing anything with you until I talk to Penelope.” He heard some mumbling as the phone was passed.
“Colton?” Her trembling voice knocked the wind out of him and he just wanted to drop to the floor in thanks. Up until this moment, he really hadn’t been sure that she was even still alive.
“Pen, are you okay?”
“I’m fine, but Colt, I need you to listen to me very carefully.”
“Okay.”
“They need a book. It’s the book I use for my emergency reading, c
alled The Gift of Serendipity.” He tried to focus on her words and not the shakiness of her voice. Just in case, he wrote everything she was saying down.
“Remember? I had it at your mom’s house when I was reading on her porch with Bart. I left it there. It’s on her bottom shelf. I’m pretty sure I shelved it by Celeste DeMarco’s book, Acapulco Embrace and your Air Force manuals. I love…”
Her voice trailed off as the phone was taken away from her and the male voice was back. “You have three hours to locate the book. We’ll meet you for the exchange at mile marker 341 on Hwy. 19 at 9:00. Don’t be late and come alone, or else your girlfriend will be dead.”
The line went dead and Colton’s brain started scrambling. Pen was giving him a message. His girl was smart. She’d started the message by talking about his mom’s house so he’d know it was all in code. There was no way for her kidnappers to know that his mother was dead. He just had to figure out what it all meant and quickly. Luckily, Bart walked in while he talked to her. Everyone gathered around and now they all looked at him with anticipation.
He looked first at Bart. “This definitely involves you or your office. She named you specifically. They’re demanding an exchange. Her for a book. I’m supposed to meet them in three hours at mile marker 341 on Hwy 19. She told me how to find the book in code although I know exactly where it is. Let me repeat what she said so you all can help me figure out what she’s saying.”
After he repeated the message word for word, they all looked at him puzzled. To Alix, Colton directed, “Go get her book that she mentioned and we’ll see what we can figure from that.”
Then he turned to Jake. “The book they want is in my motorcycle. I need Cassie to take you to my apartment to pick up my motorcycle. The book is in the left saddlebag. Drive the motorcycle back here, but before you do, pull the gloves out of that saddlebag, doing your best to hide the book in between them just in case someone’s watching. Slide it into your coat pocket and put on the gloves.”
As they left, he returned his attention back to the message. “Okay, everything about reading on my mom’s porch is a message since my mom’s dead and Pen knows that.” He looked at Bart. “We know Bart is you. That means she wants you involved and to know what’s going on. Maybe you should tell us what brought you over here.”
“Mainly it was just a gut feeling that this is all tied together. Our intel is telling us that one of the higher leaders in the Mexican Mafia is in the area. My office was called in on an investigation into a murder of one of Penelope’s employees. Signs are that she was tied to the MM. Honestly, I’m hoping we can find your girl and that will lead me to this leader so we can shut him down.”
“Question for you…”
“Shoot.”
“What is your intel showing the MM is doing here?”
“The normal for them: drug-running, human trafficking, and there have been some rumblings of weapons smuggling.”
Colton nodded. “That’s what I thought. I think that’s exactly what Pen is trying to tell us with the book. Acapulco’s Embrace means Mexico or the MM. Obviously this book they’re looking for means something. She also mentioned the Air Force. Could the MM be involved with something to do with the Air Force?” He turned his questioning glance toward Bart.
Bart frowned, obviously thinking it through. “Maybe something to do with Dyess Air Force Base in Abilene? Let me get some guys on it.” Bart made a call on his cell phone and relayed a message to someone within his chain of command.
Chris chimed in, “What if somehow they’re sending coordinates for their exchanges through the books? GPS coordinates, times, dates…things like that which could be hidden in the data on the front pages of a book or even a code somehow throughout the text.”
“That would make sense.” Colton tapped his pen on the paper. “That just leaves the porch and bottom shelf. What were you trying to tell me, Penelope?”
A thought occurred to him. He looked back toward Bart who had been on and off the phone with his people ever since he arrived. “Does your office have access to drones in the area?”
Bart cocked an eyebrow and looked around at the group, most without top-secret clearance, listening to their exchange before looking back at Colton. “I’m not really at liberty to say.”
“Good enough. I think I may know where they are.” He woke up the computer sitting at the register and with a few keystrokes found the online maps he wanted. “There’s an abandoned farmhouse, here.” He pointed at the coordinates on the screen. “I think she’s being held here. There’s no reason for anyone to be out there this time of the year. Pen told me they don’t use that side of the ranch until fall and it’s a long way away from the main part of the ranch. If you see people moving around out here, I’d lay odds those are the MM boys you’re looking for.”
“Okay, I’ll get them to check it out.” Bart got on the phone and called his men to relay the information.
By this time, Jake and Cassie arrived back at the store. Jake handed Colton the book out of his jacket. Colton barely glanced at it and immediately went to the bookshelves to find another book the same size. He brought them both back to Bart. “This is what they’re after. There’s information in here somewhere vital to the operations of the MM. Take it and get this cover onto this other book so that I have something to trade for Penelope. I hope it doesn’t come to that, but it might and we need to be ready. Your people have one hour to get it done and back here to me.”
Pen just needed to hang on a little bit longer. They were going to get her out of this safely. He had to believe that. The alternative wasn’t acceptable.
* * *
An hour later and a plan began to come together. Surveillance showed someone was definitely holed up at the old farmhouse. The assumption was they were Mexican Mafia. The Department of Homeland Security with cooperation from the Texas Rangers planned to raid the house. Because the eldest of the Martin boys, Andrew, was a Texas Ranger, they were using the Martin ranch as their command post and were all congregating there now.
Unfortunately for Penelope’s friends, they only allowed Colton to join them. None of them had been happy about that, particularly Chris and Jake, but he’d promised to call as soon as he had Penelope safely in his arms.
Colton now found himself in the midst of a team, not his own. Not knowing their individual strengths and weaknesses, but having to trust them with his life and more importantly, Penelope’s. The thought terrified him.
As he looked around the room, he tried to take measure of each man, including Andrew Martin. He’d been the only Martin family member Colton didn’t get to meet the day he and Penelope came out riding. Colton could see the anger simmering underneath the man’s calm veneer. He was not happy that trouble like this had found its way onto his family’s ranch. Colton could tell that he was worried about Penelope. Unfortunately, his brother, Thomas, had also mysteriously disappeared, but he remained cool and collected despite everything. In fact, all the Martin men were handling the pressure of the evening remarkably well.
Curiously, the only man from the Martin ranch who seemed negatively affected by the evening’s events was their ranch-hand, Ethan. From across the room, Colton could see the man sweating profusely. He shifted from side to side as his gaze darted around watching the agents in the room. When he met Colton’s gaze, he stopped fidgeting and looked away. The kid was obviously nervous. He probably should mention it to Bart. He was wound so tight, it would be way too easy for him to end up dead.
There were approximately twenty agents in the room from both the Texas Rangers and DHS. All of them were wearing body armor and various types of weaponry. Because of their intimate knowledge of the homestead and the surrounding terrain, Michael Martin and his boys were also included in the planning although they were given strict orders to stay in the back, away from the action.
A command post had been set up to monitor and control their communications. Each person wore an earpiece so they were all informed about wh
at was going down with up to the second information coming to them from the crew monitoring the situation with a drone from above.
They were moving in to assault the old homestead with a mix of off-road vehicles, 4-wheelers and horses although the last half mile would be done entirely on foot so they didn’t alert anyone they were coming.
Colton’s special status in regards to this situation meant he’d be tied to Bart’s side for the raid. He wasn’t happy that he wasn’t going to be the one to reach Penelope first. But he knew the importance of remaining detached during a mission, something he was just not capable of doing at this point, so he respected Bart’s decision. He just didn’t have to like it.
He glanced down at his watch again and tried to tamp down the surge of impatience. While these guys went over and over the details of the plan, they were getting closer and closer to the MM deadline. At this rate, Penelope wouldn’t even be at the homestead by the time they got there. And knowing the brutal violence of the MM, if the raid went down after Penelope left, they would be signing her death warrant. No matter what information was in the book, they would see the raid as a sign of her betrayal. That would be a final act and she would die a torturous death.
Finally, he couldn’t stand it any longer. He turned to Bart. “We need to go.”
“Relax, Colton. We’re almost ready.”
Colton clenched his jaw in an effort to not argue. If he did, he’d increase his chances of not being there at all when Penelope needed him. He would do anything at this point to make sure she stayed safe. He was the only one on this team that he knew he could count on to make her life the priority.
After an interminable amount of time, they were finally on the move. They drove within a half mile of the homestead and then moved in on foot quickly through the rough terrain. The night concealed their approach as they moved swiftly toward the house.
Interspersed chatter of the forward teams crackled through his earpiece as they slowly picked off the ten men standing guard around the house. “One down. Two down. Three down.” Until finally all ten were down without any apparent problems. Now they were just waiting for the final ‘Go’ command.
