by DiAnn Mills
His attention turned to the curb. Kariss’s car sat right where she’d parked it after the funeral. He jogged to the vehicle. It was unlocked. No sign of a struggle. But how could he tell much in the dark? He hurried back to the garage for a flashlight.
Moments later, he aimed the light over the area. The grass next to her car had been beaten down, indicating multiple people had stood in the area.
His cell rang. “Tigo here.”
“I suggest you listen up,” a man said in Spanish. “Tenemos a tu amiga. If you want to make sure she stays alive, then do exactly what I tell you.”
Tigo scrutinized the vehicles parked around him. All looked like they belonged. A couple of teens played basketball. They might have seen something. “What do you want?”
“We’re willing to make an exchange.”
“What kind?” Tigo continued to scan the darkness. The Arroyos had spent too much time looking for Kariss and then letting her slip through their fingers to bargain with her life now. “Name your price.”
“You for her.”
“I’m ready.”
“We’ll stay in touch.”
Fear, such a formidable enemy.
Duct tape sealed her mouth. She tasted the rising nausea and prayed her stomach would stop its incessant churning. If she vomited, she’d surely choke to death. That would solve it all for the Arroyos.
Her arms were pinned behind her back, and rope dug into her wrists like needles searching for blood. Roaches skittered across the concrete floor, and other quickening clicks hinted at mice … or rats.
About twenty feet away, three Arroyos played cards and drank can after can of beer, the ping of each finished container echoing around her as if in time to the strum of a Spanish guitar. They talked about what they planned to do to her … Sickening revulsion twisted in her gut.
But the smell attacked her most — dank, musty, and filled with the heaviness of death.
She strained to study where they held her. But her eye was nearly swollen shut. Moving proved painful, and she surmised her right rib must be broken. Piled several feet beyond her were rows of pipe manufactured by Cardinal Ventures.
Even if she were able to free herself, she had no idea where they’d taken her. Some type of warehouse. She’d been shoved to the floorboard of the Lexus — so unlike a few days ago when Tigo and Ryan had ordered her to do the same.
How long before they were drunk enough to act upon their bravado? Or had they already been given their orders?
CHAPTER 55
Back inside his house, Tigo used his secured business cell phone to call Ryan. He quickly relayed what happened.
“I’m not sure when they nabbed her. Some kids across the street were playing basketball. Didn’t see a thing.”
“Have you contacted Linc?”
“Not yet. What do I tell him? I’ve gotten Kariss killed?” Tigo wiped his face. “Hey, I’m not being rational here. They want an exchange, and I’ll hear from them.”
“Tigo, you just buried your mother. I’ll call Linc. You contact Hershey.”
“Right. I have no way of knowing if I’m being watched, so if you don’t hear from me, take over.”
“Will do. We’ll find her. But you’re not making any kind of an exchange.”
Oh, yes, he would. “I’ll call you back in a few minutes.” Tigo ended the call. He walked through his house turning off the lights while he waited for Hershey to answer. But the gun dealer didn’t pick up.
Tigo texted him.
CALL ME ASAP.
He shook like an agent in training. Emotional overload.
Mom’s funeral.
Kariss kidnapped.
The knowledge of what the Arroyos would do to her.
Helpless to control any of it. His mother would have advised him to pray. So would Ryan and Linc. For that matter, even Kariss had given in to God. But Tigo’d been trained to track down criminals. Depending on something he couldn’t see made no sense.
His phone vibrated with a text from Hershey.
CAN’T TALK. W/CUSTOMER.
GET FREE. 911.
Tigo studied the outside darkness through the windows. Nothing moved that he could detect. Where would they have taken her? They’d better not touch her … But they would, and so much more.
His cell rang. Linc.
“We’re on this, Tigo. Got our best agents scouring the city.”
“I’m waiting to hear from Hershey. He’ll find out where she’s being held.”
“Don’t go out alone.”
Tigo understood what he meant. But not this time. If he got a lead, he was on it.
“Tigo. I know you. This isn’t the time to play hero. We all need to work together.”
Linc was right. “Okay. I’ll call the moment I hear a thing.” He slipped his phone back into his pocket.
No updates. No Hershey. And no idea where the Arroyos had taken Kariss. He wanted to leave, but where would he go?
Ten minutes later, his phone beeped with another text from Hershey.
CAN’T CALL. JUST TEXT.
ARROYOS HAVE KIDNAPPED WOMAN. U NO WHERE SHE IS?
I FIND OUT.
Tigo waited another thirty minutes. The Arroyos never wasted time, and they had a prize captive. His phone vibrated.
CAN’T LOCATE. LOOKING.
The Arroyos wanted Kariss and Tigo. There wouldn’t be any kind of exchange. Tigo had deceived them, and the Arroyos would make them both pay.
The door opened to the warehouse where Kariss was being held. Men’s voices filled her with terror. The time had come. She needed to be brave. God was with her. But the reassurance didn’t stop the fear of what would happen between now and when she saw the gates of heaven.
Two familiar faces walked into the shadowed room. First came Arnold Bates, dressed in jeans and an Astros baseball cap and carrying a gun. Walking beside him was Wyatt Phillips, who looked like he’d just come from work. Bates approached the men playing cards. Her ex-brother-in-law strode her way and bent beside her.
“You’re such a fool,” Wyatt said. “Now I’m getting even.” He ripped the duct tape off her mouth.
She gasped, the tape tearing across her face where she’d been struck before, seeping blood into her mouth. “You’ll never get away with this. The FBI is on to you.”
He laughed. “Don’t think so. I’ve covered my tracks.”
“You scum. You lied to Vicki,” Kariss said. “Everything you did was a ploy to keep your eyes on me.”
“I had good reasons. Bates offered me a job the same day I met you at the restaurant. He recognized you from the hospital. He knew I was ready to work for some big cash. He’d already done a background check and found out I was your ex-brother-in-law. Fit right into what they needed. Great luck, don’t you think?”
Bates walked toward them, and Wyatt stood.
“Wyatt, you’re stupid.” Kariss spit her words. “They came after you. Don’t you see that? Bates recognized me from the FBI office and put it all together.”
“Smart girl.” Bates chuckled. He reminded her of a neighbor.
Tigo had mentioned that very thing … “I was at the hospital during the firefight and got a good look at your face. Followed a hunch and paid a visit to the FBI. Never thought finding you could be so easy. Couldn’t have our largest buyer handicapped by an FBI arrest. Then I saw you with Wyatt at the restaurant, put two and two together, and everything fell into place.” He nodded smugly.
Kariss sensed anger flaring worse than the pain in her body. She glared at Wyatt. “They used you. You’re nothing to these men, and your greed is about to get you killed.”
He cursed. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I don’t? What good are you to Bates once I’m dead? Nothing but a witness to get rid of. I bet you haven’t even been paid.”
Bates aimed his gun at Wyatt. “She’s right. And a whole lot smarter than you are.”
“I followed your instructions. Did ever
ything you asked.” Wyatt took a step back. “How many other people would do that for you?”
“Plenty. You were used. Right down to getting that woman to follow her.” Bates sneered.
Kariss cringed. She despised Wyatt, but she didn’t want him dead. “You took me outside the home of an FBI agent. This place will be crawling with agents soon.”
“We’ve got it all figured out. Helps to have Cheeky’s know-how in the mix.”
“Let me help you.” Wyatt’s voice quivered. “I can do whatever you need.”
Bates shoved the gun into Wyatt’s forehead. “You’re a fool.” He looked at Wyatt as he pulled the trigger.
CHAPTER 56
Hershey called Tigo an hour later.
“Do you know where the Arroyos are holding the woman?”
“I have two locations. One’s at a warehouse near the ship channel, and the other’s a deserted building on the southeast side.”
“Let me have the addresses.” Tigo jotted them down. “What else do you know?”
Hershey sighed. “They’re using her to accomplish more than one thing.”
“What are you not telling me?” Was this about the exchange?
“They’ll know where this info’s coming from.”
Tigo swallowed his ire … and his rising desperation. “We can protect you.”
“Like Candy and Jo-Jack?”
“They made foolish mistakes. Tried to handle the situations on their own.”
“How much money is it worth to you?”
“Fifteen grand.” What the FBI couldn’t cover, he would.
“If this goes to court, I want protection and a new identity. My daughter too.”
“You got it.”
“Okay. You’ve asked about who ‘Bat’ is. It’s Peter Masterson. He’s been the Arroyos’ supplier for a long time. Lately he’s asked for more money, cutting into the Arroyos’ profit. Three years ago, he took on a partner by the name of Arnold Bates. This guy’s greedy. He plans to get rid of Masterson and take over the business.”
“How does this tie into the woman?”
“She’s the only one who can identify the Arroyo who was involved in a shooting, messing up Bates and Masterson and the Arroyos. They also want the FBI agent who’s gotten too close to their operation and killed a couple of their men. They said they’d exchange the woman for the agent, but plan to kill them both.”
“And blame it on Masterson?”
“You got it. Cheeky’s not stupid. He knows he’s taking a chance with this one, but he’s holding another ace.”
“What’s that?”
“He plans to leave the building and let Masterson handle the situation. They have a new supplier — cheaper than Bates and Masterson.”
“The Arroyos don’t need either man. Bates will be killed too.”
“Right.”
“Okay. We’re on it.”
Tigo phoned Linc and filled him in. Finally he had all the answers, and all the blanks held names. The part of him that thrived on strategic planning saw Bates, Masterson, Cheeky, and some of his key members at the same place.
“We’ll check out both addresses. In the meantime, you stay put and wait for your call.”
His cell phone sat in his hand like a bomb threatening to explode.
Kariss watched two of the Arroyos drag Wyatt’s body from the building, the agonizing swish fading into the back of her mind. His blood smeared a path to the door, a life wasted in greed. She’d never wanted him dead.
She begged the fog of terror to end, shivering in one breath and feeling the heat of the nightmare in the next. The waiting was the worst anticipation. Prayer … Yes, she must pray.
Bates claimed Tigo knew about their demands. Tigo would call Linc and together they’d devise a plan to rescue her. But not at the expense of Tigo’s life. No … she’d never agree to that.
A door creaked open and shut. Footsteps thudded against the cement and toward the faint light of the room. A tall, dark-haired man appeared in a suit. He swayed slightly.
“Masterson,” Bates said. “Wondered where you were.”
“Taking care of business.” He slurred his response. “Got the woman?”
“We do. Just waiting on you to call Tigo Harris. Cheeky’ll be here soon. You’re drunk.”
“No sweat. I see you took care of Phillips. Passed the boys outside.”
“Whined all the way to the end.” Bates sneered at Kariss. “Your sister is better off.” His words sounded as though he’d done nothing more than applied brakes at a stoplight.
Her gaze trailed after the blood path. “What happened to Xavier Olvera?”
“Cheeky put him to work.” He laughed. “He finally found his wife. Delores is in charge of the mules.”
So he’d be forced to transport guns or drugs across the border. But he was alive. “What of his child?”
“The boy? Don’t know where she has him. But it will be a while before she lets Xavier have visitation. Got to earn his keep first.”
Kariss’s thoughts raced. Xavier’s search had ended. He’d do whatever was asked of him to see his child. Today it might be transporting illegal goods. Tomorrow it might be stealing. What about the future? Would he resort to murder or gang initiation to have his son? She didn’t have an answer. Neither did she want one.
“You’ll see him again,” Bates said. “He’s fond of you. So we’re giving him an opportunity to prove his loyalty.”
She swallowed the acid rising in her stomach. No point in asking what he meant. Tigo … did he have any idea where they held her or what they planned?
No one had mentioned the identity of the new gun supplier. But Cheeky wouldn’t tell Bates and Masterson. All of them had different agendas, but each of them wanted her and Tigo dead.
How horrible if they forced Xavier to pull the trigger.
CHAPTER 57
Tigo received the call from an Arroyo shortly after midnight with instructions to drive to Greenspoint Mall alone and unarmed.
“No more games. You’re our man, Tigo. Once we have you, we’ll let the woman go.”
Fat chance of them freeing Kariss. “All right.”
“Any signs of cops or agents, and the deal is off and both of you are dead.”
“I got it.”
“You have thirty minutes.”
Tigo called Linc. “Greenspoint in thirty minutes.”
“You’re wearing a tracker?”
“Got it in a metal button on my shirt. And I’ll have my phone until Cheeky takes it.”
“The cowboy’s hot tonight.”
Tigo blew out a sigh. “And I need you hot on my rear.”
His mind sped faster than his truck as he headed south on I-45 to Greenspoint Mall from his home in Spring. Given the time of night, few would be around. And those lurking in the area weren’t likely to be upstanding citizens. But Linc had that worked out.
He pulled off the exit ramp and his phone rang.
“Change of plans,” the man said. “Drive to the airport.”
Tigo didn’t like the fact more people could be hurt. “What terminal?”
“I’ll let you know when you get closer.”
The call ended, and he set his phone beside him. It rang again. Linc.
“We’re trailing you. Both addresses that Hershey gave you were deserted.”
“I’ll call him again.”
“No need. Ryan’s on it.”
“Maybe Hershey transposed a number. He’s done that before.”
When the call ended, Tigo checked his mirrors. He didn’t pick up a tail, but both agents and Arroyos had him in their sights. Once he exited for the airport, another call instructed him to drive to Terminal B.
Another call had him change course and approach Terminal C.
The last call sent him into the parking garage of Terminal C, third level.
He drove by empty vehicles. Where was backup? His tracker showed every move.
His cell rang again.
/> “Stop at the end of this row and get out. Arms up.”
Tigo did as he was told. The garage was devoid of people. A Yukon pulled up alongside him, and two Arroyos jumped out. The driver lowered his window.
“Pat him down. Take his phone. Look for a wire,” the driver said in Spanish.
“Is the woman with you?” Tigo stalled for time.
The driver snorted. “Right.” He lifted his chin toward the men. “Find anything?”
One held up his phone.
“Behave yourself and you might see your lady friend. Get him in back.”
One of the men tied Tigo’s hands behind him and opened the rear of the Yukon. The second man gagged him.
“I like his shirt,” the first one said.
“Take it,” said the other. “Él no lo necesita.”
Kariss’s back ached from sitting on the concrete floor. Her eye and head throbbed, and her wrists and ankles stung. Exhaustion crept through her mind, but each time she drifted toward sleep, Wyatt’s murder jarred her back to reality.
For the first time, she understood what she’d heard all of her life. Although she wanted desperately to live and she refused to give up, she also understood that living with Jesus meant no more sorrow. No more guilt about failing Nikki. She thought of the little girl … Had Kariss really failed or was it the little girl’s time to live in heaven? If Kariss survived this, she’d pursue it. If she didn’t make it, the problem no longer existed. And for the first time since the fire, peace filled her. How strange when she was at the mercy of a gang.
Cheeky had joined Bates and Masterson — the three men whose criminal activities Tigo had worked so hard to end. Soon they would have him as well. She shoved away the despicable things they’d do to him. She’d read about the torture … and the beheadings.
He’d have called Ryan and Linc for help. Yes, she had to hold fast to that thought. The FBI was equipped to stop what the three men planned.
Her prayers seemed futile when no one knew where she was being held.
