“The sooner the better. He tried to have Elena killed. He’s probably in the process of destroying all evidence, if he hasn’t already. And if he does have the hostages, we may be too late.” Stryker sighed heavily.
“Elena, Anya is in the dining room. She’s anxious to see you. We’ll handle things from here.” Phantom stood, and the other men in the room joined him.
Elena folded her arms over her chest. “You’re dismissing me? I want to see this through to the end. I’m just as much invested in this as any of you.”
“You’ve done an amazing job getting this information to us. It’s our job to clean things up. It’s what we do.” Phantom held out his hand to help her stand. She stared at it for a few moments, struggling with her warring emotions. Finally, she slid her hand into his and felt the familiar warmth and excitement she always felt when touching him.
He pulled her to her feet and she stood close to him, breathing in his scent. “Thank you, wildflower. Promise me we’ll talk again soon. Promise me this isn’t the end of us.”
Her heart and mind raced. Could she trust him? Should she? “I promise.”
* * *
“I agree with your assessment, Phantom. Get the sheriff engaged immediately and search Franklin’s ranch,” Admiral Haslett said over the speakerphone in the conference room. “You know how hostile the situation can be if he does have the hostages and tries to use them as bargaining chips. I’m headed your way. I want to be there when you take this bastard down.”
“Buzz is pulling up any information he can on Jonas Franklin. He’s also trying to find any dark web communication about the Puppet Master that may point to Jonas as the leader,” Santo said. “I intend to reach out to Judge O’Connor in the morning. Knowing Jonas has visited her frequently doesn’t sit well with me.”
“It seems pretty fucking peculiar if you ask me. You’ve already talked to her about what you’re investigating. She’s holding back on you, Santo. Something needs to be done about that.”
“Yes, sir.”
They ended the call and Phantom dialed the sheriff. Sheriff Verduzco answered his cell phone on the second ring, his voice tense and tired. Phantom quickly told him what they knew and that they needed to move on Jonas’s place immediately.
“Jonas? Jonas Franklin? Is this some type of joke? I’ve known the guy for at least ten years. Hell, we go fishing and hunting together all the time. Are you trying to tell me this all ties back to the mess we found at the Bells’ home? Their door is smashed to hell, neighbors are reporting multiple gunshots, and there’s blood all over the apartment Elena rents from them. I’ve got a lot of people asking a lot of questions. And you think Jonas is behind all this? It doesn’t make any sense.”
“Are you with us or not, Sheriff? We’re going to be at his door in thirty minutes, with or without you.” Phantom’s tone indicated he would brook no arguments.
“Son of a bitch. Yes. I’ll be there. Give me a little more time, though. I need to get a warrant from the judge.”
“Let me call her,” Santo said. “You’ll have your warrant ready by the time you get to his gate.”
“We need to know the layout of his place so we don’t get taken by surprise. He could have armed guards for all we know.” Stryker frowned.
Phantom didn’t want to put Elena through any further questioning. He knew, though, that she was critical to the success of their mission. He nodded. “I’ll go get her.”
Anya and Elena were silent as they sat close together in the dining room. Anya held Elena’s hand clasped tightly on top of the table, and they sipped slowly on steaming cups of coffee. Both looked exhausted and numb. Phantom wished he could take away all the hurt Elena had gone through.
“Elena?” She jumped at the sound of his voice as if coming out of a stupor.
She turned her head toward him, her expressive eyes giving away her emotions. He expected her to be sad or upset, but she looked more frustrated and irritated than anything. “I thought you would have already left by now.”
“We’re about to. But we need your help. We need to map out Jonas’s location so we don’t go in there blind. Will you help us with that? Buzz is pulling up satellite imaging of the place right now.”
She stood slowly. “Why don’t you just take me with you? I can tell you where everything is as we go.”
Phantom shook his head. “Not going to happen. I won’t put you at risk for this. Will you help us or not?”
“I’ll do whatever I can to help bring this madness to an end. He’s evil—absolute evil—and he must be stopped.”
Phantom nodded. “Good. Join us up in the conference room? You can mark out the details of his location based on the images Buzz pulls up. We need to move quickly.”
She nodded firmly. He placed his hand at the small of her back and guided her toward the stairs. She didn’t try to pull away from him, which he took as a good sign. “Elena, I need you to know I didn’t lie to you. This is the only thing I kept from you.”
“It’s a pretty big thing to keep secret.”
“You understand why I had to, don’t you? You understand the need for me to keep it a secret, right?” Phantom stared at her and slowly reached up, hooking an unruly lock of hair behind her ear. “Elena, I’ve wanted you for a very long time. You know that. But I was afraid of keeping this secret from you. I was afraid that—if the time ever came—you wouldn’t be able to forgive me. Tell me that I’m wrong. Tell me that none of this matters. Because it sure as hell doesn’t matter to me.”
Her eyes glossed with tears, and he saw her lower lip tremble.
“Don’t cry, Elena. Please…I need you, however I can have you. But…I can understand if you can’t forgive me for this.”
“F-forgive you? I might have led Jonas directly to you by coming here tonight. Not only did I put your cover in jeopardy, but I’ve put you and your entire team at risk by my actions.”
She sighed heavily, then much to his surprise, she ran her hand through his hair and laid her palm against his face. “I’m not angry at you for not telling me about your real job. I’m angry that you made me part of your cover. That I became this-this piece of your fitting in. I’m in love with you, Phantom. And I know you aren’t in love with me, and I never expected you to be. But to know that the whole thing was fake—”
His breath rushed out of him. She still loved him. He wanted to shout to the world with joy. He didn’t know what had transpired in her mind to convince her to still love him, but he was grateful for it. He pulled her into a tight embrace, burying his face against her neck. “I’ll never get tired of hearing you say that. I wish we had some time alone so we could talk some more,” he murmured, slowly pulling back from her. “But we have to go after Jonas.”
She gave him a weak smile. “I know. It’s what you do.”
Chapter 23
“How could you let this happen?” The Congressman could feel his blood pressure beginning to climb dangerously high.
“It seemed like we had an ironclad plan. We knew they were watching us for the last few days, but we thought the tunnels were a stroke of genius and would throw them off track, at least temporarily.” Jonas sighed heavily.
“Obviously, your plan failed. They couldn’t have known about your involvement while in Mexico, though. How did they discover it was you on our side of the border?” The Congressman took a long swig of his Texas Hill Country moonshine. Residing in Washington, DC, he liked to be reminded of his home state in every way possible.
“A woman, sir. She gained access to my computer, and unfortunately, I hadn’t wiped out the video sent to me by Barbados and had saved some of the pictures and documentation in a folder she went through. I never expected her to be a liability.”
“How the hell did she gain access to your computer?”
“It-it was my fault. I showed her the new design I had created, an
d—”
“I trusted you. I thought you would be discreet about this entire thing, that you would take care of all the details. Obviously, I placed my trust in the wrong man.”
“I don’t know if she’s gone to the authorities. Everything I’ve done has been precautionary. I sent a man after her and he claims he wounded her, but she shot him, so I don’t know how severe her injuries are. I doubt she’ll attempt to go to the law, though. My man should have shaken her up enough to know better. I have guards stationed at the house, the barn, and the holding facility. If she tries to bring in the law, we’re ready.”
“It’s not a matter of if, but when. You never should have let her get away! Can you move the hostages out tonight? I can make arrangements for a place to keep them in San Antonio.” The Congressman drummed his fingers on the desk in front of him. This entire operation had turned into one colossal clusterfuck. He needed to salvage everything he could. Regardless, the trafficking ring was destroyed. His second string of illegal money taken out in less than three months. His business lines in Mexico and Central and South America were bleeding out, hemorrhaging with the loss of funds, and he had to stop it immediately.
“I’ll contact the transporter. It will be difficult, but it isn’t impossible.”
“Nothing is impossible with the right amount of money. Make it happen. This sale must happen in San Antonio this weekend. I already have buyers lined up and ready.”
“I’ll make it happen,” Jonas said confidently.
“See that you do. Once this is all over, we’ll discuss where you fit in the structure of things going forward.”
“Sir, I hope you understand this is all sheer luck on their part. They never would have known—”
“You fucked up, Jonas. You need to own the mistakes that you made. Take care of the situation tonight, and we’ll discuss things further after this weekend is over.”
“Yes, sir,” Jonas replied, gripping the phone tightly, attempting to control his temper. He knew he had made a mistake with Elena. But he never would have guessed the team in Mexico would have been so prepared to track their tunnels and search for them like hounds chasing a scent.
“Jonas?”
“Yes, sir?”
“Don’t disappoint me again.”
* * *
Sheriff Verduzco met them a mile from Jonas’s ranch, after their evaluation of the layout indicated the high probability he had security cameras in place. As promised, Santo had the warrant from Judge O’Connor. The sheriff didn’t ask how they’d achieved the warrant so quickly and with only Elena’s testimony to go on.
Benicio Davila, the drug lord, had come to Hebbronville a couple of months ago to seek revenge against the people who had taken down his drug cartel. Anya had been pulled into the fray, and ultimately, Admiral Haslett had determined that having Sheriff Verduzco aware of their undercover role would prove helpful.
The sheriff, a former marine, had taken the responsibility seriously. He promised he would do anything and everything he could to help the team, especially keeping their true purpose in Hebbronville a secret. He’d helped them clean up the incident with Benicio and supported them with any information that came across his desk and lifted any red flags.
“I know you wouldn’t bring me this information without good reason. I’m just struggling with the idea that I’ve been friends with such a horrific criminal for so many years,” Sheriff Verduzco said with a heavy sigh.
“He’s been building his business strategically for years,” Phantom said. “Buzz dug into his background. He came to Texas about thirty years ago, buying up large amounts of land quickly. Soon he became known in town as a prominent new figure and started leasing out portions of his land for hunters. It’s all been a cover as he developed his human trafficking ring in Mexico.”
“You mean to tell me he’s been doing this for thirty years?”
“Actively for the last twenty. The first ten he spent building his network. Unfortunately, his connections are not only here in Texas, but elsewhere within the United States. We’re still trying to pinpoint where.” Buzz seemed frustrated not to have more information than he already had.
“I’m here to support you however possible.” The sheriff looked over the team, all in full tactical gear, and scratched his forehead. “I’m not sure I’m as prepared as you are, though.”
Stryker grinned and clapped a hand on Verduzco’s shoulder. “We need you to lie low for us on this one. If you can, keep guard at the gate to identify any vehicles that might get away from us, though we don’t expect that to happen.”
“Do you think the hostages are here?”
“We didn’t have enough time to backtrack the satellite images to see if the trailers came here.” Phantom looked up the road in the direction of Jonas’s ranch. “If they aren’t here, we’re hoping we’ll find evidence of where they’ve been taken. We need to move quickly.”
Verduzco nodded. “I’ll keep watch at the gate.”
Santo stepped forward and handed him one of the wireless communication devices they used when engaged on a mission. “You’ll be able to listen in as we take the place. We can hear you, too, so if you see anyone heading our way, we’d appreciate an alert.”
Verduzco took the device and placed it in his ear. “You don’t need someone to show you the layout of his place?”
“Elena told us everything.” Phantom began to turn away, but Verduzco grabbed him by the arm.
“Is she okay? There was a lot of blood at her place.”
“She’s shaken up, but her injuries are minor. She’s at our place, so she’s safe no matter what happens here.” Phantom extended his hand to the sheriff, and he shook it. “Thank you for asking. I appreciate you looking out for her.”
“She’s one of the good ones. I’ve known her ever since she first arrived here, and she’s made this town a better place just by being here.”
Phantom swallowed hard and nodded. “She is one of the good ones.” He pushed Elena from his mind for the time being, needing to concentrate entirely on what lay ahead. “We’re going into the ranch on foot from here. Too much of a chance of security cameras and being sighted.”
Verduzco nodded solemnly, and the SEALs turned as a unit and began jogging toward the ranch. They paused several hundred feet from the gate and crouched in the high grass, each of them searching their surroundings. Using their night-vision optics, they scanned for any cameras.
“Directly over the south corner post,” Brusco said.
“Buzz, what are our options?” Phantom saw the small camera affixed to the top of the corner post and continued to scan the surrounding areas for any other threats to their breach.
“It’s a high-powered camera, but it won’t be able to see us beyond a certain radius. We need to give a fifty-foot cut to avoid it, and we should be clear to move forward from there. If we had more time I could disable it, but we can’t disrupt the feed without risking discovery.”
“I don’t see any other cameras. No sign of security guards either,” Santo said.
“Santo, Brusco, and Lobo, join me on the left flank. Stryker, Snap, and Buzz, take the right.” Phantom nodded to each man as he spoke their name.
The team split apart, blending into the night in their dark attire and gear. They moved silently, quickly cutting the fence far out of view from the camera and moved onto Jonas’s ranch. The ranch house was the first structure they would encounter, based on the information Elena had provided them, and they grouped back together as they approached the home.
“Two guards. One at the front door and another at the window on the right side of the home. Both armed with semiautomatics,” Snap relayed to the team.
“We need to take them alive if possible. Santo, you with me?” Phantom looked at his friend.
“Always. I’ll take the guy at the front door.”
Phantom and Santo advanced as the team kept watch, their guns trained on the two guards, prepared to take them down if anything went wrong. Phantom crept to the side of the house, moving like the apparition that had earned him his moniker. The guard stood poised with his semiautomatic, slowly turning his head from side to side as he scanned the area for activity. Phantom waited until the guard’s head had turned away from him and slid up behind him. The man’s soft grunt of surprise was the only sound as Phantom disarmed him and knocked him unconscious.
Santo came from around the corner of the house just as Phantom eased the guard’s body to the ground and secured his hands and feet with zip ties. “Move in,” Phantom said softly over the coms, and the team advanced as planned, half heading for the rear of the home and the others for the front.
The hinges for the front door were on the exterior, making it perfect for Snap to attach explosive cutting tape. Lobo spoke over the coms from the rear of the house, informing them that they had set ECT on the hinges of the back door. The fuses were set and they all stepped back a handful of feet. “Engage.” As on all missions, Phantom’s senses were on high alert. He knew that breaching an enemy’s location could be the most dangerous point.
The explosives went off and the door flew off its hinges. Still using their night-vision optics, the team advanced into the house, forming a semicircle with their backs to each other to cover every possible scenario. At the front of the home, Santo stayed on the porch, watching the surrounding area to make sure no one approached after the sound of the explosions, and Brusco did the same at the rear.
“Clear,” Snap said after sweeping the kitchen and dining room.
“Clear,” Buzz said after sweeping the living room.
Phantom gestured to the team coming in from the rear of the house to take the hallway to their left while he, Snap, and Buzz advanced down the hallway to the right. Snap checked the first room they came to, a simple bedroom, and cleared it quickly. Two more small bedrooms later, they only had the room at the end of the hall to face.
A SEAL Always Wins Page 24
