“You can’t beat yourself up over something you couldn’t control,” Razor pointed out.
How many times had she told herself that?
“Anyway,” she went on, “after she graduated, she moved into an apartment with some of her friends and got different jobs. I was with the DEA by then, so it was hard to keep an eye on her. Not that she wanted me to do it, anyway. I visited when I could, but…” She shook her head. “College was never for her so she just went from one job to another, trying to quote unquote find herself. Trying to figure out what to do with her life. She finally got hired as the evening shift hostess at a high-ticket restaurant in downtown Tampa.”
She paused to take a swallow of coffee, organizing her thoughts.
“She loved it because the rich men flirted with her and, even though hostesses don’t usually get tipped, many of them found ways to slip her money.”
“Don’t get pissed off,” he said, “but I have to ask you this. Was she performing any extra services for them?”
The question made her stomach knot.
“I have no idea, and to tell the truth, I didn’t want to know.”
Hearing herself say it made her uncomfortable. Had she failed her sister? Florida had never said one way or the other, and Arizona chose not to ask. Looking back, she knew she should have pushed harder to find out what was going on with her sister. Tried to play a larger role in her life, but she’d been using her energy to get her own life organized, and Florida’s irresponsible attitude reminded her so much of their mother’s. She wasn’t sure she could deal with it.
She operated on the theory that the less she knew the better, although she always hoped Florida hadn’t fallen into that trap. She’d seen too many women who did that used up and thrown away. After way too many arguments she’d decided the less she knew about her sister’s personal life the better. Only after she found out about Luca Vasquez did Arizona realize what a stupid decision that was.
But Razor didn’t appear to censure her for that. He sat there, his full attention on her, his gaze with those midnight-black eyes focused entirely on her face.
“Okay. Go on.”
She took another sip of coffee, mostly to wet her mouth, which had gone dry.
“I didn’t know anything about Vasquez until Florida called me one night to tell me a very rich gentleman was taking her out to dinner and she was sure she’d found her ticket to the gravy train. Florida was too much like our parents, always looking for the fast buck and a quick trip to the pot of gold. When she told me his name, I decided to check him out. We were busy with a multi-state operation at the time and but I knew if Vasquez was dirty they’d have info on him.”
“And they did,” Razor guessed.
“More than I wanted to know. When I showed it to my boss, that’s when I learned the DEA had been receiving hints about Vasquez from informants and we were beginning to check him out.”
“Tell me what you learned. Who is Vasquez, and what kind of operation? Tex only gave me sketchy details.”
“Luca Vasquez is a unique person. Usually cartels are very possessive and jealously guard people who work for them or are part of their process. Somehow Vasquez has developed relationships with half a dozen of them and become sort of a central distributor. He distributes tons of cocaine and heroin to several counties in Central Florida and gets a fat cut from each cartel.”
“I know enough about the drug business from missions we’ve been on to be aware it’s very unusual for a distributor to work for more than one organization.” Razor frowned. “How long has he been operating like this?”
Arizona snorted. “Too long. That’s because he’s very clever, very good at what he does, and pays off the right people. But more about that later. I tried to tell my sister she was getting into big, big trouble, but she was dazzled by his money, his big house, the gifts he gave her. She wanted that kind of life, and he wanted a pretty woman on his arm who didn’t give him shit about anything.”
“If she’s smart she’d know how to manipulate that into just what she wanted.”
Arizona shook her head. “If only. She also didn’t tell him about me, which was easy since by then we hardly saw each other And of course we had different last names. Told me she thought it would “set him off.” That he had a thing for the government. That it would be better all around if we kept our contact to infrequent phone calls, which she would initiate. I should have done something then, but I couldn’t figure out what. Walking into Vasquez’s house and dragging her out would only have made trouble for everyone.”
“I agree. What happened next?”
“A couple of years after Ruby was born, apparently things turned bad. Florida began reaching out to me, infrequently but more than she had before. She never told me a lot about what was going on but the little she shared set my teeth on edge. Oh, she still had the money and all the other stuff, but he became very proprietary about Ruby. Possessive, almost. By that time Florida had been with him long enough to get an inkling, even for her, that something with her husband was not quite kosher.”
“Did she give you any real details?”
Arizona gripped her mug, forcing back the fear that had been riding with her since that first call this morning.
“Not much. We had two brief phone conversations recently that gave me a clue things were getting worse. Then the call today telling me that she’d left him, had of course taken Ruby with her, and they were hiding in a motel. Could I please come get her.” She paused to take a breath.
Razor tossed back the last of his coffee. “He either had a trace on her cell or a tracker on her car. Maybe both. If he’s what you say he is, that would be normal for him.”
“Her car wasn’t at the hotel. I didn’t think about it at the time, but maybe she drove it somewhere and took a cab from there.”
“And Vasquez would have bribed or beaten people to get that information. My team worked an operation in Venezuela with the DEA. It wasn’t as big as the joint operation when we took down Pablo Escobar, but the head of the cartel carried a lot of power and had wide distribution. I hate those motherfuckers. They destroy people’s lives for power and money. I’m here to do whatever needs to be done to get your niece away from them.”
For the first time since Florida’s first phone call, Arizona allowed herself to draw a full breath. She couldn’t help her sister anymore, but she could save Ruby and bring her to live with her. And she knew this man who radiated energy and strength and power was the one who would be able to help her do that.
Thank you, Tex. I owe you big time for this.
“Thank you. We just have to figure out where to start. It’s not like I can walk up to Vasquez’s front door and ask to see my sister and niece. Florida always kept our relationship hidden from her husband. Being related to a DEA agent wouldn’t set well with her husband, and she didn’t want to bring down his wrath on her. Although I got the sense that at the end things were not quite as smooth as she was used to.”
Razor snorted. “I promise you he knew all about you, who you are, everything. He wouldn’t marry a woman without checking her out.”
“But we have different last names,” she pointed out. “How would he even know to check?”
“People like Vasquez can find out anything. At some point you showed up on his radar. You can bet on it. Something tripped the switch for him.”
“That’s not all.” She drained he last of her coffee. “The DEA is planning a sweep of Luca Vasquez and his operation. The target date is ten days from now. I was on the team, but thank the lord my team leader let me off the hook to take care of this.”
“You’ve got an understanding boss,” Razor told her. “Smart, too. He doesn’t want your mind distracted by anything while this is happening.”
“You’re right,” Arizona agreed. “The important thing is to get Ruby away from Vasquez before then. I worry that when he finds out about Florida—and that’s sure to happen any minute now—he’ll send her away wi
th one of his people. I have to get her, Razor. I can’t leave her with that man. And it’s a nearly impossible situation. His house is gated and guarded, and I promise you he has armed men present at all times.”
“Understood. We’ll make it happen. That’s why I’m here.” He grinned. “That’s what SEALs do.” He stared at his coffee mug for a moment. “The first thing we need to do is scope out his house. Let’s assume for the moment she’s still there. That’s the most logical thing, so I need to get everything about it fixed in my mind. I never invade without full knowledge of the target.”
She stared at him. “Invade Vasquez’s stronghold?”
“If your niece is still there, you want to grab her up, right?”
“Well, yes.” She wet her lips. “But just how are only two people going to go up against whoever is there? I’m sure Vasquez keeps a team of his men around at all times.”
“Agreed, but I’ve had worse odds. Once we have all the information we can assess the situation. If it’s doable you can leave the planning to me. If it’s not, we’ll look at other options.”
“He won’t be expecting me,” she told him. “My anonymity might work in our favor and give us other options.”
“Not necessarily. Keep in mind,” he added, “like I said before, it’s a good bet he knows about you by now. And if he does, the first thing he’ll want to do is make sure you can’t get to Ruby. He’ll have a target on you, wanting to get you out of the way and not complicate his life. So, we have to look at all options.”
Her jaw dropped. “You think he’ll come after me?”
Razor nodded. “Oh, not himself. Like all the dealers, he’ll have someone do it for him. But he won’t want the complication of having you around and a possible enemy. That means that while we’re planning and executing this mission, we have to do it in a way that assures your safety.”
Her jaw dropped. “That’s absurd! You think you need to protect an experienced DEA agent?”
“Everyone needs protection at some time in their lives. DEA agent or not, if he thinks you should be gone, he’ll tell someone to take you out. You can’t have eyes in all directions at once.”
“But—”
He held up a hand. “Are you telling me no DEA agent has ever been killed before? Or that you aren’t trained to watch each other’s backs?”
She opened her mouth to say something, closed it, swallowed, and tried again.
“True. We are. But this is different.”
He quirked an eyebrow. “In what way, exactly?”
She tried to find a reasonable answer, but nothing came to her.
“You asked Tex to find someone to help you,” he reminded her,” obviously because you knew you couldn’t do this by yourself. Right?”
She nodded.
“And because you knew you were going up against a very dangerous man,” he continued.
“Agreed.”
He locked his gaze with hers. “Arizona, I know you are probably an expert marksman and can take care of yourself in dangerous situations. But if Luca Vasquez is going to shoot anyone, you’d be at the top of his list. He’ll obviously kill who he has to in order to keep his daughter. So, let me do my job. Okay? It won’t do Ruby any good if you get killed while we’re trying to save her.”
She swallowed again then nodded. “As long as you promise me one thing.”
“What’s that?”
“If it comes to a choice of saving Ruby or saving me, promise you’ll protect her. Please swear to that.”
“I will make sure that Ruby is safe,” he assured her, “but I am also going to protect you. I’m not going to let him or his thugs kill either of you, and you can count on that.”
She actually found her lips curving in a hint of a grin.
“You think you’re a real badass, don’t you.”
He laughed. I am a badass. It goes with being a SEAL.”
She sighed. “Okay. I won’t argue with you. But I’m going to do everything to protect myself, too.”
“As I’d expect. Now. Let’s get out there and scope out his house. You can bet keeping your niece away from you is a top priority for him, so he’ll want her to have good protection.”
“Right, but I’m also worried he might hide her with friends until he gets me off his case. Or, as you said, gets rid of her. The police have found Florida’s body by now. They’ll pay a visit to Vasquez, but I don’t know if they’ll look for me. They’d have to dig deep to find the connection since we had different last names.”
“Vasquez might turn them onto you,” Razor pointed out, “to get the heat off himself. Tell them you were jealous of her. That the two of you had a fight, and you killed her.”
She stared at him. “But that’s absurd. We don’t even know for sure that he knows about me.”
“Think about it,” he told her. “He’s no dummy, like I said before. And based on what you told me, your relationship with Florida has been strained to say the least. He could think up a million reasons to fabricate about why you might lure her to that motel and kill her.”
Arizona blew out a breath, trying to push away the shock of the point he’d made.
“What if they can’t find me?”
“And where will you be, except trying to find and kidnap your niece? You have to stop at your place sooner or later. And if they can’t find you, that will make them look more than twice in your direction.”
She rubbed her forehead. “I’m fucked.”
“No, you’re not. We’re going to figure this out, but we have to be smart. We have to at all times remember Vasquez is trying to dump this load on you and that if he has to he’ll kill you himself and claim you were trying to kidnap his daughter after you killed his wife.”
Arizona drew a deep breath and let it out. “Okay, then let’s go scope out Vasquez’s house and see if we can spot Ruby. That’s at least a starting place. Then we need to check other places I know of where he might hide her.”
“Like where?”
“Maybe with one of his trusted lieutenants. I have the list of them from the DEA plan. And we can’t waste time. I’m not sure if he’s gotten wind of the upcoming takedown, but if he has, he might also try to use Ruby as a bargaining chip.”
Razor stood and carried his empty mug to the sink, rinsed it, and stuck in the dishwasher.
A man who cleans up after himself. Good.
Although what difference that made in this situation she had no idea. God! She’d prided herself on her self-control, especially where relationships were concerned, focusing mostly on her job and looking at anything else as recreation. Her parents had set such a poor example for her with the recklessness of relationships that she wasn’t sure she even wanted anything beyond the most casual.
And she’d never—never!—had this kind of connection to anyone, especially after just one night. She needed to get this under control. Ruby, she reminded herself. Focus on Ruby.
“Arizona?”
Razor’s voice brought her back to the present.
Great, she thought. Now my mind is wandering. She blinked. “Yes?”
“Where did you disappear to?”
“I’m sorry.” She wanted to kick her own ass. “I mentioned Ruby’s name, and my mind wandered.”
“I was saying that I agree with your theory. I think he’d keep her in the area, if not at his house, then with someone he had complete confidence in.”
“He has a couple of people like that,” Arizona told him. “They’re on the task force list, so I have their addresses.”
“Then let’s get on our recon job.” He paused. “I’d say the better part of reason dictates we use your car. I love the Ducati, but it is an attention-getter.”
“Ya think? We’ll just keep it in the garage unless we need it. Come on. I’ll show you the house that drugs built.”
Chapter 4
Luca Vasquez stood at the big window in his den. Behind him stood Octavio Ruiz, his top lieutenant, who had just finished givi
ng him a report.
“You could have just brought her back here,” Vasquez told him. “Those were my original orders.”
“Understood. But the situation got out of hand.”
Vasquez turned to look at him. “You mean the men you sent into the motel panicked.”
Octavio looked as if he’d rather be anywhere else. “You said to follow her and stop her from whatever she had in mind. She started to fight the men. Javier panicked and shot her.”
“And made an incredible mess of things. At a time when I can least afford it.” He shook his head. “They should have brought the body back here. I could have disposed of it and made up some plausible story to explain her disappearance. Why did you not stop them?”
“That would have called undue attention to the situation. They already had Ruby in the car, and Javier was afraid someone from the motel had heard and would come to investigate. They didn’t, but he was worried they would. I stayed across the street for a long while afterward just to make sure so I could report to you.”
There was strain in the man’s voice, but Vasquez knew he had done his best. Sometimes situations just got out of hand and you had to deal with them. But why now? Florida could not have chosen a worse time to run away and precipitate this.
“How soon after that did the sister show up?” Vasquez asked.
“About twenty minutes. She wasn’t in the room that long. If she’s on the team planning the raid, she would not have wanted to get involved in a police investigation.”
Vasquez was silent for a long moment. “Perhaps we can turn that to our advantage. So. You waited and watched until the cops got there?”
“Yes. Just as I told you, I was parked in the strip center across the street. It gave me a very good view of the motel and the door to the room. I waited after the men had left with your daughter to see if some showed up or anyone from the motel, like the maid, came to the room.”
Protecting Arizona (Special Forces: Operation Alpha) Page 4
