Protecting Arizona (Special Forces: Operation Alpha)

by Holt, Desiree

  “Do you think it’s possible your wife gone to have meet her without telling you? Especially if there was bad blood between them?”

  “If Florida had not had anything to do with her for so long then I’d say something is wrong there. So yes, she’s the one I’d take a long, hard look at. Have you picked her up?”

  “That’s all we can share at this time.” Trainor gave him a look Vasquez was sure could see right into his soul. “We’d like to interview your staff here.”

  “And perhaps speak to your daughter,” Burnell added.

  “I have already told the staff to expect this, but I forbid you to speak to my daughter. She—”

  “But your wife may have mentioned to her where she was going.”

  Vasquez glared at him. “She has no idea why my wife left the house or for what purpose. I have already asked her myself. She is too traumatized to answer any questions. I cannot believe your insensitivity.”

  “We apologize,” Burnell said. “We do want to solve the murder of your wife as soon as possible. I’m sure you want that, too.”

  “Of course, but you still cannot speak with my daughter.”

  The two men exchanged a look.

  “Fine,” Trainor said at last. “Let’s see what your staff has to say.”

  * * *

  They were still lying in bed when Arizona’s cell phone buzzed. She grabbed it off the nightstand to check the screen.

  “It’s my boss.” She pressed Talk. “Hey. What’s up? Anything new? We’re still locked up in my house tighter than a drum and not accomplishing a thing.”

  Well, that’s not really true! We definitely accomplished something.

  “What’s up is we have a huge problem and we need to move up the raid.”

  “What?” Arizona sat straight up in bed, ignoring the fact the sheet fell to her waist and left her breasts exposed. Sex was the last thing on her mind right now. “Why? What happened?”

  “It seems we have a snitch in our office.”

  “Holy shit! Are you kidding?”

  Razor touched her shoulder. “Bad news?”

  She nodded and raised a finger to signify wait one minute.

  “How do you know? How did you find out?”

  Joaquin’s voice when he answered was expressionless, a very bad sign.

  “We had another meeting today to discuss whether to execute the raid before or after your sister’s funeral. Trying to figure what Vasquez would do and when he would be most distracted.”

  “And?” she prompted.

  “Nora walked into the ladies’ room shortly after and caught Diane on a cell phone talking to someone. Telling them about the meeting.”

  Nora was the other female agent on the team. Diane was their office secretary and privy to most of the details of their actions.

  Holy fuck! This is bad.

  “Why would she do that?”

  “It took a while to get it out of her,” Joaquin answered, “but she finally broke down. Vasquez kidnapped her son and is holding him prisoner, promising to let him go only if she gave them details of what the team was doing.”

  “B-But they won’t hold him indefinitely,” Arizona protested.

  “They had a sense something was up, and when she told them about the planned raid, they promised to let him go after it happened if she gave them enough warning to get rid of the goods.”

  Arizona made a sound of disgust.

  “You know they’ll never let him go.”

  “We both know that but it was all the hope she had.”

  Arizona wanted to throw something. No, she wanted to lock Vasquez in a room and dismember him one limb at a time. Slowly, painfully.

  “So, now what?”

  “We told her to tell him the raid has been postponed until next week…only we moved it up to tonight.”

  “Tonight!” Holy shit again.

  “Uh huh. We need to strike before he can hide his merchandise. We need to catch it on his premises. If we’re right, they’ve already started hiding it in the next group of motor homes slated for delivery. The team is being prepped right now. I need to get back to them, but here is what I want you to do. Get Razor next to you so I can talk to you both.”

  When the call was finished, Arizona hung up and stared at the man next to her.

  “Do you think this will work?”

  “About as much as anything else. But we have to give it a shot. If this all works, with the raid going down, it will be our best chance for you to get Ruby.”

  “Then let’s make sure it happens.”

  He cupped her face in his large hands and gave her a long, deep kiss, his tongue caressing hers, his breath warming her skin. She felt it in every pore of her body, just as she felt the absence when he broke the contact.

  “Just remember to do exactly as I tell you,” he said. “I have every confidence in your ability and your smarts, but this fucker wants you dead, and I want you alive. I plan to keep you that way.

  “Okay.” She was slightly breathless. “I just hope to hell it all works.”

  “It will.” He brushed his mouth over hers one last time. “The raid starts in one hour. Let’s get ready so we can time everything together.”

  By the time nine o’clock rolled around, they were both dressed in dark clothes, hair concealed in black watch caps, their faces darkened with black greasepaint.

  “I hope to hell none of my neighbors spot us and have a heart attack,” she told Razor.

  “Or worse yet, shoot us. Peek through the front blinds and see if that car is still down the way.”

  Because of the way her street curved, she could see a good distance past her house.

  “It’s not there. Do you think they’ve left?”

  “Not a chance. Vasquez probably told them to move the car every so often so they don’t rouse anyone’s suspicions. But you can bet they keep exchanging teams, and I know they leave one man on foot, hiding somewhere, to monitor what goes on here.”

  “I thought maybe they’d try to get into the house, idiots that they are.”

  Razor shook his head. “Vasquez wants you gone with a hint of what happened. A break-in or your body would set the cops on a whole new line of investigation. Remember, he told you his friend at the sheriff’s office said they questioned him about you, and he acted like he’d never heard of you.”

  “Liar,” she spat.

  “We know that. But you can bet he wants to get rid of you and make your body disappear so the cops can’t find you alive and question you. That’s his only hope. So let’s make sure that doesn’t happen.”

  “Gotcha.”

  Arizona started toward the door into the garage when she felt Razor’s hand on her shoulder.

  “Keep this in mind. I never forgot our night together. Best sex I’ve ever had with the best woman I’ve ever met, even if I didn’t know your name at the time. Today only reinforced that. When this is over, we’re discussing the future.”

  She smiled. “Got it. So let’s get this done.”

  In the garage, they opened the door in the back wall that led into a long tool shed that had come with the property. By the time they reached the far exit, they only had to slither along the fence shielded by the thick hedge she’d planted to get to the house behind her and next street. Lucky for them her rear neighbor also had thick hedges that provided excellent concealment.

  Joaquin had promised to have a car waiting there for them. He couldn’t spare an agent, but the keys would be in a magnetized box by the front left tire. Arizona reached the street first and spotted the car at the curb.

  “I’ll get the keys,” she whispered to Razor, “but you be ready for anything.”

  She had just crouched by the front left tire when a car roared around the corner, headlights off, and pulled up beside her. A man jumped out of the passenger side and tried to grab her, but she whirled and kneed him in the balls. By that time Razor was there, his Glock out and pressed to the man’s neck. The driver, apparently
assessing the situation, took off in a hurry.

  Arizona turned and glared at the man. “Guess your friend didn’t want to stay around to help.”

  The man said nothing, just glared at her with hatred in his eyes.

  With the gun still pressed to the man’s head, Razor reach ed into his pocket and drew out zip ties.

  Arizona looked at them and raised an eyebrow. “You always carry those things with you?”

  “Never leave home without them. Here. Grab his hands. When you’re done let’s throw him in the car and head for where your boss told us to wait. We can stick this piece of crap in the closet until they’re ready for him.”

  “Works for me.” He grinned, his teeth very white in the black greasepaint. “You drive. I’ll ride shotgun. Let’s roll.”

  He was in the front passenger seat, his Glock in his hand as they pulled away from the curb. They reached the stop sign at the end of the street and were waiting to turn right when a car came screeching at them from the left and smashed into them on the driver’s side. Arizona felt the jolt through her entire body even as she tried to wrestle with the wheel. The car skidded sideways as the vehicle that hit them kept pushing.

  Razor pushed her down sideways on the seat, leaned over her and, in one swift movement, fired his Glock through the shattered window. Three times. Bam. Bam, bam.

  The other car stopped moving. Arizona felt Razor release her seat belt, brush away glass from her jacket, and tug her out of the car. Lights began to illuminate porches, and front doors were opening.

  “We have to get away from here.” Razor began moving along the sidewalk with Arizona propped against his side. “Are you okay?”

  “I can move,” she mumbled, “and I’m not dead. What about the guy in the back seat?”

  “He is dead. Piece of glass from the window pierced his jugular.”

  “Good riddance. But we need to get out of here. Someone for sure will have called the cops.”

  “Yes, we do. Can you walk?”

  “I don’t seem to be gushing blood, but I’ll be a lot better when we disappear from here,” she insisted, forcing back the pain. “We need to call a cab. Maybe a bunch of different cabs so we don’t leave a trail to the motel.”

  “My very thoughts. People are hurrying out into the street. We got out of the car before they did so let’s get out of here. If you lean into me, can you make it over a couple of streets? I want to get away from the crash site.”

  She hurt in every part of her body, and walking was an effort. But Razor held her close to his side, moving at a slow pace, his strength the only thing holding her together.

  “Good thing we’re wearing black.” She tried to make a joke out of their situation. “At least no one can see the blood on our clothes.”

  “You got the worst of it. I hate to stop yet to check you out. Can you keep moving?”

  “Yes.” She bit her lip against a sudden stab of pain. “I’ll survive. Just get us away from here.”

  Eventually they ended up two streets over in a tiny park area with two benches. Arizona let Razor ease her down onto one, biting hard on her lip so she wouldn’t groan. She listened while he called Uber, felt him sit down beside her, and leaned into him.

  “Vasquez’s men.” She stifled a moan. “He must have been expecting us to do something like this.”

  “Well, he’s a lot of things but he’s not stupid. I expected something like this. I just thought we were getting away clean. I hoped.” He shook his head. “Fine job I’m doing protecting you.”

  “You’re kidding, right? I might be dead if not for you.” She drew in another painful breath. “We need to tell Joaquin what happened, but not when he’s poised for this raid.”

  “He might need to factor this into the equation,“ Razor pointed out.

  “0kay, we can text him when we are safe at the motel and he knows you did exactly what he wanted you to. Protected me. Like I can’t handle myself.”

  Razor leaned down, cupped her chin, and gently tilted her face up to him.

  “It will always be my pleasure to protect you. Even when you don’t need it. The Uber’s here. Let’s get out of here before all the cops show up get a look at us.”

  * * *

  “I have one man dead, another in the hospital,” Vasquez raged, pacing the floor in his study. “And I still don’t have my hands on that fucking bitch.”

  “Calm down.” Octavio stood to the side in Vasquez’s den, watching the man pace. “We can make another attempt. We will find her and take care of it.”

  “Idiot!” Vasquez spat the word out then, with one long sweep of his arms, scraped everything off his desk and onto the floor. “All of them idiots. All I ask is that they eliminate one single female, and no one can do it.”

  “Luca.” Octavio tried again. “Get hold of yourself. We have to resolve this situation. This is no time for you to fall apart.”

  Vasquez stopped pacing and stared out the big window into the darkness of the night.

  “How is it possible after years of building this life, this business, everything, it all falls apart because of one bitch of a female? Does anyone even know where she is now?”

  “Not at the moment.” Octavio touched Vasquez’s arm. “Look at me. We will find her.”

  “Find her where? If an accident didn’t at least incapacitate her, what will it take? You had people at the accident site, right?”

  Octavio nodded. “They got there minutes after the crash and swore they did not see either her or the man.”

  “They didn’t evaporate into thin air,” Vasquez snapped. “You said minutes after? What took them so long. Why were they not already there?”

  “Logistics. Let’s not argue about that. Let’s figure out what we’re going to do next.”

  “Next?” Vasquez threw up his hands. “If the cops find that woman before I do, we have a problem.”

  At that moment, his cell phone dinged with a message. Vasquez looked at the screen. A message from Alberto, his supervisor at the dealership.

  “DEA raiding dealership. Searching all motor homes. I will not be able to send another message.”

  For a moment he was dizzy. How was this happening? And why hadn’t their source told them? He would call the people holding their hostage and give the order to kill then figure out what to do next. But before he could even tell Octavio what was happening, he heard the doorbell ring. Seconds later, there was a knock on the door of his study.

  “Senor Vasquez?” Fernanda’s voice sounded strange.

  “Don’t bother to knock,” a man’s voice said.

  The door opened and Burnell and Trainor stepped into the study. Behind them were two deputies in uniform, guns drawn.

  “What’s the meaning of this?” Vasquez demanded, but he knew without asking. A sick feeling gripped him. And where the hell was their snitch? Why hadn’t she warned them?

  One of the policemen stepped forward, holding a pair of handcuffs. Trainor began to recite the Miranda warning.

  “Luca Vasquez, you are under arrest for the illegal sale and transportation of drugs. You have the right to…”

  But the man’s voice faded as the cuffs were snapped into place and he was nudged forward.

  “My daughter,” he began.

  “Will be taken care of,” Trainor assured him.

  “Octavio, call my attorneys and get this taken care of.”

  But as he glanced over his shoulder, he saw the other deputy cuffing Octavio and urging him out of the study.

  “You can call them yourself from jail,” Trainor told him. “Let’s go.”

  * * *

  Arizona thought this was surely one of the longest nights she had ever spent. She and Razor switched rides three times before finally arriving at the motel where Joaquin DeLoach had reserved a room for them. They had texted her boss to tell him what happened and let him know they were okay and on their way to the motel. Razor had made one of their rides stop at an all-night store so he could get so
me supplies. Now they were in the room and Razor had carefully bathed her in the shower, checking every inch of her for fragments of glass.

  “Thank god it wasn’t any worse,” he told her, his deep voiced wrapping around her like a warm blanket. “It’s rare to walk away from a crash like that.”

  “No kidding.” She grimaced as he dabbed antiseptic on a larger cut. “I’m sure by tomorrow I won’t be able to move at all. I wish Joaquin would call back and let us know what’s happening. The raid must be over by now.”

  “It’s after eleven. Let’s see if there’s anything on the news.” Razor turned on the television and found a local station. “Arizona, take a look at this. It should make you feel better.

  A reporter was standing in front of Vasquez’s dealership, which was brightly lit. Arizona could make out people moving around inside. The reporter was speaking into the camera.

  “Raided this dealership tonight and confiscated drugs worth millions of dollars in street value. People will be shocked that well-known millionaire Luca Vasquez is the mastermind behind this. Vasquez and his associate, Octavio Ruiz, were arrested tonight and taken into custody.”

  The scene shifted to a shot of Vasquez and another man being marched—and that was the only word for it—into the jail, surrounded by sheriff’s deputies and with what were obviously detectives on either side of them.

  Arizona let out a breath. “They did it. They’ve got him.”

  Razor nodded. “They did indeed. We should be hearing from your boss pretty soon.”

  “He’ll have a lot of details to take care of first. I know he stashed us here to keep us out of the way so I couldn’t screw things up for him by trying again to get Ruby. But damn, it’s hard to wait. Is she still at the house? Is someone taking care of her?”

  Razo sat down on the bed beside her and took her hand.

  “I promise you Ruby is being taken care of. DeLoach knows how important that little girl is to you.”

  At that moment, Arizona’s cell rang. She didn’t recognize the number but answered it anyway.