Chapter
18
Bobby
“The signal has stopped and held position for the last hour just south of Monterrey. It looks like we’re heading into an area outside of the Cumbres de Monterrey. It’s a national park outside of the city. I have a hard time believing they’d keep guns or drugs stashed close to an area with high civilian traffic.” Chase scratched his chin as he looked up from his laptop screen. It was his tell when he was in deep think mode. “You think they’re making a temporary stop?”
Riley didn’t bother to look up from where he was concentrating on double checking his weapons and gear to make sure he was ready when the chopper arrived to pick us up, which should be any minute. The man was basically OCD about checking, rechecking and quadruple checking anything and everything on his person before he left for a mission. “I agree. Rivera may be ballsy, but he’s not going to stash his merchandise that close to a national park, or the city of Monterrey for that matter. Even if he’s bought some people off on the local Police Force, there’s no way he could buy off the entire department. It’s the second richest city in Mexico. They’re not desperate for drug money and more interested in making a name in big busts. A bust on Rivera would be the stuff dreams are made of for those guys.”
Belle had been missing now for seven hours. I’d had to call Sheriff Jenkins to track down Seth so I could stay with the team as we started planning her extraction. It grated my nerves to have to ask the man for help when it didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out he’d be more than willing to do anything to lure Belle away from me, but Teagan wasn’t here and I didn’t know who else to turn to for help. There was also the seriously sad fact that the man knew my son better than I did. All feelings aside, I knew I could trust the man to find Seth and keep him safe until I could bring his mother home.
Not much planning had been done since we were flying blind with little to no information about Rivera’s personal home or life. Given the nature of his business, plus his fanatical obsession of staying one step ahead of law enforcement, the information on his Cartel probably covered only a fraction of what he truly had going on. Which was frustrating as fuck since the thought of my girl in the hands of those sadistic bastards was driving me completely insane.
Chase pulled up satellite imagery of the signal’s location as the other seven men of the Ex Ops Team voiced their thoughts on what they thought Rivera and his men may, or may not, be doing while Jaxon stood there analyzing each of us. I didn’t have anything useful to say, so I stood there silently plotting Miguel Rivera’s slow and extremely painful death in my head as I stared at those satellite images. Looking for the perimeter’s weak spots, pin-pointing the area’s best spots to avoid due to a break in coverage by the trees; scrutinizing every single pixel dot on the screen, looking for the thing that could help me get my girl back.
Though, there wasn’t much to see other than a sprawling house with a smaller guest house a couple of hundred feet away from the main residence, presumably for his personal guards and house staff, and then trees. Lots and lots of trees. Those trees would help give us cover as we snuck up on the house, but it would also help conceal any of Rivera’s men who were guarding the house.
At least the pictures gave us proof this wasn’t a worst case scenario. This was no compound for the Cartel. There were no high walls to scale or guard towers for lookouts. If anything, it looked like one of Rivera’s private homes. On the plus side, we wouldn’t likely be dealing with a hundred or more armed thug-like soldiers attempting to play G.I. Joe while we were trying to get Belle out alive. On the down side, we would more than likely be dealing with Rivera’s best men because those would be the ones he kept closest to himself for protection. Depending on how well those men were trained, going up against the wannabe army the Cartel had might have been the easier option.
I was so anxious to get going and get the hell out of there that I was damn near twitching from my toes to my trigger finger. The need to do something, anything, to go get Belle and bring her home safely was riding me so hard it was a miracle I hadn’t gone ballistic on everybody yet. I didn’t want to hear their theories right now on what they might think may, or may not, be happening outside of Monterrey. I wanted to hop on the chopper, fly down to Mexico, put a hole in the center of Rivera’s head, maybe chop him up into a billion tiny pieces to make a point to any other man who thought they could take what was mine, and bring Belle home in the safety of my arms where she belonged.
Fuck everyone’s theories on whether or not they thought this was a temporary stop at the signal’s location. That’s where the trackers stopped and my gut told me that was where Belle was. Fuck their worries about what would or would not be there when we arrived. I’d blow a hole through every man in Rivera’s army if it got me Belle back. I didn’t want to hear their bitching. I wanted to leave. Like right fucking now.
How the hell could I have watched the truck with my woman in it drive away and do nothing to stop it? The very soul that belonged to her should have screamed at me something was wrong. I should have known she was in that truck and in trouble. Self-loathing and rage were boiling like an acid underneath my skin.
“You paying attention, Baker?” Jaxon barked. I looked over to where he was standing by the private hanger at the airport that Uncle Sam had rented out for us to rendezvous at in case of an emergency. Thank God for Uncle Sam and his never ending back up plans. “We need your head in the game here. I know you’re worried about her, but you’re more of a risk than an asset if you can’t concentrate on what’s going on.”
I glared at my Commander. Did he think he could hold me back from going with the team when it was, in essence, my life that was on the line here? Belle may be the one who’s being held hostage, but if anything happened to her, I would cease to exist. Reverting back to the shell of a human being that had been walking around for the last fifteen years without her. No way was the team going to leave me behind.
“My head is exactly where it needs to be, Sir.”
Jaxon scrutinized me from head to toe. “If I think for one second you will jeopardize this mission… I. Will. Pull. You. Do you understand me? I don’t care if she’s your holy fucking grail, you will be with this team every step of the way or I will hog tie you myself and leave you behind.”
It grated on my last nerves, Jaxon threatening to pull me from the mission. How would that jackass feel if it was his woman on the line? It irritated me even more that he had a point. I had to keep my head straight to not put any of us in danger. “You won’t be leaving me behind and I’m not a risk to this team. I’ll do whatever you say, but I’m going.”
Jaxon studied me for another minute or so before nodding his head in acceptance. Turning his head to take us all in he barked like a drill instructor, “Listen up! We’re taking these choppers five miles outside of that signal’s location where they will drop us off and then circle the perimeter at a safe distance. You have the coordinates of our rendezvous point and our target. The goal is a quiet extraction. We’re not Rambo here, boys. The mission is to rescue Annabelle Roberts, not blow this place sky-high. That being said, take out anyone in your way and, if you happen to lock cross hairs on Miguel Rivera, you take his ass out. Once we have secured the package, we’ll head back to our rendezvous point with the chopper and bug out. Any questions?”
Silence was his answer. The rhythmic thwump-thwump-thwump of a Black Hawk’s blades drew the attention of all of us in the hanger, standing there silently to watch as it landed. Jaxon gave the signal for us to load up and, for the first time in seven hours, I took in a real breath.
Finally. I was going to get my girl and God help anyone who got in my way.
~~~
Annabelle
If I was still here when Rivera came back, I was a dead woman; which meant I had to find a way to get out of here. The monsters had just left, promising to come back soon, and leaving the broken, crying, strawberry blonde in a heap on the floor. She was covered in their sweat, spit and semen, but that was nothing compared to the reality they’d raped her so badly she was bleeding out of two of the three body parts they’d used. The only thing that terrified me more than having watched what they’d done to the poor girl was the promise that I was next.
I’d rather die.
There were a couple of problems with trying to escape. The first was that I was still tied hand and foot to this metal chair. That wouldn’t have been so bad if it had been something simple they’d tied me down with, like duct tape. That could have easily been ripped off by the girl. However, I had finally figured out they’d secured me with zip ties, and I’d figured that out because the dag-gum things had cut into my skin pretty badly during my struggles. The ripped skin above my hands and feet were also now throbbing in agony with the rest of my body, as well as bleeding, but not as badly as the large cuts on my chest and thigh that were still oozing blood at a steady rate. Which was problem number three. Too much blood loss and I was already getting hazy and weak from it. If I didn’t find a way to get out of here, and soon, I wouldn’t be getting out of here at all. My only hope was still lying on the floor like a lifeless rag doll.
Finding the strength to keep my head up and eyes locked on the body lying there, I croaked, “What’s your name?”
She gave me no answer.
“My name’s Annabelle. We’re going to find a way to get through this together, honey, I promise. Now what’s your name?”
A sniffle sounded, then another sob. Still no answer.
Even though I knew it was useless, I was still pulling at my bonds like a madwoman. Wiggling around in my chair in the hopes a miracle would happen and I would suddenly be free. On a frustrated huff I begged, “Come on, you’ve got to talk to me. We can help each other get out of here.”
“You’re wrong,” she whispered. “No one ever leaves here unless they’re being sold to another buyer or dead. There is no escape.”
“No, honey, you’re wrong. I’m sure none of the girls you’ve met were trained ATF Agents, right? Well, I am. And I refuse to die in this shit hole. Trust me, tell me your name, and let me help you get the hell out of here!”
She finally lifted her head and aimed her tortured, tear soaked face at me. “You’re ATF?”
Nodding, I said, “YES! I am and, if you’ll come over here and help me get free, then I can see about getting us out of here.”
She feebly pushed herself to her hands and knees, too weak to do much else, and started crawling towards me; cringing when she came close to Rivera’s dead wife’s body, making sure not to touch it as she passed. “You promise to take me with you? PLEASE. I can’t take another day of this. I want to go home and see my sister.”
My heart broke in a million pieces for her. How these men could do the vile things they did to anybody at all, I would never understand. How they could do them to this woman, who was so fragile, was even worse. “I’m taking you home just as soon as you tell me your name and help me get out of this chair. Promise ya, honey I’m going to do my best to get us the hell out of here.”
Fresh tears rolled down her face. “Laura,” she whispered. “My name is Laura.”
Relief and a surge of hope crashed over me. That was one small step, the next thing she would need to do would be closer to a leap across the Grand Canyon. “Okay, Laura, I’m going to need you to look over Rivera’s wife’s body and see if she has anything that could cut through my zip ties. You do that, and then we can leave this place and never look back.”
I thought for sure the girl would balk at touching the dead body, break down and tell me that she couldn’t do it. To my surprise, she frantically started to pat down the former Mrs. Rivera’s body, looking for anything that might help us.
“There’s no pockets or anything!” she screamed in mounting frustration.
“Shh... You’re going to have to keep quiet, Laura. Be thorough. Look under her clothes to make sure.”
Laura tore open the dead woman’s shirt to expose a see through lace bra, but no hidden weapons. Sliding her hands down the body, she grabbed the hem of her skirt and jerked it up to expose the corpse’s legs. Still nothing.
“It’s useless!” she wailed. “There’s nothing. NOTHING!”
I tried not to let my disappointment crush me, but it was hard. I completely understood why Laura would sit there, crying hysterically at the dead woman’s weaponless body. I wanted to do the same damn thing, but when she started throwing wild slaps at the now half naked corpse, I realized that I’d have to figure something else out, quickly, before she completely lost what little mental sanity she had left.
Starting with the floors, I scanned the room. Covering every inch with my eyes, looking for something, anything, that could be used to help us. After precious minutes lost, I knew, without a doubt, there was nothing and moved my eyes along the walls. Scanning them from top to bottom. Over and over again, on every wall, in the desperate hopes there would maybe be a picture frame left behind, but nothing again. The only thing that was in the room besides a hysterical young woman, a dead body, and me was this stupid metal chair I was tied to and the light.
Wait. The light.
Suddenly, I had the overwhelming urge to kiss the person who’d first claimed there was light at the end of the tunnel. I might not be in a tunnel, but it was close enough.
“Laura!” I hissed.
She didn’t hear me over her own rambling and the steady slaps she was landing on Mrs. Rivera’s body. “LAURA!” I excitedly screeched. She abruptly stopped and looked at me. Nodding my head towards the dangling light bulb, I whispered, “Take the bulb out and break it on the ground! Use a piece of the glass to cut the zip ties!”
Jerking her head back, she looked at the light bulb and then, on unsteady legs, climbed to her feet. Moving underneath the light source, she stood on her tippy toes and reached with the tips of her fingers, coming nowhere near the bulb. Then she started jumping up and down trying to reach it, but her fingers only skimmed the bottom, causing the bulb to start swinging around on its short chain. She couldn’t reach it at all. And there was only one thing in the room that would help her reach it. My chair.
“Come here, grab my chair, Laura, and pull it over to stand on.”
Dragging me and the chair physically took a lot out of her, but she somehow managed to do it. When she had me placed right under the light, she looked down to the chair’s only free spot to stand and the color drained out of her face. It was the bit of seat exposed between my spread legs, with my blood all over it. Knowing she was mortified for both of us, I tried to soothe her.
“Don’t worry about it, honey. Do what you got to do to get us out of here. Be careful not to slip on my blood. I don’t want you to fall and hurt yourself.”
Turning my head to the side, she placed her hand gently on one of my shoulders, one of her feet on the seat, and pulled herself up using my body as leverage. My upper body was racked with fresh pain since she was inadvertently pulling on the skin and flesh attached to the large cut across my chest, but I managed to hold the scream of pain in my head so I wouldn’t scare her. She acted as if the heat from the light bulb was nothing, quickly unscrewing it, immersing the room into darkness, and then carefully climbing off the chair.
“You want me to break this and then use it to cut your arms and legs free? What if I cut you?” Bless her heart, she was actually worried about that.
A hollow laugh slipped out of me. “You can’t cut me any worse than he already did, Laura, and this is our only hope. Just do it. Don’t worry about me.”
A few seconds later I heard glass shatter somewhere behind me. Holding my breath in anticipation, suddenly her hand was there. Reaching out tentatively in the dark as she waved it in front of her, she patted the air until she found me. She made contact with my shoulder and then used her fingertips to trace it down my arms until she reached the zip tie that held me bound. As she started to saw frantically with the piece of fragile glass at the plastic keeping me captive, I didn’t even care that she was cutting me to shreds. Freedom was a beautiful pain.
~~~
Bobby
Thank the sweet baby Jesus for bug spray. Since it was eleven o’clock at night, the flying dinosaurs the natives here called mosquitos were out in full force. Even with most of my body covered in our standard black BDU’s, with nothing except my head and hands uncovered, those buzzing, little bastards seemed to be circling us like sharks in bloody water, looking for the inch of skin one of us might not have covered in cloth or bug repellant. I had enough on my mind, the last thing I needed to worry about was malaria or dengue.
We were spread out from each other in small groups as we traveled over the rugged terrain, navigating ourselves through the dense forest of pine and oak trees, towards the house that still had the tracker signals pinging their location. Jaxon had paired himself off with me, probably worried that I was too emotionally involved to keep a level head on what we were doing. He couldn’t possibly understand that because I was so invested in what was going on, my head had never been clearer. There was no leaving Mexico without Belle. End of story.
Lights from the house came into sight, approximately three hundred feet in front of us, and suddenly I was hyperaware of everything; the nocturnal animals scurrying around in the tree branches above our heads, the bead of sweat trickling down the back of my neck until it was absorbed by my shirt, the soft sounds of my controlled breathing as we continued to advance on the house.
As we came up to two hundred feet from the house, I heard the sounds of at least two men laughing somewhere over to my left. A softly whispered, “I got this,” over the comm. link by Arturo was followed by the sudden silence of that conversation. No shouts of warning from the men who had been speaking. No violent, thrashing sounds of struggles. One minute they were talking and the next minute they weren’t. Arturo Chavez was one of the best snipers the Marine Corps had ever produced, and that made him a scary motherfucker.
Approximately fifty feet to my far right, I heard another voice that was echoing through the empty forest from up ahead. Whoever the man was, he was angry and yelling, only no one was speaking back to him, so he was either talking to himself or on the phone. Logan whispered, “Mine,” and, a few seconds later, there was the soft thump of a body hitting the ground and then silence. Logan Price’s sniper skills were the reason he’d been recruited out of the Marine Corps Special Operations Command. That close to his target the shot would have been like child’s play for Logan. Not challenge at all.
The team was a well-oiled machine. By the time we were a hundred feet from the front of the house, the smaller teams started peeling off until we surrounded it; analyzing the possible entry and exit points and watching for more guards who could pose as potential threats to us. The house was a two story monstrosity and the small windows at the base of the house, next to the ground, indicated there was also a basement. My guess was that was where Belle would be held.
All in all, the house was easily eight thousand square feet; including the basement and the massive garage set on the left side of the house. That was a lot of area to search. The only good news seemed to be it was plainly visible, through the windows, that the house utilized a roomy, open floor plan, making it easier to search while we were going through it; less places for people to hide in order to surprise us. That meant there weren’t that many places for us to take cover if bullets started flying.
The best plan would have been to slip into the basement first, but the windows that lead to it were too small to fit our bigger bodies. Even Belle wasn’t small enough to fit through them, which meant she had no means of escape. The first and second floors were lined with large windows, making it impossible to stay unseen by anyone who happened to be walking by. Not to mention, we were approaching a house that was surrounded by security lighting, had a vast, unknown floor plan, and an unknown number of hostiles inside.
Speaking slowly into the comm. link, I said, “We’re going to have to cut the power. It might tip them off that something’s wrong, but it’s the only way to really level the playing field.”
“Agreed,” Jaxon murmured. “Who’s got the electrical box in sight?”
“That’d be me,” Riley answered.
“As soon as you determine it’s safe to do so, you are to cut the power. When the lights go out boys, we’re going in. Get your thermal imaging ready. We clear every room in this place until we find her. Eliminate any threats and detain any civilians. Give us a countdown to black, Sullivan.”
“Roger that, Sir.”
Silence resumed over the comm. link for a few minutes before we saw him move. A flash of shadow sped across the short distance of lawn from where he’d hidden in the trees, to out of sight on the back side of the house. Clearing this house was going to be difficult, but doable. Each man on this team was practically a one man army. We’d all been through far worse; like Afghanistan and the insurgents there who strapped bombs to women and children, then sent them walking in our direction as a surprise attack. Compared to surviving things like that, this should be a cake walk. I positioned my goggles on my forehead so they were ready to slip down over my eyes when it was time.
My girl was probably scared shitless, but she was a fighter.
“Five.”
I was going to go in there and probably find her kicking ass and taking names.
“Four.”
Then I was going to take her home and talk her into marrying me.
“Three.”
This was just a small speed bump on the road to our happy ever after.
“Two.”
If all of that was true, why did I have this awful feeling like I was on the cusp of the end of my world?
“Go time.”