Chapter Thirteen

 

 

“You did what?” Carlos stood in the hotel room with his encrypted phone to his ear, his entire body stiff, hardly able to believe what he’d just heard.

“You wanted me to find an opportunity. So I found one and acted on it,” Javier answered, his tone both defiant and a little annoyed, as though Carlos should be more grateful for what he’d done.

Carlos dragged a hand over his face. “How old is she?”

“I dunno. Young. Elementary school age.”

Madre de Cristo. Taking a federal agent’s daughter in broad daylight, in front of the fucking mother. It was a miracle they hadn’t already found Javier and killed him. “And you’re going to do what with her?”

“Make a statement.”

He pulled in a calming breath before responding. “You’ve just put us in the crosshairs of every federal agency. Do you even realize that?” He needed to do some damage control and shore up security. Fast.

“Don’t worry. I’m well clear now. I’ve switched cars four times already. She’s tied up in the trunk. It’s all good. And I’ve got a potential buyer lined up to take a look at her when I get into North Carolina.”

Carlos frowned. He’d never sold a kid before. Wasn’t sure he was comfortable with it. “How do you know it’s not a setup, asshole?”

“It’s not. He’s a regular of mine.”

Carlos still didn’t like it. Well, he liked that they’d put the fear of God into at least one FAST agent, but he didn’t like all the rest of the bullshit Javier had just rained down on them. “Take her someplace and lie low until you hear from me. I need to figure this out.”

“Don’t worry, boss. I’ll keep her well entertained.”

Carlos hung up without responding and called Antonio. “We need to get to North Carolina. Tonight.”

 

****

 

Reid didn’t even remember driving to the police station, fear for his daughter eating away at his insides like acid.

When he walked in and saw Sarah and Max already sitting in the detective’s office, the look on his ex-wife’s face made Reid’s heart constrict. Before he could utter a single word, Sarah shot out of her seat, her eyes spewing pure venom as she came at Reid.

“You bastard!” she shouted, slamming her fists against his chest, hard enough to knock him back a half-step. “They took our baby because of you!”

Reid’s entire body went cold as the truth behind the accusation hit him like a sledgehammer to the solar plexus. He didn’t even try to stop her hitting him. He deserved this and more, and part of him wanted the punishment. “I—” He shut his mouth because there was nothing he could say in his defense.

She was right. And fuck, he was dying inside because of it.

“Sarah.” Max had an arm around her chest as he tried to pull her away. “Stop it. This isn’t going to help.”

“It’s fucking helping me,” she snarled, fighting Max off to stand rigidly in front of Reid, the accusation and rage in her eyes flaying him alive. “Your damn job already destroyed our family, and now it’s destroyed our daughter too,” she choked out, and shoved him hard in the center of his chest.

Reid rocked back on his heels to absorb the blow and clenched his jaw, battling the urge to turn and drive his fist through the wall. “There was a leak,” he said roughly.

“A leak,” she spat, her voice dripping bitterness. “The Veneno cartel has Autumn, Reid. That’s more than a goddamn leak.” She clenched both hands in her hair, her expression distraught as she shook her head. “I can’t handle this. I just can’t…” Her shoulders jerked and a ragged sob burst free. Max cursed, caught her shoulders and pulled her to him, and this time she didn’t fight.

Reid stood there staring at the floor while Max consoled her, his whole world coming apart at the seams as the sound of her grief and terror sliced at the raw, gaping wound in the middle of his chest.

Rapid footsteps sounded in the hallway, then the detective appeared in the doorway. His gaze swung from Sarah to Reid and back, his face tightening as he shut the door behind him. “Mrs. Prentiss, have a seat.” He pulled out a chair and tugged Sarah into it before facing them all, hands on hips. “I realize this is hard on all of you, but blaming and accusing aren’t going to get your daughter back. If you can’t refrain from attacking one another, I’m gonna kick you all out. Is that clear?”

Sarah and Max only stayed another ten minutes before she couldn’t take it anymore, and they left. Reid was left alone with the detective as he went over everything he knew about Ruiz and his network. A lot of it was classified but he’d be damned if he’d keep it to himself if it might help get Autumn back.

An hour later he was sitting there alone in the office, having been told to go home. He’d given everything he could, and there was nothing more that could be done. Reid didn’t like it, but he had no choice but to accept it. A crushing pressure filled his chest as he dragged his ass into his car, his ribcage compressing until it felt like his heart and lungs would implode. He was cut off from the investigation now, unable to help the police any more, and no one wanted him to do anything.

Useless as a one-legged man at an ass-kicking.

He spotted the liquor store on the left when he stopped at a red light a few miles from his building. Without even realizing it, he’d already made the decision and was turning into the parking lot. He walked straight to the whiskey aisle and stood there staring at the neatly stacked row of bottles, hands clenched into fists at his sides.

Fuck it.

He grabbed one, the weight and feel of the bottle a familiar comfort.

Back at his place, he dropped his ass onto the couch and uncapped the bottle, his hand shaking as he poured himself a tumbler full. He sat there staring at it for a long moment before taking one step closer to the abyss and lifting it to his nose.

The moment he inhaled that familiar scent, every pleasure center in his brain lit up, like Christmas and the Fourth of July combined. His whole body groaned at the sweet temptation in his hand, craving it so much his heart pounded and his mouth watered.

The reaction scared him so much he set it back down on the table. He forced his fingers to release it, his mind in chaos as he fought his oldest and most feared adversary.

He wanted the oblivion the booze offered. A respite from the pain and sheer helplessness that was shredding his insides, even if it was only for a few hours. But if he did this, he wouldn’t be able to stop at one glass. Or one bottle.

No. Autumn still needed him. He had to be sober if she was found.

His gaze strayed to the mantel, to all the pictures of him and Autumn lined up there in the frames. Grief punched through him so hard it stole his breath.

She’s gone. She’s gone and it’s my fault.

His hand shot out and grabbed the tumbler.

 

****

 

Tess hitched the strap of her hastily-packed overnight bag higher up on her shoulder and jogged through the half-empty terminal at Dulles. After Reid basically hung up on her and wouldn’t answer her calls, she’d pulled some strings at headquarters and hopped a transport from Fort Worth within the hour.

Maybe coming to D.C. was a giant mistake, but right now she didn’t care. This thing between her and Reid might be new and fragile—and she didn’t even know what “it” was—but there was no way she could have stayed in Texas while he was going through hell alone here. If she’d overstepped her bounds by flying here to be with him, well… She’d deal with the repercussions later.

She pulled her phone out to try Reid again and saw there were no messages. The phone rang in her ear, then Reid’s voicemail picked up.

Frustrated and sick at heart for what he must be going through, she dodged around the slower-moving passengers on their way to baggage claim and exited onto the sidewalk.

She jumped in a cab and went straight to Reid’s place. The sidewalk outside his building was deserted, not surprising since it was one in the morning. At the front door, she buzzed his unit and waited.

No answer.

She buzzed again, and waited another minute.

Nothing.

Was he at the police station? At headquarters? Maybe at Sarah’s place?

She walked back to the sidewalk and around the side of the building to stare up at his unit. The blinds were pulled over the sliding glass doors that led out onto his patio, but she could see lines of light around the edges. Was he in there? With him refusing to answer her calls, she had no way of knowing where he was.

Discouraged, she strode back around front, ready to buzz his unit one last time and then find a hotel nearby.

“Tess?”

Surprised, she spun around to find two of Reid’s teammates walking up the front walkway from the street. The big one, Agent Maka, and the one Reid was closest to, Agent Khan, the team medic. “Hi.”

“You just fly in?” Khan asked.

She nodded. “Hopped a transport right after Reid called to tell me Autumn had been taken, then hung up on me. You guys know where he is?”

Khan frowned. “He’s not home?”

“If he is, he’s not answering the buzzer. And he won’t pick up when I call.”

“Sonofabitch,” Maka muttered, striding toward her alongside his teammate. “You got the code?” he asked Khan.

“Yeah.” Khan dug out his phone and fixed his gaze on Tess when he got close. “I’m Zaid, by the way. And this is Kai.”

“Hi.” She quickly shook their hands and followed them up to the front door, anxiety eating at her. Reid wouldn’t do anything crazy, would he? “Have you guys heard from him?”

“No,” Khan answered. “We’ve been getting sporadic updates from Commander Taggart. But after the last one, we told our team leader we would come check on Reid in person.”

She zeroed in on the first part of that sentence. “Why, what was the last update?”

Zaid met her gaze, the overhead lights illuminating his hazel eyes, startling against his bronze skin. “They found out who took her.”

Tess’s heart started to pound. “Who?”

“One of Carlos Ruiz’s enforcers.”

She gasped and blanched, put both hands to her mouth. “Oh, sweet Jesus.”

“In retaliation for a raid we conducted against some of his guys last week. Apparently, Reid got a text from the asshole around nine,” Kai said as Zaid punched in the code to open the front door. “We didn’t find out until about forty-five minutes ago. Taggart went to meet him at the police station and stayed there until Reid left. That’s when we got the update from Hamilton.”

Tess lowered her hands and faced the door, her heart sinking. Oh, Reid. Her eyes stung at the thought of Autumn so scared and alone with a monster from Ruiz’s crew. “How the hell did one of Ruiz’s guys find Autumn, and how did he get Reid’s cell number?”

“Good questions,” Zaid said, his voice flat, hard. The door buzzed and he pulled it open. “The agency and FBI are looking into it now.”

If Ruiz or anyone else from the cartel had that much info on Reid, then it stood to reason they’d found more about the other team members. “What about you guys?” She slipped past Zaid as he held the door open for her.

“We’re not sure yet. Analysts are trying to figure out how bad the breach is,” Zaid said.

She followed them to the elevator and stepped inside, feeling tiny sandwiched between the two big men, especially Kai. “I can’t even imagine what he’s going through right now,” she said quietly.

“I know,” Zaid said with a shake of his head as they rode up to Reid’s floor. “It’s gotta be hell, because I know how sick the rest of us feel. She’s a sweet little girl and we just want her found safe.”

If one of Ruiz’s men had taken Autumn, then the chances of that happening were practically nil. They knew it as well as she did, but none of them would admit it because they all wanted to cling to the hope that Autumn still had a chance.

Tess swallowed and frantically tried to think of what she could say or do to help Reid right now. There couldn’t be anything so agonizing as the pain of a parent losing a child.

Her insides grabbed tight when the elevator stopped and the doors slid open. She followed the others down the carpeted hallway to Reid’s door, their steps hushed by the carpet. Zaid tried the doorbell and they all waited for a minute.

Apparently too impatient to try the bell again, Kai reached over his buddy’s shoulder and pounded a big fist on the door. Tess cringed at the level of noise at this time of the morning, but Reid’s neighbors would just have to understand given the circumstances.

When Reid still didn’t answer, Tess got really worried.

Kai pounded again, harder this time, the door vibrating against the frame. “Prentiss. Open up,” he called out, his deep voice echoing up and down the hallway in the thick silence.

Someone a few units down yanked their door open to glare at them. Kai and Zaid ignored the man, so Tess pulled her agency ID out of her back pocket and flashed it toward him. The man quickly disappeared back into his unit and shut the door.

When she faced the others once more, Kai’s dark eyebrows were drawn into an imposing scowl. He made an irritated sound in the back of his throat and pulled his fist back to begin pounding again, but Zaid held up a hand to stop him and tried a different approach.

“Come on, buddy, open the door,” he called out.

Still nothing. Fear trickled through Tess. It was Sunday, May nineteenth. The anniversary of Reid finding Jason hanging in the bathroom. Given that Autumn had just been kidnapped by ruthless cartel members, would he… She shook the thought away. No. No, he wouldn’t. Couldn’t.

“Reid,” Zaid said with tried patience.

Finally, a familiar drawl came from inside. “Not up for company right now, boys.”

Tess closed her eyes in silent thanks and let out a deep breath. Thank God he’s okay. But was it her imagination, or had his voice sounded a little slurred? Tess glanced at the others in question, and the two men exchanged a meaningful, worried glance, their faces turning grim.

“You know what?” Kai finally threatened. “Either you open this door, or I’ll break the goddamn thing in—”

Zaid held up a hand and cut Kai off. “We’ve got Tess out here with us. She flew in to see you.”

They all waited in tense silence for a response, Tess holding her breath. Ten seconds later, footsteps sounded from inside. The lock turned, and the door opened.

Reid stood there in the opening in jeans and a rumpled T-shirt, his face haggard.

“Hey, brother,” Zaid said quietly.

Reid didn’t answer. His bloodshot, red-rimmed eyes went right to Tess. Their gazes locked for an instant, then his face crumpled and he shoved past his teammates to reach for her.

Tess’s heart almost exploded when he dragged her close and crushed her to his chest, holding her so tight she couldn’t breathe. She started to wind her arms around him, but stopped as a terrible suspicion hit her.

Oh, no… Had he been drinking? She didn’t smell it on him, but his disheveled state and the look Zaid and Kai had just shared worried her. “Reid,” she breathed, unsure what else to say. Of course he was gutted, but he wouldn’t hit the bottle now, would he? She flattened her hands on his broad back and sought Kai and Zaid’s gazes over the top of his shoulder.

Reid made a strangled sound and tightened his hold, his face buried in the side of her neck. “I don’t know what the hell to do,” he moaned.

“Let’s get you back inside,” she said to him.

“I’ll get some coffee going,” Kai said, stepping past them into the apartment.

Reid stayed glued to her, his face pressed into the crook of her neck as he shook his head. “It was Ruiz. One of his guys took her,” he said, his voice cracking.

“I heard,” Tess murmured, meeting Zaid’s eyes.

Zaid reached for Reid’s shoulder, pulled him up and spun him around to steer him back into the apartment. “Come on, man.”

Reid sucked in a shaky breath and shoved the heels of his hands into his eye sockets as Zaid walked him through the kitchen to the living room and sat him on the couch. Her heart sank when she saw the open bottle of Jack Daniels and the glass on the coffee table. It still had liquor in it. How much had he had?

Without looking at her, Zaid picked up both the bottle and glass and handed them to her. Tess took them, catching the shame that flashed in Reid’s eyes.

“I didn’t drink it. I shouldn’t have bought it in the first place, but… Fuck, I just didn’t know what the hell else to do,” Reid said, his voice breaking on the last word as he dragged a hand through his hair.

“You should have called one of us,” Zaid said, a hard edge to his voice.

Tess carried the bottle and glass straight to the kitchen and poured every last drop of the whiskey down the sink. Without pause, she checked the cupboards and drawers in the kitchen, the bathrooms and his bedroom for good measure. She found nothing.

Zaid met her gaze as she walked around the corner with empty hands and she shook her head to let him know she hadn’t found anything. He was perched on the edge of the wooden coffee table facing Reid, his forearms braced on his splayed thighs.

In the quiet, the sound and scent of brewing coffee came from the kitchen while Kai rummaged through the cupboards gathering mugs. Tess stood still and focused on Reid and Zaid as they stared at each other from two feet apart.

“Talk to me,” Zaid said.

Reid drew in a deep breath and collapsed back against the couch cushions with a soft groan, not meeting his teammate’s eyes. Tess walked over and sank down beside him, wrapped an arm around his shoulders and snuggled into his side, offering what comfort and support she could. He didn’t return the embrace, but he didn’t stiffen or push her away, either.

“Look, I don’t need a goddamn lecture about my drinking,” Reid began in a warning tone.

Zaid raised a dark eyebrow and stared him down. “You sure as shit do, my friend. Not only did you almost fall off the wagon tonight after years of fighting to stay sober, you were about to do it when you could get a call at any moment that an actionable tip’s come in, and then you’d be too out of commission to act on it.”

“I know,” he muttered, looking away, anguish and self-disgust etched into his face. “That’s why I didn’t drink it.”

“But you wanted to.”

“Yeah, I wanted to.”

This was uncomfortable as hell, but there was no getting around it, and under the circumstances Tess agreed with Zaid’s tough love approach. They had to be clear with Reid right here, right now. “No more alcohol, Reid,” she said in a firm tone. “Promise us. It’s only going to put a temporary Band Aid on this, and make it a hell of a lot worse for everyone after.” Wanting to soften the harsh words, Tess rubbed his upper arm with her palm. “Autumn needs you to stay sober.” I need you to stay sober.

He closed his eyes, his head sagging forward as though it was just too heavy to hold up any longer. “God dammit, if anything happens to her, then I don’t wanna be here,” he rasped out, and Tess’s chest constricted.

“You can’t give up on her,” Zaid said, his voice hard. “You fucking can’t. Understand? Giving up is not an option. Not for any of us.”

Reid turned his head and shot Zaid a lethal glare. “You think I’m giving up on her? Fuck you, Zaid. You were right next to me the night we found Victoria Gomez. You saw what they’d done to her. And now that sick fuck’s threatened to do all that to my baby—” His voice shredded and he glanced away, his jaw flexed so tight Tess could all but hear his back teeth grinding.

“Still not giving up,” Zaid said, his voice level but firm.

“Me neither,” Kai said, carrying a mug of coffee in and thrusting it at Reid. “So drink up, brother. You gotta be ready when they find her.”

Reid shot him a searching look. He snatched the mug without saying anything and brought it to his lips.

Zaid got up and walked around the coffee table to take the easy chair opposite Reid, easing the tension in the room. Kai brought her and Zaid mugs of coffee before seating himself on the loveseat arranged perpendicular to the couch, his big frame making the heavy piece of leather furniture look almost dainty.

“Who sent you guys, Taggart or Hamilton?” Reid said dully.

“Taggart talked to Hamilton, and Hamilton texted all of us,” Kai answered. “We volunteered to come over. So yeah, we all know the gist of it.”

Reid grimaced and lowered his mug. “Yeah? Well you didn’t hear the part where Sarah started screaming and hitting me when she heard the news about Ruiz.” His fingers flexed around the mug handle, a restless motion that screamed his agitation. “Said it’s my fault. That my job had not only destroyed our family, but now it’s destroyed our daughter, too.”

Tess winced and squeezed his shoulder, the muscles iron hard beneath her hand. “She was upset. I’m sure she didn’t mean that.”

Those deep blue eyes drilled into hers like a laser. “That’s exactly what she meant. And you know what? She was right.”

Tess shut up. And God, no wonder he’d been about to hit the bottle after that on top of everything else.

“How the hell did they get your personal information?” Kai demanded.

“No fucking idea. As of right now there are two-dozen agents in various agencies scrambling around trying to get answers. And you guys better beef up your personal security until we know how far the leak’s gone.”

“I’d say it’s gone way too fucking far already,” Zaid said from the easy chair, his expression dark.

Reid set the coffee mug on the table, ran his hands over his face. “I just want her back.”

“We all do,” Kai said. “And we’re all here for you. If we get a lead on where this asshole’s hiding, we all want a piece of him. But most of all, we want Autumn back safe and sound. We’ll all do whatever it takes to make that happen.”

Reid nodded and lowered his hands. “Yeah. Christ, yeah, I just want her to be safe.”

Oh, God, please let her still be alive, Tess prayed. The alternative was straight up horrific and unthinkable.

After a few minutes of silence, Reid finally began to open up to them. She stayed beside him as he outlined the sequence of events that had led them to now. An hour later he seemed to sort of shut down, and there was nothing more his teammates could do for him. He was restless and hurting and clearly not in the mood for company.

“Look, I appreciate you guys coming over, but you don’t need to keep vigil with me,” he said to his teammates. “Both of you go on home and get some sleep. If I hear anything else, I’ll let you know.”

Kai and Zaid exchanged a look, then Zaid focused on her. “You staying with him?”

“Yes.” She sought Reid’s gaze. “Unless you don’t want me to?”

“I want you to,” he said, his bloodshot eyes holding hers.

“Okay. You guys call us if you need anything, you hear?” Zaid said as he got to his feet.

Tess stayed on the couch while Reid saw his teammates out. When he locked up and turned back to her, he sighed and let his shoulders slump, exhaustion clear in every line of his face and body.

Aching for him, she got up and closed the distance between them, sliding her arms around his waist and leaning into his body as he embraced her. “You’ve got good friends, Reid. They love you and Autumn.”

“Yeah, I know.” He pressed his cheek to her hair. “I didn’t expect you to fly up here.”

“I couldn’t stay there while you were going through this.”

He was quiet for a long moment, then nuzzled the top of her head. “He sent me a picture of her.”

She stiffened. “What?”

“He took it in the car after he’d taken her. She was in her ball uniform. And her face…she was so damn scared, Tess. It just killed me to look into her eyes and not be able to help her.”

The level of cruelty necessary to not only target a federal agent’s family in revenge, but to attack an innocent child and then send taunting texts to her father was testimony of the depraved animals the Veneno cartel had in its ranks. “I hope he doesn’t surrender when they find him,” she said, her voice cold. “I want him dead.”

“You and me both.”

Tess ran her hands up and down his tense back, hoping to soothe him, wishing there was something more she could do to help him bear this. “Are you hungry?”

“No, can’t eat right now.”

“Think you could get some sleep?”

“No.”

She understood.

“It’s Jason’s anniversary today.”

She lifted her head from his shoulder to look into his tortured face. “I know.” God, how much pain could a man bear before he broke?

“That, on top of everything else and what happened with Sarah after she heard the news about Ruiz… It’s no excuse, but I drove past a liquor store on the way home and I just thought, ‘fuck it’. So I stopped and went in.” Shame flickered in his eyes.

“I poured everything down the sink,” she said, not sorry but bracing for his anger anyway.

“Thank you,” he said instead.

She relaxed and rested her cheek against his shoulder again, glad he’d allowed her to stay and that he wanted her here at such an emotional time. “Welcome.”

He was silent for a minute before speaking again. “You know, when I first quit drinking I thought cold turkey was too hard so I switched to a non-alcoholic beer. Then I had to quit even that because it tasted too close to the real thing. I was doing pretty well by the time Autumn was old enough to understand what alcoholism meant. I never hid it from her. When she was about five or so I told her exactly what it was and that I was doing my best to stay sober. She looked up at me, cocked her head and said I should try root beer instead.”

Tess smiled, picturing it easily in her mind. “That’s adorable.”

“Yeah. I always make sure I’ve got some of our favorite brand on hand. There’s some in the fridge right now.” His grip on her tightened and Tess squeezed her eyes shut, his pain slicing through her. “They’re gonna find her, right? The cops or the feds. Hell, even a citizen, I don’t care.”

The desperation in his voice shredded her inside. “Yes.” There was no question that Autumn would be found. Tess just hoped they found her in time.

They stood holding each other for a while before Reid spoke once more. “You’ve gotta be exhausted,” he murmured against her hair.

She shook her head. “I’m fine.”

“You should sleep.”

“I’m not sleeping if you’re not.” That wasn’t right. She’d come here so he wouldn’t have to bear this alone.

He kissed the top of her head. “How about we lie down together for a while then, and if you fall asleep, I won’t hold it against you.”

“Okay.”

Lacing his fingers through hers, he led her past Autumn’s closed bedroom door to the master bedroom. The lights were off, but there was enough coming through the open doorway from the kitchen for her to see the big king-size bed she hadn’t paid attention to before while she’d been looking for bottles.

Reid laid his phone on the bedside table, then pulled the covers down. Tess took off her shoes. Fully dressed, they both climbed in, and he immediately pulled her into his arms. She settled against his hard frame with a sigh and slipped an arm around his waist, surrounded by his heat and scent, willing him to take the comfort she offered.

He curled one thick arm around her back, and sifted his free hand through her hair. “I’m so damn glad you’re here,” he whispered hoarsely.

“Me too,” she whispered back.

They lay together in the silence, listening to the sound of each other’s breathing, each of them hoping his phone would ring with good news.

Praying for a miracle.