Cade stood with his arms folded and watched the chopper land on the helipad. He was annoyed, to say the least, when he listened to Bobbie’s message. But after seeing Nate for himself and what poor condition he was in, he realized Angel and Bobbie were both right. Angel needed to be there, just in case. Angel had tried to talk one of the pilots she knew who flew a news helicopter into taking her to Colombia, but when Billy’s girlfriend and rich pop star Joy Casey, heard what was going on, she offered her own. Cade held his breath as the rotors stopped spinning and Angel stepped off. He’d told her in no uncertain terms not to bring Nate’s mother or Joy with her, but he was surprised to see that she’d actually listened.
“How is he?” she asked frantically as she approached Cade.
“The same,” he said heavily.
“You understand why I need to be here, right?”
Cade nodded. “I do. I’m sorry. I’m so used to protecting my men that I forget I’m not the only one they need to do that. Come on, I’ll take you to him.” The airport was about ten miles from the hospital. On the way, Cade told her everything he knew. “He has burns on his right hand and arm, second degree, the doctor said. Several ribs were broken and one of them punctured his lung. His spleen was damaged and his left leg is broken in two places. None of that is life threatening and they gave him three pints of blood to replace what he lost. Billy was the right type, thank goodness.”
“Why isn’t he awake?”
“He has a closed head injury. There’s pressure on his brain and the doctor says they’ve induced a coma to give him time to heal. When they get that pressure down, they’ll wake him up.”
“The pressure…and the coma…will that leave him with brain damage?”
Cade sighed. “I’m sorry, Angel, I just don’t know. The doctor says we won’t know how severe the damage is until he wakes up.”
“Can we take him home?”
“I’m working on that. I’ve contacted an associate who works for University Hospital in San Antonio. He works for their Life Flight department. He’s having his doctor consult with this one to find out if it’s safe to move him.”
“Thank you.”
“I’m sorry, Angel.”
Cade pulled into the small parking lot of the old hospital. Angel turned toward him and said, “He loves his job, Cade. You’re his hero. Please don’t blame yourself for this. Nate knows the risks, and he takes them anyway…because there is nothing he’d rather do than help people.”
Cade had a hard time swallowing the lump in his throat. “Thank you,” he said hoarsely before getting out of the rented Jeep and taking Angel’s arm and escorting her inside.
********
When Cade got back to the waiting room, Agent Simms was sitting with the team along with Agent Stout, Pete, and Anderson. After the greetings and introductions Simms said, “We have a location on Dominguez.”
“How?”
“One of our guys survived the slaughter at the warehouse. He followed the car that whisked Dominguez away for about fifteen miles to a ranch on the edge of the city. He’s watching from a safe distance and he says they’re still there.”
“I have two questions,” Cade said. “First, how do we know this isn’t a set-up like the one that just took out five of your agents?”
“I’m sure it is a set-up. We’ve been monitoring Dominguez’s operation for a long time and we rarely saw him. Suddenly, he’s turning up all over. I’d bet that he knows Agent Bolton survived and he probably knows he’s sitting down the road waiting right now.”
“So, my second question is why is Dominguez suddenly turning up all over?”
“I don’t know. I have been trying to get in this guy’s head for years and I haven’t been able to do it, unfortunately.”
An idea was tickling the back of Cade’s brain. He didn’t like coincidence and it was a huge coincidence that Dominguez decided to pop up at the same time his team decided to join in on locating and apprehending him. Cade suddenly realized that Simms was still talking when he heard him say, “We get in the way of his business. We have people like Miguel, the man who was wearing the wire, all over. Something flipped his switch and he’s just finished playing with us.”
“I think I know what flipped his switch, I’m just not sure who,” Cade said.
“Care to share?” Simms asked.
“I think someone on Bunker’s end is feeding him information and he knows we’re here. He needs Bunker, or at least the club, to distribute his product from Nevada into California. He did his best to intimidate him, but when Bunker decided to put a hit out on him instead, Dominguez came out to play. I think once he’s finished with us here in Colombia, he plans on going back and taking care of Bunker and whatever other holdouts they have out there.”
“Bunker put a hit out on him?” Simms said, looking at Marcus when he said it.
“We never agreed to take the hit. We were just here to help,” Marcus said firmly. Simms looked at Cade.
“It’s true. My team straight-up refused to agree to an assassination.”
“That’s good to know. Also good to know that there’s a difference between an assassination and killing in self-defense. He’s calling us out. He plans to kill us…we’re going in and we plan to kill him first. Since I know this ahead of time, I can’t justify taking civilians in with me.” Cade saw Billy stand up out of the corner of his eye and without turning to look at him, he put his arm out behind him.
Billy stopped moving and Cade said, “What if we came in after?”
Simms didn’t need an explanation. He stood up and said, “I’m sure I’d be too busy to worry about that.” He looked at Pete. “Make sure they know where the weapons are, just in case they need to defend themselves.”
“You got it, sir.”
Simms shook Cade’s hand and said, “It’s good to see you again, Cade. I’m sorry it is under these circumstances. You talk to your team and decide what you all want to do. There won’t be any hard feelings if I don’t see you again before you leave Colombia, and I hope your boy in there makes it.”
“He’s tough, he’ll be okay.” Cade said.
“I’ll meet you in the parking lot in ten,” Pete said before following Simms and the others out. Once they were gone, Cade turned to his team.
“Same rules as before, this mission is strictly voluntary with no repercussions if you decide to sit this one out. Nate is proof that Dominguez is not messing around and I really don’t want to have to make another call like the one I made to Angel this morning.”
“I’m in,” Marcus said immediately.
“Me too,” Grant chimed in with a nod.
“Try and stop me,” Billy said with a devious grin.
“Alright, let’s do this, then, so we can get home to our girls.”
“Our girls, boss?” Marcus said, raising his eyebrows with a neutral expression.
“I meant your girls,” Cade said. He felt his face go hot. The truth was that he was so excited about finally moving forward with Bobbie that he almost wanted to come right out and tell them all. He knew he needed to talk to her first and find out what she wanted, and he also knew that right then wasn’t the time and the hospital where Nate was fighting for his life was not the place. “Let’s go gear up.”
********
Ten minutes later they stood outside behind the hospital with Pete. He had the back end open of a black truck with a freezer container on the back. The container was full of weapons and tactical equipment. “Take what you need,” Pete said. “Simms and the rest of the team are gearing up right now. He’s going to radio me when they’re ready to head out. Y’all are welcome to borrow the truck if you need a ride anywhere.”
“That sounds great,” Cade told him. “Thanks, Pete.”
The men began the chore of picking out their equipment. They tried on bulletproof vests, helmets, gloves, and shields until they found the perfect fit and then they picked their weapons. There was a wide variety to choose from, not just guns, but grenades and knives too. Grant automatically reached for a sniper rifle with a powerful scope and Billy was loading his pockets with knives and grenades. He was a little too gung-ho about this assignment and Cade was just a little bit worried about him.
Once the men were all suited up, Cade pulled him aside and asked him, “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” Billy said. “I just want to get this bastard.”
“I get that,” Cade told him. “We all do. Just remember that we have to worry about everyone’s safety out there first, though, okay? If Dominguez runs and it’s too risky to go after him, we call it.” Billy had his jaw set and he didn’t say anything. “Billy?” Cade raised an eyebrow.
“Okay, boss. You call it and I back off.”
“Good. Okay. Remember that gigantic tux you ordered for the wedding already isn’t going to fit anyone else, unless Nate happens to personally know the Incredible Hulk.”
Billy cracked a smile. “I got it. I’ll be safe.”
“Good.”
“Hey, guys!” Pete yelled into the truck. “My team is picking me up and we’re heading out.”
“We’re right behind you,” Cade told him. Grant and Marcus stayed in the back and Cade closed them inside before he and Billy got in the cab. He looked at Billy again as he started the truck. Billy was gripping the automatic rifle in his lap so hard that his knuckles were white. Cade hoped that he wasn’t making a mistake, letting his team go in on this. All he knew was that if he had told them no, none of them would have ever forgiven him and he might never be able to look Nate in the eyes again.