Chapter Eleven
Consumed by fear, Reno called Balenger and the local cops as he raced for the house. Why the fuck did his brother have to live clear across town? He had Tony continue dialing both the house and Sarah’s cell but without any luck. By the time he pulled up in his driveway two patrol cars were there, and Balenger was just pulling up. An ambulance was just coming down his street from the other direction. The garage door was open, and two of the cops were bending over something on the floor.
Oh, Jesus! No. No, no, no.
He shoved the car into Park so hard it rocked. Throwing open the door, he raced up the driveway and roughly shoved aside the kneeling men. He almost passed out at the sight of Sarah crumpled on the floor, blood staining her side and pooling on the floor.
“Sarah!” His chest tightened with anguish. He lifted one of her hands, frightened at how icy cold it was.
“Reno?” Balenger touched his shoulder. “Reno, the ambulance is here. Let the EMTs get to her.
He moved around so he was kneeling by her head, leaving room for the medics to work. He barely heard what they were saying as they took her vitals. So much blood. Shit. Even the pressure bandage they applied didn’t seem to be doing any good.
Then something struck him and he looked up at Balenger. “Molly?”
“Gone. He left a note.” He snapped his fingers, and another man in a suit handed him a plastic envelope with a sheet of paper inside. Reno read it, trying not to throw up.
Come and get what’s yours, if you can, gringo. This time I’ll be sure to kill you.
“He’s taken her back to Mexico,” he guessed.
Balenger nodded. “We’re pretty sure of that. And you know he’s got a slow death planned for you.”
“He can kill me as long as Molly’s safe and Sarah doesn’t die.”
The medics lifted Sarah onto a stretcher and began to back out of the garage.
“I’m going with her,” he told them.
“You can’t ride in the amb—” one of them started to say.
Balenger flashed his badge. “Make an exception.”
Reno remembered little of the mad dash through the streets, sirens screaming. He held Sarah’s cold hand in his, thinking if he could warm it up, she’d be okay. Praying she’d live. Praying that Molly would be unharmed. Aguilar wouldn’t hurt a baby, would he?
“I love you, Sarah. I love Molly. If I can just have you both back safe, I’ll tell you every day for the rest of our lives.”
Then they were at the emergency entrance, and Sarah was being handed over to the doctors and nurses who had rushed out with a gurney. Tony, who must have driven his car to the hospital, tugged him away.
“I can’t leave her,” Reno said.
“Let the doctors have her,” his brother said in a soft voice. “Here.” He held out a handkerchief.
Reno took it, realizing his cheeks were wet with tears he hadn’t even realized he’d cried. He was standing there mopping his cheeks when a man in scrubs walked up to them.
“Which of you is Mr. Sullivan?”
“I am,” Reno told him.
“I’m Dr. Redfield. I’m the surgeon who’ll be operating on your wife. We’re going to take good care of her.”
“Don’t let her die,” was all he could manage.
Redfield gave him a reassuring smile. “That’s the plan. I suggest you go up to the second floor where the surgery waiting room is. That’s where I’ll look for you.”
“Can I see her again before she—before you—”
“Go ahead up there now while she’s being prepped. I’ll make sure they get you before they wheel her into the surgery suite.”
“Come on.” Tony tugged gently on his arm. “Let’s go.”
He let himself be led into the elevator and up to the surgery waiting room on the second floor. They were barely inside the room when Nick entered.
“Lindsey wanted to come,” he told Reno, “but I didn’t think this was the best place for a pregnant woman.”
Reno just nodded, his throat so tight with unshed tears he could barely talk.
“Here.” Tony handed him a paper cup filled with coffee. “Drink some of this.”
He took a sip, scarcely noticing that it scalded his tongue or tasted like battery acid.
“How did this happen?” he asked Nick. “I should have assigned someone as a permanent bodyguard.”
“We hadn’t heard a thing about Aguilar in months. And Sarah never would have stood for someone glued to her twenty-four/seven. It’s obvious Aguilar and his men observed her and you. He knew there’d be a security system in the house so he had to wait for just the right opportunity. Sometimes things happen no matter what you do. But Sarah will pull through and we’ll get Molly back safe and sound.”
“If Sarah pulls through, I’m going to tell her everything,” he told the two men.
“When she pulls through,” Tony corrected.
Reno nodded. “And throw myself at her feet and beg forgiveness.” He swallowed. “If she just pulls through.” He tried to draw in a full breath. “And Molly. Jesus. Will I lose her before I even have her, tell her I love her?” He looked at Nick. “We have to get a team—”
“Already in the works. Sit down. I’ll bring you up to date. Balenger’s been a big help. He hates it that the FBI can’t go into Mexico for her.”
“I want to go with the team to Mexico,” Reno insisted.
Nick shook his head. “You aren’t fit for this kind of rescue operation. You’ll do something stupid and endanger all of us, including Molly. Have enough brains to realize that.”
“But—”
“No buts. And Sarah will need you here. She’ll need you with her when she finds out about Molly and waits for news. You know I’m right.”
The worst part was, he agreed with Nick. And he certainly wasn’t thinking clearly enough to lead a team into danger. Anyway, he didn’t think he could tear himself away from Sarah.
“Mr. Sullivan?”
Reno looked up, saw a man in scrubs at the door to the room, and leaped to his feet.
“That’s me.”
“If you come with me, you can see Mrs. Sullivan for a minute before we take her into surgery.”
Reno nearly ran into the hallway where Sarah lay, as white as the sheets, on a gurney. He almost passed out when he saw her. He wrapped both of his hands around one of her small ones, the one without the IV needle in it, and squeezed gently.
“Sarah, if you can hear me, I love you. I love you more than I’ve ever loved another soul, and when we get past this, I’m going to spend every day showing you. You and Molly, because we’re going to get her back. That’s a promise.”
He placed a gentle kiss on her lips, lips nearly as cold as her hand.
“Mr. Sullivan?” The nurse touched his shoulder. “We need to take her now.”
Reluctantly, he released his hold on her and backed away. As they wheeled her through the double doors, he felt tears coursing down his cheeks again. He had really fucked up big time, but he was going to make it right.
“I want to go on the mission,” he insisted to Nick.
“That’s a big fat no.”
“But Aguilar took Molly as bait for me. I’m the one he wants.”
“And he’ll get you and kill you. In fact, the shape you’re in, you’d get us all killed.” Nick’s cell phone buzzed, and he looked down to see a text scrolling on the screen. “And that’s my cue to get my ass in gear. Everything’s ready. Balenger got us maps of Aguilar’s compound, and everyone’s ready. We are wheel’s up in thirty so I need to boogie.”
“Go.”
“Remember. We have to wait until dark to do this. But the helo will drop us far enough away that we can hike toward the compound and keep an eye on things. We don’t want to risk anything happening to Molly.”
“I know. I know.”
Nick squeezed Reno’s shoulder. “Everything will be fine. Sarah will come through this, and I’ll get Molly back.” He looked at Tony. “He’s all yours. Take good care of him.”
The two men shook hands, and then Nick was gone.
Reno thought the next few hours were the longest he had ever spent. Every minute seemed like an hour, every hour like a day. He checked his cell phone every five minutes, even though he knew it would be a while before he got confirmation from Nick.
When he couldn’t stand it anymore, he did something he hadn’t done in as long as he could remember. He went to the hospital chapel and prayed.
****
Nick had assembled a team of five men, all former Special Forces and all skilled in hostage rescue. This was nearly the same team that had done the extraction from Aguilar’s compound the last time so they were familiar with the area and the layout. They were dressed in camouflage, their faces blackened and web harnesses crisscrossing their body to hold all their equipment. And each man carried an assault rifle.
“Okay, let’s review it all one more time,” he said over the noise of the rotors as they headed for Mexican airspace. He opened his laptop, called up the map of the compound, and held it so everyone could see the screen.
“We’re going to assume they have Molly in the same room they held the hostage the last time. Aguilar’s daughter visits sometime, and that room has a crib in it.”
“I can’t believe that animal has children.” Evan Noble grunted. “Spawn of the devil.”
“Actually,” Nick told him, “you hit the nail on the head. She’s become a vital member of his operation. If we take him out, there’s not a doubt in my mind she’ll step in and rebuild the organization.”
“Maybe we should take her out, too,” one of the men commented.
“If that was our mission, we would,” Nick agreed. “But our sole purpose is to rescue Molly Sullivan. Destroying the compound will be a part of that. So let’s get back to business.”
He went over everything with them until he was confident each man had his assignment memorized. He really wasn’t worried. In Special Forces, they’d executed missions like this a number of times. They were silent for the rest of the trip, each man busy with his own thoughts, running details through his mind.
The helicopter dropped them five miles from the compound, far enough away not to raise suspicions and in a heavily forested area to give them concealment.
“I’ll call for extraction as soon as we have Molly,” Nick told the pilot. “By that time you can extract closer to the compound.” He pointed to a spot on the map on the tablet the pilot was holding. “Here. Got it?”
The pilot nodded. “Got it.”
They synced their watches, and Nick waved the helo away.
They remained silent as they walked through the jungle, their footfalls nearly soundless. There was nothing to talk about yet, and they knew from before where Aguilar had cameras placed. When they got close to the compound, they set up far enough back that their images weren’t picked up.
Nick took the thermal imaging reader from a pocket on his harness, opened it, and turned it on. Immediately, tiny red dots appeared both inside and outside the estancia. If Aguilar was true to form, the baby would be upstairs in the room that overlooked the courtyard, and he would have someone staying with the little girl. Nick looked for a room with two dots in it and sure enough… There it was, right where he expected it to be.
Of course, it could be two other people, but he went with his gut. If he was wrong, they’d just check every room, shooting whoever they had to as they went. His preference, of course, was to grab Molly and get the fuck out.
He showed the screen to everyone so they could fix it in their minds. Then they all hunkered down, took out their binoculars to watch what was going on, and prepared to wait.
Not much happened during the daylight hours. Nick noted with some interest that there were only two guards at a time in the courtyard and one on the back side of the house. They’d taken note of that the last time, and apparently, Aguilar hadn’t learned anything from the last invasion. Arrogance had its drawbacks.
At last, the sun went down and gradually darkness descended. By nine o’clock, Nick was convinced they had as much cover as they would need and he signaled quietly to each man. Ned Dropo, former sniper, stayed on the hill. As the others began to move out, Ned sighted along his scope and quickly and efficiently took out the front guards. Then he duck-walked toward the back and took out the man there.
Slowly, the others spread out, Dropo keeping his rifle trained on the estancia, ready to pick off anyone who ventured outside. They circled the surrounding wall, bending low, and set charges along the way until they reached a point where they could haul themselves over. Someone shouted in the courtyard, and Nick heard the voice raised. Obviously, someone had discovered the two bodies. The man began to shout but was cut off in midsentence.
Good. Dropo was doing his part.
As soon as they were in the courtyard, Nick and two of the men scrambled up the outside stairway, placing charges along the wall and leaving Dropo and two other men to cover the courtyard. At the top of the staircase was a set of French doors. Locked. Nick smashed the glass with the butt of his rifle, reached inside to flip the lock and pulled the door open.
Thank god I chose the right room!
In front of him stood a plump woman with her gray hair in a bun, wearing a black dress and holding Molly protectively against her chest.
“Por favor, senorita.” Nick reached for the baby. “I need to take the child.” He reached out for her. “Molly, come to Uncle Nick.”
She must have recognized his voice because she reached out to him. “Unka Nick. Want Unka Nick.”
The woman stared at him, frightened, holding Molly even tighter.
Nick brought up his rifle. “Hand over the baby. I don’t want to hurt you.”
Jim Clayton said something in Spanish to the woman. She looked from one man to the other, then reluctantly handed Molly to Nick.
“Thanks,” he told Jim. They heard loud voices raised in the house, more gunshots, and the voices coming closer. “Let’s get the fuck out of here.”
He secured Molly against his chest with straps from his harness, placing a reassuring kiss on her forehead. Then he and Jim ran down the outside stairway. He was almost out of the courtyard when he heard a voice next to him.
“Give that child back to me,” Aguilar said in is guttural voice, “or I kill both of you.”
Nick wasn’t sure how he would have handled it, but the choice was taken out of his hands. He heard a soft pop! When he turned, he saw a round hole in the center of Aguilar’s forehead. In the next instant, the man fell to the ground.
Thank you, Dropo!
“Let’s get the hell out of here,” Jim Clayton urged, running toward the gate in the wall.
As he ran, Nick punched a button on the radio he wore on his wrist.
“Ready for extraction,” he told the pilot.
By the time they reached the crest of the hill, the helo was already setting down, rotors still spinning. Two pairs of hands helped Nick and Molly into the helo first, then the others scrambled in afterward. Molly, who had either been frightened silent or felt secure with “Unka Nick” had started crying with all the commotion.
“Shh, little one,” he crooned. “I’m taking you home to Mommy and Daddy.”
Despite all the activity and the noise, she hiccupped in mid cry and looked at him. “Mama?”
“Yes, sweetheart, Mama. And Daddy.”
It amazed him when she plopped her thumb in her mouth and leaned her head against his chest.
As they lifted off, Jim Clayton took a small remote from his harness and depressed the button.
Boom!
The explosion from the charges they’d planted rocked the night air and lit up the sky. In seconds, most of Luis Aguilar’s estancia was a pile of rubble. Dropo lifted a shoulder, positioned a missile launcher from the cabin of the helo on it, and as they pulled away fired the projectile. The last thing they saw was the conflagration consuming Aguilar’s coca fields.
“Good riddance, asshole,” he whispered, holding Molly tightly against his chest.
Then he took out his satellite phone and punched in a number. This was one call he was happy to make.