Chapter Twenty-Two
Kate hated to do it, but the jouncing in the SUV was exacerbating the pain. She popped two of her pain pills into her mouth and took a swallow of water from the bottle she’d snagged off the kitchen counter.
“Exactly where are we going?” she asked for the tenth time. “The signs say we’re in San Antonio.”
“That’s right,” Nolan told her. “There’s a condo on the far north side where arrangements have been made.”
“And Nick and Quinn know about this?” she asked nervously.
“Nick’s the one who called me, remember? He’ll get hold of Quinn, and they’ll meet us there.”
“But how did the cartel find out where we were?” she persisted. “I thought the place was so secret.”
Nolan slid a glance at her. “Secrets slip out sometimes. Ah, here we are.”
Kate sighed with relief as a huge, gated compound came into view. She could see low buildings rising behind a brick wall.
Nolan wheeled the big SUV up to the guardhouse and gave his name to the man on duty. “We’re expected.”
“Yes, sir. You know which building it is, right?”
“Yes. Thanks.”
“Pretty fancy surroundings for a safe house,” Kate commented.
“We like to take good care of the people we’re responsible for,” Nolan assured her, a funny smile playing across his mouth. He opened the passenger door and held out his hand. “All set?”
“Yes. Thank you.” She let him help her down from the big SUV, leaning on him as he guided her into the building.
The security officer behind the reception desk nodded to Nolan. “Go right on up, Mr. Hanks. They’re expecting you.”
Kate frowned. “They? Who are ‘they’?”
“Just a few more people involved in this. We don’t want any slipups. Come on. Here’s the elevator.”
The elevator rose smoothly, hissed to a stop, and the doors slid open. Kate stared at the woman she hadn’t seen in ten years, not since her uncle had died and she’d disappeared like smoke in the wind. But she’d never forget what Eve Burke looked like. The black-hearted witch, her mother had called her.
Only…why was she here? What did she have to do with all this?”
“Kathryn, my dear.” She took Kate’s hands and tugged her forward. “My word, you look terrible. I understand you’ve been wounded. We’re so sorry that had to happen.”
“I don’t understand.” Panic griped her with icy tentacles. “Why are you here? How did you know I’d been hurt? What’s going on?”
Eva looked over Kate’s shoulder. “Thank you, Nolan. Good job, as always.”
Kate turned to him, getting a very sick feeling in her stomach. “Nick didn’t call you, did he?”
Of course he hadn’t. They were all being played for fools. “And this is no safe house, is it?”
“It’s safe,” Eva assured her, “although not necessarily for you.”
Kate clenched her hands, the pain of her fingernails digging into her palms helping her stay alert. She gave Nolan a look of disgust. “Nick Vanetta trusted you, and because of that, Quinn did.” She swallowed back the bile rising in her throat. “How long have you worked for the Osunas?”
“Longer than you need to know about.” His voice was hard, impersonal. “Vanetta has no idea how long I’ve been buried in his organization just in case something like this came up.”
“What is this place you’ve brought me to?” she demanded. “And what’s my aunt doing here?”
“Questions, questions.” Eva shook her head, then reached out and took Kate’s hand, gripping it in hers as she tugged her out of the foyer. “Come into the living room and sit down. There are some people here who will be very glad to see you.”
Half a dozen steps into the room, Kate stopped and felt every bit of blood drain from her face. Two men, strangers, were sitting on a long couch, holding brandy snifters.
“I don’t believe you’ve met my brothers.” Eva’s voice could have frozen fire. “Miguel and Esai Osuna.”
“Brothers?” Kate was feeling very dizzy. Her heart was pounding so loud she thought it would shake her body.
“And of course—” Her aunt gestured toward the fireplace. “—you are well acquainted with this man.” She gestured toward the man leaning against the fireplace.
“Peter?” God in heaven. What is he doing here?
“None other.” His face showed no expression, but rage burned in his eyes. “We’ve been looking for you for a long time, you know. We owe a lot to Nolan for bringing you here.”
“Oh, my God.” She made it to the closest chair and almost fell into it. If this was a nightmare, she wanted to wake up at once.
“I understand you and my son know each other quite well,” Eva commented in her brittle voice.
“Your son?” God, she really had fallen into hell. She heard the words, but her brain couldn’t process them. This couldn’t possibly be happening.
Breathe naturally, Kate. Don’t show them how terrified you are.
Eva nodded. “From a previous marriage. Your uncle was hardly the first to provide me the cover I needed, even if unwittingly.” She smiled at Peter. “But as far as I’m concerned, he is mine.”
Kate didn’t dare pass out from the pain. If she couldn’t figure something out, she had no doubt these people would kill her. The game wasn’t over yet. Kathryn Burke would have folded like a wet napkin. Kate Griffin, even in her weakened condition, would find a way to fight back. It was only a matter of getting herself under control and figuring out what to do. She clenched her jaw, steadying herself, willing herself not to faint. The cold steel of her gun was a reassuring feeling at the small of her back.
Her eyes swept around the room. The two men on the couch, the brothers Osuna, were like bookends. In their early fifties, she guessed, with the same thick head of dark hair as their sister, but tinged with silver. Dark, almost swarthy skin, set off by the expensive light-colored silk shirts they wore. Cruelty lurked in the dark, hooded eyes that missed nothing. They watched her as if she were a lab specimen, waiting for the dissector’s knife. She wondered which one was Miguel?
“You’ve been a lot of trouble to us, Kathryn.” Peter straightened and shoved his hands in his pockets. “I have to say, I didn’t give you nearly enough credit for smarts. Very embarrassing to admit you had me fooled.”
“No more than you did me,” she told him, more bravado in her voice than she felt.
“What a shame you were impetuous enough to steal something belonging to us.” Eva’s colorful skirt swirled around her as she turned toward Kate. “None of these stupid men seemed to have a clue how to track you down and retrieve it.”
Eva’s eyes were filled with contempt as she looked at each of them in turn. There was not one doubt who was in command here.
“Too bad for all of you.” Kate lifted her chin, a gesture of confidence she didn’t feel. “You have to know the U.S. Attorney’s office has the flash drive now. And Peter? They’ve cracked your super secret code. I guess they’re a lot better at it than you gave them credit for. They’ll be here any minute looking for you.” Her eyes traveled around the room. “All of you.”
She had no idea if anyone even knew where she was or how quickly the DOJ would be able to move if they did. She just hoped her voice sounded more confident than she felt.
“Oh, but you’re going to help us with that, my dear,” Eva told her. “And then some.”
“I don’t understand. What can I possibly do?”
“We’ve decided to move our operation to Mexico,” she explained, “but we need to make sure we can leave here without a problem. That’s where you come in.”
“Me?” She frowned. What did they expect her to do?
“Simple. We’re going to offer them an exchange. You for a clean exit across the border. Once we’re there, we’ll return you safely to them.”
A hysterical laugh bubbled up from her throat. “You really think I’m important enough for the Department of Justice to trade for me? You’re a fool if you believe that.”
“No,” Eva answered her. “But you are important enough to Quinn, and he is a man who can make it happen.”
“I’m curious, Miss Burke.”
Kate slid her eyes to the speaker. The initial M on his shirt cuffs identified this one as Miguel.
He uncrossed his legs and sat forward, his heavy ring and gold watch glinting in the light from the lamp. “What made you take the disk in the first place?”
“I was in the office that night and heard you and Peter talking about it.” She gripped her hands together to steady herself. “Right after you discussed killing me. I thought I could use it in exchange for my life.”
“Why the hell did you sneak in that way?” Peter exploded.
She turned her gaze back to him. “Does it matter now?”
“No.” Miguel answered for him. “Now we’re going to do the exchange, although not quite the way you’d expected.”
Nervously, she wet her lips. “Could I have a glass of water, please?”
“Of course. Peter, please get our guest some ice water.” She turned back to Kate. “I apologize for your injuries. You weren’t our target, you know.”
“Is that supposed to make me feel better?”
“If we had hit your friend, would you have grieved for him, Kathryn?” Peter asked, returning with the glass of water. “Just who is he to you? Protector? Friend? Lover?”
Kate drank slowly from the water glass, refusing to be baited.
“Let’s make sure she’s not carrying anything of importance,” he said, grabbing her purse and upending it on the table. Her meds, her toiletries, and a handkerchief rolled out. Disappointment flashed across Peter’s face.
“What did you expect?” she sneered. “A gun?” Thank God she’d moved it. Now she was even more conscious of the metal shape pressing against her back.
“We can’t be too careful.”
This whole scene is so surreal. Here I am, sitting in this lavish home, with murderers and drug dealers who want to kill me. Everyone is conversing so politely it’s as if we’re all at some sophisticated cocktail party.
“Nolan’s going to call Nick Vanetta,” Eva told her, handing her a slip of paper. “I want you to read exactly what’s written here as soon as Nolan has him on the phone.”
Kate watched him dial the sat phone, then nodded when the connection was made.
“I’m not calling to have a discussion with you,” Nolan said in a flat voice. “That’s over and done with. I assume by now you know what’s happened. I have someone here you really need to talk to. And you’d better pay attention to what she says.”
Then the phone was thrust at Kate, and she lifted it to her ear. “Nick?”
“Kate. Are you all right? Can you tell me where you are?”
She could hear in his voice how shaken he was but was grateful he was forcing his voice to be calm.
“I—”
Nolan grabbed the phone. “No discussion. Listen to her message. That’s all.” He gave the phone back to her. “Read.”
Kate stared at the paper, the words blurring. She wet her lips with the tip of her tongue and forced the words out. “I am alive so long as you do what they ask. Follow their instructions, and they’ll return me to you safely. They want a guarantee of safe passage to Mexico. They will call back in one hour.”
Nolan took the phone back. “One hour. Get the word to your friends in the DOJ. If the answer is no, it won’t matter to us if we kill her. But you might have some explaining to do to your friend Quinn.”
He disconnected the call.
****
Quinn drove the SUV down the road that ran along the back of his property, keeping his headlights off. He parked in the underbrush and made his way through the woods. Entering the house from the front would leave him too exposed, just in case Kane Barton had someone watching.
On the way from the cabin, he’d run every diversionary maneuver he knew, checking constantly in his rearview mirror. It took the better part of two hours, time he didn’t have, but he was as certain as he could be that no one was on his tail. So far, so good. He’d get into the house, get what he needed and leave.
Getting his guns and a good supply of ammo wouldn’t take long. He should have done that to begin with. At the same time, he would start digging for his old contacts and set about tracking down the key players in the Osuna cartel. At this point, he didn’t expect them to be operating out in the open, so finding them would require some outside help. But someone would know where they were.
He’d use the same methods to convince people to talk as when he went after the Ramirez cartel. All he needed was one person to open up to him. And quickly.
Just in case Kane Barton—or worse, the Osunas—had someone watching his house, he left his car at a bend in the road and pulled in among a copse of trees. Hiking in through the prairie grasses that covered most of his acreage, he made his way to the back of his house and opened the side door to the garage. He was just about to pull it shut behind him when he heard a noise behind him. Yanking the .38 from his waistband, he whirled in crouch position.
“I should be the one doing the shooting, you asshole.” Jake Garza materialized out of the darkness, slamming the door shut, and snapping on a flashlight. He held it up to his face so Quinn could see who he was.
“Jesus, Jake, you nearly gave me a heart attack.”
Jake clicked off the light. “We need to talk.”
“Where’s your car?” Quinn made a supreme effort to tamp down his fury. “I can see my driveway from the back of the property, and it’s empty.”
“I can be just as sneaky as you, Ace. I left it at the vacant property around the corner from here.”
“How did you even know I’d be coming here?”
“I took a chance, knowing how your mind works. Your cell didn’t answer; I figured you had it shut off so no one could track it. And Nick said you weren’t answering any of the disposables he gave you. He called me in a panic when he couldn’t reach you. And I called Dean. Come on. We’ve got serious problems.”
“Why was Nick trying to call me? And why did he call you? What’s going on?”
Jake shook his head. “Not out here in the garage. Go inside. We’ll talk while you get whatever you came for.”
Quinn led him through the utility room and into the darkened house. Not wanting to turn on any lights just in case he’d been followed by either Barton’s people or, god forbid, the cartel, he motioned for Jake to follow him to his bedroom. The moon was full and gave them as much light as they needed.
In the closet, he slid back a panel to reveal his gun safe. “All right. Talk. I need to get my stuff and be on the way.”
“We have a crisis. A bad one.”
Quinn’s heart almost stopped beating, and he couldn’t draw a breath. He turned to look at Jake. “Kate? Has something happened to her?”
“I won’t even go into the stupidity of the stunt you pulled,” Jake ground out, “or the fact that I know you’re out here ready to go hot-dogging. This isn’t the time for it.”
“You’re right about that. So skip the lecture and get to the point.” Quinn was ready to strangle his old friend if he didn’t get to the point and damn quick.
Jake shoved his hands in his pants pockets as if he didn’t know what to do with them. “Kate’s gone. And so is Nolan.”
Quinn thought he might pass out. A buzzing sound filled his head, and his stomach heaved. Gone? No, that was wrong. Kate was safe. He’d gone to great lengths to make that happen. He sat down before Jake could see how badly he was shaking.
“What do you mean, gone? Where the hell are they? I just left them a couple of hours ago.”
“No one knows. Going through the list of the Osuna payroll, whose name should pop up but Nolan Hanks.”
“What the fuck?”
“Kane called Nick who was already on the way to the cabin because he hadn’t been able to raise anyone. I think he was afraid you and Kate were both dead. Nick’s on his way to our office. I figured you’d come here, and Kane thought it would be best if I broke the news to you myself.”
“Fuck, fuck, fuck.” Quinn couldn’t make his brain function, couldn’t accept what he was hearing. “Damn it all anyway.”
I promised to take care of her. To keep her safe. I’ve failed her twice. What a useless piece of garbage I am.
“There’s more.” Jake cleared his throat. “Kane’s had a tail on Esai Osuna for a while, just to see if anything turned up. His guy called in to tell him Peter Fleming’s in town and there’s a gathering of the clan at a suburban condo. We may not be able to wait any longer to move against them. Besides, having everyone in the same place would be damned convenient.”
Quinn drew in a ragged breath as he fought for control. “Jesus, can it possibly get any worse? I’ve got to find them, Jake. Where the hell could they be?”
He pulled out a duffel bag and began stuffing his equipment into it.
Jake stopped him with a hand on his arm. “Do everyone a favor this one time, will you please? Don’t go off half-cocked.”
“You can’t expect me to just sit here,” Quinn argued. “You know better than that.”
“I do, but use your head. Come downtown with me. Kane’s pulling out all the stops to get to her. I talked to Nick again, and he’s meeting us there.”
“Did it look like there was a struggle at the cabin?” Quinn asked.
Jake shook his head. “Nothing. For whatever reason, they just drove away. We can sit here and speculate, or we can go downtown and get some real information. Your choice.”
“Let’s go. I’ll follow you.”
But first, despite Jake’s objections, Quinn went to his gun safe and took out his arsenal. Whatever happened, he’d be ready for it.
****
Kane Barton’s office was not small, but tonight, with all the hulking men filling it, the room seemed unusually crowded. Five men Quinn had never seen before, dressed in suits identical except for their color, were having no luck trying to make themselves comfortable on wooden folding chairs. Other men leaned against the wall. Fluorescent lights bathed everything in their unforgiving glare, and the room smelled of stale coffee and sweat. Nick sat off to one side.
Nobody was smiling.
“Okay, I’m here,” Quinn said, planting himself in front of the desk. “Tell me what’s going on. How the hell did Nolan Hanks get by your vetting, Nick?”
“Let’s just identify all the players first, okay?” Kane swept his glance around the room. “Nick can deal with that situation later. Right now, you’ll need these men to do what needs to be done.”
“This isn’t a tea party,” Quinn ground out. “And I’m not hanging around for bureaucratic bullshit.”
“You never did. Just let me introduce you to the other men in the room.” He nodded in their general direction. “Meet Special Agent Joe Tallmadge, Special Agent Aaron Hill, and Special Agent in Charge Noah Delaney of the FBI. They’ve been investigating the Osunas from the beginning of the Strike Force. And over there is Clay Peters, head of the district DEA office, and one of his men.”
Quinn waved a hand in the air. “Nice to meet you all, but we can forget the social amenities. Where’s Kate?” He turned to Nick. “And Nolan?”
Nick looked at Kane. “Why don’t you fill him in? Then I can figure out how to apologize, if that’s even possible, and we can get on with business.”
Quinn ground his teeth. “Will someone please just tell me what the fuck is going on?”
Kane looked decidedly unhappy. “If you’d let us take care of her in the first place, this wouldn’t have happened. Just keep that in mind.”
“Damn it.” Quinn’s patience was gone. “Forget about who should have done what. I did what I thought was best for her. Can we get to the meat of this thing? I want to know what’s happened to Kate?”
“First of all, you’re right.” Lines of tension were etched in Kane’s face. “We’ve been working on that flash drive we got from Kate, cracking the codes one by one. Lots of good information there. Bank accounts. Dummy corporations. Suppliers. Buyers.”
“And?” Quinn prompted, his voice rough.
“And a list of people all over the country taking payoffs from the cartel. It’s far more extensive that any of us thought. They’re into every area of law enforcement on every level, as well as private parties that could do them some good.” He looked over at Nick, then back at Quinn. “As Jake told you, Nolan Hanks’s name is on there.”
Quinn looked at Nick, whose face reflected his own sick feeling.
“Jake said Fleming’s in town, and they’re all gathered at someone’s condo for a sit-down,” Quinn pointed out. “That’s got to be where Nolan’s taken Kate.”
Dean handed Quinn a photo. “Let me introduce you to Mrs. Eva Gallagher. Wealthy respected San Antonio matron. Otherwise known as Eva Osuna Fleming Gallagher Burke. Sister to Esai and Miguel. Widow of Roger Burke. Mother of Peter Fleming. And according to the last of the codes we cracked, the real head of the cartel.”
If Quinn had been panicked before, he was terrified now. For Kate.
Dean opened a folder he was holding. “The Osunas came out of Mexico forty years ago dirt poor. Eva snagged herself a couple of rich husbands, who died not too long after their weddings. Of unidentified causes, according to the death certificates. She used her inheritances to set up the cartel.” Briefly, he gave Quinn the rundown on how John and Roger Burke got caught in the trap.
“That’s all wonderful information, but can someone tell me why we’re just sitting here?” Quinn demanded, his patience long gone. He wanted to scream. To hit somebody. Anybody. Anything but having these conversations while Kate could be…No. God, don’t even think it. “Nolan’s taken her to the condo. We need to get going while she’s still…all right.”
Nick cleared his throat. “She’s still alive, Quinn. Nolan called me just before you and Jake got here to let me know and tell me what they wanted.”
“What?” Quinn thought he was hearing things. He pulled the tattered shreds of his control together and tried to pay attention to what Nick was saying. “The man has balls.”
“Big ones,” Nick agreed. “And I’ll never be able to tell you how sorry I am about him. We have an excellent system in place to prevent just this kind of thing. I guess we’ll have to look and see where the holes are.”
Quinn gritted his teeth. “What. Did. He. Want?”
“They know we’ve got the flash drive, so their goose is cooked. Their only chance is to get away clean and start somewhere else.”
“And?” Quinn made a motion with his hand to speed it up.
“They’ll trade Kate for safe passage out of here into Mexico. A clean getaway. No cops. No arrests.”
“So they can set up in another country,” Noah Delaney put in, a bitter look on his face.
“Fuck.” Quinn wasn’t sure his legs would keep holding him upright. There was one empty folding chair, and he dropped into it. “What did you tell him?”
“I told him I’d have to get with the U.S. Attorney to get his approval on something like this.”
“Did you get proof of life?” Quinn demanded.
“Yes. He put Kate on the phone to give us their demands.” Quinn saw a look of admiration flash in Noah Delaney’s eyes. “Your girl has more guts than most women I’ve ever met. We all know the ordeal she’s been through, and still not even fully recovered. But she kept her cool. Just read the message they’d written out for her.”
“When are you supposed to hear from him again?”
This is so much bullshit. I need to find out that address and get my ass over there.
Nick looked at his watch. “One hour from when he called, which makes it almost any time now. I told them it would take me time to get hold of Kane.”
Quinn jumped up. “That gives us plenty of time to get there. If you guys want to sit around and gossip, have at it. Just tell me where the damn place is. I’m going to get Kate out.”
“Hold on, will you?” Kane glared at him. “That’s our plan, too, but can we at least get a few details together first?”
Nick’s phone rang, and they all looked at each other. Nick pressed the Talk button.
“Yeah?” He listened a moment. “We got the okay on it. It’ll take about thirty minutes for them to type it up and get the AG’s signature on it. Then we’ll fax it to you. What? No, asshole. No one’s going to do anything to endanger that woman’s life. You just better get the hell out of town before we change our minds.” He disconnected the call and looked at Kane. “Okay. We’ve got half an hour. Is that enough?”
Kane nodded. “More than.”
“Unless they kill her first,” Quinn pointed out with barely leashed anger.
“They won’t do that,” Kane told him. “They need a live body to do this. They know if they kill her first, all bets are off.” As he finished speaking, the bell on his fax machine rang. He reached over and ripped out the paper as it fed into the tray. “This is what I was waiting for. A warrant for the condo and all its contents signed by Judge Harley. A man not on their payroll, by the way. It’s our ticket in.”
He stood up, rolled down his shirt sleeves and pulled on his jacket. “All right, boys, time to get the party started. Jake, you ride with Dean and me. Clay and Noah have their own vehicles.”
“I’m coming, too,” Quinn said, heading for the door.
“And me,” Nick added. “It was my fuckup.”
Kane hesitated only a moment, knowing they’d follow him anyway. He scribbled something on a slip of paper and handed it to Nick. “All right. Here’s where we’re going. Just remember who’s calling the shots. And Quinn? That goes double for you. You wait for my call on everything. Got it?”
Quinn nodded, but he had his own thoughts on the matter.