A SEAL Never Quits

by Holly Castillo

  Now, the small town of Hebbronville was the best thing they had ever seen, even though it was shrouded in darkness with only a few streetlights showing how empty the town was at this time of night. It was late when they finally pulled down the long dirt road to their ranch.

  The light at the front door flipped on before Stryker had a chance to insert his keys. Snap yanked open the door, his face a mixture of relief at their return and anxiety over Buzz as they helped him hobble into the house. “It’s nothing. Seriously. Phantom’s the doctor around here, remember? And he says I’ll be fine. It’s just a bruise on the bone. Hurts like hell, but it will heal, and quickly too.”

  Brusco came around the corner, eager to make sure they were all okay. He paused as his eyes settled on Stryker.

  “How are things here? Have you gotten any leads on those photos?” Stryker asked, eyeing Brusco. He realized it wasn’t his fault that Anya had been pulled into things. He couldn’t take his frustrations out on his team.

  Snap shook his head. “The envelope she received indicated that it originated here in Hebbronville, but we don’t have a FedEx here. The one you received was from Corpus. Someone is playing some major head games with us.”

  Stryker’s eyes landed on Brusco. “How far did you take it with Anya?”

  “Nothing more than you would have, Stryker. I had to make sure to protect the team.”

  Buzz leaned against the wall, watching the interaction. “You do realize that Brusco was following protocol, right? That’s all this is really about. He was doing his job.”

  “Good. Then, are we all cleared up?” Phantom asked, and Stryker felt some of the tension leaving his body.

  “Yes, we’re cleared up.”

  “Great. Now, let’s go into the dining room. We need to take care of Buzz, and we need a debrief.”

  As a group, they moved into the dining room, giving an extra chair for Buzz to prop up his leg. Snap got him a bag of ice, and then they all focused on Stryker. Stryker let out a heavy sigh. “The immediate mission is over. But whether that is truly the end of things, I doubt it.”

  * * *

  Benicio made his way to his first stop. Even if his cartel was crumbling around him, he was going to make sure he still had the infrastructure in place to be able to rebuild. It would take him a long time, and he was going to have to dodge the other cartels that would be fighting to take over everything he’d built. But he had plenty of people to step in who just needed training.

  He should be in Nuevo Laredo doing damage control. But this was more important. He was going to make sure the U.S. learned they couldn’t take him down so easily. He was a powerful man, and they had no idea the hornet’s nest they’d just disturbed.

  It was close to two o’clock in the morning, and he knew Frederick would not be happy at being disturbed at this hour, but there was no way around it. Besides, he was his boss. He expected to be received pleasantly, regardless of the hour. He went to work on the lock on the man’s door, and within moments had the door open. Fortunately, Frederick wasn’t paranoid enough to have a security system in place. Pendejo.

  The layout of the house was predictable, and Benicio slowly moved down the hallway to where the bedrooms were. Fortunately, Frederick didn’t have any kids. That could have been a huge complication, and even though he was pissed off, he didn’t feel like killing any kids today. Now, the man’s wife, on the other hand, was someone he wouldn’t mind killing. She was a nagging bitch who seemed to have him by the balls far too often, which hindered some of their business negotiations.

  But deep down, he wanted to savor the anger and desire to kill for a little longer. He had other obligations while he was in Texas, and he wanted to draw upon those feelings for that event. So, if he could, he would avoid killing Frederick’s wife. But he wouldn’t be heartbroken if she was collateral damage.

  He could hear snores traveling down the hallway and shook his head. If the guy didn’t get a security system after this visit, he was even more of an idiot than Benicio already suspected. He moved into the bedroom silently, feeling the weight of his gun in his hand, reassurance that he had the upper hand. Frederick was big and could wake up swinging, but Benicio knew he could stop that with the simple click of his gun cocked at the man’s head.

  He stood over him for several moments, watching him in his deep sleep, before clamping his hand firmly over Frederick’s mouth and pressing the barrel of the gun against his forehead. Frederick’s eyes flew open, startled and fearful. He was breathing heavily through his nose as his eyes adjusted to the dark room. When he saw who it was that stood above him, his eyes widened even farther.

  Benicio slowly pulled the gun away from his forehead and held it to his lips, motioning him to stay quiet as he got out of the bed. He made a point of giving a direct look at Frederick’s wife, making it clear that she would die if he didn’t follow Benicio’s instructions carefully. He nodded in understanding as best he could under Benicio’s heavy hand.

  Benicio took a step back, allowing Frederick to stand, and encouraged him to move forward by tapping the gun against his back. Wearing only boxer shorts, he straightened his back at the touch of the cold metal and walked rigidly down the hallway and into the small dining room.

  “Can I get you something? A beer?” Frederick asked, obviously trying to make Benicio feel welcome, even at this insane hour.

  Benicio shook his head. “We need to talk business.”

  Frederick sat at the dining room table across from Benicio, apprehension clear on his face. “The runs have been going according to plan,” he said, his fingers picking at imaginary lint on the tablecloth.

  “That’s good to hear. Here is your latest payment.” He placed the large envelope on the table, and he could tell that Frederick was itching to count it but was being respectful. “There will be another run for you coming up very soon. This one will be the last for a few months.”

  Frederick’s eyes widened. “But—I don’t understand. We’ve been doing so well.”

  “There’s been a bit of a shake-up in the cartel, and it’s going to take me some time to get all this worked out. In the meantime, I’m going to need you to lay low. And you can’t take any orders from anyone other than me. Is that understood?”

  “Completely, sir. But I have to admit to you…using my cattle hauler to run the drugs has allowed me and my wife to live our lives comfortably. I don’t know what I’ll do without that extra income.”

  “I’ll need other things from you in the meantime. It isn’t going to pay as much as what you’ve been earning, but it will be easier than being cut off completely.”

  “Thank you, Jefe. What—may I ask what happened?”

  “Some authorities in the U.S. decided to go rogue and infiltrate the cartel. And now, I’m trying to do damage control.”

  “I’m here to help if you need it, Jefe.”

  “That’s good to hear. You might be able to help me right now. What do you know about the new ranchers who recently moved here? The ones who took over that old, abandoned ranch to the north of you.”

  Frederick looked surprised. “The Bent Horseshoe Ranch? I don’t know much about them, other than that they’re aggressively building their stock of pure Santa Gertrudis cattle. That and they had an impressive selection of trained horses.”

  “Where did they come from? How many are there?”

  “They’ve really kept to themselves. I believe there’s six of them altogether. I see them in town from time to time. Clean-cut, business-oriented. They’re friendly, and are gradually getting to know everyone around here.”

  Benicio’s hands clenched into fists. “Who would know something about them? Who is someone they interact with frequently?”

  “The same person all of us ranchers interact with. Dr. Anya Gutierrez. She’s the veterinarian who treats all the livestock around this area.”

 
“Dr. Anya Gutierrez. Thank you, Frederick. You’ve been more helpful than you realize. Now, go back to your wife, and forget I came by to see you tonight. For now, it’s business as usual until you hear from me next.”

  Frederick nodded, obviously relieved. “Thank you, Jefe. Thank you.”

  * * *

  Debriefing the team was harder than Stryker had thought it would be. They had to get all the information out and recorded, so they would be able to deliver an accurate report to Admiral Haslett.

  “How do you think Hector discovered you weren’t the real deal?” Santo asked, his face pulled into a deep frown. None of the men looked pleased. The leader of the Scorpions was still alive and on the loose, which meant their mission had failed, even though they’d taken down the other key players in the cartel.

  They hadn’t been able to get all the critical data from the computers. On top of that, they hadn’t been able to catch the man responsible for all the encoding and encryption that currently plagued them. While that hadn’t been part of their assignment, it would have been a real win for the team.

  “It’s hard to say for certain.” Stryker sighed. It was a question that had haunted him the entire drive home. “Something or someone must have tipped off Benicio that we weren’t all that we seemed. Then Benicio assigned Hector to look into us, and something this person found made him doubt us.”

  “Do you think he could have sent someone all the way to Matamoros to check your background?”

  “I wouldn’t put it past him. Benicio struck me as one paranoid fucker,” Buzz replied. He was on his third bag of ice on his leg, but hadn’t complained about it once.

  “Did either one of you get the feeling that Benicio was a bit…odd?” Phantom asked, shifting in his seat. It was the first time he’d moved since they had all sat down hours ago. Stryker didn’t know how the man did it. But his ability to stay still and blend into his surroundings like that was what had earned him his nickname.

  “I would’ve been surprised if he wasn’t odd,” Buzz replied, shaking his head. “The man had to be a bit twisted to have created the cartel he did at such a young age.”

  “That’s just it. For someone who had so much power, he seemed to lack the confidence I would have expected from a man in that position.”

  “You have a point,” Stryker said thoughtfully. “It almost seemed like he was hiding behind his lieutenants and sicarios most of the night. He even let Hector take a bullet for him.”

  “That’s normal in the cartel world—the second would always protect the capo with his life,” Santo pointed out.

  “Has anyone thought any further about the pictures that were sent to us? And to Anya?” Brusco asked, his gaze locking with Stryker’s.

  “It’s another part of the mystery. Someone got on our property and took pictures of all of us—though it is curious that Stryker is in each one. Was it someone trying to send us a message that they could see us no matter where we are? That we aren’t as undercover as we think we are? Could that person have told Benicio everything about us?”

  Stryker shook his head at Santo’s theories. “I think it’s bigger than that. Think about it… Who had the cartel pictures that were sent to us?”

  “Admiral Haslett had the ones of the cartel that were included in our debrief files,” Snap answered.

  “So, those pictures should have been in the safety of the navy office, inaccessible to someone on the outside.”

  “You think there’s a mole.”

  “I think there are a lot of things that just don’t add up. Someone got their hands on those cartel pictures and sent them to Anya. That same person had the pictures that were taken of us here at the ranch. Other than the leadership in the navy, who knows we’re here? Add to that the redacted file, and I think there’s a major problem. But who would know about Anya?”

  “Buzz, have you done a sweep of this place for bugs, the same way you checked the safe house in Nuevo Laredo?” Phantom asked, his tone tense.

  “The same day I moved in, and once a week ever since those photos arrived. We’re clean.”

  “We can’t trust anyone,” Brusco said. “Not even the admiral.”

  Stryker shook his head. “I’ve known Admiral Haslett for a long time. He isn’t the type of man who can be corrupted. He bleeds red, white, and blue.”

  “Money can be a powerful influence.” Snap shrugged.

  “Not for him. But you’re right. We have to tread carefully with everybody. And we need to get to the bottom of who sent those photos to us…and to Anya.”

  “Already on it,” Snap said softly. “I’ve been turning over every rock I can. I’ll find the son of a bitch. And then we’ll know where the corruption is coming from.”

  The room fell into silence for several long moments as everyone absorbed the information. Then Stryker picked up telling the rest of their adventure in Nuevo Laredo. “When we arrived at the meeting location, the lieutenants removed the bags over our heads and we were facing what appeared to be the entire upper echelon of the cartel. All of the lieutenants and most, if not all, of the sicarios.”

  “None of them seemed thrilled to see us there, which was odd, considering we were supposed to provide them with help with their supply line, and we were also going to fill one of the gaps they had open in their territories,” Buzz said, tapping his fingers on the table.

  “Perhaps they weren’t happy about you uncovering the problem with that lieutenant they had to remove from their team. That probably didn’t go over well.” Snap shrugged.

  “Perhaps,” Stryker admitted. “Regardless, the reception was less than warm. And the lieutenants seemed surprised when Benicio said we had to go through them first before he would spend any time with us. There was a vibe of confusion in the air the entire time we were there.”

  “I think that’s what made it so easy for me to sneak off into their communications room.” Buzz leaned forward.

  “What did you find there?” Brusco asked.

  “A very elaborate setup for a drug cartel. There were five laptops all equipped with high-speed internet. Their IP addresses all traced back to false company fronts, but no longer. I changed them to trace back to that location. The level of encryption was unlike anything I have ever seen, though. I couldn’t access even a fourth of the computer’s data. But I was able to back up about seventy-five percent of it on this flash drive before I was discovered. Now, I just need to pore through this data to try to make sense of it.”

  “You were caught?”

  Buzz, Phantom, and Stryker all exchanged glances. Sometimes reliving the events of a mission wasn’t easy. But it was best they did it that way in order to make sure the entire team knew of the report and could check it for anything they might have missed.

  Stryker cleared his throat and began to tell the team how they’d brought down one of the most dangerous cartels in Mexico. Including every gory detail. “It was only because of Phantom that we made it out of there before the entire place collapsed.”

  There was silence around the table for a few long minutes as everyone digested the information. Finally, Brusco spoke. “Do you have any idea who Benicio was talking to?”

  “None. But it makes me wonder if there is someone in an even higher position pulling strings in Mexico…and even here. There’s the possibility that Vidal is the one who gave us up. Buzz found bugs in the guns he gave us. He also found bugs in the safe house. Either Vidal was behind it, or there’s a bigger player involved.”

  “Or both,” Santo said softly. “And someone had to have taken those pictures of us. I still don’t understand why all of that was sent to Anya.”

  “I think at this point any suspicion is one we should take into consideration. Nothing is too far-fetched.”

  “Even one where our own government could be setting us up for failure?” Phantom asked, his gaze intent.

&
nbsp; “Especially that one. Especially that one.”

  Chapter 24

  Stryker took a hot shower, washing off all the grease in his hair and the fake tattoos. He shaved and put on his aftershave, a scent he knew Anya liked. He was even able to convince Snap to give him a quick haircut.

  The debrief had taken far longer than expected. There had been a lot of questions, and all of them were very important. They helped clarify the details of the mission, and they made progress that wouldn’t have been possible if not for the additional insight. It was all necessary, but he’d felt the time ticking away as he anticipated going to see Anya.

  The drive into town seemed to take forever. The town was still asleep, and there was no traffic on the road. His heart thudded with the need to see her, and he hoped she’d put aside her fears and confusion briefly to greet him with the warmth and love he craved from her.

  He had never thought he would be capable of feeling anything other than lust toward a woman ever again. But it was different with Anya. She was beautiful inside and out. And she gave of her heart so generously. Did he deserve such an incredible gift?

  Finally, he pulled up to the back of her clinic, and his hands clenched the steering wheel. It was four in the morning. Would she be shocked to see him so early? She knew he was coming, but she probably assumed it would be right before she opened her clinic. He couldn’t wait any longer. He needed to hold her in his arms, to breathe in her scent, to be reminded that good still existed in the world. And he needed her to know he was there for her and would protect her from anything.

  He ran a hand through his shorter hair and drew a deep breath. He had just faced down men with automatic weapons, a crumbling structure, and almost certain death. And yet, he was so nervous about seeing Anya, he couldn’t bring himself to step out of his truck and go knock on her door. He drew another deep breath, turned off his truck, and opened the door.