Santino hasn't survived multiple attempts by law enforcement trying to take him down by being stupid. The man is very calculated with every move he makes and uses people under his employment as pawns. Each one is expendable. I'm not the only one that feels this way; we all do. We know who the brains of all the operations are, but without direct evidence, we can't touch the bastard, and that's what pisses me off. If you put a list together of the top five criminal masterminds behind hundreds of missing women, drug imports, black market weapons and many lifeless bodies, Santino ranks number three. Recently, those stats have started to climb. The number of women and even men and children missing has doubled.
The sound of the bathroom door opening pulls me from my thoughts.
"Gotta take a leak," Kai announces as I hear him shuffle in. I'm sharing a hotel room with him while Dean and Kurt are bunked together next door. I wait for Kai to finish. Once I hear the door close, I turn the water off and step out. Grabbing the white hotel towel from the rod, I dry myself off and wrap it around my waist. After brushing my teeth, I throw on some deodorant and cologne, zip my shave bag closed and walk out into the room. Kai is already dressed and sitting on the side of his bed lacing up his boots.
"I'm making a coffee run. You want something?" Kai stands and clips his holster to the side of his waist.
"Yeah, I'll take mine black. Don't bring me any of that sweet shit you drink." Grabbing my duffle bag, I dig out my jeans and a black Henley as he opens the door to leave the hotel room.
"I like my coffee like I like my pussy—strong and sweet," he salutes as the door slowly closes until his smirking face can't be seen anymore. I shake my head and proceed to put my clothes on when my work phone rings. "Taylor."
A gruff voice begins to speak. "Taylor, my names Jake Delane, I was given your number because it seems we both have a mutual interest in Miguel Santino."
"I'm listening." Shifting the phone, I put my shoulder holster on and slip my badge attached to a chain over my head when Kai enters the room followed by Kurt and Dean with coffees in hand. Kai hands me mine.
"I know where he is," this Mr. Delane mentions, and I motion for someone to give me a pen and something to write on. "You see, he's trying to blackmail my club into doing his dirty work for him. The problem is—" I interrupt him at the mention of his club.
"Club? Before we go any further, Mr. Delane, I need you to tell me a little more about yourself."
His throat clears. "My name is Jake Delane. Make sure you're writing all this shit down, so I don't have to repeat myself." My grip tightens around the pen in my hand with his cockiness. "I'm the President of The Kings of Retribution MC—Montana Chapter. Is that enough clarification for you, Agent Taylor," he finishes, and it takes a hell of a lot of self-control to keep my words to myself.
Bikers.
Fanfuckingtastic.
"Tell me, Delane, why would a bunch of bikers want to give up information on a man like Santino?" I ask him and my team steps closer at the mention of the one guy we are here for.
"Because the dirty motherfucker has one of my member's sister. Kidnapped her from Cuba and is using us as his pawns to do his dirty work."
"And what is it he wants from you and your club?"
"To pick up a shipment. And I'm going to go ahead and tell you now, Taylor, I know what kind of man Santino is. I know the bastard sells women. Once you do your research on my club, you'll find we've been on your radar before, but one thing we have never been a part of is human trafficking, and I won't have my men stained by the likes of Santino." His voice rises in volume with anger. I can get behind that. And he's right; we will do some digging into who he and his club are.
"You said you know where to find him?" I question.
"I do, but before I give you intel, I want reassurance that no matter what you and your team dig up on us we won't be touched in the process," Delane states clearly what his demands are.
Like with any negotiation I tell him, "Let me see what I can do, Delane. Is there a number I can reach you at?" I ask since unknown caller is what popped up on my screen.
"Just give me a time slot, and I'll call you," he states.
"Give me twelve hours," I confirm and hand the piece of paper to Dean who immediately starts making phone calls as he opens his laptop.
"You got it." The phone call ends.
"What the fuck?" Kurt waits for answers.
"A group of bikers out of Montana say they know where Santino is and want to hand over a shipment they are being blackmailed to deliver for him."
"What was your impression of this Delane guy?" Kurt pulls a chair out from the small round table sitting by the window and sits.
"He claims he's the club president. Says Santino kidnapped one of his men's sister—from Cuba. That would explain why there's been no sighting of him for the past couple of weeks. He's been out of the country."
"I'm assuming by the look on your face this guy wants something in exchange?" Kai wants to know.
"He doesn't want his club touched by us or any law enforcement in exchange for the information."
Dean looks up from his laptop. "The reason why is because his club has been suspected of running black market small arsenal across state lines into Canada. Other than that, they run legit businesses in a small town called Polson."
"I'm gonna need an answer for him when he calls back, so I need to make a call to our superior." With my phone still in my hand, I call our director. After giving him the rundown, our superior and some others decide to give the MC what they want; assurance that the law won't touch them. I don't like it. For all we know we're making a deal with the same type of low life Santino is. I slide my phone into my back pocket. "We give them what they want," I tell the guys.
"I want you to continue being the go-between for us and the MC until we can apprehend Santino," Kurt instructs me. He's about to speak again when his phone rings. Kai comes to stand beside me. I'm practically being put in charge of the rest of this case, and I have to play nice with a bunch of criminals to get what we want. It's not like we don't use informants every day—some of them are less than desirable citizens themselves. I need a crash course on The Kings of Retribution MC. I need to know exactly who I'll be dealing with.
"Career-wise this is big, Lex. If you play all the cards right and bag Santino along with all the evidence the DA needs to put him away for the rest of his life—" he whistles, "hell yeah." Kai crosses his arms over his chest. "You got this," he tells me.
Everything he says is true, but my only concern is getting that slimy piece of shit off the streets and hopefully drowning out all the people who do his bidding in the process. I want nothing more than to take down his corrupt empire.
"Change of plans," Kurt tucks his phone away. "We have less than an hour to catch the next flight back to Washington."
Kai grabs his duffle bag and starts shoving his things inside, and I do the same. We all meet in the hallway in less than ten minutes with a cab waiting for us downstairs.
"Anyone call Mackey and Stamos?" I ask the moment we step off the elevator and into the hotel lobby.
"Yeah, they said they would meet us at the airport," Kurt says as he chucks his bag beside the rest of ours in the trunk of the car.
"If one of you lucky bastards gets to sit next to Stamos I wanna trade seats with you," Kai announces on the ride to the airport.
"This isn't the time to let your dick do your thinking for you, Kai. Keep to yourself. At least until this case is put to rest." Kurt warns him, and the cab rolls to a stop at the airlines drop off point outside. Filing out, we grab our shit and head inside. After making it through security, we spot Mackey and Stamos near a café across from our gate.
From then and the entire flight back home everyone kind of keeps to themselves. I hear Kurt and Mackey talking about the latest football stats behind me and notice Kai sleeping in his seat across the aisle. I take the opportunity to read up on all the information Dean was able to dig up online and from rec
ords regarding this MC. By the time I'm through reading I'm conflicted. Although it looks like they have been involved in small arms dealing and a handful of cases where they were once persons of interest in the deaths of a few other rival MC members, they appear to be upstanding and respected members of their small-town community. They give back in every way they can. Penance maybe? Either way, I don't plan on getting cozy with them or letting my guard down.
In the conference room here at our office a few hours later, we are all sitting around the table as everyone waits for Jake Delane's phone call. Straight up six my phone rings. "Agent Taylor," I answer.
"What's the word?" Delane gruffs.
I don't hesitate. "You agree to go straight. No more guns making their way into the hands of other criminals and we can promise you and the members of your club won't be touched. Consider this a clean start." The line goes silent. I feel myself leaning forward searching for a sound.
"Deal." Delane finally answers, and I sink back into my chair.
"Alright, now let's get down to business. Tell me everything you know." For the next fifteen minutes, I listen. I hate to admit it, but I'm impressed with the level of intel he was able to give me. It turns out the biker knows his shit. Santino is right there in Polson, Montana. To be more precise in a cabin on the east side of town near the country club. Approximately eight hours away from Seattle. Practically right under our asses.
We start going over the next phase in the investigation now that we have a fixed location on Santino. A pile of folders Kurt tosses lands on the surface of the table gaining everyone's attention. "This is what we dug up on Santino's location. I've contacted the local law enforcement in Polson, and they are more than ready to assist us in any way possible."
"The woman—Leyna Martinez. As of right now, she has been unharmed. The bikers themselves were able to see her, but knowing Santino, that won't last long. He's an opportunist. The bikers know as well as we do Santino will sell her to the highest bidder." Having an innocent person caught in the crossfire makes the operation more complicated. If it were just Santino and his men in that house, we could go in with a little more force but having this woman in the home somewhere means we need to be extra careful on how we approach the situation.
Delane also told us his suspicions with the shipment Santino wants them to make sure gets delivered to its destination. I agree his assumptions are accurate. We have more agents taking care of that intel right now. "This is liable to take weeks. The shipment in question hasn't come in yet so as of right now it's a waiting game until Delane contacts us again. So, let's order some food and make those extra pots of coffee because it is going to be a long night," I tell everyone sitting around the table.
* * *
Weeks of preparation have finally led up to this moment. Kurt, Kai, Stamos, Mackey and I are sitting at the local precinct just before daybreak ready to move in on Santino. Dean stayed behind because his wife went into labor three weeks early and family trumps everything. Kurt has been on his phone for the past ten minutes and finally walks back over and joins the little circle that has formed around the coffee station as we discuss how we hope things will play out with a few of Polson PD's officers we will be working alongside.
"Just got off the phone with the DA's office. At 2:00 am this morning they intercepted the shipment. Thirty-two young women were in the back of that truck along with two million dollars worth of cocaine."
"The condition of the women?" Stamos asks.
"Dehydrated, and weak but all of them alive. They are being treated at the local hospital. Once all of them are stable, they will begin the process of finding out who they are and where they are from." Kurt gives Stamos a reassuring smile.
I glance at the clock on the wall. "It's go time."
Thirty minutes later everyone is in position. In total there are eleven people in the home; five staff members, four of his henchmen, Santino and Leyna. Santino who we have determined from surveillance is located on the west side of the home and Leyna is being held on the opposite side of the estate. I have the task of finding her.
Once on his property, we find a dead guy just outside the front door. I eyeball my team, but we'll have to identify the body later. With no time to waste the signal is given and everyone moves with lightning speed. Upon entering the home, we find most of the staff quickly since they were getting ready to start their daily routines downstairs. Knowing their shocked screams will alert the rest of the house everyone splits heading in opposite directions. With my back against the wall and my weapon drawn and ready to fire, I make my way up the stairs to the second floor of the cabin.
"Down on the ground motherfucker," I hear Kai yell from the bottom of the stairs. Peering over the railing, I find him hovering over a large dark-haired man lying on the floor with his gun trained on him. Looking to my left then my right, I step into the hallway. Two doors. One to my left and one at the end of the hall. The first door to my right winds up being a bathroom, so with precaution I make my way to the end of the hallway and pause just to the side of the final door. I listen for any movement before I hear a faint. "Hello." Leyna?
Wrapping my hand around the handle, I try to turn it, but it's locked. Taking a step back, I kick the door in. Standing in the middle of the room illuminated by the glow of the rising sun and holding a lamp in her right hand is the most striking woman I have ever laid eyes on. At that moment I feel my center of gravity shift, and I sway. What the fuck was that? I take a small step forward causing her to move back. "Leyna Martinez?" I ask her.
"Don't come near me," she warns and raises the lamp a little further.
Knowing I need to gain her trust I slowly slide my gun back into its holster and put my hands out. "Leyna, my name is Agent Taylor. I work with the FBI. I'm here to take you home to your brother Gabriel."
"Mi hermano?" she starts to lower the lamp.
Fuck she is breathtaking. Short, curvy, long dark hair, but it's her green eyes that render me speechless for a second.
Get it together.
I stride across the room toward her. Her eyes never leaving mine as I remove her weapon of choice from her grasp and toss it to the bed behind her. "Are you hurt?" I want to peel my eyes from hers to look her over, but an invisible force keeps me from looking away.
"No."
Taking her hand, I lead her toward the door, and she follows without hesitation. I look over my shoulder at her. "Stay behind me up against the wall." She nods, and we make our way out of the bedroom and down the hall. Her grip on my hand tightens as soon as we hit the stairs and she takes in the house full of officers with their guns. Kurt spots me.
"The house is secure, but we have a problem." He looks from me then to Leyna before settling his attention back on me. "Santino is dead."
"Shit. How?"
His eyes drop to my hand that still holds Leyna's and his brow rises. "It wasn't by the hand of any of our men. We found him lying in a pool of his own blood in the middle of his bed. Someone slit the bastard's throat while he slept." Leyna gasps beside me. My eyes shift in the direction she is looking. Her stare is fixated on the open front door and the dead man's body lying just outside
"Goddammit." My blood starts to boil. "And the rest of his men?"
"Officers found another dead body—a young male, on the floor in Santino's bedroom, and Kai has one in custody. The other guy we haven't been able to locate."
One of the local officers comes up and hands me a red folder. "You might want to look at this." His eyes shift to Leyna then walks away. Reluctantly, I let go of her hand, but she stays by my side. I flip open the file and read its contents—medical exam papers. My eyes roam further down the page. The words virginity still intact written in bold red ink. I flip to the next page. He was selling her—had sold her to the highest bidder. An overwhelming rage builds, and I feel myself wanting to kill the motherfucker all over again purely for my own satisfaction. I hand over the folder to Kurt who thumbs through it as well. I grab Leyna by the ha
nd once more, then Kurt and I lead her out of the house.
"You know how this needs to go from here. We have to go back to the precinct. Several people are going to want to take her statement before she can be turned over to her family," Kurt tells me what I already know as he follows us outside. He looks down at Leyna. "You understand what I've just told Agent Taylor?"
Standing taller, Leyna addresses Kurt. "Si, I understand."
"Take her in." Kurt walks away and leaves me standing alone with Leyna. I turn to face her. "I won't leave your side."
6
Leyna
Cold and sterile with lousy lighting. That's how I would describe the room I'm currently sitting in. Imagine what an interrogation room looks like in one of those cop tv shows, and that's what this room reminds me of. Shaking my head, I cut my eyes over my shoulder to the two-way mirror behind me. I shouldn't even be here. I'm the damn victim for Christ sake. I was the one taken from my country; from my home. I was the one who was locked in a room staring at the same four walls for weeks with only my thoughts to keep me company. Those thoughts were of no comfort to me—especially the day after I saw my brother. That was the day my nightmare started. When Gabriel asked me if anyone had hurt me, I told him the truth, because at the time it had been. Did I believe Santino would get what he wanted from my brother and then hand me over? No. But I did believe Gabriel would get me out of that house.
It was the not knowing when, that was a tough pill to swallow. Then I figured as long as things kept on as they were, I'd be okay. For the most part, I was left alone. I mean dogs are given more attention than I was. I was more of an afterthought to those men until I received a cold dose of reality the next morning. Three men barging into my room, waking me from sleep. Santino, Hugo and the third was a man I had never seen in all my time being held at that house. The third man strode in behind Santino carrying a small black leather bag.
LOVE ABOVE LAW Page 4