Codename Romeo: Rogues and Rescuers Book One

by Leroux, Lucy

  “Does he have Luna with him?”

  “Not that we can tell, but we expected a double-cross. She’s probably in the van they drove in on. The team is going to swarm that vehicle as soon as Alvaro and his men are out of earshot.”

  He put an arm on her shoulder. “He’s still expecting to get away by boat, remember? That’s why we picked this place. That means he stashed her nearby.”

  Or the kid could be hundreds of miles away, on her way to Mexico. But Rivera didn’t say that aloud. As long as this Alvaro character was here with them, then the kid was safe enough.

  Juliet took a shaky breath, visibly willing herself to believe Jason. “All right. And Ethan?”

  “He’s ready, too.”

  Rivera handed her the light jacket they had chosen to cover the ballistic vest. “Okay,” she said, slipping it on.

  Jason tapped the headset strapped to his ear. “Juliet is coming out. Operation Codename Romeo is a go.”

  Juliet hesitated at the threshold of the shipping container. She twisted, nose wrinkled. Rivera rolled his eyes, but he still caught the other man’s annoyingly irrepressible grin.

  Jason grinned. “I couldn’t resist.”

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Juliet walked down the dock, focusing on the tight planks under her feet. The lapping and swirling of the water around the posts of the pier was the only sound.

  But Ethan is close, she assured herself. He wasn’t letting her do this by herself.

  He chose this place for a reason. Smuggling weapons into the docks by boat via cargo crate was easy enough, but getting them here from an overland route was exceedingly difficult. The entrances were heavily guarded to prevent the dockworkers from coming in and out with contraband too easily.

  He’s not going to escape by boat. And even if the unforeseen happened and Alvaro somehow got to the craft waiting for him, the Coast Guard cutter lying in wait outside the harbor would ensure he didn’t get far.

  You need to focus. Alvaro would assume she wasn’t alone out here, but Jason had told her no one at the local police precinct had mobilized, so Alvaro would think he was in the clear. He had no idea he was surrounded.

  And Alvaro would believe that as long as he had Luna, Juliet would bend to his will…the way she had the entirety of their courtship.

  I can’t believe you thought he was some sort of hero. She’d been stupid and naive, but she couldn’t help but think such a thing couldn’t happen a second time.

  Everything was going to be okay. She was as safe here as anywhere else in the city. Not to mention the fact she was surrounded by a veritable platoon of FBI agents.

  Juliet drew her jacket tighter around herself as a sharp wind swirled around her, lifting her hair. If I’m this cold, Ethan must be freezing.

  The minutes dragged past, then she felt a frisson run down her spine that had nothing to do with the cold.

  Alvaro was here.

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Alvaro appeared alone. He walked up the dock with an expression of concern etched on his face.

  “Cariño, what is going on?” he asked in Spanish, his tone bleeding with sincerity and confusion. He put his hands up, gesturing around them as if in disbelief. “I have been going crazy searching for you and Delilah. I turned around, and you were both gone.”

  His broke off, hurt indignation flashing across his face. “How could you leave like that?”

  Juliet stared, wide-eyed. Whatever she had expected, it wasn’t this.

  “Where is Luna?”

  This time, the confusion was genuine. “Who?”

  “Delilah! I know you took her. And I know you killed Daniela and my parents.”

  Alvaro stepped back as if she were speaking in tongues. He rushed toward her, hands out in supplication. “Mi amor, you have to calm down—I had no idea you were this…unbalanced by what happened to your family, but it’s perfectly understandable.”

  He broke off, crossing his arms and leaning forward. “This is my fault. I should have realized how difficult it was for you, then had a counselor come and speak to you.”

  Santo cielo… “Oh, my God—you seriously think I’m stupid!”

  She held up a hand when he opened his mouth to speak. “Forget it. I know you do. You think I’m a fool for what—turning my back on my family? Not taking their money? Believing you were a good man?” Her face twisted in disgust. “Well, I admit I made a mistake on that last part.”

  Alvaro had subsided. He stared at her with narrowed dark eyes, his lips curling. “I repeat, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Yes, you do. I saw you kill that man—over and over,” she said. “I know you got the video, so why don’t we drop the pretense?”

  His face darkened. “I did that for you! Your father made a lot of enemies. I knew those monsters would never stop hunting you until they wiped out your entire family. I took care of the problem for you. Everything I did, I did for you.”

  Ugh. “And how, exactly, was sleeping with Daniela supposed to help me?”

  His eyes flared in surprise before he could mask his expression.

  “Yes, she told me everything,” Juliet confirmed with a nod. “She also told me you were only taking down the cartels in order to take their place—which is why you killed them.”

  That last was a fabrication, but she was trying to force a confession.

  “None of that is true.”

  “If it’s not, then why did you have a warrant issued in my name for murder?”

  Alvaro closed his eyes, tilting his head back as if he was praying to the heavens. “I did that for your protection, too. I had to use whatever means I could to get you back—and can you blame me? You’re clearly a danger to yourself.”

  Unbelievable. “Murder, Alvaro. The warrant was for murder. Any cop in the country could have shot me, and it would have been justified.” She held up her hand. “Unless you return the baby, that video goes to every major Mexican newspaper in the country.”

  He stared, coldness seeping into his expression. “Where is your boyfriend?” he asked.

  “My what?”

  “The American cop you’re fucking. Where is he?” Alvaro looked around, searching for Ethan.

  “He’s not a cop,” she corrected.

  Alvaro ignored her. “Where is he?”

  She took out her cell phone. The video was already pulled up. It had been pasted into an email addressed to the three biggest papers in their town. Holding it up, she wagged her finger over the send button.

  “Tell me where she is,” she ordered in a shaky voice.

  Alvaro spat on the wooden pier. “She’s dead. And now…you are, too.”

  In the second between blinks, Alvaro leapt backward.

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Most people didn’t know what a gunshot sounded like in real life. But Juliet was intimately familiar with it. The sound had been burned into her brain on the worst day of her life. And that terrible knowledge saved her now.

  When she heard the first distinctive pop, Juliet let herself fall back onto the dock like Alvaro.

  He had known they were coming. Alvaro had signaled a sniper, then jumped out of the way.

  Crying out, Juliet hit the wooden boards with a pained thump, dropping her phone in the process. The impact knocked the breath out of her as the world exploded around her.

  Men shouted, and footsteps pounded. Juliet rolled, opening her eyes to see Alvaro looming over her. When he saw she was unharmed, he bent, his hands twisted like claws. He was going to strangle her.

  She didn’t remember reaching for the switchblade, but it was there in her hand. Juliet pressed the button, then blindly thrust it forward. It caught Alvaro above the knee.

  Blood poured over her hand as he screamed. He pulled abruptly away, digging out the blade from his lower thigh.

  “Pinche puta,” Alvaro hissed, finally getting the blade out.

  He lunged for her again, but he disappeared from her fie
ld of view in a shower of salty droplets.

  * * *

  Ethan gripped the post under the pier as a larger-than-normal wave, the eddy from an unseen boat, swept over him. He shook his head, shaking the cold water off. Despite the frigid winter weather, he wasn’t cold. His rage was keeping him plenty warm.

  When discussing where he should wait during Operation Codename Romeo—he was going to kill Jason for that—Ethan decided his place was going to be as close to Juliet as possible. So he took a page from Mason Lang’s book, and he decided to go commando. He was hiding under the pier.

  Above his head, the conversation of his life was taking place, and he wasn’t a part of it. He strained his ears, trying to catch every word Alvaro said, but then regretted it.

  When Alvaro called Juliet ‘mi amor,’ Ethan wanted to leap up and punch the bastard’s lights out. But he forced himself to stay in place, adjusting the earpiece he wore. He couldn’t move until the second team confirmed they had Luna.

  The argument above grew heated. His pulse pounded in response.

  Hurry, damn it. What is taking so long? Where is Luna?

  Ethan pressed his lips tightly together, so he wouldn’t ask the question aloud and give away his position.

  The van Alvaro had arrived in was parked less than a half mile away. By now, the second team should have it surrounded. His men should have recovered Ethan’s baby girl by now.

  Finally, he couldn’t stand it anymore. “Update,” he whispered, risking discovery.

  There was silence. “We’ve taken the van. It’s empty. No driver and no child.”

  Fuck. “Find them,” he hissed. They had to be close by.

  Jason’s voice came over the com. “We will. You get Juliet out of there.”

  And not a moment too soon. Alvaro yelled. “She’s dead. And now…you are, too.”

  Reaching up, Ethan grabbed the edge of the pier, rising from the water like Leviathan. The military-grade wetsuit Jason had dug up allowed the maximum freedom of movement, which meant he was able to tackle the asshole with ease.

  “Hijo de puta—” Alvaro burst out.

  Rearing back, Ethan took great satisfaction in shutting the man up. His fist connected with the guy’s mouth, knocking a few teeth loose in the process.

  Glass jaw. I should have guessed. Alvaro went down like a ton of bricks, but he was quick. Rolling backward, Alvaro tried to pull a gun hidden in his waistband, but Ethan saw it. He kicked it away, leaping on his adversary when the man twisted to run away.

  Ethan threw himself forward, catching him with a restraining hand. Alvaro twisted, landing an unexpected hit to Ethan’s solar plexus that stunned him for a second. But Alvaro was smaller, and his punches didn’t have Ethan’s power.

  Recovering, Ethan kicked out, sweeping the other man’s leg out from under him. The move, straight out of Mortal Kombat, would have made his teenage self proud. Reaching over, he grabbed a fistful of the man’s hair.

  For all his bluster, Alvaro wasn’t a fighter. A lot of killers weren’t. When it came to hand-to-hand combat, Ethan was his superior.

  “I’m going to fucking kill you,” Alvaro hissed as Ethan yanked the asshole’s head back sharply.

  “I invite you to keep trying,” Ethan spat. “Where is Luna?”

  “Who?”

  Ethan twisted Alvaro’s arm behind him, slamming his head against the boards. “I believe you know her as Delilah.”

  “I’m not going to tell you where my daughter is.”

  Jaw tensing, Ethan pushed the guy’s head, scraping his cheek against the boards. “That’s where you’re wrong. That girl is my daughter now.”

  “What the—” Alvaro twisted to look, his dark beady eyes fixing on his face. Behind him, footsteps pounded. Team one was swarming the dock.

  “And Juliet is mine, too,” Ethan finished, not turning his head. Alvaro was the kind of snake he shouldn’t turn his back on.

  His nemesis sneered, sitting up. “You’re the cop Julietta is shacking up with.”

  Ethan scoffed as Jason and Rivera appeared on either side of him. “That’s another of your mistakes, motherfucker. We aren’t cops. We’re FBI.”

  Alvaro waited a beat before leaping up, giving Ethan the opportunity he needed.

  He threw another punch. The asshole fell back down on the dock, dazed.

  Jason cleared his throat. “Ethan, buddy, I know you’re enjoying this, but there’s something you should know.”

  A surge of satisfaction flowed through Ethan as he saw Alvaro was bleeding, too. “What?”

  He blinked as his partner’s hands gripped either side of his head, twisting it to direct his gaze to the left.

  Juliet was in Rivera’s arms. Red stained her shoulder, spreading down her arm to her wrist.

  She looked up, her eyes like stars that were burning too bright.

  “The men didn’t reach the shooter in time…”

  “I think one got me,” Juliet said in a trembling voice. Then she slumped over in a dead faint.

  Chapter Forty

  Juliet came to as she was placed in the ambulance. She cracked her lids open, wondering why her arm felt as if it were on fire.

  Ethan’s hand rested on her forehead. He’d thrown one of those FBI windbreakers over his wetsuit, but his hand was still clammy and chilled from the cold water.

  Squinting in the bright lights overhead, she tried to sit up. “What happened?”

  His smile was too determined to be much comfort. “You passed out, probably from blood loss.”

  “She didn’t lose enough blood for that,” the small female EMT said as she cleaned Juliet’s arm.

  Ethan turned to glare at the woman. “Give it to her anyway.”

  “Give me what?” Juliet’s brain wasn’t processing anything properly.

  “A transfusion.” The EMT’s voice was flat. She faced Ethan with an unflinching gaze. “And I told you that your semester in med school does not trump my five years of experience. She most likely fainted because of the shock.”

  The ballsy woman addressed Juliet. “Have you ever fainted at the sight of blood before?”

  “Only once.” When her family died. But there had been a lot of blood that day.

  The woman either didn’t notice or chose to overlook the desolation in Juliet’s tone. “If she needs blood, they will give it to her at the hospital.”

  “Then what are we waiting for?” Ethan snapped. “Let’s go.”

  Juliet struggled, breaking Ethan’s hold. “No, wait. Where’s Luna?”

  Ethan averted his eyes. His silence spoke volumes.

  “She wasn’t in the van?” Juliet cried.

  “No, but she has to be here somewhere. The team is scouring the docks. He would have wanted her close by.”

  Tears filled her eyes. She clutched his hand. “Stay and help them.”

  “But Jason has it—”

  “No, Ethan,” she sobbed. “Luna is yours. You have to find her. She—she needs her daddy.”

  Even the crusty EMT held her breath while Ethan blinked and swallowed. Then he nodded.

  “Go,” Juliet urged. “I’m fine.”

  “You will be,” he said, nodding decisively. “As soon as I find our baby.”

  Ethan kissed her, then climbed out of the ambulance. He gave her one more loaded glance before shutting the door.

  “I feel bad about giving him shit now,” the EMT said with a grimace, signaling for the driver to get moving. “I didn’t realize your baby was missing.”

  Weaker than she had let on, Juliet collapsed onto the gurney. “It’s okay. Ethan is going to find her.”

  He has to.

  * * *

  Ethan could tell Jason was weighing whether to refuse him entry into the interrogation room. He and his partner were cooling his heels while Jimenez and the Angel himself grilled Alvaro Lopez.

  That last was the reason Ethan had been forced to stand down. Robert Angel was a fucking master in the interrogation room. If Alv
aro was going to make a deal with anyone, it was the Angel.

  And if he didn’t, there was always plan B—letting Ethan go in there and break every bone in Alvaro’s body.

  The minutes ticked away. Ethan kept his eye on the clock. It had been almost two hours since they’d hauled Lopez in. He’d had time to shower and change in the locker room, but that had taken him two minutes. The rest of the time, he’d been standing in front of this damn door.

  Finally, the tension got to him.

  “It’s taking too long,” he growled. “Alvaro knows we have the video. It’s not in his interest to talk. He’s not going to tell us where Luna is.”

  “He will,” Jason assured him with faux confidence.

  Rivera grunted in agreement. “You know these things take time.”

  Ethan gritted his teeth, resisting the urge to punch the wall. “Luna doesn’t have time.”

  “He’s not going to hurt her. Lopez needs her alive to get her inheritance,” the other agent told him.

  “Do we know that for sure? Maybe he’s already had himself appointed Luna’s guardian down south.”

  If the baby was gone, Lopez could inherit her money now. But Ethan didn’t finish that train of thought. The other agents knew what the worst-case scenario was. He didn’t need to spell it out for them.

  “At least go to the hospital. If the Angel falls short, we’ll break this guy for you,” the agent told him. “For fuck’s sake, your girl was bleeding.”

  “It wasn’t serious,” Ethan said from behind gritted teeth. Not being with Juliet while she was hurt was tearing him up. “I can’t go to the hospital without Luna. I promised Juliet I would bring her back.”

  Suddenly, the door opened. The Angel appeared at the door. Ethan fixed his burning eyes on his boss, but Robert shook his head.

  Fuck.

  “I’m going in.”

  Wisely, Robert Angel stepped aside to let Ethan pass. Rivera reached out, grabbing his arm. “Just remember Alvaro needs to be breathing to talk.”