by Desiree Holt
“It was his code name in the SEALs,” Eagle told them. “He could destroy an enemy stronghold and scoop up prisoners faster than any windstorm.”
“Good to know.” Blaze grinned. “We may need it.”
There was a man already on the boat, tanned and lean, with hair almost to his shoulders, and a moustache. He was dressed in bleached denim shorts and a T-shirt with Ed’s Adventures printed on the front.
Ed waved to him. “Meet Elias. He rescued my ass when I first got here and was a drunken mess. Without him, I’d be dead. I trust him with my life, and yours, too. Believe it.”
Rocket figured they had nothing to lose. Eagle trusted Ed implicitly, and the man hadn’t gotten them all the way here to screw them over. He stepped forward first to shake Elias’ hand, and the others followed.
They all boarded, stuffed their things below in the cabin then joined Ed on deck while he piloted the boat out into deep water.
“You can see how close Santa Marita is.” Ed waved his hand at a very large landmass that looked almost as if they could swim to it.
“You weren’t kidding,” Viper acknowledged.
“We’ll skirt part of it before hitting the open water.”
Ed skillfully wove the boat between the coast of Mexico and that of Santa Marita before heading out away from shore. Rocket memorized every detail, much as he’d always done on missions. He had no idea how Ed planned to get him onto a land mass that was quite literally Barrera’s back yard, and more than that, to get Mallory out of there once they retrieved her.
They were moving slowly, as if looking for a good fishing spot, when a sleek, white cruiser with a raised control cabin pulled close to them. Along the side was painted Santa Marita Marine Patrol. The pilot shifted the controls into neutral to hover close to them.
“Hola!” A tanned man in a white uniform waved at Ed.
“Hola, mi amigo.”
Ed put his own controls into neutral to hold the boat in place.
“Out here to do some fishing?” the man asked.
“Absolutamente! The hotel called and told me they had some rich guests with money to spend. I told them to send them my way.”
“Excellent. We are always happy when you bring turistas to spend their money here.”
Although the captain was smiling, Rocket thought the stretching of his lips looked more like a grimace. And his right hand rested firmly on the gun at his hip. This was hardly the warm welcome he’d seen in other countries where he’d vacationed.
“Doing my best,” Ed assured him.
“Good. Good. Well, welcome to Santa Marita. Enjoy your stay.”
Rocket dipped his head. “Thanks. We expect to. That is if we get some fishing done. Hey, Ed. We gonna set up the rods or not?”
“Right away.”
“I won’t keep you.” The captain looked at Ed. “Bring them to Santa Marita later to enjoy our fine food and drink.”
Ed nodded. “Might do that. We’ll see.”
The patrol boat pilot shifted into gear and the boat roared away.
“Okay, he’s gotten a look at you, which satisfies his curiosity. So let’s get out of here and get down to business.”
When they were a good thirty minutes from the marina, Ed turned control of the boat over to Elias and led them all back down to the cabin.
“Just so you know, Elias is key in tonight’s fun and games,” Ed explained. “He lives in Santa Marita. In fact, he was born there. Barrera thinks of him as a native who works for the good guy with the fishing boat.”
Rocket allowed himself a small grin. “Good cover you’ve set up.”
Ed feigned surprise. “Cover? Whatever do you mean? Why would I need cover?” Then he grinned. “Now. First things first.”
Unlocking a cupboard, he slid a panel out of the way and pulled out a large lockbox. He placed it on the table and opened it, exposing a display of .45 caliber pistols which included both Glocks and H&Ks.
“Choose your poison,” he told them. “I have plenty of ammo for all of them.”
“Jesus, Ed.” Eagle let out a slow whistle. “You going to war here?”
Ed shrugged. “Never hurts to be prepared.”
They each selected their weapon, placing it and a supply of ammo in the gym bags they had brought on board. While they did that, Ed heated breakfast, and as soon as the remaining guns and ammo were locked away, he placed it on the table. They dug into plates filled with generous helpings of huevos rancheros, tortillas and spiced beans. From a pot sitting on a warmer, Ed poured rich, black coffee into heavy ceramic mugs. Then, after plunking sugar, cream and salsa on the table, he joined the others. Taking a long sip of coffee, he leaned back in his seat and looked around the table.
“Okay, I’m pretty sure you’ve come up with ideas, but so have I. I spent some time yesterday scoping out the whole situation in Santa Marita, so I’ve got one, too. But let’s hear yours first. Maybe we can blend all of our ideas.”
“We based ours on the map we downloaded and the photos you sent us of the area,” Eagle told him, “so I’m sure they need fine tuning.”
He laid out his idea about the grappling hooks and the rug, then Rocket detailed his fake arrest plot. They waited while Ed digested the information and rolled it around in his head.
“Well?” Eagle prompted when his friend still said nothing.
“Okay.” Ed took another swallow of coffee. “Yesterday, while I was here talking to Barrera, scheduling the fishing charter for his friends, I told him I was in the market for a motorcycle. I happen to know one of his men has one for sale because he posted a notice online about it. As I knew he would, Barrera said I should take it for a spin, test it out. So I was able to get a close-up view of Inez Albado’s neighborhood and her house.”
“And?” Rocket nudged. “What did you find?”
“Rocket, I like the fake arrest, but you guys are right. It’s too noisy and calls too much attention to it. Plus it tells Barrera that Mallory Kane really was in the house, which could make trouble for the Albados, and they’ve already got enough. But we can use part of the one I like.”
“What do you mean?”
“Lucky for us, I discovered that a guy who has a burning hate for Barrera and helps me when he can, lives in the house right behind the Albados. Some coincidence, right?”
Rocket wasn’t sure he wanted to know what had caused that burning, so he just nodded, but he was grateful for the connection.
“I was looking at ways to utilize that and figure out the best time to do so when I happened to overhear a conversation Barrera had with Ruben Vidal, his right-hand man and chief lieutenant. Barrera’s really pissed off that your girl has disappeared right from under his nose. He still thinks the Albados are hiding her somehow and they’re planning to raid the house again.”
“Fuck.” Rocket shook his head. “Do you know when?”
“No, but I’m trying to find out. I just hope it isn’t while we’re getting Mallory Kane out of there.”
“No shit.”
“I hear he’s got a lot going on Friday night,” Ed reported. “So I’d say Saturday. I’ll let you know. Besides, he thinks as long as she’s on the island he can control where and what she does.”
“Then we have a small window of opportunity to do this. Like Friday night. Tonight. So what’s your big idea, and is your friend ready to go right now?”
“He is. I talked to him last night. He’s just waiting to hear from me.”
“And you trust him?” Eagle asked.
Rocket was glad it was Eagle asking, since Ed was his friend and he could smell bullshit if there was any. He was also in the best position to ask those questions.
“With my life.”
The way he said it, Rocket had a feeling that wasn’t just an expression.
“Then how about showing us your idea and letting us know how it’s supposed to work.”
“Okay. Let me diagram it out for you.”
He pushed his plate aside, grabbed a notebook
and a pen and began drawing lines. “And here are the photos I shot while taking my motorcycle ride.” He laid them out so everyone could get a good look at them. “Here’s the Albado house, and here is the home of my guy, Mateo.”
They spent more than an hour going over the details, memorizing everything so they had it all squared away. On paper it seemed relatively simple, but Rocket, like the others, knew that things could go to shit at the last moment.
“Pretty crowded neighborhood,” Blaze commented.
“That it is,” Ed agreed. “But in a way that makes this easier. It’s busy day and night. Lots of people who work night shifts, so hardly any kind of activity will seem unusual.”
Blaze looked at the diagrams and photos, then at Ed.
“What kind of work does Mateo do when he’s not, uh, being your friend?”
Ed’s mouth curved in what Rocket could only describe as an evil grin.
“That’s the beauty of my whole arrangement with him. He’s a grunt in Barrera’s army.”
“What?” Rocket pushed up from the tale so fast his coffee cup tipped over, spilling liquid across the table. “What the fuck?”
“Hold on.” Eagle clamped a hand on Rocket’s arm. “Before you throw a fit, let’s hear why Ed uses him.”
“We’ve done it before,” Blaze reminded him. “Found someone who played for the other team, but under duress and would cheerfully have killed our target if it didn’t mean they’d get killed themselves. But can you really trust this guy?”
“Mateo has a long-burning hate for Barrera,” Ed told him. “His sister was in a bar out for a night of fun with some girlfriends when some of Barrera’s soldiers sat down with them. Angela, one of the other girls, didn’t like the sound of things, excused herself to the ladies’ room and managed to get the hell out of there. But Lucia, Mateo’s sister, and the two others were stupid enough to stay.”
He paused, and Rocket could see him struggling to keep his shit together.
“It’s okay,” Eagle told him. “We get the drift.”
“No. Let me finish. Lucia didn’t show up back at the apartment she shared with two friends until late the next day. One of the roommates had already called Mateo, who was searching for her. He came right over and…” He swallowed. “Suffice it to say she’d been drugged and raped. He tried to tell Barrera about it, but he’s pretty low on the totem pole, and the general pretty much lets his men do what they want. So any chance he has to stick it to him, he takes it.”
No one said a for a long moment.
“Tell him we appreciate his help,” Blaze said at last.
“I will. But that’s the main reason he’s willing to do anything he can get away with to help me. Anything at all. And using his house this way should not bring any problems.” Ed sat back. “But we have to do this carefully. Because Barrera’s got a bug up his ass about Inez, we may not be able to get Mallory out right away. The trick will be, if we run into a glitch, stashing you somewhere while we work out a new extraction plan. But I’ve got a place to tuck both of you away where they’ll be safe.”
“Where’s that?” Viper wanted to know.
“A jungle hut I have access to on the far side of Santa Marita. I keep it stocked for emergencies and no one even knows it’s there.”
“And after that you can get us out without being seen?” Rocket asked.
“We can, barring exigent circumstances.” Ed nodded. “I’ve made arrangements to get a Zodiac to pick you up. As soon as we have your woman, I plan to get you all into it and out to my other boat we use. A faster one I use for diving. Elias will have anchored in deep water. We have to time it just right or our plans are up in smoke.” He looked at each of them. “You brought your satellite phones, right?”
They all nodded.
Viper grinned. “Told customs we’d be deep sea fishing and needed to be able to contact our offices.”
“How are you going to get us to the Albados’ house?” Viper asked.
“In fact,” Blaze added, “how are you going to get us to Santa Marita? Like you said, we can’t exactly pull up to the marina and stroll the streets.”
“Right. Barrera’s men report everyone and everything. So I came up with an idea.” He looked around at everyone. “You’ll be damn glad for the hell that was BUD/S.”
Rocket frowned. SEAL training was known everywhere as the most demanding and ferocious training of all Special Ops. What the hell is going on here, anyway?
“What’s your brilliant idea?” he asked.
But once Ed explained the steps they’d be taking and the arrangements he’d made, Rocket understood. More than that, he was impressed. While somewhat complicated, they looked like they would work. Apparently, Ed did a lot more than run his dive shop and fishing charter business. He was obviously deep into doing the kind of shit they did as SEALs, only without the government looking over his shoulder. Rocket was developing a new respect for him.
“One more thing,” he told them. “Once a month there’s a big open-air market in Santa Marita, usually held down by the waterfront. Takes up most of the parking lot. They keep it there because people also arrive by boats, both as shoppers and vendors. This isn’t the weekend for it, but a little birdie told me they might be having an impromptu one. If so, we’ll be able to use it in some way. Something we can figure out once we know for sure, although it could be very last-minute.”
When Ed finished laying everything out for them, he looked around the table. “Of course, there’s a million things that can go wrong, so I’ve put together some contingencies. Let’s go over them before we hit the deck.”
At last, they were all satisfied they’d gone over every detail as much as they possibly could. As they always said, the unknown was the unknown.
Ed leaned back in his seat. “You’ll be going ashore in a very isolated area that Barrera never pays attention to. No need to. He’s in charge so he doesn’t have any reason to sneak. Good thing it’s on a Friday night. The city will be filled with people celebrating the weekend, both in town and the marina. Every place will be noisy and busy and Barrera’s men will be occupied with sticking their noses in everyone’s business. There will be less chance that anyone will pay attention to us once we get into the city itself.”
“And how do we get to this very isolated area?” Blaze wanted to know.
“Got it covered,” Ed told him. “You’ll see when I lay it out for you. We’ll head back to Manzanillo early evening and one of my crew will take you to your dive spot well after dark. There won’t be any one around, but still, we’ll all need to be alert at all times.”
Eagle nodded. “Agreed.”
“Then I guess we’re done until this evening. Let’s head up to the deck and do some fishing.”
Rocket stared at him. “Fishing? What the hell?”
“We can’t do anything until dark,” Blaze pointed out to him. “And we have to establish ourselves as just guys here for some good fishing. Just in case.”
“Blaze is right,” Ed agreed. “And like I told you on Skype, Barrera has patrol boats that he uses to police the waters around the marina and they’re not above heading out this far to check on any they see. They might even pull up next to us for a so-called chat. Just concentrate on working the rods and do your best to ignore them. Before I sneak you into Santa Marita, you’ll change and no one will recognize you.”
Eagle nodded. “Sounds good to me.”
Ed turned to Rocket. “Before you head up on deck, you should call your woman and prepare her. Tell her to be up on the roof the moment it’s full dark. Give her the basics and let her know to follow instructions to the letter.”
His woman. How crazy was it that he was beginning to think of her that way more and more?
“She will,” he told the man. “She’s smart and savvy and she also wants to get the fuck out of there. Not just for her own self but to keep the Albados safe.”
“We’ll get her out okay. See you up on deck.”
Only when Ed climbed the stairs did Rocket notice a real difference in how he moved. Again, he felt true admiration for the man.
As soon as he was alone, he pulled out his cell phone and hit the speed dial for Mallory.
“Are you in Santa Marita now?” she asked the moment she answered.
“Close, but we will be soon. Are you in a place where you can talk?”
“Oh, sure. Lying on my soft mattress in my luxurious bedroom.” She cleared her throat. “Sorry. I think I’m getting a little nuts.”
“Very understandable.”
“I’m in what I call the crawl space, although Inez keeps referring to it as an attic.” Her soft laugh had a tiny hysterical edge to it. “Anyway, no one’s home right now so there’s no one to hear me, but I whisper anyway. I never know if one of Barrera’s men is going to sneak in when everyone else has gone to work.”
“Yeah, I worry about that, too. But we’re getting close to the finish line. At least to get you out of the immediate area.”
He went on to tell her what they’d outlined to get her away from the house, going over it twice so she had all the details.
“Can you climb down and across to the other roof on that rope ladder?” he asked.
“I’ve done much riskier things,” she assured him. “I can handle it. It’s getting out of the immediate area that worries me. Barrera’s got eyes everywhere.”
“Agreed, but I think Ed’s plan is as good as we’re going to get. He says Friday and Saturday nights are wild in Santa Marita so people don’t pay much attention to what others are doing.”
“Let’s hope.”
“He also has some contingencies if we need them.”
“What if tonight is the night Barrera decides to have his thugs storm this house to arrest the Albados?”
“The word we got is he’s doing it tomorrow night,” he told her, “but just in case, are they home? I wanted to get them out of there first, but there wasn’t any way to do it in the time we had without calling attention to it.”
“It’s okay. Inez’s parents went to a late dinner with friends and Inez is spending the night with the guy she’s been seeing forever. I think his name is Diego Flores. No one’s here. Except for me, that is.”