Liliana examined the tunnel. Although her boss wasn’t as tall as Cody, he was overweight. Maybe Cody squeezed himself through the passage. But what if he had found one more narrow than this one? The thought heightened her concern for him. The horror of being trapped consumed her like a fever, perspiration pouring off her face.
She backed out of the passageway until she could stand again, then headed toward the ledge overlooking the chamber. Officer Hudson retrieved the rope at the entrance and tied it around a cropping of rock before rappelling down the cavern wall to the lower part of the cave.
Liliana went next, and the second she landed on the rocky floor she began inspecting the area, trying to figure out where the tunnel might have come out—if it emptied into the chamber. Thinking of Cody being lost in the cave system sent a spurt of adrenaline surging through her.
Finally, behind a group of stalagmites she found a tunnel that came out into the large cavern. She stepped back around the rock formation and called out to the chief. “I think this is where the passage comes out.”
He turned toward Officer Hudson, a medium height, thin man. “Check it out from this end. We’ll wait. Hopefully our backup will be here by then.” Chief Winters clicked on his walkie-talkie and let Robertson know what they were doing so he could tell the Texas Rangers when they arrived.
“Chief, they are ten minutes out,” she heard Robertson say.
Ten minutes could be an eternity if Cody was in trouble. Protect him, Lord.
First, she examined the stone wall where the men would have come into the cavern. It looked like it was on some kind of roller system, but she couldn’t figure out how to open the “door.” Officer Vega came over to help look for a lever to open the door.
As the minutes ticked down, she turned her attention to where the men went with the crates and possibly to where Cody was. With flashlight in one hand and her gun in the other, Liliana walked across the chamber to the only other opening into the room—a wide, tall tunnel that could easily be used to move men and guns through.
“Rodriguez, we’re waiting for the Texas Rangers. I don’t want to rush this operation and lose the smugglers.”
Liliana turned toward her boss to protest waiting when gunfire sounded from the tunnel behind her.
Cody ducked behind a large stalagmite, a bullet flying past his ear and lodging in the rocky face behind him. He’d made good time when he’d finally come out of the narrow passageway. For the last fifteen minutes, he didn’t even need to use his flashlight. Theirs had lit the way for him.
But one of their men had hung back and seen him come around a curve into a medium-size chamber. The rest of the five smugglers were heading toward the opening on the far side when the sixth one shot at Cody.
They all stopped, dropping the reins of the mules they were leading and dove for cover. Pinned, no way to escape, Cody took stock of his bullets—one eight-round magazine in his Wilson Combat as well as another backup clip. Sixteen bullets. He hoped help would arrive soon. He didn’t know how long he could hold them off.
Liliana swung around toward the passage, the thought of Cody lying on the cave floor, bleeding out propelling her forward.
“Wait!” Chief Winters said and lifted his walkie-talkie.
Liliana stopped, but it took all her willpower to follow her police chief’s order. Especially when she imagined Cody alone against the at least six smugglers they’d seen in the cavern.
“Robertson, there’s been gunfire down here. We’re going forward. Get the rangers down here ASAP.”
“Will do.”
“Let’s go.” Chief Winters hurried to the small tunnel and called out to Officer Hudson to come back.
Liliana along with Officer Vega plunged into the large passageway with the other two quickly following. More gunshots reverberated through the cave. She increased her pace even though it was hard to tell how far away the gunfire was. Cody needed their help.
Please let us be in time, Lord.
A volley of bullets riddled the stone face around Cody. Chips of rock flew off and one sliced across his cheek. He resisted returning fire in hopes of luring some of the men out to see if he was still alive. Another round of gunshots blasted the air.
Cody groaned as though hit.
Then waited.
Minutes passed with no sound. He peeked around the bottom of the stalagmite. The mules were gone, no doubt the firepower scaring them away. Nothing stirred in the chamber as more seconds ticked away. Did any of the smugglers escape too?
Suddenly a flash of white to the side of him caught his attention. A small man with red hair charged his hiding place.
Holding his breath, he aimed his Wilson at the smuggler. And waited. A few more steps.
Cody squeezed off a shot. The man went down, his weapon skittering toward Cody and coming to a stop a couple of feet away. One down, five to go.
As he ducked back, a hail of bullets bombarded his hiding place.
He poked his head around the other side of his stone protection in time to see three men making a break toward the tunnel behind them. He popped up and shot the third one before he disappeared into the darkness. The smuggler stumbled and fell to the stone floor. Two down.
“Help is on the way. You can’t escape. Give up before I take any more of you down.”
His invitation was met with more gunshots.
To his left from the passageway that led back to the entrance someone returned fire. From the shadows, he glimpsed Liliana and Officer Vega.
“Cover me,” Cody yelled to them as the chief and Hudson joined the pair.
He ran toward another stalagmite nearer the smugglers’ escape route. The two remaining men didn’t try to stop him. They were barraged with bullets from Liliana and the others. They weren’t total fools.
From his new place, closer to the smugglers, Cody called out, “Give it up. As you know my backup is here. The authorities are closing in from the Mexican side as well.”
Someone behind a boulder tossed out his automatic weapon.
“Come out with your hands up,” Chief Winters shouted from the tunnel.
A dark-skinned man about six feet tall stood up with his arms in the air and stepped out from his hiding place. “I surrender,” he said in Spanish.
His attacker from the night before was still unaccounted for. “How about your friend?”
At that moment, one of the mules carrying the gun crates burst out of the passageway where the other men had bolted. Braying and charging in fright across the chamber toward the other tunnel, the mule didn’t stop.
During the commotion, the assailant took the opportunity to make his escape. While Liliana rushed out to apprehend the one who surrendered, Cody aimed for his attacker’s leg and released a shot. He staggered a couple of feet but kept going. Cody chased after him and tackled him a few yards inside the tunnel, near where the other smuggler went down. They hit the hard surface of the cave. The impact knocked the breath from Cody’s lungs. Last night’s intruder grunted but dragged Cody as he tried to break free.
Clamping one arm around the barrel chest of the assailant, Cody managed to level his Wilson at the man’s head. “Give it up. You aren’t going anywhere alive. Drop the gun.”
Seconds passed.
Liliana and Winters rushed into the tunnel.
The attacker let go of his weapon and sank to the stone floor.
Two hours later back at Salazar’s ranch, the burnt rubble of the house lay in a mound. Cody blew out a rush of air and kneaded the tight cords of his neck. “I don’t want to repeat these last two days. Ever.”
“I’m with you on that. All I want to do is go home and fall into bed.” Liliana climbed up into his SUV, both horses in the trailer ready to leave.
“Not a bad day, though. We caught a gang of smugglers, shut down a tunnel below the Rio Grande.”
“I wonder if guns were the only thing smuggled through those tunnels.”
“ICE, the border patrol, and ATF will hash
that out.”
Exhausted, her adrenaline rush gone, Liliana rested her head on the back of the passenger seat. “We may never know all of this. The gunrunners didn’t seem very talkative except one who I don’t think knew too much.” One dead, two injured, and three captured unharmed. It would be days before they waded through all the information gathered. The one who had surrendered had started talking right away but was Mexican and didn’t know who was behind the ring on the American side. Cody’s attacker had remained silent.
“So who’s running the smuggling ring? It wasn’t one of the men we caught. From what I overheard they were following orders.” Cody rolled his shoulders before starting the SUV.
“Part of that canyon system is on Cesar Álvarez’s ranch. We should talk to him.”
“Do you think he’s the one behind it? Why risk it on his own property? He has over twenty thousand acres. He may not know what’s going on in every part of his ranch.”
“I agree, especially since this wasn’t fenced.”
Cody drove past the area where the house had been hours before. One fire truck was still in the yard, monitoring the situation to make sure the fire was completely out and wasn’t responsible for igniting a wildfire. “Why burn down Salazar’s house? And risk drawing attention to this place? Is the person behind the murders the head of the gunrunning ring? There’s a lot of money at stake. This has to be the ring Al started investigating. They’re probably responsible for shooting him. We collected a lot of guns today. Maybe one will match the one used on Al.”
“I hope so. Lots of questions still unanswered. Like, was Carlos involved with the ring or did he discover what was going on and was killed by them?”
“I think we need to go on the assumption he knew what was happening since we think they cut across his ranch to get to the canyon. We need to have another conversation with his cousin, who I think knows more than he’s saying.”
“Also Alfredo Flores. He owns the ranch. We can bring both of them in first thing tomorrow.” Liliana pulled out her cell and noticed several calls—one from her mama, Jackie, and Elena. A chill encased her all of a sudden. Something was wrong. “I need to call my sister.”
She punched in Elena’s cell number and waited for her to pick up. It went to voice mail. “Elena, this is Liliana. I’ll be over to pick you up at Jackie’s soon. I’m sorry I’m late. A lot has gone down today.”
“She wasn’t there?”
“No, but then she has a habit of leaving her phone in her purse and not hearing it ring. I’m calling Jackie to let her know I’ll be over there within twenty minutes. I’ll take her to my house then return to the station. I want to sit in on the interviews with the three uninjured men we caught.”
Jackie picked up on the second ring. “I’m so glad you called. Your sister has gone back to her husband.”
Liliana shot up straight in the seat. “When?”
“About three hours ago. I tried to keep her here, but he gave her a new Lexus and apologized. She is convinced her husband means it and won’t hurt her again. We both know that is a lie. The first time he gets angry at her, he’ll explode.”
Which could have already happened. “I know you did what you could. I’ll go over there and try to talk some sense into her.”
When she disconnected, she called her mother. “Did you know Elena went back home?”
“Yes. She phoned a while ago to tell me to watch her children tonight. She and Samuel were going to celebrate getting back together. He’s having dinner catered in by Durango Steakhouse.”
“So Sammy and Joanna are with you at my house?”
“No. Elena said Samuel didn’t want them over at your house. He’s afraid you’ll say something to the kids about their father.”
Anger swept through her like a brushfire gone wild. “You’re on his side now. Did you forget what Elena looked like last night?”
“She loves him. Let her try to preserve her marriage. The children need a father.”
“Is that why you stayed with Papa?”
Liliana heard a breath sucked in then a click as her mother hung up. Gripping her cell, she scanned the area to see where they were. A few blocks from the station. Dread began to replace the anger. She again called Elena’s cell then the house. No answer. Her apprehension multiplied.
“Do you want me to go with you?”
“No. She’s probably ignoring my calls or more likely Samuel has demanded she ignore them.”
Lord, let that be the reason Elena isn’t answering. You didn’t ignore me earlier. Please don’t now. I need Your help on this one. “You need to stay here and see if you can get anything from the gunrunners and make sure someone tends to your wounds.” The second Cody stopped, Liliana jumped from his SUV and ran toward her car, fear dogging her every step.
10
Watching Salazar’s ranch through night vision binoculars, I see the last fire truck pull away and head back to town. I have accomplished taking care of another loose end. If Miguel hadn’t come along when he had, I would have taken care of it on Monday after killing Salazar. I don’t know for sure what the police discovered in the house, if anything. But they didn’t release the crime scene, as if they expected to find something else. Other letters Anna wrote to Salazar? The one didn’t reveal anything, but others could have. Now there’s nothing to be found.
One more problem to take care of and I’ll be safe. Miguel has been down at the station twice. I never thought the two cousins were close, but what if I’m wrong? The thought of taking care of Miguel, a man who has made fun of me, whets my urge to kill again. I like it. I like the control it gives me.
And even more the acclaim I’ve received for getting rid of a thug like Ruiz. I revel in the news that has come out about Ruiz. The whole town knows he was a coyote—preying on people in need. I made this town a better place. Me. Not even the police could do what I did.
When Cody entered the police station, he checked the messages on his phone. A couple from Kyle and one from Al. Probably both of them wanted to know when he would be at Al’s house.
While Chief Winters and Officer Robertson processed the three men they managed to capture unharmed and several others in custody with the Mexican authorities, Cody sat in Liliana’s desk chair and called Kyle. No answer—not even an angry one about where in the world was he. Next, he tried Al, who answered immediately.
“How’s things going?” Cody asked, watching a gunrunner having his fingerprints taken.
“Okay.”
“Is Kyle around?”
“Yes, he’s right here with me.” Cody heard his friend say, “It’s your dad.”
His son mumbled something he couldn’t understand, then came on the line. “When are you gonna be home—I mean at Mr. Garcia’s?”
“I’ve got some suspects to interview, then I’ll be there.”
“I’ll probably be in bed by that time.”
Al came back on the phone. “See you when you can get away. We’re fine. You can tell me about what went down today.”
“How did you know anything went down?” Cody said with a chuckle.
“I have my connections at the station. You know Chief Winters’s secretary is a wealth of information. See you later.”
Cody pocketed his cell and stood. The chief had finished processing two of the suspects. Time to get some answers. But the one he was really looking forward to questioning was his assailant from the night before. After he was patched up at the hospital, he would be brought here.
“Why didn’t you tell Dad I left your place and came back here?” Kyle faced Al Garcia in the middle of the living room in his apartment, turning so he didn’t have to see the place where his father had wrestled with that man last night.
“Your dad is dealing with enough right now.”
“He is? How about me?” Kyle stabbed his finger against his chest. “I have no home. First, I was taken away from the only home I knew to live with my dad. Then he makes me move here, but this place isn�
��t my home.” Flailing his arms, he finally focused on the spot that still had drops of blood on the carpet, his voice rising with each word. “I have no place to call home.”
“Then why did you come back here when you left my house?”
The question, spoken in such a calm voice, only heightened the anxiety swirling in Kyle’s stomach, as though any moment he would throw up. “It’s all I have, and now I don’t even have this.” The words came out of his mouth in such a rush Kyle couldn’t stop them. He didn’t owe this—stranger an explanation and yet . . .
Kyle spun toward the couch and plopped onto the cushion so hard he bounced once. He stared at the man who, in spite of his attitude, had been kind to him. The sympathy in his dark eyes completely undid Kyle. His feelings of no control, of being lost, overwhelmed him.
“Why did my mother have to die?” The question he’d held inside for the past three months spewed from his mouth, and he didn’t care if he was asking the wrong person.
Al Garcia took a chair across from Kyle, his brow lined in thought. “When I was twelve I asked myself that question every day for a year. I never really came up with a good answer. Sometimes there isn’t a good answer to a question like that.”
“You lost your mother when you were twelve?”
“And father. They got caught in the middle of two warring gangs in New York City. Two senseless deaths. They were in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
“That’s how I feel. Like I’ve lost both parents. I can’t see Nate. He was my stepfather for the past ten years and was always good to me. Mostly, he was around when I had a problem.”
“But your dad wasn’t?”
“No,” Kyle said immediately, then began thinking about the times his father came to his baseball games or to the art show where he won first place or . . . “well, some of the time. What happened to you after your parents died?”
“I was shipped off to Texas to live with my aunt and her husband. I had never met them and was scared. I didn’t want to leave New York. It was my home. I even thought about living on the streets.”
Shattered Silence: Men of the Texas Rangers Series #2 Page 18