“Correct,” Tom agreed. “This is why Hardiman and the other agencies are looking to take Gonzalez down in a different way. We can’t get inside his organization.” He allowed a bit of a satisfied smile to creep onto his lips. “But we can move next to the Elson gang family he’s chosen to work through in the valley. There’s a half a mile between the Gardner main ranch area and the Elson main ranch house. We have long-range lenses on our video camera’s abilities to see clearly who is coming and going from that house. Further, we’ll put a twenty-four-hour-a-day video loop on the property, and Anna will be the one who will run that footage daily, to see the day-to-day activity. You, Gabe, will be the owner and you’ll be doing a lot of outdoor work around the house and nearby property, like mending fences, to keep an eye on what’s going on, as well.”
“This is a perfect setup,” Anna said, giving Gabe an apologetic look. “We’re close, but not too close. We’ve got state-of-the-art equipment to ID everyone easily at that distance. We can time their movements when they leave the house and for how many hours or days. Gonzalez will establish drug drops and we’ll be able to know over time where and when they occur. Plus, your dog, Ace, will be a front-line warning system all of his own.”
“Exactly,” Tom said, praising her. “And then, the next phase is to go by horseback or ATV up into the largest part of the Gardner property, which is on the slope and mountain range. We’ve had satellite recon sporadically over that area and seen drug bales that had been dropped in a high mountain meadow right on Gardner property up there at seven thousand feet. What we don’t have is a schedule of those drops, who’s dropping the bales, and we need to know that.”
“Too bad they can’t park a satellite over that meadow,” Gabe said.
“Too expensive. They can’t do it. This is a drug cartel trying to put deep roots into your valley over a long period of time,” Tom said. “We’re at the front end of Gonzalez’s plans. But if we don’t get a handle on this now, the whole valley and its citizens are going to become cannon fodder, one way or another, to this cartel. There will be a lot of death.”
Gabe sat back, arms crossed, chin on his chest, grim. The whole valley. He sighed and unwound, looking at Anna and then Tom. “I grew up in that valley. There’s a lot of good people, hardworking, who love that place like me and my family do. None of us deserve to become targets of those killers.”
“Well, if we don’t hit this opportunity,” Tom said, “it won’t be only the southern end of the valley that is going to see gunfire, violence, and shootouts. Eventually, this cartel is going to infect the entire valley and its populace. There’s a lot of good people who don’t deserve to get caught in between gunfire and violence as this cartel takes hold and will eventually rule the entire county. And that’s what is going to happen, Gabe. That’s why Hardiman flew in to tell your parents what was happening. They immediately wanted to help out of patriotic duty and service to the people in their valley. The director spelled out all the things you’re concerned about, that if Gonzalez and his soldiers find out that they have agreed to play a part in taking him down, that they, too, could become targets. And so could your siblings.”
Squirming in the chair, Gabe wanted to deny all of it. But Tom was right. His gut felt like a nest of angry, churning snakes right now. Glancing to his right, he looked over at Anna. Her expression was just as torn as his was. She understood from real-time experience, losing her father to the cartel. “Maybe I need to adjust how I’m reacting to this,” he muttered unhappily.
“It’s different when your own family, where you live, is involved,” Tom offered sympathetically. “I know I’d be really upset if a cartel moved into my town. It’s never a good thing, and it always has a bad outcome for the innocent people who live in that vicinity.”
Rubbing his jaw, Gabe rasped, “Then . . . we have to stop this while it’s in the buildup stage.”
“Yes,” Tom said, nodding. “As it stands, Anna will be your wrangler. She’s our force multiplier in this situation and is familiar with surveillance methodologies. Ace should be trained to remain in the barn where all this equipment is at. He should be your guard dog when you leave the ranch to go snoop around up on the mountain range. I know you’ll have sensors that will warn you on your cell phones, but up on that range there are no cell towers. That’s why I asked if you still had Ace, because he’ll be one heck of a guard dog in your absence. You will be, more or less, the ‘face’ of our undercover operation: the cowboy who has just bought a broken-down ranch and is trying to bring it back to life with daily hard work. Anna will be seen in daylight hours, but it’s the night hours that count because cartel movements happen under cover of darkness. She’ll be responsible for moving the twenty-four-hour video into the DEA cloud and our people in La Mesa, California, will be viewing every foot of it. They’ll be the ones who do the ID work on all of them. Anna will also be there with a camera, too. She’ll send those shots to the DEA as well. Doing this will help us build a picture of the cartel, who’s involved in it, and keep tabs on their movements. You’ll work with her on putting together a weekly report on any and all movements.”
“What about that drop area in the mountains?” Anna demanded.
“Well,” Tom said, smiling a little, “you’re both wranglers and no one on the Elson property will find it odd or unusual that you’re riding into the forested areas of your own ranch. But you’ll be hunting for hidden trails that the cartel has either set up or are in the process of doing so. You can map them with GPS. That info will also be in the cloud and La Mesa HQ will disseminate that info, building a large file on Gonzalez. It will then be shared by all main HQ DEA stations across the USA.”
“Is Gonzalez working with any other cartels?” Gabe wondered.
“Not that we know of, but that’s a big question mark. Many cartels will work on the peripheral territory they’ve established with one another when wise to do so.”
“Because Gonzalez is family-centric,” Anna objected, “he will not trust outsiders. Especially another cartel boss from another or adjoining territory. He always went to war on them and he never lost. I doubt he’ll make any deal with any other drug cartel trying to push into new territory where he’s establishing his soldiers.”
“We agree with you,” Tom said, nodding in her direction. “He’s the outlier of the cartel bosses. Most of them hop into bed with one another when feasible and it serves both their long-range purposes.”
“In a way,” Gabe said, “we might have lucked out with this particular cartel coming into our valley. If he has few or no connections with other cartels, if we can stamp out the footprint he’s trying to put into our valley, we’ll be free of him and his soldiers, making our valley safe once more.”
“That’s the thinking from the top,” Tom agreed. He turned off the projector and hit a button that raised the screen back to the top of the ceiling. Turning, he flipped on the overhead lights. “Well?” he said, looking at them. “What do you think?”
“I like that it’s well thought out,” Anna said. “I know the worry Agent Whitcomb will feel during it because his family is in that valley.”
Gabe heard the lowering of her husky voice, emotion clearly in it as she spoke those words. He felt he could work with Anna. She was all business, but at the same time, she had a heart and was able to understand another person’s pain. “You’ve already had that experience,” he said to her, his voice low. “And I’m really sorry that happened.”
She shrugged. “We’ll just make sure it doesn’t happen to your family or the people of your valley. I like this plan. I feel it will work. We have better cover than normal on a mission like this. I feel very confident that we can add a lot of intel to the DEA on the Elsons and whoever they are working with to get a toehold in Wind River Valley.”
“I’m glad you have a background in dealing with Gonzalez,” Tom said to her.
Anna tapped her forehead. “Burned permanently into my brain.”
“Thought
so,” Tom said, and grinned boyishly. He reached over to a red file on the table, handing it to Gabe. “Yours to memorize.”
“Who do you suspect is running this phase for Gonzalez in the valley?” Gabe asked, opening it up and seeing photos of six men, all hardened-looking soldiers, their eyes dark, flat, remorseless, and all killers.
“We don’t know. Our guess is he’s sent one of his trusted lieutenants to get it done, but we don’t have a name yet. When we do, you’ll be the first to know about it. We’re hoping that the surveillance Anna sets up in the barn, which directly faces the Elson home and outbuildings, will be able to suss out that intel for us.”
Anna was studying her file, riffling through the papers to find the technical requirements, things she’d be responsible for. Finding the list, she perused it. “This is good, Tom. I’ve got what I need to set up that surveillance.”
“And you can always let us know if you need anything else,” he assured her. “The Salt Lake DEA HQ is the closest to your area. If you need any type of help, you can reach out to them. We’ll be in the background here,” he said.
Gabe looked over his technical sheet as well. “Glad we have the firepower we might need,” he said.
“We’re hoping that you do not interface with the cartel members. We can’t guess what you may find up in the mountains, though. What we’re looking for are entrance and exit points from that one drop meadow we luckily caught on satellite. How are they doing it? What vehicles, if any, are used? How often are they dropping a shipment? How many men involved? Photos of an encampment up there, if any. Photos of all drops in the meadow that you discover over a period of time.”
“And photos in real time if we can catch them picking up the bundles,” Gabe said.
“That will be pure luck,” Anna pointed out. “They don’t hand out their drop and pickup zones or when they schedule them to anyone. That’s one of the most tightly held secrets that Gonzalez has and he’s not going to entrust it to many.”
“True,” Gabe said. “We’ll have a video and camera on us anytime we ride up into that area.”
“Just be really careful when you do it. Let us know when you leave the ranch, always alert Salt Lake HQ on that one. You’ll also let them know that Ace is in that barn, guarding it. Up there? No cell phone coverage. You’ll be on your own.”
“But you’ve included a satellite phone,” Anna said.
“Have to,” Tom agreed. “You’ll have to carry it on you anytime you’re out in the boonies.”
“Roger that,” Gabe said. “Ace is one helluva guard dog. His growl is enough to make anyone think twice before going into an area he’s guarding.”
“How much contact do you want us to initiate with the Elsons, if any?” Anna asked.
“As long as it’s neighborly and friendly? Keep your cover and go along with it. There’s notes in Sheriff Carson’s reports that Roberta is lonely, always wanting friends, but doesn’t have any.”
“Hmmm,” Anna murmured, “she may be a door into that family of hers. I’m a woman. I can be friendly. Maybe gain her trust over time?”
Scowling, Gabe said, “I worry about her two sons, Anna. What if they suspect you?”
Snorting, she gave him an irritated glance. “Women know how to kibitz without raising suspicion, believe me. I think once we get situated, I should go over and make connections. Besides, isn’t it a Western courtesy to know and welcome new neighbors? There aren’t many people very close and if something happens, you have to rely on the goodwill of the ranch next door. Right?”
“Right,” Gabe answered. “It might not be a bad idea. By going over there and introducing yourself, you might create trust rather than suspicion.”
“We’ll get a feel for the Elsons after we arrive, and then we’ll consider it,” Anna said.
Gabe liked her common sense. “Sounds solid.”
“Any other issues?” Tom asked, looking at his watch. An hour had flown by.
“Not for me,” Anna said, standing and gathering up the paperwork.
“Me either,” Gabe said, rising. “I’ll drop by and tell Director Hardiman to go home, that we’ve been properly briefed.”
Tom opened another file. “Here’s pin money. You’ve got two weeks to get yourselves packed up and moved out of your apartments here in La Mesa. Either of you have a car?”
“I do,” Anna said.
“So do I,” Gabe volunteered.
“Want to keep both of them?”
Anna looked at Gabe. “I like my black, beat-up pickup.”
“Being undercover for two years, the car I was using is in Mexico.”
“You can ride with me,” Anna said. “We’ll go together. I have room for your dog, too. My truck is an extended cab type.”
Gabe liked that idea and thanked her. Tom handed out further information and they stuffed them in their individual files. They each had a thumb drive with the info on it, as well. Before they left La Mesa, the files would be turned back in to HQ. They didn’t want to take any chance that someone could get their hands on the info by accident or otherwise. “Are you a good driver, Agent Navaro?” He watched her beautifully shaped lips curve upward into a wry grin.
“You’ll find out, Agent Whitcomb.”
Tom laughed genially. “Oh, you two are going to get along just fine,” he said, and he waggled his eyebrows.
* * *
“Hello?”
Gabe relaxed on his couch after hearing his mother’s low voice. “Maud, it’s me, Gabe.”
“Steve and I thought we might hear from you.”
He heard the wry tone in her voice. “Well, since you pulled the wool over my eyes, I imagine you knew you’d hear from me.” He kept his teasing light because in the past two years, there had only been rare times that he could talk to his parents, who missed him sorely. His heart swelled. Damn, it felt good to be free of undercover! Well, sort of, he reminded himself. He eagerly absorbed Maud’s husky laughter and he laughed with her.
“Steve is out with the boys tonight, a chess tournament in town, so you got me to talk at. I assume you had your conference with Mr. Hardiman?”
“Sure did. Kinda took me around the bend for a while, Maud. I was more worried about you and the rest of the family being in the line of fire. Some of that dissipated when I met my new partner, Agent Anna Navaro, and then we went to mission planning to pick up our orders.”
“Well,” Maud said, becoming serious, “we talked a great deal for several weeks before we agreed to the plan with the DEA, Gabe. I know Steve and I are not military black ops like you’ve been, nor have we been anywhere near the military, but we knew there were risks involved.”
He lay on the couch, back propped up with a lot of pillows. “What made you decide to do this?”
“The fact that if we didn’t cooperate, Gonzalez was going to eventually poison this valley, and everyone in it. We felt strategically it was better that we knew and the people of the valley didn’t, and maybe, just maybe, we could stop this incursion by this cartel when it was in its nascent stage.”
Mouth quirking, he said, “You realize you’re still at risk?”
“Yes and no. We aren’t going to leave the valley, change our names, and disappear after the mop-up operation to get this cartel out of here is done, either.”
His voice tightened. “You two are patriotic in the best of ways, trust me. You’re doing something not for yourselves, but for everyone else, too.”
“I guess we were born that way?” she teased gently.
“You taught all us kids to be of service to others. So why wouldn’t you agree to do something like this. Right?”
“You aren’t upset that we volunteered?”
Hearing the worry in her voice, he wished he was home just to wrap his arms around this wonderfully strong, clear-headed, compassionate woman who became his mother. “Of course not. After I got over my reaction, I came to understand why you’d agreed to it.”
“This place is worth figh
ting for, Gabe. But you know that. We taught you high morals, values, and integrity. We live by them. All of us. And when Mr. Hardiman called us to fly in and speak to us in person, we knew that we’d been called by our country to serve it, albeit in a different but just as important way as enlisting into the military.”
He withheld his comment that cartels were military in every aspect, frequently hiring men out of the services, mercenaries, who fought and killed for them. “I’m proud of both of you,” he rasped, love for them welling up inside him. “And I’ve missed the hell out of you. At least this way? I’ll be home, back in the valley and only eighty miles away from you two and the ranch.”
“Yes, we’re celebrating that, believe me,” Maud said. “We can hardly WAIT to see you! It’s been a year since the last time. How are you, Gabe? Are you well?”
“Glad to be out of that undercover with the cartel in Tijuana, believe me. And I’m fine. Just glad to get an assignment like this. At least I can play myself,” he said, and he chuckled.
Maud laughed. “I’m relieved, then. When this mission is done, Gabe, are you going to continue to be in the DEA as an undercover agent?”
“I don’t know, Maud. I honestly don’t. Maybe I’ll have a better answer for that after we get this one played out.”
“We want you to come home, we really do. Sky and Andy live here. They’re happy and you missed Andy and Dev’s wedding. Luke is coming home soon, too. He’s been offered a job with the wildfire unit at the airport on their hotshot team. At least he’s off the smoke jumping team out of Montana. No more jumps. I lived in fear all the time of him dying being stuck on a huge pine tree somewhere near a wildfire.”
“You’ve really got a creative imagination,” he teased her gently, knowing that beneath that confident exterior, Maud was really a genuine worrywart regarding her family.
“I guess I do. Maybe because we’re older, we want our adult children home, and closer to us. Maybe that happens with age.”
“Well, I’ll take your dreams into serious contemplation,” he promised. “I miss being home, too.”
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