"All right. That's basically what we knew, but I appreciate you checking."
"I'll keep digging, but Ms. Cooper is currently a ghost. What else can I do for you?"
"I need a weapon, Lucas."
"I can arrange that. But it will be tomorrow morning."
"That's fine."
"I'll text you. Stay safe, my amigo."
"I'm going to try."
As he ended the call, he thought about the information Lucas had given him regarding the Salazars. He punched in a number for Wyatt Tanner, one of his best friends from Quantico. Thankfully, he had Wyatt's number memorized. Since he often changed phones in his job, he made it a point to keep track of numbers in his head.
Wyatt answered on the second ring with a wary, "Hello?"
"It's Diego."
"Well, it's been awhile," Wyatt drawled.
"I know. How are you? I heard something about you falling in love with a rocket scientist."
"Astrophysicist," Wyatt corrected. "And Avery is great. We moved in together last month, and we'll be tying the knot in the fall."
"Congratulations. There will be a few weddings this year with Bree and Nathan getting hitched this summer."
"Yes, and who knows who else is next. Hopefully you can make the wedding. Once I get a date, I'll let you know."
"I will try to be there."
"Now, tell me what you need."
"Hopefully, a little information, if you have a minute."
"Sure. How can I help?"
"Are you familiar with the Salazar cartel out of Colombia?"
"Absolutely. They ran some of their drug business in New York through the Venturi organization. I met Juan Felipe on two occasions. He's one of the top guys, although his brother Caleb was at the helm back when I was undercover. I'm not sure if that's changed."
"Ever hear of a Mateo Salazar?"
Wyatt thought for a moment. "I don't think so."
At Wyatt's words, Diego felt a rush of relief, but he couldn't entirely buy into the story he was telling himself—that Mateo was not part of the Salazar crime family.
"Do you want me to reach out to one of my CIs?" Wyatt asked.
"That would be helpful. But I need to be up-front with you. Mateo is my younger brother. I recently discovered my mother married into the Salazar family. She passed away years ago, but I don't know what happened to Mateo. I'm thinking he might have grown up in the cartel."
"Your mom is dead? I'm sorry to hear that."
Wyatt was one of only a handful of people who knew his past. While at Quantico, they had had to investigate each other to find their potential weaknesses, their vulnerability, and that's when he'd shared his story. Aside from Wyatt, Damon, Parisa, Jamie, and Bree, he'd kept his history private until he'd shot off his mouth to Tracy a year ago.
"Thanks," he said. "I'm still looking for Mateo. I'm currently down in Colombia."
"I wondered where this call was coming from. How did you get to Colombia?"
"Surprisingly enough, I got a tip from Tracy Cox."
"Tracy? I didn't know you kept in touch with her."
"I don't usually, but she knew about my search, and she came to me with a lead. However, she's refusing to name her source, which is very suspicious, because when I got to Cascada, the town she sent me to, I ended up in the middle of a church shooting. And I found my mother buried in the cemetery next door."
Wyatt let out a low whistle. "That's crazy."
"Tracy swears she wasn't setting me up, but I have a bad feeling."
"Bree can't stand Tracy. They had some run-ins back in Chicago when Bree was handling that kidnapping case."
"I remember hearing something about that. At any rate, Tracy aside, I need to find Mateo. I came down here in between assignments and I'm technically on vacation. I really don't want to fill in my team about my family, especially if there's a chance Mateo is operating on the wrong side of the law."
"Got it," Wyatt said. "Let me see what I can find out."
"I would appreciate it. I know I haven't been the best of friends the last year. I haven't helped out in any way. I was undercover for a long time and I was out of touch."
"We all do what we can when we can," Wyatt said. "And we're still a team, even if we're spread across the world. By the way, did you get the information on Rowland?"
He frowned. "I got the warning from Bree, but I still can't quite imagine that Jamie's father is out to get revenge on us. It doesn't seem possible."
"There's a lot of smoke, Diego; we just haven't found the fire yet."
"Maybe there's nothing to find."
"Or maybe your personal troubles are a sign that you're next."
"What are you talking about?"
"The lead from Tracy came out of the blue."
"I don't know how Vincent Rowland could have given it to her. He's retired."
"And yet you'd be surprised how engaged he is in FBI business. He shows up everywhere we turn: New York, Chicago, LA. Parisa had a run-in with him last month. Keep your eyes open, Diego."
"Believe me, they're always open, but especially now." He didn't know what to think about Rowland, but right now he was the least of his problems.
"I'll see what I can find out on Mateo," Wyatt continued. "Have you looked for him through our databases?"
"Not with the last name Salazar. I've also been running from bullets the last few hours."
"I don't think you've told me the whole story."
"I haven't. Here's the short version. I was able to escape the shooting at the church with a woman, Tara Powell. She was in Cascada looking for her missing friend. Since the incident at the church, Tara and I were shot at and later jumped outside a bar. We barely got away."
"And these events are tied to your search for your brother or for this missing woman?"
"That's not entirely clear."
"What's the missing woman's name?"
"Bethany Cooper. She's a guide for Allende Tours. Lucas Marengo, the bureau's attaché in Bogota has been in contact with the police in Medellin, who don't believe Ms. Cooper is missing. According to her tour company, she's on vacation, and the police don't care to dig any deeper. But she was seen getting on a bus in Medellin to Cascada, which is where Tara and I were yesterday. Tara asked a lot of questions in the town while she was looking for her friend. Her hotel room was searched. I'm pretty sure this Bethany Cooper is in trouble, maybe with the Salazars, who run that part of the country."
"This gets more complicated by the minute."
"I know. I'm still putting pieces together. Everything has happened really fast."
"Well, I'm happy to do what I can to help."
"If you have time."
"I recently wrapped up a case with Flynn, so I do."
"You're still working on his task force?"
"Yes. It's going well so far. If you ever want to talk to him, let me know. We operate enough off book to make it interesting."
He smiled at that. Like himself, Wyatt had always preferred being undercover. Wearing a suit and tie had never come naturally to either of them. The rest of the team he'd formed at Quantico was a mix of overt and covert. Parisa was often under whereas Damon and Bree often played it straight up. He had no idea what kind of agent Jamie would have been if he hadn't died during training, but he was quite sure Jamie would have been fearless.
The idea that Jamie's father Vincent would hold them responsible for Jamie's death didn't make sense. It had been almost five years since Jamie had died, and there had been a thorough investigation. If Vincent wanted payback, why would he wait until now?
Diego shook that thought out of his head, preferring to focus on the problems he had right in front of him. "I'll keep the task force in mind," he said. "But right now, I want to find my brother."
"And if you find him, and he's part of the Salazar organization…" Wyatt let that question hang.
"I'll worry about that after I find him."
"Maybe it's better not to look, Diego."<
br />
"It might be. But I can't do that."
"I had a feeling you were going to say that. I'll be in touch. This number good?"
"For now. If I switch things up, I'll let you know." He ended the call and slipped the phone into his pocket, then headed to the restaurant. Their steaks should be ready by now.
* * *
Tara was pacing around the hotel room, worried as the minutes ticked by, and there was no sign of Diego.
Shouldn't he have been back by now?
What if something had happened to him?
She'd only met him a few hours ago, but already she had come to depend on him, probably too much, but it was what it was.
A knock came at the door, and she caught her breath, waiting for two more knocks. Another rap came, then another. She walked over to the door and checked the peephole. Seeing that it was Diego, she unbolted the door and opened it.
He came into the room with two bags in his hands, and they smelled wonderful.
"That took a long time," she said, locking the door after him.
He walked across the room and set the bags on the table. "The restaurant was busy. I also made a stop and picked this up." He handed her a prepaid phone. "I got one for myself as well, so we can stay in communication. I already programmed both phones with our numbers."
"I have to admit I feel a little better having this. When you were gone for so long, I really wanted to call you."
He gave her an apologetic look. "Sorry about that."
"It's fine. You didn't do anything wrong. I'm just nervous."
"I can't imagine why," he said with a smile. "Hopefully, you're also still hungry."
She took a seat at the table, as he unpacked the containers of food, her stomach rumbling at the delicious smells of grilled, spicy steak. "You'd think I wouldn't be able to eat with all this stress, but I feel like I could eat an entire cow right now."
"Hopefully, the filet mignon will suffice. It's the crash after the adrenaline rush." He took the seat across from her. "Don't be surprised if you fall asleep the second you finish eating. The body can only be on high alert for so long."
"I'm not sure my adrenaline has slowed down yet. I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop."
He nodded. "Understandable. I called a few of my contacts while I was waiting for our food. Unfortunately, there's no news on Bethany, but everything you told me regarding the Medellin police was accurate. Lucas reiterated that the local police don't feel a need to investigate Bethany's disappearance since her employer is confident that she's on vacation."
"Bethany is supposed to be leading a tour starting next Thursday. I can't imagine why Allende Tours isn't concerned about whether or not she'll show up for that."
"Who does Bethany report to?"
"Tony Allende. He manages all the guides. I spoke to him in his office before I got on the plane for Colombia. He told me not to worry. Bethany likes to travel in between tours. I couldn't argue with that, but I also felt that Tony didn't want to think that there could be a problem. Their business is dependent on their good relationships with foreign governments. They don't want to have a problem in Colombia, so I think they're pretending not to see one."
"That makes sense. What else can you tell me about the company?"
"It was started by two sisters—Erica and Gretchen Allende—about ten years ago. They're in their forties. They were born in Rio de Janeiro but moved to the States with their family when they were teenagers. They traveled extensively in South America and worked at various hotels before opening up Allende Tours. I met Erica while I was interviewing. She's a sharp, ambitious woman. Tony Allende is their cousin. He's about thirty-five, I think. There are probably five or six admin-type employees in the LA office and about twenty tour guides who lead tours primarily in Mexico, Central and South America."
"You said they have an apartment here in Medellin?"
"Yes," she said, taking another bite of her steak. "They have apartments in six or seven cities that the tour guides use in between jobs, so they don't have to fly back to the States. I think the Allendes also sometimes use the apartments when they're traveling." She opened the bottle of sparkling water he'd bought her and took a sip. "Is any of this information helpful?"
"I'm not sure yet. Was Bethany close to anyone at work besides Tony?"
"I wouldn't say she was close to Tony. They butted heads a lot. But she had to talk to him because he was her boss. As for other friends, there's a woman named Rachel Cedano that she spent time with in between tours. Rachel is in Patagonia this week. I did talk to her, but she said she hadn't spoken or heard from Bethany in more than a month."
"What about boyfriends?"
"Bethany dates—a lot. And as I mentioned earlier, she did suggest that there was a guy, but I don't know more than that. She doesn't always tell me about her romantic adventures, especially if they are with questionable men. She thinks I'm too judgmental and I probably am. But Bethany is two years younger than me, and I've thought of her as my younger sister. After her mom died, and she came to live with me and my parents, I took it upon myself to watch out for her. She was wild back then, and I often bailed her out of trouble. She loved taking risks, and I avoided them at all costs."
"You're painting a picture of a somewhat irresponsible woman."
"Bethany has changed since high school. She's been employed with Allende for two years. She has her act together, at least most of the time. But I can't stop worrying about her; it's a hard habit to break."
"She's lucky you can't break that habit. You might be her best chance for surviving whatever has happened." He gave her another warm smile. "And for the record, you don't seem very risk averse to me. Not many women would come alone to Colombia to look for their friend."
"So far, that decision hasn't played out too well."
"Maybe not, but your heart is certainly in the right place."
"I've made it sound like it's a one-way street with Bethany, that she takes and I give, but she has also stood up for me, and I can't forget that."
"What did she do for you?" he asked curiously.
"It was nothing earthshaking."
"What was it then?"
"It happened in high school. She found out that the guy I liked was spreading rumors about me, really bad stuff. I was humiliated. Bethany got him to stop."
"How did she do that?"
"She got some dirt on him and blackmailed him. He was in the running for a college scholarship, and he was afraid he'd lose it if the truth came out."
"Bethany likes to fight fire with fire?"
"She does. It probably wasn't the best way to handle the situation, and she could have gotten herself into trouble, but it did work, and I was very grateful." She paused, seeing something play through Diego's eyes. "What are you thinking?"
"I'm wondering if Bethany stumbled into something and tried to get out of it by using the same tactics. If she tried to turn the tables on the wrong someone…"
"Then she could be in big trouble," she finished, her heart sinking once more.
"But I'm speculating, and that's not helpful."
"It's helpful to me just to have someone to talk to about all this. Someone who believes me."
"I asked you to trust me, so I need to trust you. We'll get a lot further if we're on the same page."
"I agree. But I have to ask, Diego—what's next? You made your call, and your contact came up with nothing. Are you done? This isn't your problem, and I know you need to find your brother, so…"
He met her gaze head-on. "I'm not done. Tomorrow, we'll go to the apartment where Bethany was staying. Then I want to speak to the tour company myself. After that, we'll see…"
"And your brother?"
"Another friend of mine is checking on his whereabouts. If I can get a location, then I will want to see him, but let's take it one step at a time."
"All right." She was relieved he was still willing to help her. "I saw the local news report on Father Manuel's shooting, bu
t they didn't give out any other names."
"Lucas told me that a teenage girl with the last name of Salazar was injured as well as one of their security people. An elderly couple and an altar boy were the other victims."
"If one of the Salazar children was injured, that would imply that the shooting was conducted by the rival gang, wouldn't it?"
"I would think so, but there was a lot of crossfire. Who knows which bullet hit that girl?"
"Well, if she was hurt by someone of her own blood, that could be even worse."
"But not unusual. These big crime families often spill their own blood."
"Is this what you do, Diego? Do you work on bringing drug cartels down?"
"No. I've been working on counterterrorism the last few years, which sometimes does involve drugs, but I've been more focused on intelligence gathering and weapons transactions."
"You speak so pragmatically about terrible things."
"Sorry. Compartmentalizing is part of the job."
"I don't know how you do it, Diego."
"Yes, you do. You're doing it right now, Tara."
"Am I? I honestly don't know what I'm doing," she said candidly. "I am way out of my depth. This is not how I normally spend my days. I've never been caught up in a violent attack like the one at the church. I've had to think about it, of course, because I'm a high school teacher, and active shooter drills have become part of what we do. But there's still a huge difference between thinking about something you don't believe will ever happen and getting caught in the middle of it. When the bullets started flying, I froze. I'm glad you grabbed my hand and dragged me out of there."
"I'm glad, too," he said simply. "And you've handled yourself really well—through everything. I'm impressed."
She was surprised and touched by the admiration in his eyes. "Thanks. I'm trying."
"That's all you can do." He pushed his empty plate aside. "That was good."
Dangerous Choice KO PL Page 6