Chapter One

by Judith Rochelle

  Only...why was she here? In this condo? With these people? What did she have to do with all of this?

  “Kathryn, my dear.” She took Kate’s hands and tugged her forward. “My word, you look terrible. I understand you’ve been wounded. We’re so sorry that had to happen.”

  “I don’t understand. Why are you here? How did you know I’d been hurt? What’s going on?”

  Eva looked over Kate’s shoulder. “Thank you, Nolan. Good job, as always.”

  Kate turned to him, getting a very sick feeling in her stomach. “Nick didn’t call you, did he? And this is no safe house, is it? What is this place? And what’s my aunt doing here?”

  “Questions, question.” Eva shook her head. She took Kate’s hand and gripped it in hers as she moved out of the foyer. “Come into the living room and sit down. There are some people here who will be very glad to see you.”

  Half a dozen steps into the room, Kate stopped and felt every bit of blood drain from her face. Two men, strangers, were sitting on a long couch, holding brandy snifters.

  “I don’t believe you’ve met my brothers,” Eva’s voice could have frozen fire. “Miguel and Esai Osuna.”

  “Brothers?” Kate was feeling dizzy. Her heart was pounding so loud she thought it would shake her body.

  “And of course,” she gestured toward the man leaning against the fireplace, “you are well acquainted with this man.”

  “Peter?” God in heaven. What is he doing here?

  “None other.” His face showed no expression, but rage burned in his eyes. “We’ve been looking for you for a long time, you know. We owe a lot to Nolan for bringing you here.”

  She turned to Nolan. “You did this? Why did you bring me here knowing they want to kill me?”

  He shrugged and gave her a lopsided grin. “Sorry, honey. That’s just the breaks. Money talks, you know.”

  “Oh, my God.” She made it to the closest chair and almost fell into it. If this was a nightmare, she wanted to wake up at once.

  “I understand you and my son know each other quite well,” Eva commented in her brittle voice.

  “Your son?” God, Kate thought, she really had fallen into hell. She heard the words but her brain couldn’t process them. This couldn’t possibly be happening.

  Breathe naturally, Kate. Don’t show them how terrified you are.

  “And my brothers, Miguel and Esai.” She inclined her head toward the couch where the men sat.

  Kate hoped she wouldn’t pass out from the pain. She had no doubt these people would kill her if she couldn’t figure something out. But the game wasn’t over yet. Kathryn Holt would have folded like a wet napkin. Kate Griffin, even in her weakened condition, would find a way to fight back. It was only a matter of getting herself under control and figuring out what to do. She clenched her jaw and fisted her hands, determined not to faint. The cold steel of her gun was a reassuring feeling at the small of her back.

  Her eyes swept around the room. The brothers Osuna were like bookends. In their early fifties, she guessed, with the same thick head of dark hair, now tinged with silver. Dark, almost swarthy skin, set off by the expensive light-colored silk shirts they wore. Cruelty lurked in the dark, hooded eyes that missed nothing. They watched her now as if she were a lab specimen, waiting for the dissector’s knife. She wondered which one was Miguel.

  “You’ve been a lot of trouble to us, Kathryn,” Peter said, straightening and shoving his hands in his pockets. “I have to say, I didn’t give you nearly enough credit for smarts. Very embarrassing to admit you had me fooled.”

  “No more than you did me,” she told him, more bravado in her voice than she felt.

  “What a shame you were impetuous enough to steal something belonging to us.” Eva’s colorful skirt swirled around her as she turned toward Kate. “None of these stupid men seemed to have a clue how to track you down and retrieve it.”

  Her eyes were filled with contempt as she looked at each of them in turn. There was not one doubt who was in command here.

  “Too bad for all of you.” Kate lifted her chin, a gesture of confidence she didn’t feel. “You have to know the U.S. Attorney’s office has the flash drive now. And Peter? They’ve cracked your super secret code. I guess they’re a lot better at it than you gave them credit for. They’ll be here any minute looking for you.” Her eyes traveled around the room. “All of you.”

  She had no idea how quickly the DOJ would be able to move. She just hoped her voice sounded more confident than she felt.

  “Oh, but you’re going to help us with that, my dear,” Eva told her. “And then some.”

  “I don’t understand. What can I possibly do?”

  “We’ve decided to move our operation to Mexico, but we need to make sure we can leave here without a problem. That’s where you come in.”

  “Me?” She frowned. What did they expect her to do?

  “Simple. We’re going to offer them an exchange. You for a clean exit across the border. Once we’re there, we’ll return you safely to them.”

  A hysterical laugh bubbled up from her throat. “You really think I’m important enough for the Department of Justice to trade for me? You’re a fool if you believe that.”

  “No,” Eva answered her. “But you are important enough to Quinn, and he is a man who can make it happen.”

  “I’m curious, Miss Holt.”

  Kate slid her eyes to the man speaking. The initial M on his shirt cuffs identified this one as Miguel.

  He uncrossed his legs and sat forward, his heavy ring and gold watch glinting in the light from the lamp. “What made you take the disk in the first place?”

  “I was in the office that night and heard you and Peter talking about it.” She gripped her hands together to steady herself. “Right after you discussed killing me. I thought I could use it in exchange for my life.”

  “Why the hell did you sneak in that way?” Peter exploded.

  She turned her eyes back to him. “Does it matter now?”

  “No,” Miguel answered for him. “Now we’re going to do the exchange, although not quite the way you’d expected.”

  Nervously she wet her lips. “Could I have a glass of water, please?”

  “Of course.” Eva turned to Peter. “Please get our guest some ice water.” She turned back to Kate. “I apologize for your injuries. You weren’t our target, you know.”

  “Is that supposed to make me feel better?”

  “If we had hit your friend, would you have grieved for him, Kathryn?” Peter asked, returning with the glass of water. “Just who is he to you? Protector? Friend? Lover?”

  But Kate refused to be baited. She drank slowly from the water glass.

  “Let’s make sure she’s not carrying anything of importance,” he said, grabbing her purse and upending it on the table. Her meds, her toiletries, and a handkerchief rolled out.

  Disappointment flashed across Peter’s face.

  “What did you expect?” she sneered. “A gun?” Thank God she’d moved it. Now she was even more conscious of the metal shape pressing against her back.

  “We can’t be too careful.”

  This whole scene is so surreal, Kate thought. Here I am, sitting in this lavish home, with murderers and drug dealers who want to kill me. Everyone is conversing so politely. It’s as if we’re all at some sophisticated cocktail party.

  “Nolan’s going to call his erstwhile boss right now,” Eve told her. “I want you to read exactly what’s written on this piece of paper” She handed it to Kate, then waited while Nolan got Nick on the satellite phone.

  “I’m not calling to have a discussion with you,” Nolan said in a flat voice. “That’s over and done with. I assume by now you know what’s happened. I have someone here you really need to talk to. And you’d better pay attention to what she says.”

  Then the phone was thrust in Kate’s face and she held it to her ear. “Nick?”

  “Kate.” She could tell how shaken he was, but he
was forcing his voice to be calm. “Are you all right? Can you tell me where you are?”

  “I—”

  Nolan grabbed the phone. “No discussion. Listen to her message. That’s all.” He gave the phone back to her. “Read,” Nolan told her.

  Kate stared at the paper, the words blurring. She wet her lips with the tip of her tongue and forced the words out. “I am alive so long as you do what they ask. Follow their instructions and they’ll return me to you safely. They want a written guarantee of safe passage to Mexico. They will call back in one hour.”

  Nolan took the phone back. “One hour. Get the word to your friends in the DOJ. If the answer is no, it won’t matter to us if we kill her. But you might have some explaining to do to your friend Quinn.”

  He disconnected the call.

  ****

  Quinn drove the SUV down the road that ran along the back of his property, keeping his headlights off. He parked in the underbrush and made his way through the woods. Entering the house from the front would leave him too exposed, just in case Lane Barton had someone watching.

  On the way from the cabin he’d run every diversionary movement he knew, checking constantly in his rear view mirror. It took the better part of two hours, time he didn’t have, but he was as certain as he could be that no one was on his tail. So far, so good. He’d get into the house, get what he needed, and leave.

  Getting his guns and a good supply of ammo wouldn’t take him long. At the same time, he would start digging for his old contacts and set about tracking down the key players in the Osuna cartel. At this point he didn’t expect them to be operating out in the open, so finding them would require some outside help. But someone would know where they were.

  He’d used the same methods to convince people to talk as when he went after the Ramirez cartel. All he needed was one person to open up to him. And quickly.

  Just in case Lane Barton—or worse, the Osunas—had someone watching his house, he left his car at a bend in the road and pulled in among a copse of trees. Hiking in through the prairie grasses that covered most of his acreage, he made his way to the back of his house and opened the side door to the garage. He was just about to pull it shut when he heard a noised behind him. Yanking the .38 from his waistband, he whirled in a crouch.

  “I should be the one doing the shooting, you asshole.” Jake Garza materialized out of the darkness, slamming the door shut and snapping on a flashlight. He held it up to his face so Quinn could see who he was.

  “Jesus, Jake, you nearly gave me a heart attack.”

  Jake clicked off the light. “We need to talk.”

  “Where’s your car? I can see my driveway from the back of the property and it’s empty.”

  “I can be just as sneaky as you, Ace. I left it at the vacant property around the corner from here.”

  “How did you even know I’d be coming here?”

  “I took a chance, knowing how your mind works. You didn’t answer your cell. How come you had your cell turned off and sent everything to voice mail?”

  “Did you really think I wanted to send a signal for someone to track? Anyway, I’m sure you know by now Nick got some throwaways for me.” A muscle jumped in his cheek. “I turned off the one I had so nothing would distract me. Or it wouldn’t ring at the wrong time. Anyway, I didn’t plan to be gone that long and Nolan had things under control.”

  “Not as much as you think.” His face wore a grim look. “Nick called me in a panic when he couldn’t reach you. And I called Dean.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” Quinn asked, his voice edged with anger. “What the hell is going on?”

  “We’ve got serious problems. Let’s go inside. I don’t want to have this conversation standing in the garage.

  Quinn led him through the utility room and into the darkened house. Not wanting to turn on any lights, he motioned for Jake to follow him out to the back porch. The moon was full and gave them as much light as they needed.

  “All right. Enough. What the hell’s going on?”

  “We have a crisis. A bad one.”

  Quinn’s heart stopped beating and he couldn’t draw a breath. “Kate? Has something happened to her?”

  Jake paced the length of the porch, raking his hands through his hair. “I won’t even go into the stupidity of the stunt you pulled, or the fact that I know you’re out here ready to go hot-dogging. This isn’t the time for it.”

  “You’re right about that, so skip the lecture.” Quinn was ready to strangle his old friend if he didn’t get to the point and damn quick.

  Jake shoved his hands in his pants pockets as if he didn’t know what to do with them, seemed to be searching for the right words, found none, and blurted out his news. “Quinn, Kate’s gone. And so is Nolan.”

  Quinn thought he might pass out. A buzzing sound filled his head and his stomach heaved. Gone? No, that was wrong. Kate was safe. He’d gone to great lengths to make that happen. He sat down before Jake could see how badly he was shaking.

  “What do you mean, gone? Where the hell are they? I just left them a couple of hours ago.”

  “No one knows. Going through the list of the Osuna payroll, whose name should pop up but Nolan Hanks? Lane called Nick, who was already on the way to the cabin because he hadn’t been able to raise anyone. I think he was afraid you and Kate were both dead. Nick’s on his way to our office now. I figured you’d come here and Lane thought it would be best if I broke the news to you myself.”

  “Holy fucking shit.” Quinn couldn’t make his brain function, couldn’t accept what he was hearing. “Damn it all anyway.”

  I promised to take care of her. To keep her safe. I’ve failed her twice. What a useless piece of garbage I am.

  “There’s more.” Jake cleared his throat. “Lane’s had a tail on Esai Osuna for a while, just to see if anything turned up. His guy called in to tell him Peter Fleming’s in town and there’s a gathering of the clan at a suburban condo, so we may not be able to wait any longer to move against them. Besides, having everyone in the same place would be damned convenient.”

  Quinn drew in a ragged breath as he fought for control. “Jesus, can it possibly get any worse? All right. Let’s go.” He started back inside.

  Jake stopped him with a hand on his arm. “Do everyone a favor this one time, will you please? Don’t go off half-cocked.”

  “You can’t expect me to just sit here,” Quinn argued. “You know better than that.”

  “I do, but use your head. Come downtown with me. Lane’s pulling out all the stops to see what he can find out. I talked to Nick again and he’s meeting us there.”

  “Did it look like there was a struggle at the cabin?” Quinn asked.

  Jake shook his head. “Nothing. For whatever reason, they just drove away. We can sit here and speculate, or we can go downtown and get some real information. Your choice.”

  “Let’s go. I’ll follow you.”

  But first, despite Jake’s objections, Quinn went to his gun safe and took out his arsenal. Whatever happened, he’d be ready for it.

  ****

  Lane Barton’s office was not small but tonight, with all the hulking men filling it, the room seemed unusually crowded. Five men Quinn had never seen before, dressed in suits that were identical except for their color, were having no luck trying to make themselves comfortable on wooden folding chairs. Other men leaned against the wall. Fluorescent lights bathed everything in an unforgiving glare, and the room smelled of stale coffee and sweat. Nick sat off to one side.

  Nobody was smiling.

  “Okay, I’m here,” Quinn said, planting himself in front of the desk. “Tell me what’s going on. Where the hell is Kate and how did this happen?”

  “Let’s just identify all the players first, okay?” Lane said. “You’ll need these men to do what needs to be done.”

  “This isn’t a tea party,” Quinn ground out. “And I’m not hanging around for bureaucratic bullshit.”

  “You never
did. Just let me introduce you to the other men in the room.” He nodded in their general direction. “Meet Special Agent Joe Tallmadge, Special Agent Aaron Hill, and Special Agent in Charge Noah Delaney of the FBI. They’ve been investigating the Osunas from the beginning of the strike force. And over there is Clay Peters, head of the district DEA office, and one of his men. The rest of these guys are agents who report to them.”

  Quinn waved a hand in the air. “Nice to meet you all but we can forget the social amenities. Where’s Kate?” He turned to Nick. “And Nolan?”

  Nick looked at Lane. “Why don’t you fill him in. Then I can figure out how to apologize, if that’s even possible, and we can get on with business.” He looked at Quinn with anguished eyes. “Forget what I said about leaving my sisters with him. I can’t believe how I let this get past me.”

  Quinn ground his teeth. “Will you quit all this bullshit talk and tell me what the fuck is going on?”

  Lane, looking decidedly unhappy, raked his fingers through his hair. “If you’d let us take care of her in the first place, this wouldn’t have happened. Just keep that in mind.”

  “Damn it.” Quinn’s patience was gone. “Forget about who should have done what. I did what I thought was best for her. Can we get to the meat of this thing? I want to know what’s happened to Kate and how.”

  “First of all, you’re right.” Lines of tension were etched in Lane’s face. “We’ve been working on that flash drive we got from Kate, cracking the codes one by one. Lots of good information there. Bank accounts. Dummy corporations. Suppliers. Buyers.”

  “And?” Quinn prompted, his voice rough.

  “And a list of people all over the country taking payoffs from the cartel. It’s far more extensive than any of us thought. They’re into every area of law enforcement on every level, as well as private parties that could do them good.” He looked over at Nick, then back at Quinn. “As Jake told you, Nolan Hanks’ name is on there.”

  Quinn looked at Nick, whose face reflected his own sick feeling.

  Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.

  “Jake said Fleming’s in town and they’re all gathered at someone’s condo for a sit-down,” Quinn pointed out. “Whose place is it? And where is it? That’s got to be where Nolan’s taken Kate.”