“Thoughtful. Where is it?”
The doctor scowled at him. Ben held his angry gaze, but knew he’d gone too far.
“Here in San Diego County, of course.” Impatiently, he glanced at his watch. “I’m so sorry, but I really must leave. Ms. Rodriguez,” he called.
The door opened immediately.
“Please escort Mr. and Mrs. Moore out.” He stood up and extended his hand across the desk.
Standing up stiffly, Ben moaned and pressed his hand to the small of his back. He widened his eyes and gasped for breath. Amber stared at him with alarm.
“Are you all right, Mr. Moore?” Dr. Ortega asked, his forehead creasing with concern.
“My goddamn back.” He stretched tentatively. “My doctor refused to give me another prescription for painkillers. I don’t know how I’m gonna keep going. This constant pain is affecting my job performance.”
Dr. Ortega shook his head in sympathy. “Back pain is one of the worst. We have a wheelchair if you need it to get to your car.”
“Thanks. I’ll make it.” He clasped Amber’s hand and hobbled out the door after Ms. Rodriguez. “I’m fine,” he whispered and smiled when they’d fallen enough behind that the woman couldn’t eavesdrop.
Inside the elevator, Amber turned angry eyes on him. “What the hell was that about?”
“A ruse. I hoped he’d write me a painkiller prescription on the spot. Guess I’m not that good an actor.”
She blew out an exasperated breath. “Had me fooled.”
As soon as they exited the elevator on the ground floor, Ben had his cell to his ear. “Dillon, get authorization from ICE and bring Pedro to the office ASAP. Tell him it’s good news. I’ll fill everyone in when I get there.” He disconnected and was about to press another contact when Amber put her hand over his.
“Who’s Maria?” she asked.
Need to know, need to know. The phrase repeated like a mantra in his head. Hell, Amber needed to know the whole story if she was going to help him pull off the charade at the interview tomorrow. “Will you come to the office with me?”
She snatched back her hand. “Are you arresting me for asking about Maria?”
He laughed and threw his arm over her shoulders. “Actually, I’m making you an honorary agent for a couple days.”
Her eyes widened. “You can do that?”
“No, but I do need your help. If you come to the office, I’ll explain everything.”
Chapter 19
Forty minutes later, Amber sat in a conference room inside the San Diego FBI office. Ben had expedited the security clearance process and gotten her into the inner sanctum without too much hassle. Since she didn’t match the picture or description on her driver’s license because of the disguise, some questions and eyebrows were raised. Without Ben to vouch for her, she would probably be sitting outside in his car.
He had left her with a bottle of water and run off. Hopefully, he’d return soon, because she was totally out of her element. After being secretly watched at the Dream Makers offices, the possibility she was also under surveillance here made her even edgier.
Tuesday had turned into a crazy day. Giving up her beloved Suburban for a stranger’s Civic this morning had been the first clue. Showing up for a meeting at a surrogate mother clinic with a fake husband ratcheted it up a notch. Waiting in an FBI office to find out who Maria was absolutely put the day over the top. She gulped the water and forced herself to remain calm.
The door was flung open, and a woman about Amber’s age with short, auburn hair marched into the room and then pulled up short. They eyed each other for a moment. Her expression said, Who the hell are you, but she didn’t speak.
“Hi. I’m Amber Jollett, Agent Alfren’s… neighbor.” She spotted a smirk before the woman turned it into a grin and sat down at the table across from her.
“Special Agent Staci Hall. Ben and I have known each other since the Academy.”
Amber bristled. What was that supposed to mean? Did the woman think she had a claim on Ben based on time known? If so, apparently he didn’t agree, because he sure didn’t seem like the cheating type.
“Uh, I’ve only known him about a week and a half.”
“How are you involved in this op?”
Damn, she had no clue, but she didn’t want to admit it to this abrasive woman. Besides, how could she explain something she didn’t understand herself? She was saved by the door, which opened to reveal a fortyish man in a gray suit.
“You must be Amber,” he said and extended his hand. “I’m Supervisory Special Agent Rex Kelley. And I see you’ve met Staci.”
“Glad to meet you.”
“Thank you for agreeing to help us. It’s always best to stick with a known commodity in situations like this.”
I don’t remember agreeing to help. And would someone please explain what this damn situation is? Before she figured out an appropriate response to actually say aloud, a tall, blond man in a tan suit entered the room. He nodded to Staci and Rex and then noticed her. His blue eyes narrowed slightly before his gaze darted back to Rex.
“You let a civilian into the inner sanctum?” he asked.
Rex huffed.
“Play nice, Conrad,” Staci said.
He snorted and ambled across the room to Amber. “Conrad Regis,” he said, shaking her hand.
Amber had barely introduced herself when a third man in a suit and a young Hispanic man in worn clothing entered the conference room. Both of the Latino’s wrists were wrapped in bandages. The words suicide watch surfaced in her memory. Poor kid.
His dark eyes swept the room frantically. “Where is Ben? Where is Maria?”
Ah, a clue.
“He’ll be here shortly to explain. Have a seat.” The newest suit nodded to Amber. “Hi, I’m Special Agent Dillon O’Malley, and this is Pedro Casas.”
Another clue. Pedro, the subject of the call Ben had received the night they slept together the first time. And he’d left her bed and the promise of more sex out of genuine concern for this young man. Compassionate. Unselfish. God, I’m in trouble.
She smiled. “I’m Ben’s neighbor, Amber Jollett. Glad to meet you both.”
“You find Maria?” Pedro asked.
“I—”
“We’ll let Ben explain everything, Pedro,” Dillon reminded him.
As if on cue, Ben hustled into the room. All eyes were riveted on him.
“Thanks for getting in here on such short notice. I assume you’ve handled the introductions among yourselves so I won’t repeat them,” he said to the group, but headed straight to Pedro. He sat down on the arm of the chair next to the kid. “How you holding up, man?”
Pedro shrugged. “You find Maria, sí?
“Yes and no.”
The guy’s expression turned grim. “Is she…? Is she…?”
Ben laid a hand on his shoulder. “No, she’s not in a whorehouse.”
The kid closed his eyes and crossed himself.
* * *
“Listen up now, Pedro, you have a role to play.” Ben walked to the head of the table, giving Amber’s shoulder a gentle squeeze as he passed.
“Ben will be organizing and running this. He has the most complete knowledge of all the situations involved,” Rex said.
“Thanks, Boss. I’ll be writing this up ASAP to fill in the details, but right now, it’s more important to get the ball rolling on plans for this week’s ops. Yes, that’s ops, plural. A lot has changed since our raids on the whorehouses.”
Staci grumbled something, but he ignored her.
“Amber works as a nurse at the San Diego Surrogate Agency, a surrogate mother clinic that is facing extraordinary competition from a new company, Dream Makers. When she visited that clinic last Saturday and Monday, she could tell something was wrong. She recognized their Dr. Ortega as being Dr. Raul Garcia, who had been arrested in Texas for writing illegal prescriptions. Dillon’s research has confirmed Garcia is a distant cousin of Enrique Hermosillo.
”
“Holy shit,” Staci said. “Are you sure it’s him?”
“I met him. The physical resemblance is unbelievable. But I also snagged his coffee cup, hoping we can get a fingerprint match from his Texas arrest records. We’ll also run a cross-check in available databases.”
“Good work, Ben,” Rex said.
He acknowledged the compliment with a nod. “Amber and I went to a meeting at Dream Makers today, posing as prospective parents…”
Staci coughed behind her hand.
“… and we were shown a binder with bios of the available surrogate mothers.” He paused, making eye contact with Pedro. “I saw Maria’s picture.”
Pedro jumped up. “She is okay?”
He smiled. “She looked beautiful… and healthy. Since Garcia plans to use her as a surrogate, I doubt they’ve… hurt her.”
“Muchas gracias, Ben, muchas gracias.” Then Pedro frowned. “What is a surrogate?”
Ben cleared his throat and shot Amber a grin. “I’ll explain later, Pedro. Just remind me.”
The boy glanced around the room self-consciously and plopped down.
“More good news is the other four kidnapped women’s pictures were also in the binder.”
“They’re being held at this clinic?” Rex asked.
“No. Garcia said Dream Makers had purchased and renovated a small hotel to serve as a dormitory. I’m sure it’s more of a prison. I couldn’t get a location out of him, other than San Diego County.”
“That’s a lot of ground to cover,” Dillon said.
“I already have an agent checking property records.”
“It could be held by several layers of shell corporations,” Rex cautioned.
“Agreed. But I have another idea on how to find the damn dormitory.”
“Good. Let’s hear it.”
“Amber and I are interviewing five of the potential surrogates at one o’clock tomorrow.”
“The five who were kidnapped?” Staci asked.
“No. I thought that might be too obvious. I picked Maria, of course,” he said with a nod to Pedro. “Carmen, another one of the five, and three others. The women will have to be transported from the dormitory to the clinic sometime before one. We’ll have eyes on the ground outside the building, at both entrances inside the lobby, and in the underground garage. If we spot the vehicle on arrival, great, but if not, we ID it on departure.”
“Why do we care about the vehicle? Aren’t we going to raid the clinic and grab them while they’re there?” Staci asked.
“Always the patient one,” Ben muttered. “If we raid the clinic before we know the location of the dormitory, Garcia’s and Loco’s goons could escape with the remainder of the forty women they have imprisoned.”
“Good point,” Rex said, frowning at Staci. “I think I see where you’re going with this, Ben.”
“I’ll be wearing a wire while Amber and I are in the clinic so the women’s arrival and departure can be monitored off-site. We’ll also have eyes in the sky by then. When the Dream Makers vehicle leaves to return them to the dormitory, we tail them with the chopper and at least two cars.”
“Then we hit them,” Staci said.
Ben tamped down his exasperation. “No. I’ll post agents to stake out the place overnight. The next morning is Thursday, Loco’s delivery day. That’s when we make our move. We’ll have choppers out east of Alpine watching for the coyote to separate the men and women from this week’s border crossing. Once he’s been spotted with the women’s van, we’ll follow him to the apartment. If he leaves the apartment with any of them, he’ll be taking them to the dormitory. At that point, four teams will be in place at the men’s house, the women’s apartment, the clinic, and the dormitory. Only by timing the raids simultaneously can we prevent one location from warning another. I’ll be leading the dormitory team. When it’s clear we have Loco in position to be apprehended, Rex will give the signal for all teams to move in. Conrad will cover the men’s house. Staci, you’ll lead the team at the women’s apartment. And Dillon will head up the raid on the clinic. Any questions?”
“Not about the ops, because there are obviously a shitload of details to be arranged, but about H’s involvement. I can’t believe a surrogate mother clinic would provide the instant cash he wants,” Staci said.
“I doubt H is involved in the clinic. His new business is the illegal prescriptions for Oxy and other meds. H probably offered his cousin a deal he couldn’t refuse: a new identity, a clinic in another state, and a supply of surrogate mothers who have to work for free. And in exchange, Dr. Ortega writes bogus prescriptions for drugs H can sell on the street.”
“Oh, so that’s how they can do it,” Amber said, her eyes widening with sudden realization.
Ben nodded. “Yeah. Dream Makers’ fees are rock-bottom because they’re basically using slave labor.”
“Oh God, those poor women,” she whispered.
“We’re going to get them out of there, Amber.”
“How do I help save Maria?” Pedro asked.
“We need to let Maria know we’re the good guys. I want to warn her about the raid so the women can protect themselves if things go south.”
“Go south? Where? To Mexico?”
Ben grinned. “Sorry. It means ‘go bad.’ Shots fired. The guards grab hostages. We have to be prepared for anything.”
“I do what you need,” the kid said. “I know how to shoot.”
“That won’t be necessary, son,” Rex interjected. “I imagine Ben has a less risky role for you. ICE would run my ass up the flagpole if we let you get involved in that way.” His boss sent him an I-better-be-right glare.
Pedro looked completely befuddled by the “ass up the flagpole” statement.
“Yes, I do. I want to get pictures of you holding It’s-a-Girl and It’s-a-Boy signs to share with the surrogates.”
“Won’t it seem odd to have a picture of some random Hispanic guy with your signs?” Conrad asked.
“It would if I hadn’t laid the groundwork today when Amber and I were there. I mentioned that the photo of Maria looked like our neighbor. We’ll say Pedro is our neighbor’s husband. When Maria sees the picture, she should realize we’ve connected with her boyfriend somehow. If possible, we’ll slip her a note warning about the raid. If we can’t, at least she’ll know the good guys have found her and help should be coming.”
“Still—”
“I also want pictures of us in a new baby nursery we can claim Amber has had decorated for months. The picture of Pedro with the announcement signs won’t seem out of place then.”
“Where are you going to find an unused baby’s room?” Staci asked.
“I thought maybe you’d know of a woman in our office who had one. You know, a pregnant woman.”
She fidgeted and shot an embarrassed glance at Amber. “Nope. Ankle-biters aren’t my thing.”
“I’m not asking you to get pregnant. I thought maybe you knew of upcoming baby… parties—”
“Baby showers,” Amber supplied.
“Yeah, showers.” He waited expectantly.
Staci shrugged. “Nope. Again, not my thing.”
“Uh, maybe I can help,” Amber said. All eyes turned to her. “Mandy Clark, a coworker, just had a baby shower three weeks ago. She and her husband didn’t have the gender test done, so it’s decorated in yellow and green to be gender neutral. That could work for Ben and me…” Her voice trailed off.
Ben watched a blush creep up her cheeks. What was that about? “Yeah, that should work. Can you convince her to let us take a few photos without explaining why?”
Amber kept her gaze on the table, her hands clenched together in her lap. “Sure. No problem.”
He frowned. But there was a problem. Her body language screamed it. And he didn’t think it had anything to do with the op.
Chapter 20
“Thanks for suggesting the Party Place for the baby announcement signs. We need to be in and out quic
kly,” Ben said, his tone stilted, not warm and casual as usual.
Amber cringed inwardly. It’s my own fault. What in the world had come over her at the mention of babies and her and Ben? “Sure. The store’s right over there,” she said, pointing.
He swung the BMW into a parking space, and they hurried into the store. Since she’d been there a few weeks ago picking up items for Mandy’s shower, Amber led the way to the appropriate aisle. Ben stopped at the end as if hesitant to enter the Baby Zone.
Amber made note of his dazed expression and kept going. She already had both signs in hand by the time he joined her.
“I can’t believe all this… stuff,” he said.
“This is nothing compared to the wedding department.” As soon as the words left her lips, she cringed. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Heat rushed into her cheeks and spread to her ears. A ripe tomato standing in the middle of aisle seven. She hazarded a glance at Ben. Bad move. He was studying her with that intense stare of his. “C’mon. You said we had to be quick.”
She felt his gaze on her back as she escaped.
When he caught up with her in the checkout line, he slipped his arm around her waist and pulled her against his side. He pecked a chaste kiss on her neck beneath her ear. Tingles ran all the way to her toes with strategic stops along the route. Despite the affectionate gesture, neither spoke until they were in the car.
“What’s going on?” he asked, cranking the engine to a roar.
“Nothing.”
“I’ve read that when a woman says ‘nothing,’ it means something, and a man should be worried.”
“So now you’re a guru and a psychic.”
“No. I’m your… boyfriend, and I’m worried.” He pulled out of the parking lot and into traffic.
She gaped at him. OMG. He’d said boyfriend. Not neighbor. Not friend. Without any prompting. Without any coaxing. I am sooo in trouble.
“Talk to me, Amber. Are you nervous about the surrogate interviews tomorrow at Dream Makers?”
“Yes,” she said with relief. It wasn’t a lie, but it wasn’t the whole truth either.
Hunted (FBI Heat Book 1) Page 15