by Jonas Saul
“What’s happening?” she asked. “What did you just say? Where are you taking me?”
“You’ll be asleep in a moment. When you wake up, you’ll be with Enzo. He’s waiting for you.”
“I don’t want to see him.”
“It doesn’t matter what you want.”
Her mind drifted. Sleep was coming. He’d drugged her.
“Where’s the guard at the door?”
“In our pocket.”
“And Darwin. Did he make it here? Please tell me he made it.”
“Who is Darwin?”
She listened to the sound of her hospital room door opening. Then she was in the corridor. The guard whispered something. Dr. Fitzroy said something back. She heard, sign here, then she was being rolled away again.
It was too hard to talk. Her mouth wouldn’t move.
Elevator doors opened after a moment. The hospital bed on wheels rolled onto the elevator.
Before the doors closed she could have sworn she heard Aaron’s voice.
Then Parkman’s voice. A man shouted something.
Casper? Really? He’s still alive?
The elevator doors closed.
Sarah lost consciousness.
Chapter 31
After arguing at the front desk, Casper had to make another call. Ten minutes later, they got Sarah’s room number and ran for the fourth floor.
Aaron was the first one at the guarded door.
The police guard was tossing a coffee cup away and gathering his logbook and pens as they approached.
“Is Sarah Roberts in this room?” Aaron asked.
The guard looked up at the assembled men around him. He glanced at all five of them, then shook his head.
“No,” he said. “She isn’t.”
“Where is she?” Parkman asked.
“Transferred to another hospital.”
“Bullshit,” Casper shouted. “For a few cracked ribs? No way. I want to talk to your supervisor. I want your—”
The guard stepped close to Casper. “The paperwork was correct. I have no say in the matter. She was transferred a few minutes ago.”
“Then she’s still in the building.” Aaron said. “He was just getting ready to leave.”
“I’m just the guard,” he said, shrugged, and walked away.
Aaron ran for the stairwell and the rest of the men followed him.
Chapter 32
Darwin had rented two cars for his mercenaries who had shown up in Tijuana just as expected. Seven men had come. Others had prior engagements and couldn’t make it. Two had been killed in a gunfight in Baghdad. And a few of the others wouldn’t get past Mexican customs because of their prior records.
Darwin picked up his men at the prearranged hotel. They had been casing out the hospital for the past few hours. Each man carried two kinds of GPS tracking devices. Each man knew Sarah’s safety was the primary goal and that they were dealing with a ruthless cartel. Each man was ready for a little killing. Itching for it, really.
Their primary goal was to track Sarah. Then attack her captors at their location.
They were all identified by the countries they were from. The Greek was called Malaka because he always seemed to be pissed off. The Hungarian was Goulash and the Russian was called Vodka. There were two Italians, Mario and Luigi. The American was called Bush, but he hated the name. He’d voted for the father, but hated the son. And finally, the Canadian. He was called The Beaver and it had nothing to do with the Canadian national symbol on the five-cent coin and everything to do with his womanizing ways.
Darwin had gone into debt acquiring these men, but Sarah was worth it. He didn’t have a lot to do in Italy but monitor chatter between rival Mafia families. So he watched over his close friends, like Sarah. She led an interesting life and he wanted to do his part to allow her to continue.
Beaver had medical training, so the Canadian did a reasonably good field dressing on his fellow Canadian. The bullet wound in Darwin’s arm had recently stopped bleeding and he was feeling better with mild painkillers. He stayed off the heavy painkillers to keep fresh, ready.
Parked outside the main doors of the hospital in a communications van, Darwin and Malaka monitored two different computers that were networked through Rosina’s system back in Italy. They watched the satellite coverage Rosina had hacked into. The other five mercs had taken up positions around the hospital exits with Vodka on the inside. They watched for people that didn’t belong, strange activity, or a chance to see Sarah leaving.
Vodka had radioed in that there was a commotion in front of Sarah’s door a few minutes ago. Five men had shown up and argued with the police guard. Then the guard walked away.
Sarah was on the move.
“All men in position,” Darwin spoke into the mike.
“Goulash.”
“Mario.”
“Beaver.”
“Luigi.”
“Vodka here.”
He waited for Bush. After thirty seconds, he tapped the mike. “Bush. All okay?”
He waited.
Then, “Bush here,” came across the radio.
Darwin exchanged a look with Malaka. “All okay?” he repeated.
“Following the doctor who took Sarah,” Bush responded. “He’s heading out the south entrance.”
“Got him,” Vodka said. “I see him.”
“GPS that bed or the vehicle,” Darwin ordered. “Do not, I repeat, do not let Sarah leave without a locator on her somewhere.”
“On it,” Vodka replied. “I see Bush now.”
Darwin waited. Malaka switched screens to get a better look at the south entrance.
“GPS on the ambulance Sarah was rolled into,” Bush reported.
“Good work.”
On the computer before him, Darwin brought up the device that Bush had been carrying and entered the code to watch its progress. An indicator popped up on his screen near the south entrance of the hospital.
“Malaka, drive this thing. Stay out of sight. I’ll guide you as I watch the GPS.”
“Yes sir.”
“All units but Bush, make your way back to your vehicles. Follow the van. Bush, keep an eye on that ambulance until it leaves the hospital.”
“10-4.”
Darwin sent Rosina a message that they were on the move.
Then the GPS tracker on the ambulance moved on his screen.
“We’re rolling,” Darwin said into the mike.
Chapter 33
Aaron got to the south entrance as an ambulance rolled away and started for the road. Parkman ran up beside him.
He spun around. “Where’s your RV?” Aaron asked, feeling like he was losing Sarah again. He couldn’t grasp how this was happening. “Where’s that SUV you guys talked about?”
“On the other side of the building,” Parkman said. “Three hundred meters off the property.” He looked at Aaron. “I’m sorry. We wanted to keep it hidden.”
Aaron turned away from Parkman and punched the wall. He placed his forehead on the wall, and chanted a soft no, over and over. If the cartel had Sarah, he would never see her again. “We just lost her,” he whispered. “She’s as good as dead.”
“Check this guy out,” Casper whispered.
Aaron turned to look.
An American was watching them from outside the doors. A large man, the jean jacket he wore far too tight. They stared at each other until he raised a hand to his ear and spoke into a mike of some sort.
“He might be cartel,” Casper said, a sense of urgency in his voice. “We need to talk to him. He knows something. He’s staring at you, Aaron. He recognizes you. He cannot be allowed to leave.”
Aaron and Daniel were the first ones out the door.
The man saw them coming. He didn’t attempt to flee. He widened his stance and spoke into his mike again.
When Aaron was five feet away, the man produced two guns from under his jacket faster than any magician.
“Ease up, boys,” he sai
d.
Definitely American.
Aaron stopped a foot in front of the gun in the man’s right hand, Daniel in front of the one in his left. Casper, Parkman and Alex fanned out behind them.
“My boss wants a word with you five men,” the American said. He met Aaron’s eyes, looked down at his bandaged hand, then back up to his face. “Are you Aaron Stevens?”
“Who wants to know?” Aaron asked, his tone hard. He opened and closed his one good fist. Then did it again, energy surging through him.
“My boss is Darwin Kostas. He’s tracking Sarah as we speak. You want to see Sarah Roberts alive again, y’all want to come with me.”
Then the American spoke into his mike and Aaron decided not to kill him where he stood. He would listen to what they had to say first.
The name Darwin Kostas hit him seconds later.
“Darwin from Italy,” he mumbled to himself.
Parkman nodded.
Chapter 34
Darwin watched real-time satellite footage as he studied the GPS tracker. An SUV had pulled in front of the ambulance on the highway and remained there as a guide or added security.
Malaka was two miles behind the ambulance with the mercs piled into two vehicles behind them.
“Hold steady,” Darwin said into the mike. “I’ve got them southbound on Moreno heading out of Tijuana. We’re two miles behind. Malaka, pull back even further. They aren’t going anywhere my coverage can’t follow.”
Malaka eased off.
“Bush here. Got a surprise for you, boss.”
Darwin stared at the screen as the two-vehicle convoy eased into the right lane.
“Go ahead.”
“I’m still at ground zero and I’ve found someone.”
The two-vehicle convoy carrying Sarah hit an exit ramp.
Darwin spoke into the mike to Malaka and the rest of the mercs. “Leaving the highway. Stay fresh.”
He hit the other mike. “Bush. Busy here. Who did you find?”
“I’m standing in front of Aaron Stevens and a man who calls himself Parkman. They have an American CIA agent with them named Casper and two of Aaron’s friends.”
Those names struck Darwin like Thor’s hammer to the gut.
He looked away from the screen for a brief moment. “Please confirm. Repeat the names. Who do you have with you?”
“Aaron Stevens. Parkman. Casper—”
“Are you sure it’s Aaron?” Darwin asked. His heart rate had tripled. “Verify you have Aaron Stevens.” What did he do to Sarah by letting her get taken?
“Aaron here.” The sound of his voice matched what Rosina had recorded years ago when monitoring Sarah’s phones.
Darwin looked back at the screen.
“Where’s Sarah?” Aaron shouted through the mike. “Have you got her?”
They had missed a turn. Malaka was driving blind with the mercs following Darwin’s van. He was supposed to be watching the screen and directing Malaka.
“Abort mission!” he shouted into the mike. “Get Sarah back at all costs. She is not to be transported to the final destination.”
“Where do I go?” Malaka responded.
“Where’s Sarah?” Aaron was screaming over Malaka’s voice.
“Turn right, Malaka. We need to do a U-turn and go back three blocks. They are heading into what looks like a heavily populated area.”
Darwin’s stomach spun until he felt nauseous. Had he sent Sarah out as bait for the cartel’s location in search of Aaron for nothing? When and how did Aaron escape? How would Sarah—and Aaron—ever forgive him? How was he supposed to know Aaron was safe?
Malaka slowed the van as Aaron shouted into the other mike. Darwin watched the two-vehicle convoy on his screen as they entered a residential area, the SUV still leading the ambulance.
He pressed the button to talk. “Aaron, we are going after the vehicles now. We are about to take Sarah back. We need ten minutes of radio silence.”
“Ten minutes!” he shouted. “Just tell me where you are. We’ll come to you.”
“We are headed into a residential area. Give the mike back to Bush and I’ll direct him to our location.”
Darwin switched mikes. “Malaka, take the next right. We’re four miles behind them.”
Bush came on the line.
“Bush, switch to our channel.”
“Aaron and Parkman have two vehicles,” Bush said. “We’re heading to them now.”
“Go south on the Moreno highway. I’ll direct you to our location after that.”
“10-4.”
Darwin stared at the satellite footage knowing Sarah was inside the ambulance and it was his fault. He hoped she would forgive him as he was only working on the information he’d had at the time.
The SUV disappeared off the screen.
Darwin leaned closer.
The ambulance disappeared.
“What?” he whispered to himself. “How?”
He zoomed the image closer. An overhead bridge. They had parked under it.
“They’ve stopped driving,” he announced.
“Where?” Malaka asked.
“Less than three miles from here. Keep on this road. In two miles, take a right. We will be able to see the bridge they’re under at that point.”
“10-4.”
Darwin waited, tapping his legs nervously, as they raced the two miles. As Malaka took the right hand turn, the SUV blasted onto the screen, followed by the ambulance.
“They’re on the move again. One mile ahead. Move in. All units move in and retrieve Sarah.”
Malaka gunned the van’s engine and Darwin had to hold on to avoid falling off his chair. They were gaining fast. It wouldn’t be long now. He verified the GPS tracker. This was their ambulance. Absolutely no doubt about it.
Darwin’s van raced under the bridge where the SUV and the ambulance had stopped momentarily.
Bush came on the radio asking for more directions. Darwin offered them. Bush estimated his ETA to be less than six minutes.
“Pulling in front now,” Mario said.
Tires screeched outside. The van stopped abruptly. Doors opened, slammed. Darwin’s men shouted orders at the SUV and ambulance.
Darwin tore off his headphones and verified once more that the GPS tracker was on the vehicle outside the van.
It was. They had stopped the ambulance that had taken Sarah out of the hospital.
He grabbed a weapon and hopped out the back of the van, going slow with the pain in his arm from the bullet wound. The six mercs spread out around the SUV and the ambulance, yelling at the drivers to turn off their engines and get out of the vehicles.
The SUV turned off. Then the ambulance.
The driver’s side door cracked open on the ambulance. Darwin was swept with relief as the driver hopped down and moved away from the vehicle.
They had gotten to Sarah in time. They had saved her. Now he didn’t have to face Aaron’s wrath. Mario and Luigi subdued the SUV driver quickly. Goulash watched over them.
The ambulance driver began babbling to himself.
“On the ground!” Vodka ordered.
A car raced by. Then another. No one stopped. In fact, they sped up. This much weaponry on the street wasn’t new to Tijuana, Darwin figured.
He walked to the back of the ambulance and clicked open the door.
“Sarah, Aaron’s with us—”
The ambulance was empty.
Sarah wasn’t there.
Chapter 35
Whatever Doctor Fitzroy gave her had to be wearing off. Her eyes were lighter, easier to open. Her thoughts wandered, empty. Where was she? What had happened? It was like the past several hours had been erased from her life.
The ceiling above didn’t resemble a hospital room ceiling. It resembled wood with evenly spaced squares. The kind of ceiling in a billiards room where men drank glasses of whiskey and smoked cigars.
She looked around the room. Plush, elegant, rich, expensive. This was the home
of someone extremely rich. Hunting trophies hung on the walls. Paintings, a chandelier, cherry oak tables.