An Ill Wind

by Monette Michaels

  Fascinated, Fee stared at him. “Did you even have an exit plan before she became pregnant?”

  He nodded. “She was due to visit relatives in the States next year for Cinco de Mayo. I’d planned to take an overlapping vacation to see my mother in the States. But the pregnancy was an accident—and so I began preparing a safe place to hide and plotted our eventual escape route.”

  “What if Aznar had discovered your romance before now?”

  Anton made a chopping motion across his throat.

  Fee’s stomach turned. So the stories she’d read about how Aznar had gotten his nickname were true. “I should’ve let him die.”

  “No, you couldn’t have.” Anton’s voice was gentle and filled with understanding. “You, like me, believe in the oath we swore as doctors. We let others take care of justice, eh?”

  “Yes, we do.” Fee thought of men like her brother and Trey—like Levi Gray Wolf—men who fought everyday to protect innocents from filth such as Aznar, Chavez, and men who used young women as objects of their base desires.

  A hammering knock on the door had them both jumping.

  “Coming,” Anton shouted. “My patient isn’t decent.” He helped her into the sweater she’d worn for the trip to the clinic and then pulled the sheet up. “Just lie still. Cough, act frail.” He pointed to the doctored image on the monitor. “Remember, you are very ill.”

  Fee turned her laugh of surprised delight into a cough. He’d occluded three-quarters of her left lung. “Pneumonia?”

  He nodded. “We’ll call it bacterial pneumonia. Can you play this role for the next few hours?”

  “I’ll handle it.” She’d deliver an Oscar-worthy performance and play the invalid to the hilt while resting up for the night ahead. “Send Pia to me?” she whispered.

  “Yes. I will.” Anton then moved to unlock and open the door to a pissed-off Chavez. “Ahh, Señor, just in time. Doctor Teague has bacterial pneumonia.”

  “This is contagious?” Chavez asked and backed away as Fee coughed, spewing moisture into the air. A talent she’d used growing up to freak out her older, germ-phobic sister.

  “Yes. She needs to be watched closely while I perform my clinic duties.” Anton looked at Chavez. “I would ask that Señorita Lopez care for the patient.”

  “Sí, it will be done.” Chavez turned to the man who’d stood guard. “Escort Señorita Lopez here to assist Doctor Vasilov.”

  “Si, El Halcón.” The guard headed toward another portion of the clinic.

  Chavez eyed Fee from across the room. “She will get well?”

  “Yes. I have started her on some antibiotics for the infection and administered acetaminophen for the fever,” Anton lied with a straight face. “Her left lung is filled with fluid and air.” He pointed to the image on the monitor. “It will resorb, but for now, she needs to take it easy and not stress her body, or her lung might collapse. I would rather not have to drain her lung.”

  “How long?” Chavez’s rapacious stare never left her.

  Fee didn’t have to pretend to be weak or frail since the man’s single-minded focus scared the bejesus out of her.

  Anton shrugged. “It is hard to tell, maybe four weeks.”

  “Make it happen in less time, Doctor, or…” Chavez’s growled threat trailed off as he turned to leave. “She will recover in my suite.”

  “I will escort her there myself.” Anton bundled Fee into some blankets and scooped her off the table, then carried her out of the clinic. The armed guard arrived with Pia and accompanied them to the main house.

  This evening’s escape plan was a temporary fix.

  True escape would be when Fee and the others were far away from Aznar’s compound and then out of Mexico. The more quickly that was achieved, the better. While Anton was proving to be a godsend, she wasn’t sure about his ability to get three women out of the rugged mountainous area. They definitely needed more help.

  Hurry, Trey. I really need a hero right about now.

  CHAPTER 9

  March 24th, dusk

  In the mountains

  After a hellacious day of hiking rugged mountain terrain that only a mountain goat would love, then climbing and rappelling mountain walls like human spiders, Trey lay on his stomach at the edge of a steep escarpment. Every muscle in his body screamed with strain and fatigue, but he pushed the feelings away.

  Gut it up, asshole.

  Hoo-rah.

  Trey aimed a pair of powerful computerized binoculars at El Hacha’s compound in a valley over a mile away and one thousand feet below him. He didn’t even want to think about the hiking and rappelling yet to come. Of course, the cartel asshole would find the most remote valley in Mexico surrounded by sheer mountain walls.

  Quit your bellyaching. Fee is down there, and there is where you’re gonna have to go.

  Tense, he spoke into the microphone aligned along his jaw. “Sit rep, Tweeter.”

  “No more visuals on Fee since the video I sent this morning. Keely identified the man who carried Fee from the building as Dr. Anton Vasilov. He is reputed to be El Hacha’s personal physician. The man who stormed out before Fee and Pia exited was Raimundo Chavez a.k.a. El Halcón, second-in-command over this facility. We’ve had several visuals of Pia opening and closing drapes on a second-floor room, northeast corner of the main house.”

  “The main house is our target then.” Trey moved the binoculars and located the building and found the window and balcony doors Tweeter had described. The drapes were pulled at the moment.

  “It is if they’re still there,” Price said. “Are they, Tweeter?”

  “As far as we can tell,” Tweeter said. “I have the drone resting on a shorter building straight across from that set of windows and French doors. There’s a light on and I can see movement through the sheer drapes.”

  “What’s our best way into the house?” Trey asked.

  “No good one, buddy,” Tweeter replied. “There are three extremely alert guards patrolling the house’s perimeter.” He paused. “DJ has been timing the guards from the live video we have streaming.”

  “Hey, Trey.” DJ’s slightly accented voice was filled with concern. “The house perimeter guards are good and motivated…”

  Trey thought about El Hacha’s predilection of chopping off body parts of those who failed him, so the guards being motivated was understandable.

  “…no slacking off. No playing with cell phones or taking a break to smoke. Just regular, like clockwork, overlapping patrols. So, when breaching the house, you’re gonna have to take them all out at once and then pray no one notices until you’ve got the gals out.”

  “Shit. Think we could get on the roof between guards and rappel onto the balcony?” Trey asked.

  “Might be an option,” DJ said. “From the last time Ace had the drone circle the house, the back was all dark. Unlike the front and sides which are lit up like Christmas. So the back looks to be your better choice.”

  “We’ll keep both options on the table.” Trey stiffened as he swept the binoculars over the compound and his gaze froze on one area. “There seems to be a lot of activity centered around the building on the far northwest side of the compound.”

  Men were laughing and slapping each other’s backs as they entered what might be a gym or training facility.

  Tweeter coughed. “Uh, yeah, about that … wanted to wait until you were closer and in position for the last haul, because there’s really nothing y’all could do until—”

  “Fuck, Tweeter, just spit it out,” Price snarled.

  Tweeter grunted. “The drone’s microphones picked up a conversation earlier this afternoon between two of El Hacha’s soldiers. Seems the fucker Chavez is staging a fight club type contest. The last man left standing gets first dibs at Pia, then any still-able participants will follow in descending order. Fucking raping assholes.”

  Roaring an outcry, Levi surged to his feet. If it hadn’t been certain death to descend the mountain without a climbin
g buddy, the man would’ve been on his way to the valley.

  Trey knew exactly how Levi felt, but hot blood and going off half-cocked would just get them all killed, including the women. What they needed now was ice in their veins and to stick to the plan.

  “No mention of Fee?” Trey asked, burying his rage in layers of ice.

  “No. The men joked that Chavez was keeping la pequeña llama”—the little flame—“for himself.” DJ added, “Y’all better get those gals out of there tonight. From what audio we’ve managed to record, right now, they’re safe as houses, but that won’t last much longer.”

  “Then we’d better get to it.” Trey moved away from the cliff and then stood up. He looked back at the way they’d come. The trek had taken them from just after dawn until about fifteen minutes ago. He turned and stared at their destination. They still had a dangerous descent and even more rugged and potentially guarded terrain to cross. “Keep that bird warmed up, DJ. If we can’t get down in time to avoid Pia being attacked, you’ll have to chance an emergency evac.”

  “Roger that, Trey. We’re ready,” DJ responded. “We’ll have a fighting chance. My brilliant husband has hacked into their radar array and can shut it down at will. He’s working on their other security and weapons systems now. Even if they have portable surface-to-air missiles, the chopper has a missile avoidance system. It’s a good one since Keely and my husband designed it for the Army. Also, Ace and I brought a few sidewinders with us from Sanctuary and loaded them on the Hawk in Deming, just in case we needed them.”

  Trey would have absolutely no problem blowing up El Hacha’s compound and starting a small war if either of the women had been physically harmed.

  “Roger that.” Trey was extremely grateful the honeymooning couple had returned home early and had been eager to jump into the fray to save Fee.

  “We’ll keep a close eye on things in the compound,” Tweeter said. “Just take care, brother. The drone’s doing its job and has hours of more battery life, but—”

  Trey hated it when Tweeter hesitated. “But what, Tweeter?”

  “The weather’s gonna turn bad over this entire region, sooner rather than later. If you don’t get the gals out by nine or so, the chopper could be grounded until it blows through. Just sent you the weather report and the current weather radar. High winds. Torrential rain on the level of one to two inches an hour. The river valley you’re heading into has a history of flooding. The compound becomes an island according to local reports. Once you get the gals out of the compound, you might have to head to higher ground and hole up in the mountains for the night. Copy?”

  “Shit. Copy that. Out.” Trey turned to face his team. “We need to get the fuck down there before the weather hits.”

  The main objective was still the same—to get Fee and Pia under their control. He’d worry about getting the hell out of Madera and Mexico after he made that happen. If the last step didn’t happen tonight, so be it. They’d brought survival gear; they’d make do.

  “The storm will hit soon. I can smell the moisture,” Levi commented as he looked to the sky, a frown on his face. “The winds will be vicious and unpredictable at this altitude. Climbing in this weather will be risky.”

  “We’ll make it,” Price said, checking his climbing harness. “Because we have to.”

  “Hell, yeah, we’ll make it,” Trey said. “Now, let’s get off this rock before the sun sets fully and the rain starts. We can reassess our options on how to get the gals out of El Hacha’s house once we’re in the valley.” He also checked over his climbing harness and rope, then checked Levi’s. “Keep your eyes open for a good place to shelter, if we need to.”

  “Roger that,” Price and Levi said in unison.

  ****

  Shortly before 8 p.m.

  El Hacha’s mansion

  Fee sat on the bed dressed in warm layers. Pia sat in the chair next to the bed, also dressed in some of the clothing Chavez had provided for Fee at Anton’s urging. Both of them had their gazes fixed on the clock.

  Maintaining silence due to the listening devices in the room, Fee gave Pia a hand signal out of the sight of the camera. They stood, then moved as one to the exit. Once there, they were out of the camera’s range.

  From a table just inside the bedroom door, Pia picked up a heavy lamp as the main weapon to knock out the guard. Fee stood ready with the pressure syringe filled with enough ketamine to keep the man down and from alerting the compound long after they made their escape.

  Her hand on the door lever, Fee nodded at Pia, who nodded back. Her friend’s eyes were filled with apprehension along with determination.

  After Fee opened the door, which was blessedly soundless, Pia didn’t hesitate and whacked the guard over the head as he started to turn toward the open door. Her first hit stunned the man who grunted as he went to his knees. Pia’s next hit knocked him out. Fee injected the ketamine in his upper arm.

  They paused and waited to see if anyone responded to the noise the guard’s body had made when falling. After several, breathless seconds, no one had come.

  Fee nudged Pia who led the way swiftly down the upper hall and toward the servants’ stairs at the back of the house as instructed by Anton. He’d told them the servants hated both Aznar and Chavez and wouldn’t interfere.

  Fee hoped the doctor was correct, but she had several more ketamine pressure syringes to use if she had to.

  Pia held up a hand to signal a halt as they reached the bottom of the stairwell.

  Fee came to her side and peeked around the corner and then to the right. There was light and motion in what had to be the kitchen. To the left was a darkened hallway which led to the back entrance of the house. She pointed to the left and they moved out on tip-toes as quietly as possible toward what she hoped would be their freedom.

  Fee’s rapid pulse pounded loudly in her ears. Her breaths were shallow and emitted as harsh gasps as tension and the fear of the unknown took her over. If they didn’t get out soon, she’d faint from the stress.

  When Fee reached the exterior door, she rested her head against the cool wood and attempted to control her breathing.

  Get your head in the game. You can’t give in to fear now.

  “Fee?” Pia’s strained murmur brought it all home.

  If she didn’t regain control, it wouldn’t only be her that suffered, it would also be Pia at the hands of Chavez’s men.

  Fee turned and attempted a smile, then mouthed, “I’m okay.”

  Pia laid her forehead on Fee’s shoulder and stifled a sniffle.

  Fee opened the back door a crack. The rear of the house was dark just as Anton promised. She saw no one, heard nothing, so she exited, keeping a syringe at ready. Pia slid out behind her. The door closed with a quiet snick.

  Motioning with her hand, Fee headed for the small outbuilding Anton had shown her earlier today. A flash of lightning lit up the area. A guard stood about ten feet in front of her, his back to them.

  Fee stopped like a deer in headlights and held her breath. She prayed he wouldn’t turn around. For several long seconds, neither she nor Pia moved; they stood there, paralyzed.

  Thunder boomed, startling her, still Fee couldn’t make her feet move. Thank the gods, Pia grabbed her arm and tugged her into the shadows of a small building and behind some shrubbery just as another guard came around the corner of the main house. He approached the other man.

  The two conversed in the Spanish of the Mexican-United States border. Fee translated in her head as they spoke.

  “The fight is beginning. My money is on Arturo to get first chance at the woman.”

  “Ernesto is not happy.”

  “Ernesto is a fucking wimp.”

  “You are right about that, my friend. Are we the only guards on the house tonight?”

  “For the time being. I’d better move or El Halcón will strip the skin off my back.”

  “Or worse—cut off your balls.”

  The guard muttered a foul pr
ayer then resumed his patrol with a quickened step.

  Her legs shaking at the close call, Fee allowed the side of the building to hold her up for a few precious seconds until the other guard also resumed his patrol, following the sidewalk around the other corner of the house.

  It was now or never. She turned toward Pia and whispered, “Let’s go.”

  Pia nodded and followed Fee as she headed for the outbuilding illuminated by frequent flashes of lightning as the storm rumbled toward the valley.

  “Fee!” Anton’s voice came from the dark shadows surrounding the small building. “Over here.”

  She and Pia ran toward the sound of his voice.

  Anton stepped out. At his side, he held a short, beautiful woman who had to be Lucia. “You had no trouble?” he asked Fee.

  “Not much.”

  “Good.” Anton turned to look toward the front of the compound. “Ernesto leaves now. It is my cue to interrupt the fight and announce Ernesto has stolen you away. This diversion should give you time to make your way safely across open ground and then up the path to the cliff houses without pursuit.”

  “Anton?” Lucia’s uneasiness was obvious in her strained voice.

  “I will be safe, dushenka. You lead the women. Be brave for me.” Anton kissed her on the lips and rubbed a gentle hand over his fiancee’s stomach. “I’ll be with you soon. I have too much to live for. Be sure to wait for the mass pursuit of Ernesto and then move out. Da?”

  “Sí,” Lucia whispered. “Te quiero mucho.”

  “And I love you.” Anton waved as he melted into the darkness.

  CHAPTER 10

  March 24th, 8:05 p.m.

  Just outside of El Hacha’s compound

  Trey signaled for a halt and hunkered down in a stand of trees. Price and Levi moved closer and knelt next to him. They were about forty-six meters away from what Tweeter had determined, after studying hours of footage from the drone, was the outside edge of the patrolled perimeter.

  “We’re in position. Sit rep, Tweeter,” Trey spoke into his headset.