“Your house is on Bolan Road, right?”
“That’s right. The big blue one on the corner lot.”
“Your new neighbors are Manuel and Elizabeth Martínez. Manuel owns a new car dealership over in Culver and Elizabeth is a physician assistant. I think they can afford to buy plants if they want them.”
“I’m sure they can,” Mrs. Booth said, before turning and walking out the door.
Cody had taken in the exchange. “Do you have to deal with high stake cases like that every day?”
“No, but we get bigots in here once in a while.”
“Missing plants is better than what happened out at Henry’s house this morning.”
“That’s for sure.”
The weekend dispatcher called to Mendez and told him that the FBI was on the line.
“Thanks, I’ll take it in my office.”
Cody followed him and leaned back against the door once Mendez had closed it. Mendez took the call while sitting behind his desk. Cody could tell by his friend’s reaction that it concerned something serious.
“I know the name,” Mendez said, “I was a DEA agent for years before becoming Chief of Police.” He scribbled something on a notepad and listened again. Then he recited an email address and told the caller that he would be awaiting their arrival. When he got off the phone, he tapped the notepad with his index finger.
“You were right. Our mystery man is Henry’s father. His name is Kagan Andreas. An FBI agent named Dawkins is on his way to help out. Cody, Kagan Andreas is responsible for most of the drugs that make it into this country.”
“He’s part of a drug cartel?”
“He’s connected to several of them. Andreas built a transportation and distribution system as good as any in the legit world. The FBI, the DEA, and the U.S. Marshals all want to get their hands on him, so do the Mexicans, although it appears that he’s made deals there that keep the Federales at bay.”
“You mean he’s bribed officials.”
“I don’t doubt it, and he probably owns customs agents and police and Feds here and in Mexico.”
“And border guards. Steve, if he’s grabbed Henry, he could be taking him across the border right now.”
Mendez’s desk phone buzzed. He answered it and an expression that was part concern and part confusion appeared on his face.
“Cordon off the area and tell the crime scene unit to head there when they’re done with Laura’s house.”
“Something else has happened?” Cody asked as Mendez hung up.
“We’ve found Henry’s phone in a field near McDonald Street.”
“That’s on the edge of town.”
“They found another phone too. It belongs to Jax Dexter.”
“Jax?”
“Could he have been involved with Kagan Andreas?”
“I doubt it. Maybe he and Henry were together when Andreas had Henry grabbed.”
“I didn’t get the impression that they were friends. The one time I saw them together they were about to have a fight over Caroline’s little sister.”
“Henry told me that Jax was trying to steal Olivia away.” Cody took out his phone. “I’ll call Rick Winhoffer and find out if Jax was scheduled to work today.”
He made the call and Winhoffer told him that Jax had the day off. He also mentioned that he’d spotted Jax getting set to go for a run earlier. The time he stated matched the time written on Henry’s note.
“Maybe they decided to run together and Jax was in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Mendez said.
“It’s Kagan Andreas who’s in the wrong place, and he’s going to regret what he’s done to Laura and Henry.”
Mendez raised an eyebrow. “You sound like you’re ready to go to Mexico and hunt Andreas down.”
“If that’s what it takes, I’ll do it. He might be Henry’s father, but in some ways that boy is my responsibility, and Laura was hurt on my land.”
“I know that you killed a cartel leader before, but Andreas has ties with more than one of them, along with their protection.”
“I don’t care if he lives or dies. I only want Henry to be safe, Jax too.”
“There’s still a chance we’ll locate them before Andreas has time to make it back across the border.”
“What do you think the odds of that happening are?”
Mendez released a long sigh. “Not very damn good.”
“Do you need me here anymore?”
“No, are you going home?”
“Yeah, call me later or stop by and let me know if anything changes.”
“And what will you be doing?”
“I’m going to try to contact someone who might know something we don’t.”
“Who would that be?”
“Laura’s ex-husband, Glenn Olsen. Maybe she told him something about Kagan Andreas that could be useful.”
“It doesn’t sound very likely.”
“No, but you never know until you ask, and any edge I can get might make a difference.”
“I’ll let you know what the FBI has. I doubt it’s much. They were shocked to learn that Andreas was in the US.”
“Not as shocked as Laura was,” Cody said, and left the office.
11
Packing For A Trip
Cody returned home from the police station to find that they had visitors. It was Caroline Lang and her sister, Olivia. They both had red eyes from crying and worry was evident in their expressions.
Sara was meeting with them in the living room. The coffee they’d been served had gone untouched.
Caroline rose from her seat and met Cody as he entered the room. When she opened her mouth, no words came out at first. After shaking her head in disbelief, she asked a question.
“Is it true, did Chris try to kill Laura Knight?”
“Yes. I was there when it happened.”
“And you shot him?”
“If I hadn’t, he would have killed Laura.”
Caroline shook her head again. “None of this makes any sense.”
“Chris Monte wasn’t the man he pretended to be. He was working for a member of a drug cartel who had a grudge against Laura. That man ordered him to kill Laura. If Monte had refused, he would have been killed himself.”
Caroline nodded. “Lately I’ve been aware that Chris wasn’t as kind as I once thought he was. I was thinking of breaking things off with him, but I never would have guessed that he was involved with a drug cartel.”
“Is there any news on Henry, Mr. Parker?” Olivia asked.
Cody told them about Kagan Andreas and his connection to Henry. When he mentioned that Jax may have been taken as well, Olivia said that Jax’s girlfriend had told her that he wasn’t answering his phone.
“But why would Henry’s father want Jax?” Olivia asked.
“Maybe he’s threatening to harm him to keep Henry in line.”
“But they’re not friends.”
“Kagan wouldn’t know that, and it doesn’t matter. Henry may not like Jax, but he wouldn’t want to see him get hurt either.”
Cody suggested that Caroline and Olivia call Steve Mendez in the morning for an update, then escorted them to Caroline’s car. Before getting in, Caroline took Cody’s hand and gave it a squeeze.
“Laura is lucky that you were there to save her, just like I was lucky that you found Jarod that time he was lost.”
“She would have been luckier if I had gotten there five minutes earlier.”
“Still, you saved her life. And don’t feel bad about shooting Chris. It sounds like he got what he deserved.”
Caroline released his hand and got into her car. Cody watched them drive away then went back inside. Lucas had woken from his nap. Cody took him from Sara and kissed his cheek.
“Did you have a good nap, buddy?”
“Yeah, now I’m hungry.”
“Let’s go into the kitchen,” Sara said. “Are you hungry too, Cody?”
“No,” Cody said. He wasn’t interest
ed in eating. He was concerned about Henry and wondered how the boy was doing. It was possible he had been taken out of the country already. If that were the case, he’d get him back.
Henry’s mind was reeling. He’d finally learned who his father was, had met the man, and now all he wanted to do was get away from him.
His grandmother always said that he was better off not knowing Kagan. That was true when he was younger and might not have been able to understand what sort of man Kagan was, but not now. His father was a drug dealer of some kind. That was obvious, and his men were ready to kill for him.
Henry looked over at Jax. The cut on his throat had stopped bleeding but must hurt. When Jax met his eyes, Henry mouthed the words, “I’m sorry.”
At the front of the van, Kagan and Vasquez were talking in Spanish, unaware that Henry could understand them. Kagan had asked Vasquez if it was safe to cross the border and the smaller man had assured him it was.
“We got the man’s wife, mother, and kids; he wouldn’t dare to try anything.”
Henry realized that they were talking about the family of a border guard. They were holding the guard’s family hostage so that they could cross safely.
“He got his mother back after we crossed yesterday. Once he lets us through today, he’ll get the rest of his family back. After that, we’ll put him on the payroll. He’ll know if he doesn’t do what we say that his family will be the ones who pay.”
“How come we don’t already have someone here who we can bribe?”
“We did, but the fool got drunk and crashed his car into the rear of a truck last week while doing ninety, so we have to find a new man.”
“There are always problems to solve,” Kagan said.
“Did you solve that old problem you had?”
“She’s dead. Monte shot her, then some asshole killed him before I could.”
“Who shot the cop?”
“I don’t know. The guy had dark hair and could really move and shoot well, and he had a gun on him already.”
Henry was surprised to hear that Monte was dead. From the description of the shooter it sounded like it might have been Cody who’d shot him. It hadn’t been a shock to discover that Monte had been working for Kagan. It explained why he was interested in him and had taken his photo.
Kagan had mentioned that a woman had been killed. Henry wondered who he was talking about then realized that he could have been referring to his grandmother. He nearly asked aloud if that were the case but held his tongue. He didn’t have many advantages and their belief that he couldn’t understand them was his greatest. He couldn’t give it up and if his grandmother had been harmed there was nothing he could do for her now. Henry wept in silence and wondered if he’d ever see his grandmother alive again.
It was a simple matter for Cody’s hacker, Zoe Farnsworth, to track down Glenn Olsen for him. He reached out to the man by sending him an email.
Glenn responded two hours later and requested that they communicate over video on the computer. Cody wasn’t sure how much Glenn knew about him, but Henry had mentioned once that Laura had spoken to Glenn since moving to the ranch.
It was Henry’s opinion that Glenn still loved his grandmother, but that Laura had moved on. Their marriage had ended after Glenn’s gambling addiction had become a problem and he’d lied to Laura and gambled away the equity in their home.
Glenn lived in Cincinnati with his two daughters from a previous marriage. Cody remembered that the girls were a few years younger than Henry, which would place them in their early teens.
When Glenn’s face came on screen, he appeared anxious. The backdrop was a tiny kitchen that looked as if it were in an apartment.
Glenn Olsen was fifty, wore glasses, and his hair had developed streaks of gray. When he’d met Cody years earlier, Cody had been going by the name of Bob. If Glenn remembered that, he’d made no mention of it when responding to Cody’s email.
“How is Laura doing, Mr. Parker?”
“I was told that she was out of surgery and expected to live. It will take time for her to recover fully.”
“And you were there when it happened?”
“I was walking toward the house to see Henry. I was able to stop the man attacking Laura before he could kill her.”
“How did you stop him? The man had a gun, didn’t he?”
“So did I. If I hadn’t, things would have ended differently.”
On Cody’s laptop screen, Glenn wore a grimace of displeasure. “I’ve never liked guns; I think they should be banned.”
Cody knew of Glenn’s disdain for firearms. He’d once threatened to dismantle Henry’s rifle and scatter the pieces along a highway.
“As I said in my email, I’m hoping you can tell me something about Henry’s father, Kagan Andreas.”
“I only know what Laura told me. Her daughter, Anne, found Kagan bleeding on the kitchen floor of the house they had been living in at the time. He’d been holding a rifle. You’ve seen it. It’s the same one that Henry had. Instead of calling the police, she hid the gun and stitched up Kagan’s wound, then nursed him back to health.”
“Where was Laura when this happened?”
“She was in the hospital. She had appendicitis, and there were complications after the operation; I think she had developed an infection that had to be treated. All in all, Laura was in the hospital for about a week. During that time, Kagan had captured Anne’s heart.”
“You said Kagan was bleeding. What had happened?”
“Laura found out later that he was the leader of a biker gang that worked with one of the drug cartels. The DEA had an undercover agent in Kagan’s motorcycle club. The agent set the gang up and had dozens of cops and federal agents waiting for them when they made their next delivery. Instead of giving up, Kagan and his people fought back. Three agents died along with two police officers. Most of Kagan’s gang were killed or wounded. Kagan and two others were able to get away. He’d been shot in the side and later crashed his motorcycle.”
“Then he broke into Laura’s home and was found by Anne.”
“Yes.”
“And Henry was conceived.”
“That’s right. Anne was only sixteen, but Kagan was nearly thirty. Laura didn’t care that Anne was in love with Kagan. In her eyes, he had raped her daughter. She didn’t learn about any of it until after she’d left the hospital and returned home. Anne had visited her every day and said that things were fine. The reality was that she had stayed home from school during that time to be with Kagan and care for him. Weeks after Kagan left, Anne found out she was pregnant.”
“Did Kagan ever make contact again?”
“Oh yeah. Anne said that he had sworn to her that he would come back someday and take her with him. He kept that promise a year later. He broke in again in the middle of the night and snuck into Anne’s room. That was when he found out that he had a son. By then, Anne had learned what sort of man he really was and had Henry to consider. She refused to leave with Kagan. Laura had heard them talking and called the police. She then went into Anne’s room to confront him and she said he threatened her with a knife while saying she had turned Anne against him. The police arrived and nearly caught Kagan, but he escaped again.”
“And that’s when Laura moved to Pennsylvania?”
“Yes. She’d hoped that by moving there Kagan wouldn’t be able to find them, if he were even looking.”
“Did Kagan ever mention any relatives, or any other personal information that might help to track him down?”
“Nothing I know about. Besides, that all happened many years ago. I’m shocked to learn that he came back to see Henry after all this time.”
“He also wanted to settle his grudge against Laura. He might claim to care about Henry, but the boy is in danger if Kagan has him.”
“I hope the authorities find Kagan.”
“They haven’t for the last sixteen years.”
“True,” Glenn said.
Cody said he woul
d send Glenn an email update when he had news and ended the video call. Afterward, he went down to a sub-level of his home where he kept a cache of weapons and supplies. He needed to pack. It was beginning to look like he’d be taking a trip to Mexico.
12
Attacked!
Steve Mendez stopped by the ranch. He was carrying a large, thick white envelope from a company that excelled at delivering packages quickly. The words Express Delivery were printed on its front in bold red letters. Cody spoke with him in the home’s office after Mendez said hello to Sara and Lucas. Lucas called the chief Uncle Steve.
Mendez had met with FBI agents and was told that they were handling the investigation in America while the DEA would be working on it in Mexico. His department’s involvement would be minimal. He was not happy with that but understood why it had to be. As the Chief of Police of a small Texas town he was in no position to track down a criminal with Kagan’s resources. He could hardly march into Mexico, find Henry and Jax, and bring them back safely. However, he knew that Cody wanted to do just that, and was capable of it. He’d decided to give his friend as much help as he possibly could.
While there was still no definitive proof that Kagan had abducted Henry and Jax that was the assumption that was being made. Despite that, the authorities wanted to keep that knowledge from being broadcast.
It was still possible that Henry had gone with his father willingly, and at eighteen, Jax was an adult and could travel where he wished. What the Feds were concerned about was sparking an international incident. If the American public knew that associates of a Mexican drug cartel had kidnapped two American boys there would be an uproar and diplomacy might suffer.
“What do they plan to do about this?” Cody asked.
“It’s the Feds. They’re holding meetings here and in Mexico. There’s an alert out for Kagan but there’s been some level of alert placed on him for more than a decade.”
“It sounds like they’re not very concerned about Henry or Jax.”
Flesh and Blood (A Tanner Novel Book 35) Page 7