by Matt Lincoln
“Well, I hope it all calms down over there soon,” Holm muttered, looking over at me with a small shrug.
“Yeah, we won’t keep you,” I interjected, looking to get right to business. “Just let us know what you found out, and we can let you get back to Diane.”
“Gee, thanks,” he muttered sarcastically. “Alright, well, here is the deal. I was running Angel Gonzalez’s name, but I have to tell you, it’s a popular name. Anyway, I was able to track down the right Gonzalez. He’s very much off the radar, but he has a few aliases and phony companies that he has property under. I also found one or two that were connected to Carlos Abreu.”
Alejandra’s ears perked up at Abreu’s name. I knew she was still heartbroken at the betrayal Abreu represented, so I understood her reaction and her additional interest in the man’s activities.
“Do we have locations?” I asked sharply, returning to the conversation.
“Of course,” Warner replied smoothly. “I am emailing them over to you both right now. Check your phones when we hang up. I didn’t want to call you until I had actual concrete information. I hope this helps.”
“More than you know,” Holm assured him. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” Warner replied quickly. “Oh, Ramsey’s coming back. Talk to you two later.” The phone immediately disconnected after that, leaving a jarring silence that was only filled by the rumbling of the Ford’s engine.
I looked over at Holm in the back seat who cocked an eyebrow back in my direction.
“We have addresses,” I stated matter-of-factly. “Do you think that’s where Miguel García and Maria Gonzalez are being held?”
“It’s the only lead we got,” Holm replied, pointing out the obvious. I sat back in my seat and stole a glance over at Header. His eyes were unexpressive, but I noticed that his jaw was tight, and I recognized that tell immediately. There was something he wasn’t telling me.
“You’re hiding something,” I announced for the benefit of everyone in the truck’s cab. “What are you not saying?”
Header pressed his lips together tightly and swallowed hard before responding.
“Don’t be mad,” he grumbled to himself.
“Well, I wasn’t mad until you just said that,” I pointed out. “Spill it, Header.”
Header blew air through his lips as he glanced over at me cautiously. “I may have already gotten the addresses.”
I sat back, surprised and taken aback. I knew we might end up at odds with each other at some point during this case, but I hadn’t expected him to withhold vital information.
“Are you kidding me?” I snapped before regaining my composure. “That would have been useful information for us to have instead of spinning our wheels.”
“I only found out recently,” he muttered in response. “I just wanted to make sure that my team had a plan and a bit of a head start before passing along the information.”
That last bit, as frustrating as it was, did not surprise me. It was very much something that Header would do.
“Well, have you had a chance to look into each address?” Holm inquired from the back seat. I took a breath and refocused my energy, taking a cue from Holm and concentrating on gathering important information as opposed to dwelling on Header’s actions and their consequences.
“Yes,” Header acknowledged. “I don’t know offhand what’s what, but I can tell you that their locations speak volumes with regard to their feasibility as a holding point for the kidnapped.”
I looked back at Holm, who shrugged in consideration of Header’s insight.
“At least we have a starting point for processing all of this,” Holm pointed out. “When we get back to your house, let’s all put our heads together and figure this out.”
Header didn’t look pleased at the prospect of this agreement, but he didn’t argue. He drove in silence as Holm and I checked our emails and sent a quick message to Bonnie and Clyde, asking them to meet us in Isabela to compare notes.
I knew we were getting close when we rounded a corner, and I saw the now-familiar sight of the crystalline water spread out before us, crashing up against the bottom of the cliffs that edged this corner of the island. In the foreground, the oversized Puerto Rican flag rippled in the breeze, reminding me of exactly where I was and why I needed to come back someday.
Less than a minute after we passed that breathtaking sight, we came up on the turn into Header’s neighborhood. For the first time, I leaned forward to take a closer look at the rock face that towered over the corner. The face etched into the stone took on a deeper meaning now, as Linda’s story about the Taíno Chief, Mabodamaca, played over again in my head.
Header slowed as he eased past the tourists that were crossing the street to take photos in front of the image, though once we were clear, he didn’t accelerate. The road twisted and curved through the thick green foliage, and the mangled guard rails along the edges of the road didn’t tell a promising story of what could happen if we drove through here too quickly.
When we cleared the greenery and the road fell flat, Header began to pick up speed, and I knew we’d be at the house in a matter of minutes. I was itching to get out of the truck so that we could sit around and compare our notes. I was still agitated about being kept in the dark about Header’s intel, and I simply wanted all of our cards laid out for each other so that we could move forward with this case once and for all.
After the oversized pickup ambled through his front gate and up under his carport, I hopped down out of the cab immediately. The bright blue Mustang that Bonnie had been enjoying during our island stay was already tucked up under the carport, so I knew we wouldn’t have to wait to discuss the issues at hand. I forced myself to slow down enough to help Alejandra down from the back seat, but after that, I made a beeline for the front door, swung it open, stepped through… and came to a sudden halt.
Bonnie and Clyde were sitting in the living room, drinks in their hands. The large double doors that led out to the pool were swung wide open to let the fresh air in. The house was quiet, the usual music noticeably absent, and there was no one else around. I didn’t see Doc or Xavier, and I quickly turned back to Header, who happened to have already made his way up to the front door from the truck.
“Where’s the rest of your team?” I demanded, my arms crossed tightly over my chest.
“Let’s get inside first,” he requested. Since I had no reason to keep everyone outside for this conversation, I stepped to the side and let him in, and he immediately walked to the fridge and grabbed a water bottle before sitting across from Bonnie and Clyde.
After Rosa and Alejandra and I all joined the rest of the group in the living room, Holm was actually the person to break the silence.
“I want all of our cards laid out on the table,” he insisted. “First of all, where are Doc and Xavier?”
Header took a slow sip of water before responding. His voice was cool and even as he spoke. “They took Xavier’s yacht out to scout some of the shore locations. We are looking at this from a few different angles to try to figure out which of these properties would be most likely to be used as a holding point for our campers.”
After a moment of silence, Alejandra spoke up. “Is this why you were whispering in hushed tones yesterday?” Her question sounded innocent but weighed heavily with her accusation. Header opened his mouth to answer but closed it again before actually responding.
“Yes,” he replied confidently. “I cannot apologize for keeping my mission on track and away from you and the MBLIS team.” He turned to me, his emerald eyes dancing in earnest. “If you had found out about these properties through me, you may have reacted too quickly out of passion and personal purpose. Your entire case would have been for naught, and these men could be let free if the conviction doesn’t stick. I couldn’t risk that. There is too much riding on this. I need your noses clean. My own nose, on the other hand, can go wherever it needs to. This is why we may end up at odds here. You can s
hare intel with me, and there will be little to no negative consequences on this case. Because of your rules and red tape, though, that simply doesn’t work out the other way around.”
I was annoyed, partly because Header willingly and unapologetically kept important information from me, but mostly because he was right. He couldn’t share actionable intelligence with us. Anything we found out about through him would be difficult to work off of, considering we weren’t legally supposed to know this information. There was one thing he got very wrong, and it reminded me of just how long ago our Navy SEAL days actually were.
“Passion and personal purpose are not things that I carry with me into my cases,” I snapped at him. “I am here to do a job and to do it correctly. If I don’t follow protocol, or try to bend the rules to fit my own personal rules, it won’t end well for the people we are trying to save or us. You know that as well as I do, and you know me well enough to know that I wouldn’t run with unactionable intelligence.”
Header shrugged. “Wouldn’t it be safer, though, not to even know about it? This way, the temptation wouldn’t even be there?”
I looked over at Holm, exasperated, but he merely shrugged as if acknowledging Header’s point.
“So, now that this has become actionable intelligence, let’s layout our knowledge,” Holm demanded. “Warner emailed us a list of properties. There are ten of them on here.”
“There are actually twelve properties. Let me see the list.” Header held out his hand toward Holm, who had pulled his phone out to check Warner’s email. Holm looked at Header skeptically but handed his phone over to him.
Header looked through Warner’s list, with Rosa peering over his shoulder. She pointed at a couple of addresses and signed a few quick things, Header nodding intermittently as he scrolled through the screen. When he finally finished looking through the list, he handed the phone back to Holm.
“Alright,” Header sighed. “The two that are missing from your list are irrelevant to this case. They are the second homes of Gonzalez and Abreu. The homes are so off the radar, they didn’t even get picked up by your cyber team, and it’s for good reason. More than their desire to protect their business, they have a strong desire to protect themselves. They want a place to run to if things fall apart. Unfortunately for them, Xavier figured out where these spots are, so if they run, we can beat them there.”
I nodded with understanding. “No one is going to bring two kidnapped kids to their personal home, especially one they worked so hard to ensure was well-protected.”
“Exactly,” Header replied, jabbing a finger at me. Rosa nodded in agreement beside him.
“So, if that’s the case, then it stands to reason that Miguel and Maria are in one of these ten properties,” Holm added. “We need to find out where each of these properties are, what surrounds them, what kind of amenities are on or near the property, and what kind of vehicle and pedestrian movement had been detected on or near the property.”
Header nodded again. “Exactly. We already did that. We’ve eliminated most of them. There are three options left, all of which are in Puerto Rico. I wanted Xavier and Doc to do a pass since two of them are by the water. With Xavier nearby, he can detect movement, determine what the land looks like and what amenities are nearby, and get enough of a visual to help us plan our next move.”
“Why did you eliminate the other seven?” Alejandra had been quiet for a bit as she took in all of this information, but it was a fair and valid question, and I was glad she asked it. I followed her gaze to Header, who sat back and sighed.
“A few of them are too close to neighboring homes,” he informed us. “This would be good for certain things, but a couple of hostages would be noticed. There are two others that are very secluded, but there has been no activity out there for years. The places are damn near abandoned.”
“And the last two?” I prompted. “What’s the story with them?”
“Too much activity,” he grumbled. “It looks like they use them for family or friends.”
Bonnie chuckled out of nowhere, unintentionally drawing everyone’s attention to her.
“Sorry!” she giggled. “It seems like Jake and his team did all the homework for you.”
“Yep,” Clyde agreed with a laugh of his own. “They did the homework, and you two want to copy their answers.”
“Damn straight, we want to copy their answers,” I admitted lightheartedly. “It makes no sense to delay the case because I want to do the damn research myself. This is time-sensitive.”
“Plus, we know Header is always thorough with his homework,” Holm added with a grin. “He’s the perfect person to copy from.”
Header rolled his eyes, but I knew he appreciated the compliments.
“So, what’s next?” Alejandra asked, sitting forward with anticipation.
“I’ll tell you what I think the plan is,” I announced. “We hit all three locations and see which one is the hot spot.”
“Like I said,” Header pointed out, “Xavier and Doc are already doing some preliminary scouting. They should be back tonight.”
“Regardless of the results,” I strongly suggested, “we should plan on heading out to tackle this tomorrow. I don’t want to delay this any more than we need to.”
“I agree,” Header nodded, “but we should do this wisely. If we hit each location up individually, they may catch on, and then we’re done before we even get close. I have a better idea.”
“We’re listening,” Holm prompted. Header gave him a quick nod.
“I’ll take Wraith with my team.” he continued. “Xavier will hang back on his yacht with Doc as a medic and rescue boat in case things go south out on the water. MBLIS will get their own boat somehow, and while we tackle the first location, you will be handling the second one. This way, if one of us gets discovered, we still have a fighting chance to search for Miguel and Maria.”
Header’s comment about the medic and rescue boat gave me flashbacks of the last big case I had worked with him. After he got seriously injured, it was Xavier’s yacht that pulled up beside us, and it had been Doc and Rosa that had hopped onto Wraith’s deck to give him emergency medical care.
“Other than my current trust issues,” I pointed out, pushing that thought away, “that sounds like a very solid plan.”
“Yes,” Holm agreed, “unless the budget cuts get in the way of us getting what we need.”
“Good point,” I acknowledged.
“Don’t worry,” Header replied smoothly, looking between the two of us. “I am sure you’ll find that the request for a boat will be approved without any issues.”
Seeing how the rest of the case had gone for us so far, Header’s statement did not surprise me, although I was rather curious about how he was managing to get involved in MBLIS finances. Still, there was one thing I knew for sure, and it was that he would never tell me how he managed it. When Header took a secret seriously, there was no talking him into spilling the beans.
Chapter 30: Alejandra
The boat that Alejandra was on was nowhere near as luxurious as Xavier’s yacht, but it was pretty nice. Ethan and Robbie were sitting up by the helm, discussing their plan in case things didn’t go the way everyone had hoped. She looked around as she waited for them to finish figuring everything out, appreciating the gentle rock of the water as she did so.
The boat belonged to a friend of Jake’s, who Jake had described as a prepper. Alejandra didn’t know what that meant until Ethan had explained it to her, but apparently, this man was prepared for anything that could possibly happen, and that included owning a boat that could not only get him away safely, but it also happened to be fully stocked with nonperishable food items and a variety of ammunition. Jake had promised him that anything that was used would be replaced, and he must have promised a few other things as well because the man immediately agreed to loan it out to him.
The boat had a retractable roof that gave the MBLIS team the option of an open-air feel or addit
ional protection. The roof itself was as bulletproof as possible, although Ethan had also instilled upon her that there was no such thing as bulletproof really and that if it came to it, her strict instructions were to hide down below until one of the men confirmed it was safe.
There were also a few spots set up in strategic positions to mount some firearms, and panels lifted to allow the ammunition to fire while still keeping everyone on board shielded from return fire. Alejandra was unsurprised to find the gun mounts empty, as she didn’t think loaning out firearms sounded particularly smart, but she was shocked when Jake had led them all through his bedroom and into his closet.
She had thought it a weird shift at first until Rosa led the way into the closet and through a doorway in the back. When she turned on the lights, Alejandra was greeted with the sight of an entire armory. Rows and rows of rifles met her eyes, and even Ethan’s jaw dropped as he followed Rosa into the space.
“Damn,” Robbie had muttered as he followed Ethan through the door. “I knew there was room on this side of the house for something else, but I just assumed you had a huge master bedroom and bathroom set up.”
“Nah,” Jake had shrugged as if everyone should have something like this hidden in their closet. “Who needs a giant bathroom?”
Alejandra strongly disagreed. She did not like guns and felt the world might be a better place without them. An enormous bedroom with a roomy bathroom and walk-in closet, though, that she would have been excited about. As she glanced inside and took in the array of black-clad hardware, she gained a new appreciation for it. If it would get her brother back and end this nightmare, Jake Header could own as many weapons as he wanted.
Ethan and Robbie looked like kids in a candy store as they walked around the space, their blue eyes lit up with excitement and awe. After a brief rundown from Jake about the gun mounts on the boat and which guns he recommended for them, all of which sounded like a foreign language to Alejandra, Ethan and Robbie made their selections, and Rosa helped them collect all of the firearms and accessories they would need.