“The file says that the parents delivered the money four hours after the deadline. A day later they received the body inside of a black bag.” Harrison glances at me, his eyebrows drawing together. He takes a deep breath. “The note read, ‘You were too late.’”
My heart thunders, I clasp my hands together. “Was there an autopsy that could confirm the TOD?”
“TOD?” Harrison frowns.
“Time of death,” I clarify. “They could’ve killed the kid right after kidnapping him. It’s happened.”
The autopsy was waived because the cause of death was obvious. They slit his throat. There’s no further information about it. It’d be helpful to learn whose idea it was to waive it. Was it the parents, a cop, someone in the family? I hate to think that a dirty cop could be involved, but in some countries, the cop’s salaries are so low, they accept bribes from criminals.
“Are these the first kidnappings around the area?” I study the plane’s cabin and sigh because there’s nowhere to set a board with pictures and links to the abductee.
“Unfortunately, no. These are the first cases in the past couple of months, though.”
That is good news but still awful. I open the folder again. I can feel my chest aching at the sight of little Esteban smiling in his picture. I need more data to find the pattern. Criminals who make a living out of extortion tend to duplicate their behavior with only slight changes.
“Did someone interview the dog owner?”
“They called off the investigation right after they received the call,” Harrison informs me.
I nod. Of course, they called it off.
“If I needed the report on each of the kidnappings that have happened over the past few months, how long would it take?” I throw the question up in the air but hope that maybe Harrison can give me an answer.
“What else do you need?” Harrison asks, though he never turns his attention to me.
“Places where they happened, footage, pictures. I have to find the pattern. There’s a pattern somewhere.” I recall their request to not call the police. They’ll know what’s going on around the parents’ house. Either they are insiders, or they are connected with the law enforcement of the city. “Police involvement, too. As in I want to know their response to each case, if they help to investigate, took it lightly, or what. Do they assume these are different criminals? And how many kids have come home too?”
Harrison checks his watch, then the screen and finally turns to look at me. “We land in three hours. Mason and Anderson will be landing in about twenty minutes. He hopes to have most of the information you requested ready in about one, maybe two hours.”
The tension leaves my body, but I shoot an incredulous glance in his direction. “That’s a week’s worth of work and you’re telling me you’re going to have it in a couple of hours?”
“Most of it.” He closes his laptop and sets it to the side. “We can’t interview people or investigate the places because we’re not there. However, if there’s data in the computers, we can hack it.”
“Do you think everything is connected, Luna?” Tiago asks, finally putting down his tablet.
I nod, tapping the folder. “At least a few of them, if not all of them. I just don’t understand why no one has done something to stop this before now.”
Harrison reaches out for my hand as he rises from his seat. “We’ll try to bring him home.”
Chapter Thirty-Three
Harrison
“The dog owner, huh?” Tiago points at the multiple pictures of the guy.
We’re at an empty house Mason Bradley rented where we set up the operation. We’re close enough to the neighborhood where the kidnapping happened, but far enough that no one will notice us.
“I bet he doesn’t own the dog,” I say, looking at the board that Mason and Luna created.
I’ve seen Mason work millions of times. He’s fast and good at what he does but adding Luna to his process was mind-blowing. Their combined skills has made this case one of the best I’ve worked on in the past few years. Everything happened quickly, and they were thorough about it.
Once Mason landed, he sent Luna some of the information he had gathered. She took my computer, and they began chatting. A few minutes later, they connected through our company’s video system. Luna suggested the board, he started it on the wall of our hotel suite. Since then, the two of them have been working on putting the pieces together to find the kid.
We all suggested motives and found similarities between one case or the other. Each crime had been different, but they all had a few similarities. Like a big commotion before the kid disappeared. There was never a cry for help from the child. Either they went away willingly, or they were sedated. The child was never with a parent. Once we landed, they sent Hawk, Tiago, and me to different parts of the city to gather information and get them some live footage without them having to move from the house.
Around midnight, Tiago, Hawk, and I went out to scout the park, the kid’s house, and the neighborhood. Luna insisted that the perpetrator lived around the ritzy vicinity. She was right. A couple of hours after we left, I called them letting them know what we’d seen. Each house in the neighborhood is armed with a system connected to the same security company. The company is from New Jersey, and it belongs to another company. After tracking four pseudonyms, we found Oscar Wilson who works for no other than Juan Carlos Medina. The same guy the FBI is trying to catch, and Luna is investigating.
If we’re lucky, after this we’ll get not only Oscar but Juan Carlos Medina too. Lucas, another team from The Organization, and the FBI are working with us to get Mr. Medina.
As we put all the names, companies, and photographs together, we gathered that he was at least our number one suspect, if not the guy. Then, they matched the dog owner with his picture. Hawk and I surveyed the house. We tried to break into it, but according to the infrared report, they have a lot of guests inside the five-bedroom home.
Thank God for small miracles. The residence across the street from Mr. Wilson is empty and for sale. We were able to break in and start setting up some of our equipment.
“Oscar is the financial advisor to the parents of all these children,” Luna explains. “He knows how much they have. Hence, the amounts always change.”
With her laser pointer, she shows the northern part of the city. “He lived there for four years under the name of Dawson Malone. Eighteen children were abducted. Only five came home. However, only ten bodies were returned. Around the same time, teenage girls and young women disappeared around the area.”
She points at the pictures we gathered from the CCTV during Esteban’s abduction. “The guy uses a way to distract everyone around and he—” She points at another image where a woman is walking Esteban away from the scene— “or his wife snatches the target while someone else is part of the distraction.”
“Do you think Esteban is alive?”
“That’s a fifty-fifty possibility,” Luna answers. “He’s old enough to recognize them. Esteban went willingly with the woman in the picture. He could be dead, or…” She sighs. “Already left the country and he’s being sold to a new family.”
She presses a hand to her heart. “We have to find him. Mason already has people searching the CCTV of the airport and keeping an eye at the gates. If they are driving him away, they’ll do it themselves.”
“Why hasn’t anyone noticed it?” Tiago wonders aloud, pacing. “He’s making loads of money, you can’t hide that.”
“He’s wealthy. And he’s laundering the cash.” Mason is the one who responds. “He uses the arcades, nail salons, dry cleaners, and other businesses he owns around the city. Then, he transfers it to Mr. Medina’s account in the Cayman Islands.”
“What’s the plan?” Anderson checks his watch. “We don’t have much time left. The crew is already waiting at the empty house for our instructions.”
“But we’re not sure where they’re hiding the kid.” Tiago brings up an im
portant point.
“If he’s still alive and in town, he’s either at an abandoned place or at this man’s home,” Luna suggests, moving toward the list of properties we found under his name, his companies name, or his wife’s name. “Either way, I propose that we enter his house and either locate the kid or torture Mr. and Mrs. Wilson until they tell us where they’re keeping him.”
“There’s not going to be any torturing.” Mason glares at her.
She looks at her phone, counts her fingers and then glances at the four of us. “How soon can we go in? If my profiling is correct, they have an operation almost as big as ours. Maybe even with weapons and professionals to protect them. He’s smart and has plenty of resources. I bet that he can give us a fight—if we let him. We won’t allow him to scratch us.” She places her hands on her waist and says, “Another thing, I’m going inside with you. I want to kick his ass. Plus, the kid needs someone he can trust.”
“And there she is, my bloodthirsty-justice-loving-ass-kicker girl,” I point out, walking to her and taking her into my arms. “I was wondering where you’d hidden her.”
She smiles, wiggling her way out of my grasp. “I’m bloodthirsty, but not your girl, Everhart.”
Luna salutes everyone as she walks to the adjacent room. She stops at the door. “I’m taking a shower and getting dressed. Brief me once you have figured out a plan of attack.”
“This is not a good idea,” I protest, looking at Luna who wears a flouncy dress, her sandals, and her chopsticks holding her hair—three of them. “You’re going inside that house like that. Unarmed and willingly.”
I can feel my body react at the thought of her going in unarmed. I divert my attention to Mason. “You’re sending her just like that,” I said disapprovingly.
Luna turns to study me, her face unreadable. Those full lips pressed together into a thin line.
“Are you new to the team?” Mason says indignantly. He lifts his chin proudly, frowning deeply as he puffs his chest out. “I’ve never sent anyone in, ‘just like that,’ Everhart. There’s always a purpose and a backup. There’s also you, the sniper on top of the roof, ready to pull the trigger if something is about to go wrong.”
I curl my hands into fists, stepping towards him. “She isn’t wearing any armor.” I touch my bulletproof jacket. “There’s no space on her body to hide a weapon. Please, enlighten me, what is the plan?”
“She’s looking to buy the house across the street. Tiago is her real estate agent, and they’ll go across the street to ask them questions about the neighborhood.”
Luna taps her stomach twice. “Like any other pregnant woman, I’m going to have to make a quick stop in their restroom.”
My back stiffens. This is a bad idea. I hate to contradict the boss but, “Again, she doesn’t have any weapons with her.”
“She does,” Mason corrects me. “But Luna doesn’t need them. Tiago is with her, and you’ll be watching her from across the street. I gave you the infrared goggles. But if you have a problem with any of that, you can stay behind.”
“She is right here. I already told you that I hate when you talk as if I’m not in the room.” Luna marches toward us, putting herself between us and pushing us to opposite sides.
She looks up at me and rests her hands lightly on my chest. “Are you doubting yourself or me?” Her chin is up, her eyes burning with that fire she had when I broke into her house. She looks like a spitting cat. “Because your attitude is telling me that you either don’t trust what I can do or that I shouldn’t trust you.”
She crosses her arms. “Which is it? I expect this behavior from my superiors at the FBI. Not from you. I want you to treat me the same way you do the rest of the guys.” She smooths her dress. “At least during the mission.”
“You’re right.” I sigh, feeling sorry for snapping at everyone, and at her the most. “I trust you.”
It’s just that the fucking pandemonium of emotions that she’s causing inside my chest are preventing me from thinking straight.
The lust I have for her still predominates all those feelings, but there are so many new ones blossoming inside my heart. They are spreading like wildflowers during the summer rain. I can’t fathom the thought of her being hurt.
“As long as you’re under my watch, nothing will happen to you,” I promise.
Finally, a corner of her mouth quirks.
“I trust you too,” she says, cupping my chin. “As soon as we are out of this room, I’m one of the guys. Don’t forget it.”
She gives me a peck and saunters away, her feet light as feathers, her sunshine spreading around the room.
“A hundred—” Hawk pulls a bill setting it on the dresser—“he’s proposing in less than a month.”
“She’s my sister, asshole.” Tiago slams his hand on the table, his eyes filled with rage just like his sister’s. “Stay away from her, Everhart. After this shit ends, I’m killing you.”
“Too late, T.” Bradley takes the bill. “Though, I think I won the last bet. Didn’t I say he’d fall for her when they met?”
“Whatever,” I say, snatching the money from his hold and walking to the door. “The rest of the team is waiting for us. Let’s go and save this kid.”
Chapter Thirty-Four
Harrison
Luna and Tiago are walking across the street to the Wilson’s home after touring the empty house. According to our scouts and the infrared equipment, there are at least ten adults inside the house. Mason has another team in Seattle investigating Juan Carlos Medina’s whereabouts, as well as any charges against the Wilsons in the United States. We want to take him and his wife home and make sure they pay for the shit they’ve done. In this country, they might end up paying their way out in less than a year.
“I’ve reached Esteban’s parents.” Bradley’s voice comes through the communicator. “They are aware that we are here and ready to bring their boy home. I didn’t mention where we are, but if anyone from the inside reports that to Oscar, he might be trying to escape soon. Keep your eyes open.”
There’s a long pause. “Everyone in place?”
I scan the area, nod at Hawk. “Can I just say that you look hot, babe?” I touch my earpiece. “That number makes your ass look tight. I could tap it all night.”
“Kick him, Hawk,” Tiago mumbles through the communicator. “How many times do I have to remind you she’s my little sister?”
“Please don’t kick him,” Luna pleads dramatically. “I want to be the one slitting his throat. I warned you, Everhart. Don’t call me babe.”
“I was talking to Tiago, Luna. That’s my way of letting him know that everything is safe, and I’m bored to tears. But I confess, you look hot too,” I add, looking through my binoculars.
“Stay quiet, Everhart,” Tiago warns me. “One more word and I swear I’ll have someone shoot you.”
“I want to see who’ll be brave enough to shoot me. They’ll be dead before their finger touches the trigger.” I roll my shoulders, trying to loosen the knots on my back.
“What is it now?” Hawk mumbles. “Your family is far away. Why are you behaving like a two-year-old?”
I grind my teeth, clenching my jaw. Luna, I mouth, tilting my head toward the other side of the street.
“Imagine she’s Aspen. How would you feel?” I set the scene in a way he’ll understand.
His eyebrow arches at the mention of his fiancée. Luna isn’t my fiancée, but she’s the most important person in my world. He nods twice and pats my back.
From the corner of my eye, I notice movement on the right side of the house. “The garage door is opening,” I announce, dropping the binoculars and grabbing my weapon. “Someone might be going grocery shopping or escaping.”
“Can I help you?” I hear a rough voice through the communicator.
Focusing on the door, I see him: Oscar Wilson. He’s shorter than Tiago and about five inches taller than Luna. He’s lean but doesn’t look too strong, at least not fr
om where I’m watching.
“Buen día,” Luna greets him.
“Sorry, my Spanish is terrible,” he says, blocking the entrance. “But whatever it is, I’m not interested.” He taps the small bronze plate next to the doorbell.
“Oh, nice sign.” She smiles.
“I assure you, we’re not here to talk to you about God, vacuums, or any charity.” Luna brushes a strand of her hair behind her ear, straightens up and pushes her tits up with her arms. “We are here looking for a house. We might end up being your neighbors across the street.”
She turns slightly to her left, pointing at the house where I am.
“Call the realtor,” the guy suggests, his eyes focused on her chest.
I move the target to his forehead.
Motherfucker, move your eyes away from her, or I swear her tits will be the last thing you ever see.
“Oh, that part is over, actually. We just finished the walkthrough,” she continues. “It’s lovely. Cozy. And it’s big enough to raise a family. But I’m wondering if you could tell us more about the neighborhood? I’ve lived in the US for the past ten years, and the city has changed so much.”
“Look, lady, this isn’t a good time for me.” Oscar looks around, signaling his wife. Then, looking at Tiago who hasn’t uttered a word. “No buen tiempo,” he translates in Spanish as he stares at T.
Tiago blinks twice, crossing his arms. He’s served the guy his I’m about to kick your ass glare.
“I need a shadow for that car in case Luna can’t stop them from leaving,” Mason requests. There’s urgency in his voice. “Santillan, ask him more questions. Bat your eyelashes or—I don’t know, just keep him engaged. We’re going to try to break in through the back. I’ve disabled their cameras and the alarm system. Once I give you the okay, you can force your way through the main door.”
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