Collateral Damage (32 page)

“It was the fax sent from Bob Cantrell. My men have been looking for a code.”

A man stepped into the room. He left the door open and Jack tensed as he assessed the stranger’s aura of lethal power and rage hidden beneath a thin veneer of civility.

“The fax sent THIS MORNING?” Lauren sucked in air, drawing Jack’s attention back to her. She was livid and he couldn’t blame her in the least. He knew how things worked when it came to investigating and interrogating acts of terrorism, and even he was enraged at the delay in seeing the fax. A delay that may have cost Rico his life.

Before Jack could speak up, Lauren’s anger exploded and Jack thought she’d plow her fist into the SOO’s face. “Code!” she yelled. “My sons are now kidnapped because you delayed hours and hours before showing me this! I’ll tell you code. The cars are the birthday presents Bill sent the boys and the ‘real prize’ must mean what someone is murdering people to get and ‘green world’ doesn’t have ‘the’ in front of it, so we aren’t talking the earth but a particular place or—Jack!”

Lauren turned to him, her eyes wide, incredulous. “GreenWorld! Could Bill be referring to the corporation the man on TV owns? The one with the new fuel and the primate preserve? The man with the chimp?” Her eyes widened. Do you think he is the man with—?”

Jack’s pulse raced. “The yellow hat?”

“Good. Damn good,” the stranger said in a Scottish accent. Jack in no way liked the man’s assessment of Lauren.

The director turned to the stranger. “Rash, about time you arrived.”

“Just in time.”

“You already knew who the man in the yellow hat was?” Lauren’s outrage was gale force.

“No.” Rash’s expression was coldly harsh. “I’ve discovered Andreas Miles is Juan Pablo Menendez, but hadn’t made the connection to the mastermind behind Bill Collins’s account of the worldwide meltdown.”

“Menendez?” Jack searched his memory. “The infamous drug lord who disappeared Jimmy-Hoffa like ten years ago?”

“One in the same.”

Jack clenched his teeth, fighting a wash of pain and guilt. He prayed Rico and Angie were alive, but odds of that with Menendez were bad. The drug lord had built the bloodiest, the most ruthless cartel in all of South and Central America. He’d been responsible for the deaths of thousands over his twenty year reign and toward the end, Menendez had a chimp, a chimp known as Murderous George. Jesus. They had to get to Matt and Mitch fast.

Lauren shook her head. “Why would the chimp-loving billionaire take Matt and Mitch?”

Jack cursed. “GXP.” He picked up the faxed letter from the table. “‘
The real prize will be won when green world burns and Earnhardt, Jrs win the race with the super formula in their tanks.’
With the oil market in chaos, the biofuel will be worth billions. If Collins worked for Miles and stole the formula, my bet is Miles wants to trade the boys for the GXP formula.”

“But he already has it now if he has the boys,” Lauren cried.

“He doesn’t know that,” Jack said. “We’re likely the only ones who do.”

“We need to locate Andreas Miles.”

“You don’t need to do anything,” the SOO said. “We’ll handle everything from this point. We’re already looking to confirm Miles’s coordinates. He left Florida thirty minutes ago, destination Brazil according to the flight plan.”

“He could fly anywhere if he knows we’re onto him.” Jack said.

“We’ll take care of it. You and Mrs. Collins can take a break,” the SOO said.

“Excuse me.” Lauren put her face in the man’s. “Did you just say I can take a break? My children are kidnapped and YOU WANT ME TO TAKE A FREAKING BREAK! What are you going to do to get my children back?”

The SOO blinked. “Ma’am, we’ll do everything we can when the time is right. We lack concrete evidence. For now, we’ll be observing Miles’s every move.”

“What about my children? The right time is now.”

“We are doing all that we can to locate them. Until we know more, there isn’t more that can be done.”

Jack slid his arm around Lauren’s shoulders. “Come on.”

“Jack, I can’t just walk away. My children are—”

“I know.” He urged her firmly out the door. He was so angry he thought he would lose it. The right time to get Matt and Mitch back would be the moment Menendez/Miles landed his plane, before the bastard had a chance to hide them anywhere. And Jack for damn sure knew who the right men for the job were and it wasn’t the CIA or NCS or anyone else. Delta trained day in and day out for this sort of situation.

Think
, Jack told himself, clamping down on his emotions. He had to keep his head cool.

Commander Weston was there. “You won’t believe—”

“I heard,” Weston said. “Follow me.” He headed back through the richly decorated house to the double doors leading to the driveway and their car. He stopped by a fountain in the foyer where water spewed from the beak of a swan into a pond surrounded by fragrant flowers of bright blues and deep reds. The warmth of afternoon sun, the suburban ambience of the décor, and the rich comfort surrounding him might as well have been props for a Hollywood set. He had an uneasy feeling about everything.

Weston’s voice was barely above a whisper when he turned to Jack. “You’ve got to back down. I see the fight in your eyes. We’ve been officially relieved of this situation. I got the call just after we arrived.”

“What does that mean?” Lauren said.

“Means we aren’t going to be invited to the party,” Jack said, bitter. “We’re out of the investigation and when they take down Miles and rescue your sons, we won’t be in on the action.” Jack frowned at Weston. “That’s it. You’re not going to push back on this one? You’re going to let them shut us out? We’re the right men to get her sons out.”

Weston ran a harried hand through his hair as he exhaled. “Orders are orders, DT. This comes all the way down the pipe from the President. Paul is calling for an international crisis summit to be held to deal with the fallout. NCS needs believable proof that Menendez is behind it and they can’t make a move on him until they have it.”

“They can have the investigation, Commander. I’m talking about her children and getting them out of there before they’re collateral damage in all of this.”

“You’re too emotionally tied to this one, DT. We have our orders.”

Jack clenched his fist and bit back another retort. Weston wasn’t going to change his spots. He always towed a hard policy line. Jack was usually in agreement with his commander when it came to following orders, but ever since he woke up in the hospital, Jack and orders were not getting along. And neither was his memory, something about the Rash guy bugged him. “Who is Rash?”

“Rashid McGuire. CIA. Was in charge of the Alvardo Rescue in Columbia. Haven’t heard anything about him in the decade since. I get the idea he’s running the show. Heard from the guards that Rash already led a raid on the corporate offices of BioLogics and GreenWorld Corporation before dawn today.”

“Alvarado? Wasn’t that the family on vacation, who were kidnapped and murdered?” Lauren asked, frowning. “There was no rescue. The drug cartel slaughtered them all even though the family paid the ransom.”

Jack met Weston’s gaze. They both knew what went down in Columbia. The ransom hadn’t even been attempted yet. The CIA had moved in to rescue and everyone had been executed by the time the operatives reached the family. “Things just keep going from bad to worse,” Jack said. “This Miles/Menendez character is sure to be on his guard after the raid, if he hasn’t already gone to ground. What about news on Rico?”

“I have the team in Orlando already on it. Nothing yet”

“Wait a minute? Neither of you answered my question. What really happened in Columbia?”

“When we’re alone,” Jack said. “Right now, let’s focus on what’s being done to locate Miles/Menendez and where he is taking Matt and Mitch. What is NCS doing about it?”

“I don’t know,” Weston said. “Folks here are keeping tight control and we’re out of the picture.” Weston glanced at his vibrating cell phone. “I’ve got to get back to Bragg.” Weston turned toward the door.

“We’re done here,” Jack said. “We’ll come with you.” To hell with the CIA and official channels. He’d call in every favor in the book to find out where Lauren’s sons were and how to get them home safe. He caught Lauren’s arm, urging her toward the door. She gave him a pointed look that sharply reminded him of how he’d left things between them that morning. Jack bit back a curse, his heart and conscience smiting him. He should apologize for leaving things they way he had this morning, but just like then, there was no getting around the facts. He was what he was, a man who took lives. He’d taken Bill Collins’s life and nothing was going to change that. Her revulsion when she thought Collins killed for a living was the same as he’d gotten from his ex. Lauren’s horror and anger at Collins had given Jack an out and he’d taken it.

Lauren pulled free of his grasp and followed Weston. Jack told himself that it was just as well to leave things as they were. Still, it ate at his craw to reduce great love making to pity fucks.

Weston opened the double entry doors and two armed guards dressed in tactical gear moved to block the exit. Jack snapped his mind into gear as he immediately assessed the situation. His earlier uneasiness justified itself in seconds.

“Sorry, Lt. Col. Weston, sir, but I can’t let SFC Hunter or Mrs. Collins leave.”

Weston paused and glared at the young man. Jack knew just how powerful Weston’s ire was and almost felt sorry for him. The kid took a step back but did not move from blocking the way.

“We’re prisoners here?” Jack swung around and confronted Rashid McGuire, who came up behind them.

“Consider yourselves houseguests for a short time. It’s necessary for your safety and ours.”

Weston snorted with disbelief. “Keeping Mrs. Collins under wraps I can understand, but keeping my man is overkill and reeks of bullshit. You’ve got no grounds on which to hold him.”

Rashid shrugged. “Just following orders. Take your complaints up with the Deputy Director.”

Jack expected that Weston would argue more, come out with a bigger stick and use the threat of his presidential connection, but he didn’t. Instead Weston’s phone vibrated again. He glanced at the screen then met Jack’s gaze. “I’ll call you shortly, DT—”

“You’ll have to call either Director SOO’s number or mine. We’ll be taking his cell in case Menendez calls back.” The man rattled off the numbers.

The tone of Lauren’s interrogation had indicated that they’d likely detain her, but Jack hadn’t mentioned it, not wanting to cross that bridge unless he had to. And now that it was here he didn’t feel all that great about it. She’d be relatively safe from assassins in this cushy prison. Safer than he’d been able to keep her. Another chill ran down his spine from what almost happened at Gardner’s. But Jack had news for Rash, his SOO, and the NCS; putting him into that same box wasn’t going to wash. He’d be damned if he was going to sit here with Rico missing, no matter how many brass pipes the orders came down in. He’d be out of there tonight come hell or high water.

Lauren stepped forward to give Rashid a piece of her mind and Jack, blindly sent Beck a coded message from his cell in his pocket.

Blindfolded, gagged and tied like a sacrificial lamb, Conrad had been thrown into a trunk, driven for hours, then stuffed into a crate. Now he was being flown to only God knew where. The SOB who took him down had yet to say another word. Conrad didn’t count it a good thing that he was still alive. It wasn’t the burning fire in his shoulder that made him wish he was dead, it was the five million dollars he was sure he’d now lost. The man knew about Bill’s letters, had confiscated them and would likely be buried up to his balls in greenbacks soon.

It made him sick. He’d done all of the hard work and this bloodsucker was going to reap the rewards?

Snapping wood and prying metal grabbed his attention. At least they weren’t burying him alive or dumping him in the ocean. A rush of cool air met his skin, then rough hands were jerking him up. His every numbed muscle screamed in pain and his injured shoulder protested louder. The blindfold was snatched off. He blinked against the burning brightness of the light until his eyes adjusted. By then his mind separated the fact that while his muscles were in horrendous pain, the actual screaming he heard was from Bill Collins’s brats clinging to a red haired woman he’d seen before. The boy’s crying instantly became a heavenly choir singing Hallelujah in his ears. Another chance at getting the five million and maybe more just fell in his lap. Life was looking up.

He cradled his arm protectively and moved in to play hero. “Dear God! They got you too. Where’s Lauren?”

They looked like Bill Collins, Andreas thought as he watched the video feed of his hostages being freed from their crates. Two miniature Bill Collins cowardly huddled against a red-headed woman who had his murder glaring in her eyes as she looked about. The new Fidel was proving to be a man of his word. He not only planned for the next step, but also was deviously resourceful. He’d been able to smuggle five hostages aboard the Airbus A380 via crates disguised as supplies. They’d refueled, filed a flight plan, and were on their way inside of an hour. His
Santaurio,
his fortified haven awaited them.

George jumped excitedly in the seat next to him.

“Patience,
mi hijo
. You will see the boys when we get home.
Pero
, you must be careful not to hurt them until I have what Collins stole from me.” George loved to do things that made children laugh. Collins’s monsters would laugh. Eventually cry again. Then they would scream.

Two men were also unloaded from the crates. One was completely unconscious or dead and had blood staining his blue shirt. Andreas dismissed him and focused on the other man, who was stretching and smiling at the boys as if he’d just found heaven itself. This man had been murdering others for Bill Collins’s letters, of which Andreas now had most of on his desk in front of him. He’d been thoroughly shocked and pleased to find that Collins hadn’t put convicting evidence in the letters but had alluded to Andreas as the man in the yellow hat. Lauren Collins held the key to the evidence of Andreas’s crimes. Bill had promised each of his friends a million dollars if they worked together with Lauren to bring down the man in the yellow hat.