Hell Bent (24 page)

It was inexcusable to leave Lou Ellen hanging like that—Allison was her best friend.  Unless maybe Cade didn’t tell her because that would interfere with tonight’s rescue mission, which again, would still be heartless.  Allison’s life was just as important as those women and she would die if someone didn’t find her before Tuesday night.

“That’s strange because they’ve been on the phone all day about it.  Dex had a cell phone from the truck that rammed you, and the info from the phone Cade got from the guy at that party.  He compared the calls, did some hacking or some of that strange magic he works and came up with a location he called the mothership.”

“I need to call Lou Ellen,” she said with a sigh, patting her pockets for her phone.  “Guess I left my phone at my apartment.  Can I use a landline?” she asked, and Taylor nodded.

Cee Cee followed her down the hall, as she opened and closed doors until she opened one on the end of the hallway.  “The others are a mess—Gray has enough paper in his office to start a bonfire, and you don’t want me to start on Logan’s, because he and Susan share now.  Dex’s is just a bunch of tables and gadgets and the phone is on that back table,” she said pointing to the back of the room.  When she looked up at Cee Cee she laughed.  “I forgot you worked here for a while so I’m not telling you a thing you don’t already know.  Just shut the light off when you’re done…Dave bitches about the bill.”

“Thanks,” she said, striding to the table and picking up the phone.  She dialed the number of the shelter, and Estella answered.

“I need to speak to Lou Ellen, please,” she said, and heard someone crying in the background. “Is that Domingo crying?”  Guilt that it might be because he was in a dirty diaper poured through her.

“No, that is Lou Ellen.  She got bad news, and she’s upset,” Estella said, her own voice shaking, and Cecelia’s heart squeezed with fear.

“Please put her on the phone, Estella—I need to speak to her.”

The phone was set on the desk, and a minute later she heard someone blow their nose loudly, followed by a long throat clearing and then a deep shuddering breath.

“Cecelia?” Lou Ellen asked in a broken tone.

“What’s wrong, Lou?  Tell me, please.”  This tough woman would not be crying unless something terrible had happened, and that knowledge tightened her chest.

Lou Ellen’s whimper tightened it more. 

“Carlos Ramos can’t use the information Dexter sent him to get a warrant because he can’t prove it was legally obtained.” She sucked in a sharp breath. “I worked my way up the chain to the governor and I wasn’t able to get the vote delayed.”  An escalating wail containing words came from her, that sounded like it originated at her toes.  “Allison is going to die, and there’s not a damned thing I can do about it.”

Cee Cee hadn’t heard Taylor come in but she looked up and found her standing right beside her.  As loud as Lou Ellen was wailing there was no doubt she heard her, and her worried eyes said the same.  She couldn’t be any more worried than Cecelia.

“Don’t worry, Lou Ellen—we’re going to figure something out and find her.  You just hang tight,” Cee Cee assured her, even though she had no idea what that would be.

“I have nothing to do but hang right now—but I’ll really hang myself if something happens to Allison.  I shouldn’t have let her go to that damned party alone.” 

The phone went dead and Cecelia’s stomach rolled.

“You, me, Lou Ellen, Levi, Caleb, Dexter and Mac—oh, and Fletch is back now too.  That’s more than Logan took to Mexico with him,” Taylor said with a look of determination on her face.  “Slade’s Hummer is always loaded with weapons and ammo.  He started keeping it that way for unexpected situations, which he says we’re having more and more of lately.”  She smiled broadly.  “This would be one of those situations and the Deep Six women are about to kick a little redneck ass.”

“I’m a Deep Six woman. Can I kick some redneck ass too?” Susan asked from the doorway where she leaned against the jamb with her arms crossed.

Taylor looked at Cee Cee then both of their eyes swung to Susan.

“
No
!” they said in unison.  “Logan would kill
us
!”

“
Sheesh
—I
never
get to have fun anymore,” Susan said, and Cee Cee could swear her lower lip jutted out.  “I’ll be glad when this baby is born, because even the Deep Six women are trying to put me in a glass bubble now.”  With a shake of her head she unfolded her arms and turned to walk away.

Cecelia knew that feeling of exclusion, of uselessness, and felt bad for Susan.  She also knew what it was like to have her overprotective brother on her two-yard-line twenty-four-seven.

“
Wait
!” she yelled and Susan reappeared in the doorway. “Don’t you speak Spanish?”

“And Russian and German—I won’t bore you,” Susan replied with a wave of her hand.

“I need you to guard the shelter while we’re gone,” Cee Cee said quickly and Susan’s face lit up.  “That would be a huge help, can you do that?”

“I can definitely watch the henhouse while the hens are away,” Susan replied with a smile. “And kill the damn rooster if he has a problem with that.”

Cecelia couldn’t help the rush of laughter that burst from her lips.  “I wanna be just like you when I grow up, Mrs. Logan, because you kick redneck ass
every
day.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

“Jaxson texted he’s in position on the hill and has a good fix on the center of the compound,” Cade whispered as he crouched beside Logan, and Dave nodded.  “I’m going in from the rear to search those six shacks to see where they’re being held.  My guess would be one of the two with the guard outside.  Just so they’re not in the palace, we’re good, because I forgot my Spiderman costume.”  The walls on that huge stucco fortress were twelve feet tall and he hadn’t seen any windows during their recon.  But he had seen the three guards and the Vietnam-era machine gun on top.

“You look like a damned Mexican, so you shouldn’t have a problem with being noticed.  But watch for those snipers on the west side at seven and ten o’clock,” Dave hissed back, adjusting his night-vision goggles that Cade was damned glad to see in their equipment stores.  He had to say one thing for this group—they were well-outfitted.

But he wasn’t because he couldn’t even wear body armor and not give himself away.

His phone vibrated, and Cade pulled it out of his pocket.  “That’s Slade—the fence is down and he’s in position.  It’s showtime,” he informed, slapping his neck to kill a mosquito you could put a saddle on.  That was something they’d forgotten that he usually never left home for a mission without—mosquito repellant.  He’d been in too much of a frenzy gathering his stuff to don his Domingo persona to think about much else.

Cade sent a group text to the team, including Hawk who was with the helo at the landing zone—
Oscar Mike
—to let them know he was on the move then pocketed his phone and stood.  

By the time he made his way around the expansive compound to the entry point Slade cut in the chain-link fence, Cade was sweating like a pig.  When he took off his outer shirt and wiped his face with it, some of the non-yet-dried tanning lotion rubbed off so he tossed it into the woods.    He hoped the sweat didn’t cause the remaining lotion to stain his white undershirt or he was fucked.  Blowing out a breath, he checked his rifle one more time, then ducked through the hole. 

His heart kicked up as his adrenaline surged once he stood on the other side of the fence.  He casually strolled behind the villa like he was walking a patrol as he’d seen the two guards do twenty minutes earlier when they did the same.  

If he had to guess, they did rounds hourly so he had a few minutes to get where he needed to be—the first guarded shack at the end of the row. 

His steps faltered when he passed a large canvas covered lean-to and he glanced inside the darkened tent. 
RPG Launchers?
  At least ten of them lay near the opening—he could only imagine how many more were in the dark backside of the tent.  Those large crates on the right side were probably filled with the mortar rounds for them, grenades and other weapons, he thought, forcing himself to start walking again, his heart beating a little quicker.

You’re not here to find that—in and out—focus.

Cade passed several armor-plated jeeps with mounted machine guns under another tarp, and swallowed hard.  There had to be a considerable number of tangos inside that stucco mansion with all this equipment.  The high-altitude pass hadn’t told them because even though Hawk said the helo was outfitted with infrared equipment, they were out of range.  They also hadn’t seen all this artillery from the sky.  Going in any lower for their recon pass could’ve proved fatal considering those rocket launchers, so it had been a good decision to fly high. 

When he finally reached the end of the row of shacks, he walked around the windowless building and was happy to hear hushed female voices inside the shack.  He rounded the corner, and the guard tensed and lifted his weapon.

“Your relief, mi amigo.  Time for a break—or something,” Cade said, with a grin and a matching one spread across the guard’s face.

“Si—time for a little tequila.” He turned, but looked back.  “Keep them quiet—el jefe is sleeping.”

Cade gave him a chin nod and watched him walk toward the large wooden building on the far side of the mansion.  That must be the guard’s sleeping quarters, maybe their office too, he catalogued in his mind.  He glanced down to the end of the row of shacks and the guard there nodded, then looked off in the distance.

Please let them be inside this one to make things easy.

Cade walked to the door of the shack, and eased it open to horrified gasps and whimpers. He gasped himself, because in the harsh floodlights at the corner of the compound he counted heads and there were at least fifteen women in there. 

He’d warned Logan they may find more than the kidnapped women at the compound, and  Hawk warned
him
they could only take the five they came for.  He said even that was pushing their weight limit on the helo because they had to refuel right over the border to get home. 

Right over the border meant they were out of Mexico—out of danger.  They could turn them over to border patrol or ICE once they were safe and
then
refuel, Cade thought, walking inside.  They were light on fuel now, so he guessed they could take ten women with them. 

But which ten, and how did he decide who went? 

It didn’t matter, because as soon as this op was over he was going to call Jolly and have the Federales and US officials move in to rescue the rest—and seize those weapons.  One of the woman leaving with them tonight would be Amelia, though, so he needed to find her.

“I’m looking for a new woman here named Amelia,” he said, and heard more gasps.

One woman in the center of the group huddled on the floor stood.  “None of us knows who that is, and if we did we wouldn’t tell you, so leave us alone.”

“You’re a brave woman, senorita,” Cade said, and he heard whimpers on the floor. 
And you’ll be staying here tonight, because these women need you to help them until they’re rescued
.

“I am not afraid of
pigs
,” she hissed then spat at him.  Cade wanted to laugh, because she reminded him of a Hispanic version of Cecelia—small, but fiery.  He blew out a breath.  Now was not the time to think about what he was going to do with her. 

“I’m not here to harm you—I’m here to help you, senorita.  I need to find Amelia so I can take her out of here.  She just had a baby and is weak.”

One small little voice in the dark back corner said, “They were angry that she cried for her baby and fought them, so they took her into the house when we arrived.”

Oh, God no
. 

“How many women are here?” he asked quickly.  If he was going to have to go into the house, he needed to get nine of these out of here now.

“Sixteen in here, and I don’t know how many are in the other shacks.  They were here when we arrived last week,” the woman in the center of the group replied.

“Who arrived yesterday?” he asked.  “Who was brought here from a shelter in America?”

Four women stood up, and Cade breathed a sigh of relief.   “Senorita, I need you to choose five more women to leave with me tonight.”  He knew she wouldn’t choose herself, she was that kind of woman.  “They have to be able to walk two miles.”

The woman called off names and five more women stood. 

Cade pulled out his phone and texted the team.
I have nine women I’m sending out at entry point—take them to the helo and wait an hour.  If I’m not there, lift.

Wtf—Winters! That isn’t the plan,
Logan texted back
.

It is now—Amelia is in the house.  Take them, and I’ll be there soon…if not leave me.

I’m a fucking Marine—I can’t leave you!
Logan texted
.

I was about to say the same,
Slade texted.

I’m the pilot so I say when we leave—and wtf Winters—I told you only five
! Hawk texted.

Leave me! 
he texted back. 

The phone continued to vibrate, but Cade shoved it into his pocket
.

***

  Dexter spread the map he’d drawn on the hood of the Hummer and frowned down at it as he held a flashlight over it.  “I have infrared on my drone and there were ten hotspots in this building here,” he pointed to a spot then glanced at Cecelia.  “There are two in this one and five in this one.”  His finger quickly jumped around to other places on the map.

“When I used the orbiter—” Mac started, but Lou Ellen interrupted.

“Motherships, drones, orbiters—I’m beginning to think you two are from outer space.” Her gaze darted from Dex to Mac. “What in the world is an orbiter?”

“A listening device,” Cecelia clarified, and Mac smiled at her.

“Well why in the hell didn’t you just say that?” Lou Ellen asked.

He huffed a breath then looked back at the map.  “Anyway, when I used the
listening device
attached to Dexter’s remote robot under the buildings, I’m not sure but I
think
I heard a female voice here,” he pointed to the building with five heat signatures, then looked up.  “But that doesn’t mean it’s Senator Rooks—it could be any female.”

“How do we find out for sure?” Taylor asked. “There are seventeen of them and only eight of us.”

“I could sneak inside and do a little duck and check,” Levi offered.

“I could find a high point and do a window check with my night scope,” Caleb suggested.

“Dexter—” Lou Ellen said thoughtfully, and he looked at her.  “Didn’t you do some of that fast-fingered computer jazz with cell phones to find this place?”

“Yes, ma’am,” he replied, his voice transmitting his confusion.

“Well, what everyone failed to think about was that Allison had her cell phone with her too.  Can you pinpoint her location with that?” she asked, and a plethora of groans and a headslap from Dexter followed.  Lou Ellen smiled.  “I can’t use those rifles, but I’m useful for something here, I guess.”

“Yes, ma’am you sure are—give me her phone number,” Dex said, pulling his laptop from his backpack and booting it up.  Fifteen minutes later, Dexter identified exactly which building Allison Rooks was in—the one that Mac pointed out—and Lou Ellen sobbed.

“Dex, call Carlos Ramos and tell him we have his proof that these men kidnapped Senator Rooks and are holding her here,” Cee Cee said, but knew even with that information the FBI probably wouldn’t be here before late tomorrow morning.  That didn’t matter though, because they were going to rescue Allison tonight. 

She just didn’t know how yet.

“I think this is where Levi, Fletch and I will come in handy,” Caleb said with a laugh.  “We are the covert entry specialists on this team.”  He looked at Cee Cee. “Cecelia, I’d suggest you and Taylor take up points here and here, Mac you set up here, to give us cover fire if something goes wrong.”  He pointed to spots on the map on either side of the compound then looked up and huffed a breath.  “No insult intended, but I haven’t ever seen any of you shoot—please,
please
just aim at the sky if you’re not a great shot—don’t shoot us.”

Taylor and Cecelia both snorted then looked at each other. 

“I’m probably as good a shot as you are sniper boy, if not better.  I have awards from competitions to prove it,” Taylor replied.

“I was stationed at FOB Rocket City in the sandbox, so I know how to use my rifle too—but I’m probably not as good as you or her,” Cecelia said, tossing a thumb at Taylor.

“And I was on Dallas SWAT, so I can assure you I can hit a target,” Mac replied gruffly.

“Good then,” he replied with a relieved smile.  “We’re going in quietly, so hopefully there won’t be any shots fired and we’ll be back in a bit with your friend, Lou Ellen.  Y’all be ready to roll when we get back.”

“I have a better plan,” Dex said, and all eyes flew to him.  “I should have it perfected by the time you guys finish your rescue mission.”

Caleb rolled his eyes as he, Levi and Fletch trekked off into the woods surrounding the compound.  Cee Cee moved to the lookout point he indicated for her and she saw Taylor move to do the same.  Twenty minutes later, her heart kicked into overdrive when she saw Levi duck walk to the side of the house where Allison was being held where he stopped for a moment, surveyed the area then darted to crouch beside the wooden steps that led up to the front door.  Ten minutes later the front door cracked open, and he flew up the steps, went inside and shut the door behind him.  Cecilia gripped her rifle tighter, held her aim above the front door, and waited.  And waited—and waited what seemed like an hour, but was probably only ten minutes.

She relaxed some when there was no gunfire, but still held the rifle in position.  A few minutes later, she shifted her aim to the shadows that moved out from behind the last building into the clearing and held it on them until they disappeared into the woods.  Glancing at Taylor, she saw she was pulling back, so Cee Cee did too.  When she got back to the vehicles, Lou Ellen had Allison in a bear hug while they cried.  Dexter was working on something with a screwdriver on the tailgate of Caleb’s truck.

“Let’s get out of here,” Cecelia said, leaning her rifle against the Hummer to walk over to him.

“Almost done,” he replied, twisting the screwdriver once more.