Operation: Endgame (29 page)

Jake glanced at the clock while he listened to the phone ring. It was almost midnight in Texas, so it was close to 6:00 AM in England. Colton was military and kept long hours so he should be already awake. Jake hoped that was the case because the only thing worse than being woken up, was being woken up with bad news like your sister’s been kidnapped.

“Major Robertson.” Colton answered the phone sounding winded.

“Colt, it’s Jake. I hope I didn’t wake you up.”

“No, I was just doing my morning run. What’s wrong? It’s midnight there. Is Cassie okay?”

Jake closed his eyes because he hated to give Colton news like this over the phone, but there wasn’t anything he could do about it. “Damn, Colt, there’s no easy way to say this. Cassie was kidnapped out of her backyard last night, but I think I just figured out who is doing all this. I need your help, though. Do you guys have face recognition software over there?”

“Yes, what do you need?”

Jake typed and attached the scanned photo to an email to Colton.

“I’m scanning and emailing you a photo right now of you and Cassie in Paris. There is a man in the background to her right who works at The Mocha Mermaid here. Obviously, that’s not who he is in real life. I need to know who he is and who we’re dealing with.” Jake could hear a car start up in the background.

Colton sounded terse as he spoke. “I’ll be at the office in 5 minutes. I’ll call you back as soon as I have your information.” The call ended.

Jake looked at the phone with his gut churning. All the clues had been right there in front of his face. He just hadn’t fucking seen them and now Cassie would be the one paying for his mistakes.

He startled as he felt a soft hand in the middle of his back. He’d forgotten that Julie and Penelope were there. He turned to them now. “It’s Ricky, from The Mocha Mermaid.” The pain in his eyes was palpable. He shoved the photo at them and pointed out Ricky standing in the background. Penelope looked confused as she said, “I don’t understand. How would our Ricky be in Paris at the same time as Cassie and Colton?”

“Exactly, which is why I’m pretty sure he’s not ‘our Ricky’. He’s someone else. That’s what Colton’s doing. Figuring out just exactly who Ricky from The Mocha Mermaid really is because I’d say from looking at that photo there, he’s most definitely Cassie’s stalker.”

Julie chimed in, “What about the arrests of Melissa and Philip they were making last night? How do they tie to Ricky? Or was that information wrong?”

Jake shook his head. “I don’t know. I need to call Brian and let him know what’s going on.” Jake picked up his phone to make the phone call, but at that moment, it rang. The caller id said it was an Unknown Caller. He pushed the call button and answered, “Madsen here.”

“Aw, Captain Madsen, I think I have something you would like to have back.”

“Ricky.” Jake growled.

“Very good. For a military man, you don’t seem very acute with your skills. It’s time to prove that fact to Cassie so she realizes her affections are misplaced.”

“Is she okay? If you’ve hurt her in any way, I’ll kill you.”

“Cassie is fine. Right now, she’s just renewing an acquaintance.”

“What does that mean?”

“It’s nothing for you to worry about Captain. It’s just another example of your inept skills. Tomorrow night will be the Endgame for you in Cassie’s life. Meet me at Memorial Circle at midnight and you may say your goodbyes to Cassie. Come alone.” The phone disconnected.

Jake felt his blood boiling as he closed his phone. He had 24 hours to figure out how to take this guy down.

His phone rang again. “Madsen.”

“Jake, it’s Colton. The man in the photo is Ricardo Ramirez. I sent you his bio to your email account. Long story short, about six years ago, he became head of the largest drug cartel in Columbia when his father was killed in a drug raid. He’s number one on our wanted list for the DEA in that area of the world. He was born in Columbia, but was raised in the United States by his mother, although it’s become apparent he’s always had a hand in the family business. He’s bad news in every way. I made a couple of calls and the chatter is he has been MIA off and on for the last six months.”

“Makes sense since it appears he’s spent that time here stalking Cass,” Jake rubbed a hand over his face, “but the question is, why Cassie? Could this have anything to do with Chris’ mission in Columbia?”

“That occurred to me too, but I can’t find anything to tie the two things together right now. I have my guys on it. One other thing, the gorilla standing next to him is one of his personal bodyguards, Philip Cortez.”

“Damn, they’re pretty sure that’s who shot War. He’s also here in Lubbock. It’s starting to all come together. The problem is we still don’t know why or where they are. We’ve got to figure out where they’ve all disappeared to.”

“I’m coming home, Jake. There’s a military transport leaving here in about 30 minutes headed to Dyess AFB and I plan to be on it. I should be in Lubbock in about eleven to twelve hours.”

“Okay, Colton. He’s made contact and I’m supposed to meet him tomorrow night at midnight at Memorial Circle, alone. We have 24 hours to figure this out.”

“Jake, why would he want to meet you? He already has what he wants. He has Cassie. The only reason for meeting you at this point would be to kill you.”

“He says he wants to prove to Cassie who is more militarily capable. This is all a big game to him and Cassie is the prize. I’m guessing he has me in his sights as his opponent. But I’ll tell you, Colt, I don’t plan to lose this one.”

“Jake, you need to be careful. This guy sounds completely insane. The problem is he’s a psychopath with connections and money at his disposal. Don’t underestimate him. The Ramirez cartel hasn’t gotten as powerful as they have by making bad moves.”

“The only thing that matters at this point is getting Cassie back safe, but I’ll be as careful as I can. Thanks Colton.”

“Okay. I’ll see you soon.” Jake heard the click as Colton ended the call.

It was time to get to work.

Cassie gasped as she looked into the pain-filled eyes which matched her own.

“Cassie?” his voice rasped out, sounding rough and scratchy. “Please tell me I’m not hallucinating again.”

Cassie rushed up to the head of the bed and reached out to touch his face, which was covered with a full growth of beard and the remnants of bruising. “If you are, then I am too and I don’t want to know any different.” She could feel the overheated warmth of his skin which told her he was running a fever. He’d lost weight. His features were gaunt and his skin had a grey tone to it. He had dark circles under his eyes which looked glassy and haunted. His blond hair was beyond shaggy, but this was definitely Chris. She reached up and cupped both of his cheeks as her eyes filled with tears. “How is this possible? We were told you were dead. There was a body the military identified as yours. We buried you and had a funeral. Where have you been for the last six months?” She looked past him worriedly to the beeping machines which were hooked up to him. She turned to ask him more, but he’d slipped into unconsciousness.

She hadn’t noticed the door opening. She was so distracted by the sudden appearance of Chris she jumped when she heard another voice. Cassie whirled around to see Ricky leaning up against the door with a large hulk of a man standing next to him.

He gave her a lazy smile. “Aw, I missed the family reunion and I was so looking forward to seeing it.” He beamed at her. “Professor, you do surprise me in the most interesting of ways. I cannot wait to show you all of my many little gifts.” He gestured over to Chris’ bed while continuing to smile at her. “He’s my gift to you as we begin our beautiful life as a family.” He scowled at the machines. “Unfortunately, he’s not quite the same man you knew as he sustained some unfortunate damage. He’s a very stubborn man, but c’est la vie. I think he’s learned his lesson.” He waved his hand in the air.

“Ricky?” She looked at him, shock reverberating through her system. “I…I don’t understand. You’re the one who’s been doing all this to me?” She looked back over to Chris lying so pale in the hospital bed. “I don’t understand any of this. How did Chris get here? With you? What’s wrong with him? What did you do to him?”

“Aw, your dear brother literally fell out of the sky and into the hands of my troops with the slight help of one of our RPG’s. I knew when I found out exactly who he was that this was fate. I’ve been a fan of yours ever since your beautiful appearance on the video game. You’re not only beautiful, but you understand the ways of war and strategy. We’re meant to be together. We’ll stand together and run my army. Why else would God send me your twin brother? You’re my perfect mate.”

“Wha…What about Molly?” Cassie’s brain was scrambling to catch up with everything that was happening.

He gave a soft chuckle and then gave her a slightly condescending look. “There is no Molly. Only you. I just didn’t want to give you any indication of my intentions before it was time.”

Cassie felt icy-cold panic spread down her spine as she listened to Ricky go on. Chris was unconscious, but she grabbed his hand. She needed the moral support that came from knowing her brother was alive.

“You mentioned troops and an army. Who are you really?”

“Oh my,” he gave her a smirking look, “my manners are remiss, aren’t they? Let me officially introduce myself.” He gave a courtly bow and a roll of his hand. “Ricardo Ramirez at your service.”

She stared at him in shock. Ricardo Ramirez? Was that supposed to mean something to her? Who the hell was he and why had he targeted her and her family?

“My family business is based out of Columbia. The nature of the business is very risky. As such, I command a vast army within our jungles.”

Cassie gave a harsh laugh. “Oh my God, you’re a drug-runner, aren’t you?”

Ricky’s gaze became flinty as he looked at her. “I’m a businessman. One your military,” he sneered at Chris, “would like to control, but that’s not going to happen. I’ll prove it to you and to them I have the superior military skills once and for all. Then you’ll be mine and we’ll become one big happy family.”

Cassie could see the unmistakable maniacal gleam which came into Ricky’s eyes. Why hadn’t she seen it before? And just how the hell was she going to get both her and her injured brother out of here when he couldn’t even maintain consciousness? She looked back over worriedly at the machines. She needed to figure out exactly what was wrong with him, but she also needed to figure out how to work Ricky so he would think she wasn’t a threat. She couldn’t do anything as long as she was handcuffed to a bed.

“What exactly is wrong with him?”

Ricky gave a pitying look over at the unconscious Chris. “Well, he was in a plane crash, so he didn’t come to us in the healthiest of conditions.”

Cassie looked over at the equipment hooked up to Chris. “That was six months ago. Whatever happened then, he should be recovered.”

“So true, my dear. Nothing slips by you, does it? But as you can see, he’s not recovered. Unfortunately, infection can set in when one is in the jungle. And when one is not grateful for one’s accommodations,” he looked angrily at Chris, “well, let’s just say, things can become ugly.”

“You hurt him.” It was a statement of fact, not a question as Cassie had no doubt about what Chris’ treatment had been for the last few months. As the realization all the nightmares she’d been having about Chris were real, sunk in, Cassie shuddered. There was no doubt in her mind Ricky was a monster.

“Your brother is not the most cooperative of men. We’ve only done what we needed to do to keep him under control. Now that you’re here, I have a feeling there will be less of a need for such treatment. Your dearest brother wouldn’t want any hurt to befall you.”

She looked at the machines Chris was hooked up to. There was a heart rate monitor, a pulse oxygen level monitor on his finger, and an IV feeding what looked to be two things into his system. There was another machine there, but it wasn’t one she recognized. She felt the tears well up in her eyes, but dashed them away in anger.

Ricky looked indulgently at Cassie. “Aw, my darling Cassie…such earnest caring. It does my heart good to see you care so deeply about family, but no worries. Now you’re here, he’ll recover quickly and will be taken care of to the fullest of our ability. All you have to do is cooperate and accept the gifts I so generously give. I realize with a woman such as yourself, I have to prove my worth so you can accept me. Like the knights of old, that is what the past few months have been about. I’ve been proving my worth to you, but alas, our game must come to a close. It’s earlier than I’d planned, but the arrival of your friend,” he sneered at the thought of Jake, “means we need to finish this. I will not stand for you to be with another and his arrival has affected your ability to concentrate on me. I need to get back to my business and home so we can start our life together. Tomorrow night, we’ll eliminate my final competitor and then we’ll be on our way to Columbia.”

Oh my God. He planned to go after Jake tomorrow night. Cassie felt her pulse accelerate even faster at the thought of Jake being in danger.

Ricky glanced back down the hall with an angry look on his face. “Unfortunately, your actions with the dear Melissa have cost you your dinner.” He shook his head like a father correcting a child. “I shouldn’t reward your actions in any way, but I know you’ve missed your brother so I’ll indulge you a tiny bit. You may spend the remainder of the night here with your brother. I’ll have my men bring in a cot and bedding for you.” He gave her a fierce look as he added his final warning. “Don’t make me regret my generosity, or you may suddenly find the care for your precious brother lacking.”