Personal Target: An Elite Ops Novel (26 page)

Ernesto laughed, true humor in his tone at last. “This has never been about Dr. Grayson. This was always about you, Mr. Donovan. You and your family. It was personal.”

Nick shook his head. What did his family have to do with this? It didn’t make sense.

Ernesto studied Nick a moment, and the look in his eyes was one of genuine pity. “You think your father and mother died in a simple car accident?”

Nick cocked his head to the side, a growing ball of
something
—he wasn’t sure what to call it—in his chest. He’d never wanted to believe it. Not really.

Had his father missed that curve on purpose and gone off the embankment to avoid embezzlement charges?

Nick had certainly never wanted to hear that out loud. Still, the vague suspicion had settled in the back of his mind years ago in the aftermath of the accident, amid whispers and insinuations from police investigators and insurance companies.

Ernesto smiled and nodded. “That’s right. Everything is not always as it appears—”

A muffled sound, like a loud champagne cork popping, interrupted him. Nick recognized the true source almost instantaneously and ducked, even as Félix held his arms. The sniper’s silenced shot had come from the shadows beyond the Mercedes and struck Ernesto Vega squarely between the eyes. Vega was dead before he hit the ground.

Félix hesitated a moment too long, caught in the surreal scene of watching his boss die so quickly. The hesitation cost him everything. The man was dead and sprawled beside Ernesto as Nick dove to the sand beside both bodies. Ernesto’s gun had fallen too far away to be retrieved, but Nick pulled Félix’s MP5 along with him as he army crawled across the ground to the Mercedes. Ignoring the pain in his ribs, he moved on pure adrenaline.

The keys were in the ignition.
Thank God
. The shots whizzed by his head, indiscriminately coming from the shadows in a quiet-but-lethal barrage. That wasn’t anyone from AEGIS out there, at least no one who wanted to help Nick get out of this alive.

He crawled into the driver’s seat and made a plan at the same time. His ice-like calm was back. First, he had to catch up to that truck and get to Jenny. He had no clue what else Ernesto had been talking about, so the mystery of how this involved his family would have to wait.

Everything is not always as it appears.

That wasn’t exactly a news flash. But the idea of someone Nick trusted being involved in all this was frightening and brought up the same feelings of betrayal he’d experienced over ten years ago when his father died, and Nick’s life imploded.

He turned the ignition key and pressed his foot down on the accelerator. The road before him was half-covered with sand, but he could see well enough. The back window shattered, and the car fishtailed. Then he was out of range of the sniper.

Saturday, early morning

Algeria

N
ICK DROVE WITH
one hand on the wheel and an eye on the rearview mirror. To find Jenny he was going to need help locating the truck. If Ernesto was to be believed, she and the others were on their way to Constantine—but that was a city of well over 400,000 people. His options were extraordinarily limited unless he used AEGIS resources.

It was almost a certainty that someone he worked with or who had access to those he worked with had tried to kill him and Jenny. The kicker was that he needed AEGIS to locate her, so he was going to have to choose someone there to trust. And he was going to have to do it now.

Rather than evaluating the muddy information currently at his disposal, he’d probably have better luck discovering the traitor by closing his eyes, spinning around, and picking someone in what would amount to a game of pin the tail on the rat. In this particular situation his gut was no help, and he was out of time.

It wasn’t as if Nick had never had to consider someone betraying him before. He’d experienced similar scenarios in his work with the CIA. But then the betrayal had been somewhat expected. Not trusting those around you was part of the job. At AEGIS, it had never been a consideration. Nick’s naiveté in his current situation surprised the hell out of him because he’d never seen it coming.

Gavin, Leland, Marissa, Bryan. Who was the least likely to be involved with the cartel? None of them was likely, and Nick didn’t want to consider any of them, but he had to.

Leland had the most to lose with his new “instant family.” He also had the least contact with the office since he was still out with his leg in a cast from his own misadventures last month. Even though this had all started when Leland first arrived on the scene at AEGIS, the man had saved Nick’s ass in Mexico at considerable risk to himself. He’d worked at AEGIS the least amount of time, too.

Trusting Leland wouldn’t mean Nick thought anyone else there was guilty. Instead, he would just be acknowledging that Leland was the least likely of the four to be involved. Jesus, what was he thinking? Did he really believe any of them were involved?

Enough.
He was playing mind games with himself. It was time to do this.

Félix’s MP5 had a full clip, so life wasn’t as bleak as it could have been. Still, Nick’s SAT phone was long gone. Thankfully a cell phone rested in a cradle on the dash of the Mercedes. It must have belonged to Félix or Ernesto. None of the men who’d driven off in the truck would have left their phones behind.

Nick clicked the dialing mechanism on the steering wheel and got an open line without needing a password. Thank God for drug dealers who didn’t believe in password-protected phones.

He was about to put Jenny’s life into someone else’s hands. Could he do this? Moments later Leland’s voice flowed over the line, and the time for decision-making and second-guessing was past. Nick quashed any lingering doubts about the man’s loyalties and dove in. He had to trust someone now.

“It’s me, Leland. It’s Nick.”

“Are you okay?”

“Define ‘okay.’” Nick huffed a bleak laugh and summarized the events of the past twenty-four hours, including the truck leaving with Jenny, Ernesto’s death, and—after a short pause—his suspicions about someone possibly playing both sides within AEGIS.

“Damn,” Leland breathed. “I’m not sure where to start. I thought you were just going to tell me you needed to arrange transport out of the country. Who at AEGIS would do this?”

Nick kept his eyes on the road ahead as he listened carefully for any inflection or tone that didn’t ring true. “I have no idea. I only know it’s not you, and it’s not me. So I’m starting there and moving forward. Fill in any gaps you heard when I described the—”

“Wait a minute,” interrupted Leland. “Not that I’m arguing, but how do you know it’s not me?”

“If you were on the other side of this, you’d have left me bleeding in Tomas Rivera’s driveway last month. No one would have blamed you. If I was dirty, it’s what I would have done. I sure as hell wouldn’t have jumped out of that Hummer and taken a bullet getting me out of there.”

The hiss on the phone was soft but definitely audible as Leland took a minute to absorb that. It was the closest Nick would come to saying he trusted the man.

“Of course, I’m not sure how straight I’m really thinking. I’m practically seeing double at this point. I could have it all wrong.”

“Ah, fuck you,” said Leland, without any real heat.

“You’re cute, but not my type. Now, fill in any gaps you heard earlier when I described the situation,” Nick repeated.

“You mentioned a guy that Ernesto referred to as Santos. Most likely that’s Juan Santos. Watch out for that fucker. He’s a nasty piece of work. He’d just as soon sell someone out as work for them. He’s been on the payroll for both sides of the Rivera-Vega feud from time to time. He’s all about whoever pays more.”

“Surprises me they’d keep using him,” said Nick.

“As opposed to just killing him? I agree, but apparently he comes in handy from time to time. Santos has got such a reputation as a liar, no one ever knows if what he’s saying is true or not. So the disloyalty can work in the employer’s favor if they’re trying to spread disinformation. Still, I believe the man has a very short shelf life.”

“Understood.” Nick thought about how Santos had held Jenny, and for a frightening moment he flashed on what would happen to her if he didn’t find her soon. He forced himself to loosen his grip on the wheel.

“What else do you need?” asked Leland.

“I put a GPS tracker in the pocket of Jenny’s shorts as we got to the dig site. She didn’t realize I was doing it. After she flew to Niamey alone, I swore I wasn’t letting her out of my sight again until this was over. A GPS app for the tracker was running on the AEGIS server and my phone, but I don’t have the phone anymore. I think she’s somewhere on the road to Constantine. Can you look it up on your computer and give me the exact coordinates?”

“I’m opening my laptop now.”

Nick exhaled. He’d made the right call. “Once I have eyes on her, I’ll give my contact in the embassy at Algiers a call. I should be able to access some resources to get the women out. I figure Marissa can help me if I can’t get through on my own.” He’d known Risa a long time, and he was going to have to trust her, at least for her contacts within the embassy. He didn’t mention that he would share as little as possible with his boss until he knew what was going on within AEGIS. That was understood.

“That’s probably not a good idea,” said Leland.

Nick could tell he was typing as they talked. “I understand it’s a risk with all the unknowns. And I hate having to call in the cavalry, but I’m out of options here. The State Department won’t get involved for those other women, but Sassy and Jenny are both U.S. citizens kidnapped on foreign soil. I’ve got a concussion, one weapon, and no backup. I need help.”

“I understand, but that’s not the issue.” Leland sounded extremely unhappy. Something in his tone had warning bells going off.

“What’s going on there?” The calm Nick thought he’d regained evaporated like raindrops on a hot sidewalk.

The AEGIS relationship with the U.S. State Department was a refuge of last resort. Nonetheless, it was a relationship that was extraordinarily valuable. It could mean the difference between getting out of a foreign country safely with a client or rotting in a third-world jail cell for several months, or even years, while diplomatic avenues were pursued.

AEGIS was known for their results and being able to step in when U.S. officials’ hands were tied by diplomacy. Gavin’s group left a mess sometimes, but his and Marissa’s contacts within the embassies and consulates around the world were worth their weight in gold. The families of AEGIS’s clients would argue that a diplomatic headache was a small price to pay for having their loved ones back home.

Without those embassy contacts, AEGIS operatives were on their own. In some cases that was preferable, in others it was impossible, like now. Nick wasn’t fool enough to think he could rescue twenty-plus women on his own with his current lack of resources.

“It’s complicated,” said Leland, “particularly in light of what you just told me.”

“Dammit, I’m not four years old. ‘It’s complicated’ is not an answer.”

“You’re not going to like this,” said Leland.

There was a long pause, and for a few seconds Nick thought they’d been disconnected.

“It’s Gavin,” said Leland. “There’s a warrant out for his arrest.”

Chapter Twenty-Three

“A
RREST?
F
OR WHAT?
” The fear Nick had been trying to ignore since the conversation in the truck with Sassy came roaring to the forefront of his mind. “Christ, talk about burying the lead. Why didn’t you tell me this first?”

“Chill the hell out, Nick. You and I both know it’s bullshit.”

Immediately, Nick’s unnatural icy calm was back. Betrayal had that effect on him. “Tell me what’s going on. Now.”

“Gavin is suspected of collaborating with the cartels. DEA and FBI agents have been crawling all over the AEGIS office for the past two hours.”

The same AEGIS office that had been Nick’s home for the past year. “I sure as hell hope it’s bullshit,” Nick muttered, but Ernesto’s words echoed in his head.
“Everything is not always as it appears—”

Did Gavin sell them out?

Leland’s sigh was long and heavy. “I realize the evidence looks bad, but I think Gavin’s being set up.”

“Even after what we just talked about?”

“Yes, I’m sure. I’d bet my life on it,” said Leland.

“Well, I wouldn’t.” Blind loyalty could get you killed. Nick knew that from experience, but he wasn’t going to argue the point. Leland knew it, too. He wasn’t a stupid man.

“What’s the evidence against Gavin? Do you know?” asked Nick.

“Yeah, I know. My old boss, Ford Johnson, is in charge of the investigation. There’s an obscene amount of money in an offshore account in Gavin’s name. And he’s disappeared with no explanation.”

“You do realize he’s been in a bad place since Kat—”

“Yes, of course I know that,” snapped Leland. “But I don’t think losing his wife to cancer would have driven him to this. They grieved together for months before she died. I won’t believe he’s lost it so completely now.”

Nick hated this, hated suspecting someone who was a friend. He’d known Gavin for six years. They’d worked together on several operations when Nick was with the NCS and Gavin was still with the DEA. Gavin had had his back multiple times.

Could it be true? Ernesto’s words and Nick’s own growing suspicions were toxic.

Leland’s voice pulled him from the miserable direction his thoughts were taking. “The only reason they didn’t bring me in was because I’m so new to AEGIS. And the DEA just finished investigating me thoroughly before the Colton trial last month.”

“What’s everyone else doing? Where’s Marissa?” asked Nick.

“Risa’s gone to ground, or that’s what I assume. I haven’t heard from her in several hours. Until we know what’s going on, there don’t seem to be many other options, unless everyone else wants to end up in jail, too.”

Leland’s frustration made his Southern accent thicker, if that was possible. “I’m pretty sure she’s working another angle. She wouldn’t go into it with me when we spoke. Hell, for all I know she could be with Gavin.”