Tenderloin (Abby Kane FBI Thriller) (17 page)

Elan left his perch by the window and sat beside his wife. He ran his hand up and down the length of her back.

“What are we going to do?” Adrianna asked softly.

Elan figured that by now, Zapata knew they were missing. He would hunt them down until he found them—not because he cared about his sister but because he cared about the drug falling into someone else’s hands. Surely the airport had been compromised—Elan figured that much—but he had a friend who could arrange travel to Panama by boat. From there, they would fly to the United States where he would seek asylum for the both of them. This plan would help keep them under the radar, but the risk was still great. Zapata’s reach was long and deep.

There was one more part to Elan’s plan, though—one that would have the US government gladly helping him: his hidden ace, the dead DEA agent.

Chapter 41

I awoke with my face planted firmly in Cabrera’s right arm. When I pulled back, I noticed a tiny bit of wetness on his shirt. I told him it was punishment for letting me sleep through the drink service. The plane had started its descent, and the seatbelt signs were already on. I could have used a cup of green tea.

As soon as we landed at El Dorado International, we checked in with the security force assigned to the airport to see if there had been any sign of the Ortegas.

They were still combing the last two days of video footage to ascertain whether any of them might have slipped out earlier. So far, no sign of that. Cabrera had wanted to leave, but I had convinced him, by keeping my butt firmly planted in my seat, that we should stick around while they went through the rest of the footage.

A nice security guard fetched me a cup of hot water for my tea. The warmth between my hands, coupled with that familiar scent, helped me relax.

“What are you thinking about?” Cabrera asked.

“Next steps if we don’t find the brothers. They could be anywhere.”

“I really don’t think they have left the country yet.”

“What makes you so sure of that?”

“It’s a hunch.”

“Well, my directives aren’t to go on a massive man hunt. If they don’t turn up in this footage, I’m on a plane out of here and its left up to you and your Colombian friends.”

Cabrera looked down at his watch. “If that’s the case, I need to talk to my contacts on the streets and see if anyone has heard or seen them. The quicker I get the word out, the faster I’ll hear back. Time is of the essence right now.”

“Go. I’ll see this through.”

“So, you really could be leaving soon.”

“If this comes up empty, yes. I still have to run the situation by my supervisor, but I don’t think I’ll have any pushback. I’ll try to grab a flight tomorrow or the next day,” I said, avoiding eye contact.

He checked his watch. “It’s 4:00 p.m. Let me do what I need to do. Maybe two, three hours tops. After that, I own you, Abby Kane. You are all mine until you set foot on that plane. That’s it. It’s not up for debate. That is, unless one of us gets a break.”

I tried not to smile, but I couldn’t help it. The big, strong man had demanded it. Who was I but a tiny woman? I was no match for his dimples. I know it’s silly. He was more than a face or a body. He was a nice guy—an interesting guy. Though why I continued to encourage that fling, I don’t know. It’s not like I flew to Bogotá for business twice a month.
Maybe I’ll have to if the scientist thing blows up and Reilly orders me to
. I finally looked up at Cabrera. His comforting gaze grabbed me and gave a warm squeeze. “That sounds nice.” I told him.

Cabrera clasped his hands together and rubbed them. “The sooner I leave, the sooner we can reconnect.”

“Go. Get out of here. I’ll see you later.”

“At your hotel,” he said as he backed out of the room.

I sat there for the next twenty minutes fantasizing about his return while I stirred my tea slowly. What position on the bed would I be in when he broke down my hotel door to get to me? Would I have time to scream before he quieted me with a long, deep kiss? Or would he break into my room while I took a shower and somehow manage to slip behind the curtain without my knowing, only to give himself away by tapping me on the back with his third arm?

Even under the warm water, my body would quiver with each touch. Every muscle would tighten. My nipples would harden and stand erect, but I wouldn’t give in and let him know the effect he had over me. I would ignore him and continue bathing as if he were not standing behind me. Then I would brazenly bend over and pretend to wash my legs, leaving myself open and exposed—

“Agent Kane,” a soldier called out, yanking me back to reality.

“Huh? Yes, what is it?” I asked with as much normalcy as I could assemble.

“We have reviewed all of the footage. We did not see the individuals you seek. But now that we are watching for them, it will be impossible for them to leave.”

There were still flashbacks of soapy lather and blunt objects swimming around my head as I listened. “Yes, well, thank you for your efforts. The FBI appreciates your cooperation.” I gathered my things and left the airport, knowing my investigation in Bogotá had come to an end and I would be heading home.

But not before I finished washing.

Chapter 42

Not everyone is cut out for the cloak-and-dagger lifestyle. Elan was convinced that he stood out despite his efforts to conceal himself. Stiff as a board, he stood awkwardly near the rack of sunglasses by the entrance of the small shop. Trying to appear loose and casual only made him appear as if he were slow dancing with himself.

He focused his attention on the building across the street. The Colombian office of the US Drug Enforcement Administration was located on the second floor. Elan wasn’t quite sure how to go about claiming asylum for himself and his wife. All he knew was that he had information on the dead agent found in Mitú, and someone in that office would want it.

He had been watching the building for nearly forty-five minutes. Twice the shopkeeper asked him if he needed help, thinking he was a thief waiting for the right moment to strike. The man’s insistence on standing next to him made Elan’s surveillance of the building nearly impossible. Elan had stalled long enough. He finally apologized and left.

He didn’t cross the street immediately. Instead, he walked for fifty yards north and then crossed over and doubled back so his approach would not be noticed if someone were looking out the window. He thought his actions were borderline ridiculous, that his imagination and fears had gotten the best of him, but he could not help it. Running from Zapata had placed him and Adrianna in great danger. There was no turning back.

<><><>

Adrianna sat quietly in the hotel room, waiting for her husband to return. Despite his plea for her to not contact anyone, not even her mother or father, Adrianna couldn’t bear the thought of leaving the country without saying anything.
They will worry and think something bad has happened.
She didn’t want that. So she made the call—a quick one to her parents explaining that she had to go away for a while but was safe.

“Where are you? We will come to you,” they said.

“No, you mustn’t. We are leaving soon. There is no time.”

“Where? How will we contact you?”

“I’ll contact you. But if you want to help, do not tell anyone we have spoken. Not even family. Not even Faro.”

Adrianna hung up the phone. She gave them no information about her whereabouts, but she did stay on the phone long enough for the men standing next to her parents to trace her call.

The leader of the group turned to the parents. “You did well. We will find her. Everything will be okay. Elan will not get away with this kidnapping.”

On the way to the car, the leader took out his cell phone to give an update to the man who had hired them. The boss had said to wait at the parents’ house in case they got a call. He had never met his boss and only knew him by his name, El Monstruo.

<><><>

Elan climbed the stairs to the second floor. Each step reminded him of how dire his situation had become. The sweat from his armpits streamed down the sides of his torso and spotted his shirt. He stopped for a moment and ran the back of his hand across his damp forehead.
Stop stalling.

At the top of the stairs, he straightened his shirt and dried his palms on his jeans. His parched throat refused his swallows as he forced himself forward. He couldn’t understand his sudden hesitation. He finally had a chance to get out from under the grasp of his wife’s evil brother. He should have been running toward the office.

When he reached the metal door, a sign read:
All visitors must be buzzed in. Please be prepared to state your name and your business and have your identification ready
. Elan’s eyes shifted to the small CCTV camera above the door. He had noticed another in the stairwell. Surely the agents inside had eyes on him. He pressed the button then returned his hand to his jacket pocket, where it rested on the butt of his gun.

Chapter 43

Adrianna continued to check her phone, hoping her husband had texted her and she had merely missed the chime. But there were no notifications—only a blank screen. She feared for his safety and had made him promise to send her updates every half hour. Thirty-five minutes had passed since his last text, and worst-case scenarios started to populate her head. She told herself to relax, that she was worrying for nothing. Elan was okay.
Maybe he was already talking to an agent. Perhaps he had to turn off his phone.
There were many positive reasons as to why he could be late with his text.

To calm herself, she sat on the edge of the hard bed and inhaled deeply, holding her breath for a moment before slowly releasing the air. With her eyes closed, she listened to the hum of the air conditioner against the wall. She repeated her breathing exercise once more. Her chest no longer thumped, and the tightness in her face had loosened slightly. “Everything is fine,” she told herself. Only, she was convinced it wasn’t.

Her eyelids shot open, and she grabbed her phone. Her efforts to calm herself were futile. Only a text from her husband would do. She sent him a message asking him to reply with their code word:
cariño
. That meant things were fine but he could not talk. She waited. Five seconds, then ten seconds, and soon a whole thirty seconds had passed. It felt like days.

It would only drive her nuts if she continued to stare at her phone, she decided. She stood and paced the small area next to the bed, wondering how on earth she could pass the time without tearing her hair out.
A bath?
Finally, she had an idea that didn’t seem so crazy. A calming bath would help her to relax. Surely she would find a message waiting for her when she finished.

Once the water had been adjusted to a tepid state, she stripped off her clothing and stepped into the tub and under the shower. For a few seconds, her thick hair created a barrier that kept her scalp dry, but soon the water made its way through her locks and flooded her scalp. It continued down her slender frame and filled the tub. Her core body temperature adjusted and delivered a shiver—the good kind. A smile appeared on her face, if only for a second.

Adrianna turned away from the showerhead and tilted her head back allowing the water to drain down the length of her hair. She reached up and slicked her thick mane into a ponytail. With her eyes still closed, she twisted her hair tightly, wringing the water from it as she brought it around to the front. She switched the shower off, allowing the faucet to finish filling the tub as she lay back and relaxed.

She barely heard the rattle of her phone against the tiled sink, masking the chime. She smiled, knowing her phone had received a text message. She knew her husband would not let her down. The water around her rose slowly, creeping up her sides, not quite enveloping her yet. Her body shivered again, this time from an unexpected, cool breeze. She opened her eyes and saw a strange man peeking around the shower curtain.

Chapter 44

Before heading back to my hotel, I made a stop by the office to collect a few personal items I had left on my temporary desk. Part of me hoped Cabrera would be there. I had Reilly on the phone when my peripheral vision spotted movement at the top of the stairwell. I looked up and saw a man standing there.

“Well, I don’t think it’s our job to hunt down the Ortegas,” Reilly said. “We’ll let our counterparts with the DEA handle this. I want you on the first flight out tomorrow morning.”

“You don’t have to tell me twice. I’ll do my best,” I said as I stopped in my tracks. “I gotta go,” I told Reilly before hanging up. Before I could say another word, the man started to pull his hands out of his jacket.

Remembering my relaxed attitude with the last visitor who showed up at the office, I wasn’t about to take any chances. I dropped my phone and years of practicing a quick draw went into effect. My weapon was out and trained on the man before he could remove either hand from his pockets.

“Don’t move or I will shoot you.”

“Please, don’t shoot me,” he whimpered. A layer of sweat blanketed his face, and his light blue shirt was dark at the armpits and around his neck.

“Slowly remove your hands from your pocket and raise them above your head.”

This can’t be.
It took a moment, but I recognized him. One of the missing scientists had shown up on our doorstep. If I remembered correctly, the shaking man in front of me was Elan Ortega, the married one.

I couldn’t help but wonder why he would voluntarily come to us. Clearly, he had no idea the FBI had been looking for him because, if he did, he probably wouldn’t have shown up.

“State your name and business.” I waited for a response but none came. He kept swallowing nervously. I tried again. “Sir, who are you, and what is your business here?”

“I am Elan Ortega,” he barely managed. “I need to talk to an agent. I have important information.”