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Javier released his grip on her once they were inside the confines of the resort, but Finn’s sense of impending doom grew the closer they came to the theater. What would they find when Javier’s men opened its doors, a sea of anxious faces or a river of blood?

Two men wearing spandex tights and brightly colored masks stood guard outside the doors. Their bulging biceps were probably the only weapons they needed, but each sported a semiautomatic rifle to bolster his cause. A pile of confiscated cell phones sat at their feet.

No wonder the dozen or so calls Ryan had made to Jill on the way back from Chichén Itzá had gone directly to voice mail. Javier’s men had taken everyone’s phones so their owners couldn’t communicate with the outside world, and powered them off so their locations couldn’t be traced.

“Is everything in order?” Javier asked in Spanish.

“Yes,” one of the men said.

“Show me.”

The man opened one of the double doors. Finn heard several gasps of fear as hundreds of heads swiveled in their direction.

Ryan rushed inside and scanned the crowd. The room sat a little over five hundred and nearly all the seats were taken. On the far side of the room, Aurora, Sasha, Katie, and Jules sat near Jill, who thrust her arm in the air and began waving frantically.

“Here. I’m over here.”

Ryan took a step toward her, then turned to make sure Javier didn’t plan to shoot her in the back if she moved.

“Go,” he said dismissively as he tucked his gun in his waistband.

Ryan ran across the room and into Jill’s arms. Finn smiled as she watched the tear-filled reunion. Then she allowed her gaze to wander, taking in the faces of all the wonderful women she had met during the week.

“They’re alive. They’re all alive.”

“Not for long,” Javier said. “As soon as your girlfriend gets here, you’re all going to die. And so is she.”

❖

Luisa tried to call Finn as soon as her plane touched down in Cancún, but Finn didn’t pick up. Luisa didn’t want to imagine what that might mean, especially after she opened her phone’s Internet browser, performed a search on the developing incident at the Mariposa, and watched news footage of Javier leading Finn and another woman inside the resort at gunpoint while dozens of law enforcement officials looked on helplessly.

“There were thirty-nine women on the bus,” she said, thinking out loud. “He released all except two. Why did he let the others go?”

Director Chavez furrowed his brow as he considered the question.

“He may be trying to establish good will, which means we might be able to make a deal with him to release the rest of the hostages.”

“The last time we tried to bargain with a member of the Villalobos family, the end result wasn’t what we hoped.”

She could still see Mrs. Villalobos tumbling out her living room window, the moment playing out in a strange combination of slow motion and high speed.

“We’ve got to try again,” Director Chavez said. “We’ve got no choice.”

Luisa and the rest of the members of Director Chavez’s handpicked team crossed the tarmac. The ground troops climbed into the backs of two waiting vans. The snipers boarded a helicopter and waited to be deployed. Luisa didn’t know which direction to turn. Should she try to find a seat in one of the armored vehicles or in the chopper?

“You’re with me, Moreno,” Director Chavez said.

“Yes, sir.”

Luisa didn’t know whether to feel disappointed or elated as the van’s rear door slammed shut and the driver began heading for the Mariposa. Ground troops did most of the work during confrontations like the one they were about to have with the Jaguars, but snipers received most of the glory. In a matter of seconds, one well-placed shot could end a standoff that had endured for hours. Luisa relished the opportunity to learn at Director Chavez’s side, but she wanted to be the one to end this nightmare once and for all. Not for glory or attention. She wanted to end it for Finn. Javier Villalobos had her and she meant to get her back. No matter what the cost.

She could feel everyone’s excitement ratchet up a notch or two as they drew closer to the Mariposa Resort. They had trained for incidents like this time and time again, but this wasn’t a glorified training session. It was very, very real. Lives were at stake. The hostages’ as well as their own.

“Don’t forget to breathe, Moreno,” someone said. “You won’t do anyone any good if you pass out.”

Director Chavez laughed first and everyone else joined in, Luisa included. Even though the joke was at her expense, it had seemed lighthearted instead of malicious. She felt like she had finally earned her teammates’ respect. All it had taken was finding the leader of the Jaguars, solving the mystery of Carlos Ramos’s disappearance, and putting her life on the line for a rescue attempt that could very easily become a recovery mission. No biggie.

The armored vans pulled up outside the Mariposa, and everyone piled out.

“Take your positions,” Director Chavez ordered.

Luisa and the other members of the team fanned out, supplementing the ranks of the weary local and state police officers who had been staring down the Jaguars’ gunmen for nearly six hours.

Joint operations were normally cockfights between warring factions determined to prove whose dick was bigger. Therefore, Luisa was surprised to see the relieved look on the commander of the state troopers’ face when he ceded control to Director Chavez.

“What do we have?” Director Chavez asked.

“The hotel has five hundred guests this week, but approximately one hundred went on optional excursions today. Of that number, only two returned to the resort. We successfully diverted two busloads when we figured out what was happening. Javier Villalobos commandeered the other bus and let thirty-seven of the thirty-nine passengers go. With that said, we have, by my rough estimate, four hundred twenty to four hundred thirty guests and employees being held.”

“By employees, are you referring to employees of the hotel or the tour group renting it this week?”

“By all accounts, all the hotel employees were paid handsomely not to show up today. If you see anyone in a hotel uniform, they’re in on the plot. The employees I’m referring to are from SOS Tours only.”

“Four hundred twenty to four hundred thirty friendlies. How many hostiles?”

“Between forty and sixty. We outnumber them, but they have the advantage. If we try to take them out by force, the hostages could get caught in the crossfire—if the Jaguars don’t take them out first.”

“Have you tried negotiating with them?” Luisa asked.

The commander shook his head. “They don’t want to talk to me. They’ve been waiting for you. Why do you think I’m so glad to see you guys?”

“I thought it was my pretty face,” Director Chavez said.

The commander’s smile didn’t reach his eyes. Director Chavez clapped him on the shoulder to boost his flagging spirits. “Good job, Hector. I’ll take it from here.” He turned to one of the men dressed like a security guard. “Since your boss has been waiting to talk to me, you might as well tell him I’m here.”

The faux security guard with a jaguar tattoo on his left forearm eyed Director Chavez contemptuously as he gripped a Beretta in one hand and a nickel-plated Sig Sauer in the other.

“He already knows. He’ll send for you when he’s ready.”

Director Chavez was a powerful man who possessed and wielded great authority. He obviously didn’t enjoy being treated like a lowly errand boy. The muscles in his jaw crawled as he bit back his fury in order to avoid putting the upcoming negotiations at risk.

“Do you have a plan?” Luisa asked as they waited for Javier to stop playing games and get down to business.

“I have a couple things in mind, but I want to hear what he has to say before I put anything in motion. I want to end this peacefully, but if Villalobos’s demands are unreasonable, he will leave me no choice but to use force.”

“How do we do that without endangering the hostages?”

“That’s the part I haven’t worked through yet.” Director Chavez rubbed his chin as he pondered the dire situation. “I want to save everyone, but we have to accept the possibility that some losses might be necessary in order to achieve our ultimate goal.”

Luisa thought of the hundreds of people on both sides of the law who had already fallen victim to the Jaguars. Soldiers, rival gang members, farmers, students, and countless others who had been unfortunate enough to cross the cartel members’ paths. There had already been too many losses in this war and, if she had anything to say about it, there wouldn’t be any more. Not today at least.

A few minutes later, the hit man with two guns and a bad attitude tucked the Beretta in his waistband and tossed Director Chavez a cell phone.

“The boss is ready to talk to you now.”

Director Chavez regarded the phone as if it might be booby-trapped. Then he turned to Luisa.

“How do I place this damned thing on speaker?”

Luisa examined the phone’s display and pressed the appropriate icon.

“Director Arturo Chavez. Who am I speaking with?”

“Don’t try my patience, Chavez,” Javier said. “You know who this is.”

“Tell me what you want, Villalobos, so the women you’re holding can put this incident behind them and try to enjoy what’s left of their vacations.”

“Straight to the point,” Javier said humorlessly. “Don’t you want to get to know me better before you try to fuck me?”

Director Chavez’s cheeks colored from anger, embarrassment, or both.

“My people have you and your men surrounded, Villalobos. You can’t possibly escape. Your only hope of survival is me. Stop playing games and tell me what you want so everyone can walk out of here alive, including you.”

Javier’s laugh was as sinister as Vincent Price’s during his heyday as the king of horror. Filtered through the cheap throwaway phone’s crackly speaker, the sound sent chills down Luisa’s spine.

“You want to know what I want?” Javier said. “Okay, I’ll tell you. I want one hundred million dollars in cash and safe passage for me and my men.”

“Let’s be clear. If I get you what you want, you will release the hostages unharmed?”

“Cross my heart and hope to die. On second thought, I’d better not say that too loud. Your men are probably listening and they’re itching to kill me. Unlike my grandmother, I’m not going to take the easy way out. And I may take a few of your men with me just for fun.”

Director Chavez patted the air with his free hand, trying to control someone he couldn’t see.

“What happened with your grandmother was tragic, I admit, but the outcome was her decision. You can make a different choice, Javier. A smarter choice.”

“My grandmother was the most brilliant person I’ve ever met in my life,” Javier said, anger creeping into his voice. “She taught me everything I know. Now I have to learn from her mistake.”

“What mistake might that be?” Director Chavez asked cautiously.

“She should have killed that bitch Luisa Moreno the first chance she got instead of giving Moreno time to dig up the dirt on us and our organization. If she had, you and I wouldn’t be having this tedious conversation right now. You know what? I’ve changed my mind. Besides the money and the free ride, there’s one more thing you can get me.”

“What do you want?”

Luisa knew what Javier was going to say even before the words left his mouth.

“I want Luisa Moreno.”

❖

Javier’s men had ordered everyone to be quiet, but Finn heard women whispering all around her. She tried to block out the words of comfort, the guilt-ridden apologies for past slights, and the promises of what everyone would do if they were fortunate enough to get out of here alive as she strained to hear Javier’s half of his animated telephone conversation. She had missed the first part of the call because he was out of earshot. Once he moved closer, she tried desperately to bring herself up to speed.

Javier’s lack of deference meant he probably wasn’t talking to his boss, but she could tell by his demeanor he was talking to someone important. Someone who might be able to save their lives.

“I knew I should have studied Spanish instead of French in high school,” Ryan said. “I can’t understand a damned thing he’s saying. What’s he going on about? Who is he talking to?”

“I’m not sure yet.”

Enough time had passed for the Federal Police to travel from Mexico City. If Luisa and her cohorts had arrived, Finn and her fellow guests’ collective nightmare might be about to come to an end. Or perhaps it was just beginning. Because if the police were here, now the real drama was about to begin.

“He must be talking with the
Federales
,” she said. “The legitimate ones, not the corrupt ones he’s paying to be on his side. I think he just gave his list of demands.”

“What does he want?” Jill asked.

“One hundred million dollars and safe passage for him and his men.”

Aurora blew out a disgusted sigh.

“A hundred-million-dollar payoff? That’s never going to happen.”

“Why do you say that?” Finn asked. She knew the American government had a long-standing policy about refusing to negotiate with terrorists. Did the Mexican government have a similar rule? If so, did this situation apply?

“There’s no way in hell the Mexican government will pay these bastards that kind of money and let them walk out of here scot-free,” Aurora said. “Not with everyone watching. These guys might have been able to get away with holding us captive if there weren’t news helicopters circling overhead and a beach full of curious spectators watching this spectacle play out. After those forty-three students were found burned alive, neither the government nor the tourist industry can afford another scandal. The president might have felt pressured to pay up just to keep things quiet. But it’s too late for that now. This scandal has already broken. Neither side wants to come out on the losing end, but I don’t see them meeting halfway. The government can’t make any concessions or they’ll look soft. And these guys aren’t going to back down because they have nothing to lose. If anything, they’re going to dig in even harder.”

“Where does that leave us?” Jill asked.