Asking For Trouble (27 page)

Beau heard the front door slam, then a
second later, Cole walked into the kitchen. "Hey, man, you ready to
do this thing?" he asked then smiled adoringly at his wife, before
he strode across the kitchen and pulled her into his arms for a
long kiss.

CHAPTER TWELVE

Beau was in a cop's dream playroom, he'd
never seen so many drool-worthy weapons in his life. Cole had
brought him into his '
special
' room in the garage, after he
ate, so they could stock up on what they needed for the operation
tonight. Beau couldn't imagine they'd need all the automatic
weapons and pistols they'd loaded into the truck, but it made him
feel safer knowing that they were prepared for anything. Cole had
also insisted they both put on body armor under the loose fitting,
lightweight windshirts he'd gotten them to wear.

It was bulky and uncomfortable, but Cole was
right, anything could happen tonight, because not only were they
going to kidnap Frankie Ramos from the feds, they were going to
meet with the head members of the consortium to discuss playing a
part in their sale and transfer operation in two days. They were
going to agree to turn Frankie over to them, if they were cut into
the operation.

The group had purchased weaponized cyanide,
phosphorous and mustard gas, which was headed for either China or
North Korea, depending on who won the bidding war they were engaged
in. Susan said that their counter-terrorism unit was aware of the
movement of the weapons, and would be ready to step in and stop the
transfer, but they didn't know who the players in the consortium
were, so they could stop it from happening again.

Along with rescuing Jazzie and Carlos,
before they were killed, that was the role their little motley
group was going to play, identifying the members of the consortium.
The rescue they were going to play by ear, because they had no idea
where Carlos and Jazzie were being held. They were meeting the
consortium at a warehouse tonight on the north side of Dallas, and
Beau hoped that was where they were, but he had no idea.

The thought that they might not get to
Carlos and Jazzie in time sent chills racing along Beau's nerve
endings, but he forced it back because Sabrina was right, he had to
keep his head straight and think positive. He also knew that as
long as they didn't have Frankie Ramos, Carlos and Jazzie were
probably safe. Unless the consortium wanted to prove the point that
they weren't above killing them, by killing one and holding the
other, which could explain why they kidnapped both of them. Beau
swallowed down the bile that pushed up into his throat.

"Here's a Kimber, it's a good hold gun,"
Cole told him, and handed him the beautiful pistol. "Here's a boot
holster for it, and a knife for the other boot. You can use your
own service weapon, or pick out what you want for your shoulder
holster, I've got Glocks and Sigs--you pick."

Beau was an expert shot with his service
weapon, he'd had it since the academy, and it was like an old
friend. There was no way he was going to trust something else in
this situation. "I'm gonna use my Sig, I'm used to it, but thanks."
Cole nodded, then they walked out of the room and he locked it,
before they got into his truck. Beau's nerves were on edge and the
beginnings of an adrenaline rush started inside his body, as they
loaded up in Cole's truck and he drove down his long driveway.

When they reached the meeting point, an old
office building just north of Dallas, they went inside and found
Dave and his four guys, Susan, and a dark haired brooding guy he
assumed was her right hand man Hanson. The man didn't impress him
much, he wasn't overly large or muscular, and if he smiled, Beau
thought his bearded face might crack. Susan, who he'd never met in
person before, surprised him.

She was probably five foot eight or so, and
not hard looking at all. In fact, she was damned attractive with
her shiny blonde bob and curvy body in the tight spandex leggings
she had on with her long sleeved t-shirt and body armor. Her
piercing light-gray eyes were the selling point though, they held
swagger, confidence and intelligence. They said don't mess with me,
or you'll regret it.

Those light gray eyes of hers raked over him
first, then over Cole, and her lips cocked up in a half-smile.
"You're three minutes late, explain yourselves," she informed them
with attitude. Beau wasn't sure, but he thought Hanson might have
just cracked a smile under that beard of his.

Cole spoke up and told her flatly, "We
loaded up with some extra equipment and weapons, just in case. And
I had to make sure my Chief Deputy had things under control, in
case we're gone a few days."

She nodded then her lips twitched and her
eyes sparkled with interest, "So, what kind of toys did you
bring?"

"Lots of good stuff," he told her with a
cocky grin then threw her his keys. "Go look for yourself...take
what you need."

"I will, thank you. I have two vans, one has
communication equipment and the other is for us to use. Dave's team
is going to take the com van and follow. I figured having backup
outside in case something goes wrong would be better than all of us
walking into a goat fuck. They can hold onto Frankie too, until we
need him."

"What kind of com equipment? Beau asked
curiously.

"Closed circuit video, infrared scanners,
high-tech audio, recorders...we're going to be wired, but
discreetly," she said matter-of-factly.

Cole frowned, then told her, "They're
probably going to search us, Susan...that's probably not a good
idea."

"Oh, I got with our head geek and he gave me
some really good stuff. They won't find this, trust me."

"Even bug scanners won't find them?" Beau
asked warily.

"Nope, they are so small and high-tech, they
won't ever find them, unless they strip you naked, that is," she
said with a chuckle and her eyes roved over him again, then she
walked over to the table and picked up a pair of gold-rimmed
glasses that looked very expensive.

She walked over to him and unfolded them
then slipped them on his face. The lenses were not prescription,
and the frames fit him well. Beau asked her with a snort, "Are
these to make me look smarter or something?"

"You're too pretty, you need all the help
you can get," Susan snickered then turned toward the television
mounted in the corner. She clicked a little remote device in her
hand that he hadn't noticed before, and the television came on
displaying a crystal clear picture of Susan's back up on the
monitor. Beau turned his head and looked at Dave and his image
appeared.

"Wow...that's pretty amazing," Beau
said.

"They pick up audio too, but I have it on
mute right now. I have little burr-type mikes for the rest of the
team that will snag on our clothes, and I have a pair of shooting
glasses with a camera too for me."

"So, when we meet them, we'll get all the
evidence we need to shut them down?" Cole asked evenly.

"We'll have proof of who they are and their
involvement, so when the counter-terrorism unit confiscates the
shipment, we can take the leaders down too."

"But do you have enough evidence to
prosecute them?" Beau asked, thinking that what she'd told them so
far wasn't gonna fly. Arresting them was one thing, making any
charges stick was another, especially if these guys were as
connected as she'd said they were.

Susan hesitated a moment, then told them,
"We tagged all of the chemicals that Al-Gonon purchased for the
last six months, and mixed some markers into the product before it
was shipped to them. If those chemicals were used in the
manufacturing process of those weapons, our chemists will know. If
I can get access to their computers, while we're there, I'm going
to set up remote access for my geek friend, and he'll download all
we need on the consortium to nail them all," Susan replied with her
gray eyes sparkling with excitement.

"Sounds like you guys have been busy, but
there are a couple of 'ifs' in there that worry me," Cole said.

She huffed out a breath and told him, "It's
been a long road, and those guys are slippery, but I think we might
finally have them, if this all goes down well."

"Another if..." Cole replied.

"There aren't any guarantees in life
Sheriff...we're just going to have to have faith and do our best to
pull this off."

Cole huffed out a breath and nodded, but his
frown was still in place. It was obvious he wasn't liking Susan's
answer. Beau had a bad feeling too. Susan's hope and a prayer
approach to this mission left a lot to be desired, and he
hoped
they didn't all wind up dead at the end of the day,
because of it.

A few hours later, they pulled into a
parking lot of a public park a few blocks down from the safe house
where Frankie Ramos was being held. They'd done a little
surveillance on the house with the infrared equipment in the com
van and saw that there were only three hot spots inside the house,
meaning Frankie and the two agents guarding him. Dave and his four
guys were going to handle the extraction, because they were all
ex-special ops soldiers and that was their specialty. They knew how
to get the job done without anyone getting hurt, and that was the
goal. Hanson was manning the com van, while they went to get
Frankie.

Susan was driving the van that Cole and Beau
were in, and they'd loaded up the extra weapons and equipment that
Cole had provided in the back of the van. Beau glanced over at
Susan and saw she was chewing on her bottom lip, like something was
bothering her. What bothered her, sure as hell bothered him, so he
asked, "You worried about something?"

He saw her shoulders stiffen, then she
snorted and said, "Nah, just thinking about phase two, and all the
possibilities."

"There are a lot of those to think about,"
he agreed and shook his head. "Who was your contact to get us an
appointment with them?"

Her eyebrows lifted and she said with
surprise, "Appointment?"

"An audience then...who did you talk to so
we could meet with them tonight?" Beau clarified and he wasn't
liking her evasiveness at all.

"Nobody...our agents inside Al-Gonon
identified the mole in the agency who is working with the
consortium. They call him Casper, but I'm sure that's not his real
name, we're going to use him or his name to get inside," she said
evenly.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me!" Beau
turned in the seat and shouted, "So you have no idea whether we'll
be meeting the heads of the consortium tonight or not?"

"One of the agents said he thought they were
going to be here tonight, finalizing the bidding and planning the
transfer," Susan dodged, then added, "The meeting is in an
hour."

"So, we're gonna bust in there like lone
rangers and get our asses filled with bullets?" Cole tossed
menacingly from the back seat.

Susan tapped her fingers on the steering
wheel nervously then told them, "I have a plan. It will work, as
long as we produce Frankie Ramos."

"This is
not
what we decided on,
Susan...I'm not liking your plan at all. You were supposed to set
up a meeting so we could dangle Frankie--not give him to them!"

"We'll be fine, just trust me, we can
protect Frankie."

"
Bullshit
!" Beau shouted. "They'll
probably put a bullet in all of us as soon as we walk in with him!
And put one in Carlos and Jazzie! This is
not
going down
this way, Susan!"

Like a vulture spotting prey, Susan's neck
stiffened then she spun it toward him without moving her body. Her
gray eyes had gone glacial and her lips were a flat line. "Who the
fuck do you think you are? You do not tell me how things are going
to go down, you snot-nosed brat. This is my mission, and I am going
to call the shots, and if you don't like it, both of you can haul
your ass out of here now. I'll find backup, but rescuing your
girlfriend
won't be my priority, I assure you," she
grated.

Beau's palms itched to close around her
skinny neck, and he just managed to control the urge. "Look bitch,
you might be the head of the Dallas FBI, but I
assure
you I
can keep up with you any day of the week. Don't forget you're on an
off-the-books operation here, and we don't work for you. I'm sure
your bosses in Washington would love to hear about the lengths
you'll go to for recognition in the agency. You are not going to
use innocent people like the Ramos's to claw your way up that
ladder, because I'm here to tell you that I'll stop you. We will
blow your operation sky fucking high, and go in there with guns
blazing to rescue them, if we have to."

Susan sat there for a minute and said
nothing as they stared each other down. Finally, her lips quirked
up into a smile that spread into a full-fledged grin. "I knew there
was something I liked about you, Beau Bowman. I like that you're
not a coward, I respect that. As for the mission, we'll do it your
way and go in without him at first, and if they insist on seeing
him, we'll have one of Dave's men escort him in. Does
that
work for you?"

Beau shook his head and said, "You are one
strange cookie, Susan Whitmore. Yeah, that works."