F-Stop (33 page)

One guard, in view, in his sight.

Rick made an “okay” signal with thumb and forefinger. Dan held up his hand again with two fingers upraised.

Two minutes. Move now.

The others continued to move closer to the hut, crouching low. As soon as they reached it, Mark clicked his throat mic to signal they were in place. Only Dan, as he fired, heard the
puff!
of the silenced shot but they saw the guard in back crumple to the ground, the back of his head blown away. As he fell Mark and Troy moved to the front and in seconds the second guard was down. Troy clicked his mic twice, the signal they were entering the hut.

Troy lifted the heavy piece of wood holding the door shut and swung the door open. The four people inside scrambled to their feet, backing away toward the far wall.

Mark held his fingers to his lips, then pulled back a velcroed flap on his sleeve to show the Phoenix Agency patch.

“No questions,” he whispered. “We’re getting you out of here but we don’t have much time.”

Mike blessed the fact that no one asked any questions. They all looked as if they’d been through hell but they followed him out of the hut, the others covering their rear.

As they passed the guard at the back of the hut, they heard his radio crackling and a voice calling him to check in.

“Hustle,” Mike whispered into his comm unit. “We could have company any minute.”

They moved through the trees as fast as they could, the hostages hurrying to the best of their ability. They’d gone about three hundred yards when they heard the roar of an engine and the slam of car doors. Then heavy voices in Spanish, loud and angry.

Mark. Can you hear me?

Mark touched Rick’s arm and pointed to his head.
Yes. What is it?

Ed’s at the pickup point. How’s it going?

We have the hostages and we’re on our way.

Oh thank god. I’ll tell Kat.

“Buy us some time,” Dan said, when Mark relayed the message to him. He was down from the tree now. “No need for silence anymore.”

Mike moved slightly to the side, brought his rifle up and laid down covering fire as Rick brought the grenade launcher into place. One
whoosh!
and a trail of fire blazed toward the men pursuing them. Screams of agony sounded, followed by the stuttering sound of a machine gun. Dan, Mark and Troy had the hostages, literally dragging them along. Rick loaded another grenade while Mike laid down more fire, then another
whoosh!
And another trail of fire.

More screams as more men were caught in the inferno but those not hurt kept coming. Ed had touched down in the helicopter but kept the rotors moving. The men literally threw the hostages into the Black Hawk and scrambled in after them as Ed lifted off. Rick straddled the opening, brought his rifle to his shoulder as did Mark and they fired at the pursuers, watching with satisfaction as some of them fell.

Then Ed lifted high, away from the guns firing below and the scene below them fell away.

Kat was hugging her sister, ignoring the tears running down her face. The Wrights clustered together, made as comfortable as possible by the Phoenix men. Dan, Troy and Mark put their headsets on again and Mark handed units to everyone in the Wright party so they had a way to communicate over the noise of the rotors.

Eli Wright was the first to speak. He held out a trembling hand to Dan. “I don’t know how to thank you. We thought for sure they were going to kill us. How did you even find us? By using Katherine’s abilities?”

Dan inclined his head toward Kat who was still hugging her sister as if she’d never let her go. “She never gave up. Without her we’d never have located you, much less gotten you out of there.”

“Very few people really understand remote viewing,” Mike said, packing away his weapons and shrugging out of his vest. Then his mouth curved in a tired grin. “But we were damn glad to have her and her gift.”

Troy got out the medical kit and began attending to the wounds. “I think you’re going to have a scar, unfortunately,” he told Sydney Wright as he cleaned and disinfected the cut, then put a bandage on it. “It should have had stitches but it’s too late now. I’m sorry.”

“I’m just happy to be alive,” she said. “Besides, it will help to remind me that none of us are that far removed from the dangers out there today.” He shook out two capsules in his hand and gave them to her with a bottle of water.

“Antibiotics. You should be on them for the next few days. I’ve got enough for the next couple of days, then you can get a prescription from your doctor.”

“I don’t know how we’ll ever thank you,” she said for the tenth time.

Troy gave her a half-smile. “It’s what we do.”

He turned from her to look at Mari, gently probing the bump on her head and checking out her vision.

“I’ll get you some ice for your head,” he told her. “I don’t think you have a concussion but we’ll get it x-rayed when we land.”

He moved next to Eli, gently removed his shirt and probed his chest and stomach.

“I think you have a couple of cracked ribs,” he said after running his fingers over the man’s chest. “You’re sore beneath this bruise but that’s to be expected.” He reached for an elastic bandage in his kit. “I’ll wrap you for now but we’ll get a better idea when we take you all to an emergency room in San Antonio.”

“We owe you a lot,” Wright said gratefully. “Dan Romeo has made a couple of efforts to talk to us about our security.” He looked at Dan. “You come to see me next week. I’m ready to do business.”

Lissa required little more than cleaning with sanitary wipes and a couple of aspirin.

She curled up against her mother, clinging to her tightly. Sydney kissed the top of her head and stroked her hair.

“I knew you’d find us,” Mari said to her sister on a hiccupping sob. “I knew you’d find a way to ‘see’ us. I told everyone you and Phoenix would save us.” She hugged her again. “I’m so glad you’re my sister, Kat.”

She finally sat up, wiped her eyes and looked around. “Where’s that handsome pilot you’ve been mooning about for two years?”

Kat laughed, pulling her sister tight again. “He’s in the cockpit, helping to get us home. You’ll have plenty of time to talk to him.”

“Then we all need to do some talking,” Dan said, over the noise of the helicopter.

He looked at Eli. “I have information for you that isn’t going to make you too happy.”
Chapter Sixteen

Nando finally made his escape from Victor Herrera’s wrath, happy to have his skin in one piece, never mind his life. He had never seen
El Jefe
in such a rage. Not that he himself was any too pleased. How in the hell had these people, whoever they were, learned who had taken the hostages, where they were kept and yanked them out under the very noses of
El Jefe’s
personal guards?

Because they had gotten sloppy, he told himself. Too confident. A mistake he’d never make again.

His men were burying the dead and tending to the survivors even as he retreated to the safety of his own quarters. He pulled out his cell phone, his hands shaking as he pressed the speed dial for the man he was sure had betrayed him.
Señor
Rasgon would regret this, every day of his miserable life. Nando would exact his pound of flesh and more. And remind the man it was very unhealthy to make an enemy of the great Victor Herrera.

The phone rang four times on the other end before going to voice mail. He swore and snapped the phone shut. He’d wait a few minutes and try again. He knew the phone was set on vibrate, so this would be a warning to the idiot to get himself someplace to talk. But after six tries he still had no success making contact.

Swearing in gutter Spanish, he punched in another number, determined that
someone
would feel the heat of his anger.

* * * * *

Javier hurried to the side of the hangar to answer his cell phone. He had a very bad feeling about what he was going to hear.

“Stupido!”
Nando’s voice exploded through the phone like a bomb. “You miserable little cockroach. You are worthless, you hear me? A piece of garbage.”

“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Javier stammered.

Jesu Cristo! Now what?

“If you weren’t my cousin’s son, I’d be feeding you to the fish right now, piece by piece.”

“I don’t understand.” Javier shifted from foot to foot, trying to fight the roiling in his stomach.

“They’re gone,
pendejo.
The damn hostages are gone.” Javier wanted to throw up. How could this be? He had heard the men talking, seen them leave.

“I am sorry,” he said, not knowing what else to say.

“Do not think you will rest easy over this one,” Nando told him. “
El Jefe
would like to see your ass roasted over a slow fire.”

“Please, Nando,” he began.

“You should go to church and pray to the Virgin Mother that you are still breathing when this is over.”

* * * * *

Troy was keeping a sharp eye on the hostages. He really wanted to get them to an emergency room, not fully convinced they shouldn’t get more medical attention. But everyone was anxious to get home as quickly as possible. He finally told Dan that for the trauma they’d been through, they were holding up remarkably well and after checking them each once more agreed to no hospital. He taped Eli’s ribs and made a note to remind Kat to keep an eye overnight on her sister. He figured the big crash would come once they were all inside their own homes.

They stopped to pick up the Gulfstream, leaving Rick and Troy to ride back in the helicopter with Ed. He would take the Black Hawk back to their private airfield outside Baltimore. It was mid-afternoon by the time the rest of them landed in San Antonio. The SUV Mark had driven to the airfield was still where they’d parked it. Dan managed to score a second one from the private terminal manager, at the same time letting him know the plane would be back in the hangar. They transferred everyone to the two vehicles while Mike parked the plane.

Mark had called Anthony Delaware en route, told him they had the hostages and asked him not to tell anyone yet that they were free. He said they’d be bringing them to the Wright building shortly and would he please keep everyone there. He knew they all wanted showers desperately, and something to eat that resembled real food, but needed to wait until they confronted the person who’d set this all in motion.

For the first time Mark and the agent exchanged the information they had. Mark also brought him up to speed on how and why the plan was hatched and who was behind it. Sort of. Delaware grudgingly asked for suggestions.

When Mark told him his plan, he was only too willing to agree. Obviously tamping down any hostility he felt, he said they’d all be waiting in the conference room.

“Anything to save his ass,” Mark told the others.

The hostages had all freshened up on the plane and Dan and Mark had handed out spare clothes they kept in the plane’s bedroom. They even managed to find shorts and a shirt for Lissa.

Mark had hooked up the little printer and printed out everything Andy had sent to them. Then he handed it to Dan, who sat quietly to one side with Eli, in two of the comfortable chairs, reviewing the material. Eli had swallowed some aspirin in the helicopter but refused Troy’s offer of a pain pill.

“I want to be alert when I read what you’ve got,” he said, “and plan what I’m going to say to those bastards.”

Troy tried again to get everyone to the emergency room before they did anything else but the Wrights were determined to confront the people who’d planned this and the man who’d put it together. Eli could barely control his anger.

Mark offered to drop Lissa and Sydney off at their home before going on to Wright International but they refused, insisting they be present when it all went down.

When they walked into Pelley’s conference room, several pairs of eyes stared at them, taking in the tall, grim-looking strangers and the Wrights and Mari in their bruised, battered condition. Dan scanned the table, noticing who looked relieved and who looked shocked, then let Mark take the lead, since he’d been the one dealing with the FBI.

Delaware stood up from his seat at the table and grudgingly held out his hand.

“Anthony Delaware,” he said. “Thanks for doing my job for me. Politics, you know.” His voiced was tinged with both bitterness and regret.

“Mark Halloran. And no problem.” He nodded at the group behind him, indicating each in turn. “My partners. Eli Wright and his family and Mari Culhane. Faith Halloran and Mari’s sister, Katherine.”

Delaware shook hands with each of them. “You have to know how glad we are to have you back,” he told the Wright party, “and how badly our hands were tied.” Eli nodded abruptly. “I do. I’m not blaming you. I’m sure you understand it didn’t make us feel any better knowing we were in a no-win situation. I just thank god for men like the people from the Phoenix Agency.”

Ron Pelley had risen and hurried around to where everyone was standing. “Eli.

Sydney. God, I’m so glad—”

“Stow it,” Eli snapped, halting Pelley in mid-sentence. “You’d better sit down.”

”You too,” Delaware said to Ryan Post and Rand Prescott, who had also half-risen from their seats. “Right now.”

All three men sat, protesting however.

“What the hell is going on?” Rand Prescott demanded.

“I think we’ll find out very quickly,” Mark told them. He looked at Delaware, who nodded.

“The men from the Phoenix Agency and the FBI discovered the same information almost simultaneously. Lucky for the Wrights and Miss Culhane, Phoenix doesn’t have to answer to government regulations.” Delaware looked at Mike. “It’s really your show.”

Mike stepped forward. “When Katherine Culhane came to me and told me her sister was missing, along with the whole Wright family, I kept hoping it was just a mix-up in travel plans. Obviously it wasn’t. It was a carefully planned kidnapping by Victor Herrera, head of the Sinaloa drug cartel. One of many that have occurred in the past year.” He looked at Mark who took up the story.

“Someone had to have given Herrera the Wrights’ travel information and helped set up the kidnapping. It wasn’t random. Digging through masses of information, we narrowed it down to you three.” He pointed at Pelley, Post and Prescott. “You all had financial troubles you were trying to hide and your cut of the action could get you healthy very fast.