Hunted (FBI Heat Book 1) (2 page)

“No problem. We’ll work on that later. Then what happened?”

“They tell us to sleep on the mattresses on the floor, but we are too angry.” He glanced at his companions. “After they lock us in a room, we talk. We do not trust Loco.” Pedro drew a deep breath. “When it is dark, they open the door, let us out of the room. The blue van comes. There are only three women. Five are missing. My Maria is gone.”

“The kid was crushed,” Special Agent Ben Alfren said. He had returned from the San Ysidro facility an hour ago and sat in his boss’s office giving him an update.

“Wouldn’t you be?” Rex asked.

Ben instantly thought of his ex-girlfriend, Marissa Panuska, and nodded his agreement. “Yeah. I probably would’ve taken someone’s head off.”

“Except these ‘someones’ would’ve had guns trained on you. Not a smart move.”

“True. These five guys were smart though. They bided their time.”

Rex nodded. “How did they get to San Ysidro?”

“The fifteen immigrants and the guards put on blue coveralls over their regular clothes. The uniforms had the logo of a fake cleaning company. They were also given baseball caps with the same branding. When they were taken outside, plastic decals of the logo had been stuck to the sides of the blue and white vans. There were vacuums, buckets, mops, and cleaning supplies inside as props. If stopped, they would’ve looked like a large cleaning crew.”

Rex arched his eyebrows. “Not bad.”

“Best I could piece it together, the house where they were held was in eastern San Diego County. They drove west on Interstate 8 to I-5 north. Without a guard noticing, Pedro kept fiddling with the door handle, but it wouldn’t open. Probably had a child-safety master lock. The vans pulled off the freeway in Oceanside for gas. It wasn’t that late, so the station was still busy. At a signal from Pedro, the other men attacked the two guards, who were at a disadvantage because they’d been smoking weed all day. The kid smashed the window with a metal bucket, reached through the broken glass, and opened the door with the outside handle. Then the five guys made a break for it.”

“The guards didn’t shoot because there were too many witnesses,” Rex surmised.

“No doubt it would’ve ended much worse if the station hadn’t been crawling with customers. Anyway, they laid low in Oceanside until they managed to spot some Hispanics. In no time, the guys were in someone’s kitchen, explaining to a sympathetic audience what had happened. Sure enough, a Good Samaritan offered to drive them down to San Ysidro this morning.”

They sat silent for several minutes.

“No leads on the missing women,” Rex said as more of a statement than a question.

“Nada.” He pulled two photographs from a file and laid them on the desk. “These women are Maria and Carmen.”

“Shit.” The SSA shook his head. “Someone’s daughters, sisters…”

Ben cursed under his breath. “Yeah.”

“The others?”

“The guys didn’t have photographs of the other three women. They’re going to work with a sketch artist.”

Rex stroked his chin. “Did you tell them?”

He shook his head. “Didn’t have to. They’d already heard the horror stories about sex trafficking.”

“Do they know the odds of finding their women?”

“I tried to soften it to a little above zero. Knowing Hermosillo, they could be working near all the new oil fields in North Dakota by now.”

“Too bad the bastard decided to diversify. Guess drugs weren’t enough.”

Ben massaged the tight muscles at the back of his neck. “Yeah, H is a real prick. Wants a piece of anything profitable.”

“How much time and effort do you want to spend on this?”

He exhaled in frustration. “I promised them we’d try. In exchange, they’re going to put their heads together and give us every detail they can about Loco and his connection to Hermosillo. ICE is holding them in a detention center. They gave me a week before they’d start deportation proceedings. If we come up with any leads, they might agree to extend.”

“All right. I can assign Special Agents Staci Hall and Dillon O’Malley to work part-time on this with you. Anything else you need?”

“Yeah. A miracle.”

* * *

“C’mon, Amber. You haven’t been to a single Meet-Your-Neighbors party since you moved in,” the rental agent whined.

Amber glanced past the woman to the pool area down in the courtyard, where a boisterous crowd was deep in party mode. “I’m sorry. I… I’ve been busy.”

“You don’t look busy now. Believe me, it’s gonna be a good one. The apartment complex’s hottie came this time.”

She snorted. “Complex hottie? Seriously?”

“Yeah. His name’s Ben Alfren. He rarely comes to these things, but he’s so freakin’ sexy all the women want to date him.”

“Well… uh… players aren’t really my thing.”

“That’s the crazy part—he never hooks up with anyone. He’s kinda mysterious. Like you.”

Like me, my ass. I bet he’s never had to hide from a stalker a day in his life
. “Thanks for the invite, but I—”

“Don’t be a party pooper. Look, come down for just one beer, check out Ben, and then you can leave.” She traced an
X
over her heart. “I cross my heart. I’ll never bug you again about coming to another complex party.”

That was an offer Amber couldn’t refuse. “All right. Give me a minute, and I’ll come down.”

Amber closed the door and leaned her forehead against it. She so did not want to go to some party. Early on, she’d learned that making friends in new places was dangerous. People talked. And Jeremy knew how to pry information out of unsuspecting do-gooders trying to help him find his “long-lost, mentally unstable sister.”

Besides, her week had ended on the crappy note that she might lose her job. In addition, instinctual warnings about Jeremy’s proximity had started zinging along her nerves again. In a way, it might be a good coincidence the two were happening at the same time. If she had to move because of her stalker anyway, getting laid off wouldn’t feel so bad. But none of it put her in a party mood. Truth was, she had almost forgotten how to let herself go and have fun. However, to get the pesky rental agent off her back, Amber would fake it.

With a resigned sigh, she headed to the bathroom to freshen up. Looking in the mirror, she took inventory. She’d already taken off her makeup—which wasn’t anything more than mascara, blush, and lip gloss anyway—after getting home from work. Without other color, her brown eyes appeared too large in her pale face. Her blond hair hung on her shoulders because she’d also taken down her ponytail. It was slightly tousled from the bad habit of running her fingers through it while she read or watched TV.

Amber stared at her reflection for several seconds. She wasn’t trying to attract attention; she needed to blend in.
Screw it.
She settled on a swipe of the hairbrush, a swish of mouthwash, and a spray of cologne.

In the bedroom, she evaluated her cutoff denim shorts and oversized T-shirt. Most of the female partiers were wearing tiny scraps of fabric posing as bikinis.
Not a chance.
Her clothes were comfortable; she wasn’t changing them for anyone. Finally, she slid on leather sandals, stuck her keys in her pocket, and headed for the door.

From the landing at the top of the stairs, she scoped out the party. Always best to know her escape route ahead of time. Scanning the throng, she easily picked out Ben. He was the only guy being swarmed by a dozen women. She chuckled. So much for not being a player.

Steeling herself, she descended the stairs and took her time crossing the palm-lined courtyard. At poolside, she scanned the crowd and realized she truly didn’t know a soul except the rental agent.
I should keep it that way.

Caught in the shifting currents of bodies, she missed the coolers of beer on her first pass through the party, so she had to come around again. As she walked past a concrete planter filled with colorful tropical flowers, a lanky guy with dark blond hair latched onto her, his arm draping across her shoulders like a yoke.

“Hey, I’m Gary. Haven’t seen you around before,” he slurred.

“For good reason,” she mumbled and kept moving, resenting the uninvited intimacy of his touch with each step.

“Huh?”

She spotted the refreshments and turned in that direction.

“You lived here long?” Gary asked.

“A couple months.” Reaching the coolers, she squatted beside them, dislodging his arm. After selecting a Coors Light, she rose at an angle and took a quick step to the side to avoid his grasp.

He frowned with annoyance but stayed at her elbow as she moved away from the drinks and food. After finding a less busy place to stand, Amber popped open the can and took a drink. Gary filled the time with a monologue about his accounting profession, his chewing gum addiction, and his bottle cap collection. She tried to listen but found herself counting the minutes until she could politely excuse herself.

Finally, he ran out of steam and asked, “What do you do—”

“I work… a lot.”

“I mean do for fun.”

Nope, not giving any personal info to this dude.
Ignoring his question and easing around him, she surveyed the crowd for the rental agent whose name she couldn’t remember.

“Lookin’ for someone?” Gary asked.

“The lady who rented me the apartment. I need to thank her for inviting me to the party.”
And remind her to never ask me again.

Her gaze swept through the faces and slammed into a pair of intense blue eyes. They peered at her from between two almost naked women. The hottie gave her a sympathetic look. Amber blinked. For an ephemeral moment, she felt the jolt of a connection. Then a woman’s hand reached up and turned his face toward her for a kiss.

“Oh, you mean Lisa. I saw her over here.” Gary latched on again and led Amber toward a building at the edge of the courtyard.

She glanced over her shoulder and found the concerned blue eyes again. Then bodies shifted, and Ben disappeared.

Hoping Gary had actually spotted Lisa, she let him usher her away from the main crowd. The sooner she said good-bye to them both, the better. This guy smelled like trouble, and it wasn’t just the odors of booze, smoke, and sweat emanating from him. When she didn’t see Lisa, or anyone else for that matter, in the direction they were heading, she knew it was time for evasive measures.

“Oh, I see her over there,” she lied and tried to pull away.

“Nope, over here.”

Before she could make another move, Gary had her up against a wall. Anger began as a slow simmer deep in her belly.

“Now tell me how you like to have fun,” he slurred, leering down at her.

“I don’t have much.” Her brain formulated an escape plan.

“I can fix that.” One hand grasped her chin, and his mouth descended on hers.

She gagged and shoved against his chest. Her beer fell to the ground, splashing on her feet.

“So you like it rough, huh, babe? I can do rough.” He pressed his erection against her.

“No, Gary! Stop. I don’t want this.” Anger bubbled to the brim.

“That’s what they all say.”

He smashed her against the wall with his body and captured her mouth again. She managed to sink her teeth into his lower lip. He pulled back and gave her a lecherous sneer. Past his shoulder, she noticed someone coming toward them, but Gary framed her face with both hands and angled her head toward his before she could get the person’s attention.

He licked his lips. “God, I love ’em feisty.”

“Look, Gary, back off. Now!” She reined in her anger and gave him the benefit of the doubt. “You’ve had too much to drink, so I won’t take this personally. Just leave me alone.”

“Hard to get, huh? I can do hard.” He pumped his swollen dick into her belly.

She clenched her jaw. Anger boiled over. Why did they never listen?

“Okay, let’s have some fun,” she said, making her voice sickeningly sweet.

He lit up with a triumphant smile and took a step back. “Hot damn.”

His move gave her all the room she needed to bring her knee up sharply between his legs. Howling, he bent over and grabbed his groin. Her right hand slashed like a hatchet into his neck. Gary dropped to his knees.

“I can do hard too, asshole.” She stomped off before he could react. “That went well,” she muttered as she climbed the stairs to her apartment. Once inside, she slammed and locked the door.

Leaning against it, she took slow, even breaths to bring her heart rate down. Why did she even bother? It had taken only half an hour to be accosted and pawed by a Neanderthal. Not every guy was as creepy—or violent—as Jeremy, but the creeps far outnumbered the nice guys, as far as she could tell. Incidents like this reinforced her distrust of men. She was better off alone. She sighed. Oh how she wanted to believe that, needed to believe it.

But then the image of those intense blue eyes filled her memory. Loneliness swamped her. Although cut off from family and old friends, she didn’t dare make new ones.

Romance felt ridiculously foreign and out of reach. Thank goodness for romance novels. They kept her company without demanding anything in return. And that’s exactly what she needed: a glass of wine and her latest Sandra Brown book.

* * *

Ben Alfren loomed over Gary. “If you ever hassle her again, you’ll be sorry, dickhead.” He snorted. “Of course, it looks like you already are.”

He pushed his way through the crowd that had gathered to see what the commotion was about. Standing alone by the pool, he surveyed the complex and spotted the pretty blonde sprinting up the stairs.
Who is she? I’ve never seen her before.
The woman ducked into an apartment without ever glancing back at the party.

But he remembered the look in her eyes when their gazes connected. As lame as it sounded in his own head, he had felt some kind of connection. He’d been battling a bunch of pushy women, and she’d been dealing with a comparable man. Had they felt each other’s pain?

“Ben, wait for us,” two women called, sashaying around the pool toward him.

He rolled his eyes. “I gotta run an errand. Catch ya later.”

He made a beeline across the courtyard straight to the passageway leading to the parking garage. After darting around the corner, he peeked to be sure the women had given up the chase. Luckily, they were strolling back to the party. He smiled with relief.

Instead of actually entering the garage, he followed the sidewalk to the far end of the building. The back of the complex’s property hugged the western shoreline of San Diego Bay with an awesome view of the downtown skyline directly across the water and the San Diego–Coronado Bay Bridge just to the south. Ben spent several minutes admiring both before deciding on his direction.