Page 57 of Ravaged Hearts
“I won’t ask you to do anything dangerous. The last thing I want is to put you or your baby at risk. I just need information about the layout of the compound and the men guarding it. And when the time comes to execute my plan, I may need a distraction.”
She nodded. “I can do that.”
24
VAUGHN
Absolute shit showdidn’t come close to describing our situation.
After landing, our team made the hour-long drive from the city of Colima to Manzanillo, where we joined Sage’s crew at the beachside Airbnb functioning as their operations base.
The flurry of activity in the living room confirmed our diabolical current state of affairs. In the six hours since Hope’s convoy had disappeared inside the trucking depot, more than a dozen identical white vans had arrived at the facility then left again to make deliveries around Manzanillo. Some we followed with our team’s vehicles. Others we tracked using the drone or by hacking into traffic cams and other CCTV systems. The painstaking work had our entire team scrambling to keep tabs on their assigned targets.
We were breaking our backs trying to figure out which vehicle transported Hope and would lead us to the compound. So far, the maddening answer was…none of them. Either Hope and Ortega hadn’t left the depot yet, or they’d given us the slip. We’d have to revisit each location where a delivery had been made and look harder.
We had so much work to do, and I felt useless. My girl was out there trapped with the enemy, and I was here, pacing the terrace of our makeshift command center and going out of my fucking mind. A caged lab monkey on speed acted calmer than me. We needed to lock down a target fast so I had somewhere to direct my restless anxiety.
Kane approached with two steaming mugs in his hand. He offered me one. “Here. Drink this.”
We were all running on fumes, and with no sleep in sight, we’d have to fuel ourselves with caffeine.
I took the cup but couldn’t drink it. Just the thought made my stomach churn. At least holding the full mug forced me to stand still. Maybe that had been Kane’s intent, because the team had aimed many an uneasy glance at me. I didn’t give a shit if my snarling and stomping back and forth made people edgy.
Beside me, Kane leaned against the balustrade to look out over the bay’s calm water and gloomy skies. Our Airbnb sat halfway up a high hill. Below us sprawled a fancy white hotel dotted with tall palm trees, and at the shoreline, a small yacht club protected recreational powerboats. In the distance, dark mountains framed Manzanillo’s busy port facility, where tankers and other merchant ships waited to dock.
The sniper took a sip of coffee. “Do you remember when we were dealing with Matisse?”
Andre Matisse. The billionaire black-market arms dealer who’d made Kane’s girlfriend’s life a living hell until we’d been able to rescue her.
I glared at my teammate. “If you’ve come to remind me what a surly ass I was to your woman back then and point out how karma’s a bitch, your life expectancy is about to become significantly shorter.”
“I wasn’t going to say that.” He slurped from his mug againand smacked his lips. “Might’ve thought it, but I’m not dumb enough to say it to your face.”
I shook my head. Us guys were always straight with each other, and anyone who got butt hurt hearing the truth had to suck it up and deal with it. I supposed it was my turn.
I took a tentative sip of coffee. Nope. Bad idea. “Did you come to question me about what Shep said earlier?”
I got it. Everyone was uptight because Hope had sent the entire op into disarray. I didn’t condone her behavior, but Shep was out of line calling her a goddamn defector.
When we’d met up at the Airbnb, the hit man had offered me a reluctant apology, which I was pretty sure Sage had put him up to. Then Brandon had wisely assigned Shep a task outside the house to keep us out of each other’s way.
“Nah.” Kane shook his head. “I know what he said is bullshit.”
I exhaled a deep breath. “Hope dumped the trackers because she doesn’t want any of us to get hurt.”
“She’s worried about the team attacking the compound?” Kane asked with a hint of surprise. “But that’s our job. We’re trained for that shit.”
I pressed my lips together. “I know that. She knows that.”
“Then why would she do something so dumb? Selfless, yeah, but really fucking dumb.”
I clicked my tongue. “You don’t know what she’s been through. Hope’s lost people, and she blames herself for what happened to them. For years, she’s been drowning under the weight of it, and putting herself in the line of fire to protect others is the only way she can stay afloat.”
Kane sighed. “Okay. I think I get it.”
Of all the Zulu guys, Kane should be the most understanding, because he’d once held himself responsible for an op gone wrong that had cost civilian lives. It had messed him up so badly he’d left the team, ghosted his friends, and ended upliving in a dark place for a long time. It was Freya who’d pulled him out of it and given him renewed purpose. If it weren’t for her, we wouldn’t have the sniper back working with us.
I gestured through the doors toward the busy living room. “They’re only interested in finding the compound. They don’t give a shit about Hope. Half of them probably don’t trust her, and the other half think I’m a moron for getting involved with a cartel boss’s daughter in the first place.”