Chapter 2

SAWYER CHAPMAN DROPPEDinto a seat on the Fortress Security jet assigned to their team and heaved a deep sigh. Days of little to no sleep and little food while on the run had taken their toll on him and his teammates. A band of brothers, that was the Texas Team. A group of former cops who now worked for an elite private security company in Nashville, Tennessee were finally helping those who needed it most without having to worry about following a formal set of rules.

After so many days on the run and delivering the Argentina hostages to their families, he and his teammates were ready to go home. Sawyer had been dreaming of a long soak in his garden tub to rid himself of the grit and grime after the hard week abroad. His teammates wanted to be home with their wives or, in the case of their medic, girlfriend.

He was the last single man on their team. Sawyer shrugged. Of all the men, he could choose to eat dinner standing up, drink milk from the carton, or pick any action movie he wanted without having to cater to his woman’s preferences. A great thing.

Right. So, why was he reluctant to go home to an empty house despite the draw of the garden tub with pulsing jets to soothe his aching body?

Brody’s phone signaled an incoming call. Their team leader frowned and answered the call. “You’re on speaker with Texas Team.”

“Conference call with Brent in five minutes,” Zane Murphy, their tech and communication guru, said and ended the call.

Logan growled. “The last time we had a call like this at the end of an op, Poppy was missing.”

“Relax,” Max said. “If one of our women was in trouble, Z would have called the husband or boyfriend directly.”

“I don’t like it either,” Jesse muttered. “Simone is just back on her feet. What if she had a relapse?”

“Speculation won’t solve the mystery.” Sawyer stood. “Let’s go to the conference table and find out what’s going on.”

His teammates followed in his wake. They settled around the conference table as Brody booted up the computer and set up the video conference.

A minute later, Brent Maddox, CEO of Fortress Security, appeared on the wall screen. “I’ve instructed your pilot to make a detour.”

Detour? Sawyer’s heart skipped a beat. That was the signal for a new mission. They were being deployed again after a grueling week? This new mission must be time sensitive.

“Hostage situation in Mexico.”

Sawyer and his teammates groaned.

“Save it,” Brent snapped. “A plane out of Talca, Chile was hijacked yesterday and forced to land in Pozo Rico, Mexico. From there, the hijackers took fifteen passengers out of 225 from the plane, stuffed them in a panel van, and disappeared.”

“Do we have any information to point us in the right direction?” Brody asked. “Mexico is a large country. Lots of places to disappear, including the jungles.”

“Not yet. Z and Simone are chasing down rumors on the Net. By the time the jet lands near Pozo Rico, they should have something for you.”

“Do we know who’s responsible for the hijacking?” Logan asked.

“Nothing concrete. The Pozo Rico airport officials think Vatos Locos is to blame.”

Sawyer’s hands fisted. “They’re known for human trafficking.” High-risk move, hijacking a plane. So many things could have gone wrong. Why hadn’t the op blown up in their faces?

Brent inclined his head in silent agreement. “They’ve been branching out in the past two years as well. Trafficking people for the sex trade isn’t enough money for them. They’ve begun holding people for ransom.”

But to risk reprisal from American officials and the Federales made little sense.

“Who requested we rescue the hostages?” Max asked.

“Rowan and I are asking you to mount a rescue. David Moran and his sister Janie are long-time friends of my wife’s. I know you’re exhausted, but Rowan is begging you to rescue Janie. I’m asking for a favor. You’re the closest team and time is running out before the hijackers decide to cut their losses.”

“Transportation when we land?” Brody asked.

“Two SUVs will be waiting for you. I’ll send you the coordinates of an extraction point as soon as we have a probable location of the hostages. Based on the area where Vatos Locos lives, the trek out of their territory will be long and arduous.”

Terrific. Sawyer bet they’d be walking through the jungle before they reached an evacuation point. Should be a fun journey with fifteen hostages in various states of shock and injuries. Not.

“Restock from the jet’s storage. I know it won’t be enough, but it’s all you have access to at the moment. I’ll arrange an airdrop of supplies if you need them. Also, the friend who’s loaning you his vehicles will provide as many supplies as he can put together for your use.”

“Have ransom demands been received?” Logan asked.

“Negative.”

Sawyer and his teammates exchanged grim glances. That wasn’t a good sign.

“Send the information when you get it,” Brody said. “We’ll need as much time as possible to plan, boss.”

“I’m on it. I’ve already sent you a map with the Vatos Locos’s territory marked. We’re working as fast as we can to get you more.” He dragged a hand down his face. “I owe you big for this.”

“No, sir,” Brody said. “We’re glad to help. Tell Rowan we’ve got this. We’ll get her friend out and bring her home.”

After a curt nod, Brent ended the transmission.

Brody checked his email. “Got it. I’ll put this up on screen and we’ll see what we’re facing.”

The map appeared on the wall a minute later. Sawyer grimaced. Most of the Vatos Locos’s territory included sizeable areas of jungle. Of course it did. Holy cow. If they didn’t get a hint on what direction to take, finding Janie Moran and the other hostages could take weeks. By then, it would be too late to save any of the victims. None of them wanted to face Rowan Maddox and tell her they’d failed to rescue her friend.

Max sighed. “I hate jungles. Are we ever going to rescue hostages from a cushy resort by the beach?”

Logan snorted. “Don’t think Willow would approve of you ogling beach babes in bikinis.”

His teammate grinned at the mention of his wife. “Probably not. By the way, I wouldn’t be ogling beach bunnies. Not interested in any woman except Willow.”

“How long is the Vatos Locos reach?” Jesse asked.

“All the way into the United States and Canada,” Brody said as he scanned something on his phone. “Zane is feeding us information, and so is Simone. At last count, thirty gangs in our country and Canada are affiliated with the original group in Mexico. Law enforcement estimates the membership numbers near 10,000 now.”

“No way the hijackers remained around Pozo Rico,” Sawyer murmured as he studied the map. “The city is on the far edge of their territory. They’ll want the hostages in an area where they won’t be spotted by nosy neighbors. If I kidnapped fifteen people, I’d run for the jungle and disappear.”

“Unfortunately, I agree with you.” Brody shook his head. “We need a likely direction to be effective. Vatos Locos could have taken the hostage anywhere within hundreds of square miles, including the interior of a sizable jungle.”

“Staring at the map of their territory isn’t doing us any good,” Logan said. “You heard the boss. Time to restock our supplies and see what we lack. We may have to procure supplies before we set off on this op.”

Sawyer’s lips curved. Procure was a fancy word for steal. He was okay with that. Whatever they needed to do to save those hostages was allowed in his book.

“We need an arsenal to take on Vatos Locos,” Max said. “I don’t think the jet has enough ammunition and weapons to win a war.”

“We’ll make do or get more,” Brody said. “Let’s get to it. We need to be ready to move out as soon as we’re wheels down.”

Over the following four hours, Zane and Simone funneled information into their email. If the information they dug up on the dark web was accurate, the team had a general location where Vatos Locos had set up their camp for holding human trafficking victims before selling them and delivering them to the buyers. Since no one had located the camp yet, it made a secure place to hold hostages.

Like Sawyer had expected, the area most likely for them to look was in the middle of a jungle. Terrific. He looked at his team leader. “We’ll have to rappel from a helicopter to save time and allow us to reach the hostages faster.”

“Although you’re right, I’m concerned the chopper noise will draw too much attention. I’ll talk to the boss and see what he can work out. We’ll take the SUVs as far as we can. I don’t want word leaking to Vatos Locos that a group of foreign mercenaries packing heavy landed at the Pozo Rico airport. Too great a chance we’ll spook the terrorists or give them an opportunity to set a trap. Neither option will help us or the hostages.”

He looked at his teammates. “Gear ready?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Excellent. Back to the conference table. We have a likely target area. Let’s create a plan of attack. We have little time before we’re wheels down.”

The team sat around the table and hashed out a plan of action. Sawyer shook his head as the discussion wound down. “This isn’t good enough. We don’t have enough information.”

“We’ve gone into ops with less,” Max said.

“It will have to do.” Brody shut down the computer. “We don’t have a choice, Sawyer. Janie and the other hostages are counting on us to rescue them. If we fail, the likelihood that the women will be sold into sex trafficking is high, as is the sure bet that the men will die, especially if a ransom demand isn’t met.”

“Even if it’s met,” Logan said. “We all know how this works. Why not make money twice? Once for ransom and once for a sale. Based on the information Simone sent us a few minutes ago, none of the hijackers were wearing masks. That makes the hostages witnesses.”

“Why didn’t law enforcement stop them?” Jesse frowned. “They know who these guys are. Why didn’t they prevent them from leaving the area?”

“Fear,” Brody said. “This gang is large and holds a great deal of power, mostly through threats and intimidation. They’ve also greased the right palms to convince politicians and many law enforcement officers to look the other way. Like always, we don’t have friends in this part of the world on an official basis. Any help we might receive will be on the down low, but I wouldn’t count on anyone having our backs. We operate as though we’re on our own.”

Wonderful. The team was on its own again in hostile territory. Using the name Fortress wasn’t an option in this part of Mexico. They’d end up lost in the prison system and dead within days. “Do we have a photo of Janie Moran?” Sawyer asked. He hadn’t seen one in his email from either computer tech.

“Just came through. It should be in your email now.”

Sawyer opened the latest email and stared at the photo of the woman who was Rowan’s friend. Holy smoke. Ms. Moran was drop-dead gorgeous. He whistled. “She’s beautiful.”

“Did you look at the photos of the other hostages?” Brody asked, amusement in his voice.

Sawyer’s face burned. “I was getting to it.”

His teammates chuckled.

Whatever. A man could look, right? He ignored his teammates and returned to the email with the photos of the other hostages.

For the next few minutes, he studied the photos, memorizing each face. When he’d finished, Sawyer returned to the picture of Janie Moran. The sweetness in her eyes, the pure joy in her expression as the photo was taken caught at his heart. He couldn’t stand the thought of terrorists selling her to the highest bidder. If she survived the life for long, she’d never be the same. The joy would be snuffed out like a candle, and that would truly be a tragedy.

Ten minutes later, he was still staring at her photo when the pilot announced they were approaching the private air strip Brent had secured permission to use. After a last lingering look, Sawyer slid the phone into his pocket and buckled his seatbelt.

If all went according to plan, he’d see Janic Moran in person in a matter of hours. For her sake, he hoped their plans could be followed to the letter.