Chapter 10

The water lapped against Emersyn's ankles as she and Layton strolled along Waikiki Beach Saturday morning, Diamond Head looming in the distance. It was another perfect day in paradise, and the sand was packed with families vacationing, couples, and locals alike.

"Can you believe you live here now?" Layton asked. "I'm so jealous!"

"It kind of doesn't feel real yet," Emersyn admitted, the hard, packed sand at the water's edge firm beneath her feet. She paused, watching the waves coming in. "Everything's continuing on in Virginia like before, and here I am, thousands of miles away. I can go to the office and then hit the beach by dinner. It's crazy."

"Virginia Beach is a lot closer than Hawaii," Layton teased.

"And still a long drive from the DC area," Emersyn countered. "I'm literally blocks away from the ocean now, living on an island in the middle of the Pacific. Life is wild."

"I guess you haven't heard from Aaron yet?" Layton asked.

"Nope." Emersyn started walking again, her sister following along. "He said he'd text when they get back." She shrugged. "I'll be busy this week getting used to my new office. I assume I'll hear from him when he's back, but…."

"Oh, come on. Of course you will."

Emersyn frowned. "It's kind of a unique life that he leads. If we did somehow end up a couple—way in the distant future," she added, catching her sister's smirk. "If that happened, that would be my life, too. We'd make plans. He might have to disappear. And I'd never know where he was or when he'd be back."

"But how many men would look at you the way he does? Em, you might've just met, but even on the beach he was hovering over you protectively. That was hot."

Emersyn slanted her a look. "I wasn't breathing."

"After that. He brushed your hair back, carefully checked that bump on your head, and only had eyes for you. I was married, and I'm pretty sure my husband never looked at me like that."

"Tiny dick? I thought we weren't mentioning him this week."

Layton snorted. "I've got to pick up Caroline from him Monday night."

"That sucks, but at least he's involved in her life. While I will always think he's a total dick for cheating on you, he's tolerable as a dad." Emersyn flicked her hair over her shoulder and shot her sister a knowing look.

"Tolerable?" Layton laughed.

"Well, I can't in good conscience give him too high of a compliment."

"Amen."

Emersyn's phone buzzed, and she pulled it from her pocket, her heart skipping a beat. It wasn't Aaron. Of course it wasn't. She frowned as she re-read the text again.

"What is it?" Layton asked, noticing the expression on her face.

"I'm getting called into work early," Emersyn said, looking at her phone in confusion.

"On a Saturday? But you haven't started your new job yet. I assume you need a new badge or something to get into your new office building."

"Yes and no. I still have clearances and accesses, so they could look up my information with a photo I.D. This is really weird though. They're asking me to come in this afternoon to be briefed on something."

"Really? Why would they need you to come in now?" Layton questioned. "You're supposed to be there bright and early Monday morning."

Emersyn shook her head. "I'm not sure. I'm here to focus on the illegal drug trade in Hawaii, but certainly other analysts are familiar with the nitty gritty details." She let out a sigh. "Maybe someone who's leaving needs to brief me. Ugh," she added as her phone buzzed again. "One of the DEA Agents offered to pick me up. I'll just drive over myself. Guess I'm getting a crash course in how things are run in the office."

She thumbed back a message while Layton frowned. It sucked to be called into work, but what could she do? It would look bad to refuse to come in if something urgent was going on. And if she was simply meeting with an employee who was leaving? It made sense to be briefed by them before starting her new position.

***

Emersyn held her driver's license up, clearly stating her name for the armed security guard. His eyes shifted from her photo to her, then he waved her through the gate. She pulled into the mostly empty parking lot, briefly glancing up at the clear blue sky. It was disappointing to be called into work on a Saturday, especially on her sister's last day in Hawaii, but such was life. She couldn't exactly start her new job by refusing to come in.

After a quick swipe of lip gloss, she made sure her hair was in place. Stripping off her bikini to quickly shower and put on a business suit had been an entirely new level of suckiness, but she'd deal. Transferring to Hawaii felt like a working vacation as it was.

Emersyn had twisted her blonde hair back into a secure bun, and slid into heels for the first time in a week. Pulling her hair tightly had made her wince because of the tender bump still on her head, but it was nothing a little Advil hadn't been able to dull.

She grabbed her leather tote bag and after locking her car doors, strode toward the building, her heels clicking on the asphalt. A car horn beeped on the busy road, and then her gaze swept back to the glass doors of her office building, her reflection appearing before her.

"Ms. O'Connell," a man said, opening the door from inside the lobby. "I'm Special Agent Mathers."

"Emersyn O'Connell," she said, shaking his hand.

"You'll receive a new badge on Monday morning to get into the premises, but I'll escort you around today given you won't be able to access any of the secure spaces."

"Great, thanks," she said, noticing the way his gaze briefly coursed over her. He had to be about ten years her senior, but she also spotted a wedding ring on his finger. She let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding.

"We've got IT staff here today as well, but you should be able to log on to a workstation using your current credentials. One of the analysts here is being transferred to the L.A. office," he explained as they walked down the hall. "PCS. She's in the process of moving this weekend, with movers at her apartment right now, but the branch chief thought a brief meeting was prudent given some recent developments regarding the Sinaloa Cartel. He appreciates you being able to come in so quickly."

"Of course," Emersyn said. "I might as well get up to speed."

"Have you met Rick yet?" he asked.

"No. This is my first time here. If he came to the DC office, I never met him."

"Understood." The agent swiped his badge, and then they entered a secure area. They passed multiple cubicles, all empty for the weekend. "You'll be working in here. They'll show you around on Monday and get you assigned to a cube. Your division chief's office is there," he said with a nod toward a closed door. "Rick, your branch chief, has a smaller space just down this corridor."

She followed along, noting it looked similar to her old office building in Virginia. A secure vault full of cubicles, with offices lining the sides for the higher-ups. At least the space had windows. Some government buildings were completely drab and dark inside, the workers in the basement offices never seeing the sunlight unless they went up to the main level.

"And here's the conference room," Special Agent Mathers said as they reached another door.

Emersyn walked in and was introduced to her new boss, Rick, as well as the analyst who was leaving.

"Welcome aboard," Rick said after giving her a firm handshake. "And thank you for coming in on such short notice."

"Of course. I understand this pertains to a recent incident involving the Sinaloa Cartel?"

"It does. Please take a seat, and we'll bring you up to speed."

Emersyn sat down, frowning as she saw the photographs of a man and a woman appear on the big screen. The analyst she was replacing stood at the front of the room, clicking on a laptop and then directing their attention to the first slide. "Eric Wilder is a DEA contractor based out of Texas. He and his fiancée, Kim Burgess, were kidnapped in Mexico one week ago. It's believed that Wilder initiated contact with a leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, Alejandro Lopez, requesting a meeting with him while on vacation in Cancun, Mexico."

She sat up straighter, listening as the analyst continued, then stilled in shock as she was briefed on an operation to rescue the pair by U.S. Special Forces. Aaron and his Navy SEAL teammates had just deployed on a mission several days ago. While the timing lined up, she had doubts that's where he deployed. There were multiple SEAL teams stateside that were closer to Cancun. Surely, a team based in Hawaii wouldn't be the first one sent in. But what if he was there? Her heartbeat sped up.

"We assess that the cartel took a meeting with Wilder in an attempt to gain information on U.S. counternarcotics operations in Mexico. They are trying to stay one step ahead of U.S. actions against them."

"That aligns with their recent motivations," Emersyn said. "The Sinaloa Cartel has attempted contact with American tourists in multiple locations over the past month, mistakenly believing that they had connections to the Federal Government," Emersyn confirmed.

"Several tourists here in Honolulu were also approached," the other analyst said. "However, we assess that incident was in an attempt by the cartel to obtain help from visitors to the island to move illegal drugs out of Hawaii. While the cartel often illegally ships drugs through packages here on the islands, relying on the postal service or other shipping agencies, they're looking for people to aid in the movement of narcotics, whether they're aware of their involvement or not.

Special Agent Mathers shifted in his seat, his gaze swinging to Emersyn. "We made an arrest last week in coordination with TSA. A passenger was discovered trying to leave Oahu with a suitcase full of meth and fentanyl."

"Did they know the drugs were in their luggage?" Emersyn asked. "Or was it a set-up?"

"Although they professed their innocence, we believe the traveler knowingly planned to traffic drugs out of the islands and onto the mainland," Mathers confirmed.

"They're recruiting tourists for multiple purposes," Emersyn said. "They want to move their product but are also attempting to stay one step ahead of the law by gathering information."

The analyst clicked to another slide. "We assess that Wilder was aware of the recent incidents involving the cartel seeking Federal employees to bribe in exchange for classified information and wanted in on the action. He's a sys admin but had access to classified files on the secure servers. Surveillance footage shows Wilder and his fiancée at Paradise Vista Cancun last Saturday night. A man matching Alejandro Lopez's description was seen there that evening as well, and witnesses state they saw the three of them together. We don't have any footage from security cameras confirming the meeting, but all three were seen separately on surveillance."

"What did Wilder request at the meeting?" Emersyn asked with a frown. "Was he definitely after cash?"

"We don't know. Wilder and Burgess never flew home to Texas, and their families reported their disappearance to U.S. authorities."

"How did they get a rescue operation in motion so quickly?" she asked in confusion.

"Wilder has connections," her boss explained. "His father is a U.S. representative, and the man raised hell to get a team in to stage a rescue op. Although Wilder's fiancée, Kim Burgess, was rescued in an operation early this morning in a joint mission involving U.S. and Mexican Special Forces, Wilder himself is missing."

She looked at him in surprise. "Missing? What does the fiancée say?"

"According to Burgess, Wilder was taken out of the bedroom where they were being held together. She doesn't know what happened to him after that. A Spec Ops team raided the building and rescued her, searching the entire residence without finding any signs of him. Kim Burgess was flown back to U.S. soil to meet with authorities and receive medical attention. We should have her complete statement from investigators soon."

"Do we have records of all Wilder's recent travels? I wonder if he's made contact with Lopez before," Emersyn mused.

"We don't have his travel records," her new boss said. "We need that documentation, stat. I'll contact the Texas office as soon as this briefing is over," he said, making a note. He looked back up at her. "You've been doing extensive research on the Sinaloa Cartel's involvement with tourists outside of the continental U.S."

"Yes," she said. "The cartel's interest in travelers is a huge problem here on the island with thousands of tourists flying in daily. I was tracking some of that back in DC and will be fully examining it further while here on my TDY. If the cartel can move vast amounts of drugs through people, either on their person or in luggage, they've got a whole other avenue to move and sell their illegal drugs."

"They're likely doing the same thing in Cancun," the other analyst said. "They've been getting closer to the tourist hotspots for years."

"Exactly. No doubt they're targeting foreigners. They not only want to sell their illegal narcotics to tourists, they want to move their product into the States. We need to find out how many times Wilder has been to Cancun. Does he have financial troubles? Has he been making large purchases recently? He may very well be feeding intelligence to the cartel on U.S. counternarcotics measures to make bank. Either way, he's missing, and given his knowledge of DEA classified materials, it's extremely concerning that he'd knowingly meet with a cartel leader."

Her new boss looked at her. "We'll be bringing in additional analysts on this, but given your background, you'll be taking point. I want everything on the cartel's known recent contact with American travelers. Every avenue that's been used. Several Americans have reported it to authorities, but most probably didn't bother. Let's look at the raw intelligence in addition to getting Wilder's travel records. Whatever his reasons for seeking out a meeting with Lopez, it's a damn problem. There's no reason a DEA IT guy would be there in any official capacity or have any reason to meet with the member of a notorious cartel. Aside from the issue of locating Wilder, we need to know the extent of his involvement with the cartel leader."