Rendition Protocol Page 18

  “Reconnaissance,” Cade said. “He went to Rojas’s to scope out where he could set up with his sniper rifle.” Stone walked in the door. “Well?” Cade said to him.

  “It’s going to be harder than I thought. But I think I have a spot.”

  “Where?” Ames said from the bedroom door.

  “You stay out of this,” Jana barked.

  Stone shook his head. “I’m on the next hillside over. There’s a lot of foliage and cover. It affords me a clear shot from that side of the compound.”

  “But, wait a second,” Jana said. “That’s a long way away, isn’t it?”

  “Not in sniper terms.”

  “How far?” Cade said.

  “Eleven hundred and sixteen yards,” Stone replied.

  “And that’s not far?” Cade said. “You’ve got to be kidding me. Eleven football fields away?”

  Stone made no reply.

  “He’s right,” Ames said as he walked cross-armed into the room. “When I was a handler, I arranged three ops that required shots longer than that. Believe me, if he’s certified as a Delta Force sniper, he can do it.”

  “No one is asking for your opinion,” Jana snapped. “How long is it going to take you to get into position?”

  “We’re going in now?” Stone said.

  “Tonight,” Jana said. “Shut up a minute while I make this call.” She dialed a number and let it ring. She said, “I’ll be there tonight at seven.”

  On the other end of the line was Diego Rojas. “Agent Baker, how pleasant of you to call.” Jana heard a woman’s muffled crying in the background. “But I have plans for tonight. I’m afraid I will be unavoidably detained.”

  Anger-infused adrenaline pushed into her veins. Rojas was abusing another woman. “I don’t give a shit who you are entertaining. I’ll be there to collect, and I expect you to have my second payment ready.”

  The woman screamed again, but to Jana, it sounded as if she was gagged. “You are a woman who does not know her place, Agent Baker.”

  “Don’t take that male-dominating tone with me, Rojas. The last man to do that ended up with his balls blown off and his face the color of purple eggplant.” She paused and let the statement sink in a moment. “You had no way to get to Gaviria. If you did, you wouldn’t have hired me to do the job. Now that the job is done, I expect to be paid, and paid in full. And you have other assignments for me, don’t you? Things have changed. Oficina de Envigado is well aware that their fearless leader is no more, and the heat is turning up. The stakes are higher, and with higher stakes comes a higher price.”

  “You disposed of Senior Gaviria’s body?”

  “Of course I did.”

  “We will discuss your next assignment tonight,” Rojas said. Just as he hung up the call, Jana heard the woman scream again. To her, it sounded like muffled terror.

  Cade said, “Jesus, Jana, you’re shaking like a leaf.”

  “I swear to God, I’m going to kill that son of a bitch,” she said.

  “What is it?” Stone said.

  Ames was looking in the other direction, but said, “The killing is the easy part, Jana. It’s living with it that’s hard.”

  She reeled toward him and opened her mouth but images popped into her mind’s eye. She was back at the cabin, tied to the chair with Rafael leering over her.

  Her chest heaved and she brought a hand to her throat then pulled it back the way a person might check themselves for blood.

  “Hey, Jana,” Cade said. “You still with us?” By way of distraction, he asked, “What happened with Pete Buck?”

  As she had finished recounting what she’d learned from Buck, her phone vibrated once. She glanced at the screen then held it for them to see. It was an incoming text message, which contained a single word, “Marzipan.”

  “It’s Buck again,” she whispered just above the tightening in her throat. “Christ, he must want to meet again. I just got back.”

  “He must have more information,” Stone said.

  “We don’t have time for this,” Jana said. “We’ve got to get ready for tonight.”

  Ames said in a low voice, “You better go find out what Buck has.”

  But a moment later, Cade’s computer chirped and everyone looked at it.

  “What?” he said. “Satellite connection coming back online. There’s only one way that’s happening.”

  They all knew what that meant, another call was about to come in from Lawrence Wallace.

  57

  Star on the Wall

  Cade’s initial thought was to try to use the reacquired satellite connection to communicate to Uncle Bill at NSA. They’d been cut off for over a day and not even the new SIM cards Pete Buck had slipped them would work to call off the island. It had been maddening. But no matter what Cade tried, his connectivity was still blocked.

  A chirp came across the laptop’s tiny speaker.

  “Here we go,” Cade said as Jana and Stone leaned over.

  Ames kept his distance. He was trying to tread lightly where Jana was concerned.

  Lawrence Wallace’s smug face appeared on the monitor. They could see his lips moving but heard nothing. A few moments later, the sound became audible.

  “. . . there’s not much time. You’re going to have to move right now.”

  “Wallace,” Cade said. “We didn’t get that. Your connection was broken. Say again.”

  “If you want to get Agent MacKerron out, now is your only opportunity.” Wallace fidgeted in his seat. “Do you hear me? I said you have to move now.”

  The three looked at one another. Jana said, “Wallace, what’s the sudden rush?”

  “It’s nothing that concerns you. The timetable has . . . shifted.”

  “Timetable? What timetable? And when are you so concerned about Kyle?” she said. Her tone was accusatory.

  “The sole concern of the Agency has always been the safe return of our agent.”

  Jana shook her head. “That’s crap and you know it.”

  “Whatever our differences, Agent Baker, the life of Kyle MacKerron hangs in the balance. Do you want him to end up a star on the wall at Langley? You are the only asset that can get to him.”

  “That’s bullshit too,” she said. “What about that team of operators that popped by last night to pick up Gaviria? They didn’t exactly look like they were on the island to pick up a little sun. Why don’t you send them in?” Jana was testing him.

  “Baker!” Wallace said as he fidgeted with his hands. “You are the only one that can get in that compound and pull him out. If a raid were attempted, Agent MacKerron wouldn’t stand a chance. Now I am ordering you to—” He stopped midsentence and spoke to someone just out of the camera’s range. “He’s what? How did that plane get so far so fast?” He turned back to his monitor. “Baker, you have to trust me. If you don’t go now, Agent MacKerron will be dead within the hour.”

  “Dammit!” Jana screamed. “How the hell do you know that? What has changed?"

  “It’s on a need-to-know basis.”

  “You want me to go into a den of drug lords and you don’t think I have a need to know? I swear to God, Wallace. When I’m done with Rojas, I’m coming for you.”

  From the back of the room, Ames said in a low, almost reverent voice, “Hidden agenda.”

  Jana looked back to the monitor. “Wallace, you’ve got five seconds to tell me what’s going on. Otherwise, get him out yourself.”

  Wallace became stone-faced. “Get him out now, or his blood will be on your hands.” He disconnected the call.

  58

  To Fan the Flames

  Little Orleans Market.

  Jana steered the Jeep around a tight curve and stopped behind the market. Buck was waiting. “What is it?” she said. “We were just here twenty minutes ago.”

  Buck’s voice was distant. “I just got off the phone with an informant.”

  “Spit it out.”

  “Gaviria’s body was just dumped at the front g
ate of Oficina de Envigado.”

  Jana was speechless. “His body? But CIA had Gaviria in custody. He was alive. What, did they kill him?”

  “I have no idea, but this is not good.”

  “If Gaviria’s body was just dumped at his own cartel’s front door, that means . . . that means Oficina de Envigado is about to declare war on Los Rastrojos.”

  Buck said, “Envigado will send every soldier they have. Rojas’s estate is about to become a war zone. And there’s more. A high-priority suspect is en route to the island. A terrorist named Karim Zahir. He’s apparently coming for a meet with Rojas.”

  Jana’s eyes sharpened. “This is it, isn’t it? This is what Wallace was so panicked about. He knew. That son of a bitch did this himself. He’s got something up his sleeve and this is his way of forcing my hand.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  “I’m going to get my friend.”

  “Jana, wait!” Buck yelled. But it was too late. The Jeep’s tires were already spinning.

  59

  An Object in Motion

  As the Jeep slid from one side of the dirt road to the other, Jana dialed Stone. When he picked up, she yelled into the phone. “Go now! I’ll be at the house in four minutes and I won’t be there more than two before I head to Rojas’s. You’ve got to be in position.”

  “Jesus, Jana. What happened to you tonight? Nineteen-hundred hours, remember? We have to plan.”

  “Move!” she screamed, then hung up the call.

  When she arrived at the safe house, Stone had already left. She jammed the brakes and skid across the parking area, then ran inside.

  Cade was on his feet. “What happened? Why are we going right now and not later tonight?”

  She blew past him and into the back bedroom. “What do you mean, we? You’re not going anywhere.” She flung open a wooden louvered closet door which slammed into its frame and began to wobble. She then yanked a dress off its hanger.

  “I have to go,” Cade said as he stood in the doorway. “You can’t expect just you and Stone are going to pull this off. What if you need help?” His voice faltered as he watched Jana throw her shirt and shorts to the floor. “What if you need a diversion or a secondary vehicle to get away?”

  Jana turned her back and dropped her bra to the ground, then threw the little black dress over her head and snugged into it. Cade tried to avert his eyes but couldn’t.

  “Where is Ames?” she said.

  “Your father? It might help if you could at least call him that.”

  “Where?”

  “Gone. I don’t know. When Stone took off, I turned around and he was nowhere.”

  Jana pulled out a small black purse then reached behind a chest of drawers. Her hand fumbled for a moment, then Cade heard the sound of Velcro ripping as she pulled out a fully-framed Glock 9 mm handgun.

  Cade said, “You don’t think you’re going to tuck that thing into that tiny dress, do you?”

  “No, nimrod, just grabbed the wrong handle, that’s all.” She reached behind the dresser again and placed the weapon back. Then she withdrew another, much smaller one. It was identical to the weapon she had used to teach her attacker, Montes Lima Perez, a lesson. She tightened the silencer and ensured a round was in the chamber, then tucked it into her purse. She pulled out a black Velcro strap that housed two extra magazines. Cade again tried unsuccessfully to avert his eyes as she propped her leg on the bed and pulled her skirt high enough so she could wrap the strap around her upper thigh. When she saw Cade staring, she said, “Get a good look?”

  “You offering?” he jabbed back.

  “No.”

  “So what’s changed? I’m going with you,” he said as he went out into the main room and grabbed a handgun from Stone’s bag.

  “Whatever, but you’re going to keep out of there. I can’t pull Kyle out and have to go back and get your ass too.”

  As they went out to the Jeep, Cade got in the driver’s seat. He said, “What did Pete Buck tell you this time? Why the sudden rush?”

  Jana looked into a mirror and dabbed her makeup and hair. “There’s a terrorist on his way. He and Rojas are going to consummate their business relationship.”

  “Which is?”

  “Money laundering to the tune of hundreds of millions.”

  “Lovely,” Cade said as he accelerated. “But that doesn’t explain the urgency. Why does this have to happen right now?”

  “Oh,” she said, “did I forget to mention that Gaviria’s body just showed up at the compound of Oficina de Envigado?”

  Cade nearly lost control of the vehicle. “What? He’s dead? How did—”

  “I don’t have time to draw you a picture. But once they see that body, there’s going to be a shitload of angry drug runners crashing the gates at Rojas’s place. It will be an all-out war. I’ve got to get Kyle out now, no matter what.”

  “Christ, Jana. We need backup. We can’t fend off fifty heavily armed men while you traipse inside to grab Kyle, from a locked cell, I might add. We need Uncle Bill. He could task a strike force down here in a heartbeat.”

  “Well since we still can’t so much as place a damned phone call to him, that point is moot.”

  “How are we going to play this? I mean, you’re going to, what, talk your way past the front gate?”

  “When we get close, you’re hopping out. I don’t stand a chance of getting past that guard with someone else in the car.”

  “How are you going to get past him in the first place? You aren’t supposed to be there until tonight.”

  Jana put her lipstick away and glanced at herself in the mirror one last time. She looked down at her exposed cleavage and said, “I’ll think of something.”

  60

  Arrival

  Morris Bay.

  The skids of the Quest Kodiak single-engine floatplane touched down in the calm waters of Morris Bay. Water sprayed from them in protest. The plane taxied toward a small, private dock. From the rear passenger seat, Karim Zahir pressed his dark sunglasses further up. He glanced out the windshield at Rojas’s estate and eyed two armed men standing on the dock.

  Zahir wore a long-sleeved, button-down shirt which was open several buttons. The light-colored suit jacket and slacks stood in sharp contrast to his dark features. A beautiful young woman with bronze skin sat quietly next to him.

  Zahir ran his eyes down her body and grinned. He leaned to her. “If you want to be alive,” he whispered, “you will stay very, very quiet.”

  Her lower lip began to tremble.

  “Mr. Zahir?” the pilot said when he saw the men at the dock carrying automatic weapons. “This is MorrisBay, Antigua, sir. But are you sure we’re in the right place?”

  “Of course I am sure. Do not let the crudeness of my business associates’ security detail disturb you. It is all for show.”

  The pilot swallowed. “Yes, sir.” He steered the craft until it floated gently to the dock, where one of the guards took hold. The guard opened the plane’s side door and held it.

  “Stay here,” Zahir said to the pilot, “and be prepared. I do not like to be kept waiting.” He stepped onto the plane’s float then onto the dock. The woman followed him, yet, in her high heels, she nearly slipped. “My business will be concluded within the hour, then I will depart.”

  “Do you mean you both will be departing, sir?” the pilot said.

  Zahir looked down the woman’s dress. “No, I will depart alone. My associate here has other business to conduct and will remain.”

  When she saw the grin on Zahir’s face, she shrunk from him.

  61

  Jitters No More

  “Here is where you get out,” Jana said to Cade as they pulled closer.

  Cade stopped the vehicle and hopped out while Jana slid to the driver’s seat. He tucked the weapon he had taken from Stone’s bag under his shirt. “Be careful,” he said.

  But just after accelerating away, she said, “Being careful is exactly wh
at I’m not going to do.”

  Cade disappeared into the tropical foliage and moved in the direction of the compound.

  Jana turned the Jeep up the driveway but stopped short. She took a few breaths and glanced at her right hand. She had been gripping the steering wheel so hard she had not noticed the shaking. You’ve spent the last year training for something like this, something you hoped would never happen. She closed her eyes and exhaled in one long motion. This is it. And with that, all the jitters left her body.

  62

  Flesh and Lead

  From his perch on the opposing hillside, Stone focused the Leupold rifle scope. He scanned the front of the estate and down to the guardhouse at the entrance gate. Something in his peripheral vision moved and he squinted in its direction but could make out nothing. He started to move the scope to take a closer look but when he saw the Jeep approaching, he zoomed his view closer to see the guard.

  Jana pulled the vehicle to a stop in front of the guard shack and assumed a playful grin. The same guard she had encountered before stared at her and let his eyes run to her chest. When he finally looked her in the eye, she returned the favor by running her own eyes down his body. After all, a little flirtation couldn’t hurt.

  But when he shifted his automatic weapon to the front of his body, she straightened.

  His voice was salty. “You are not on the schedule until seven.”

  Try one more time, she thought. She leaned an elbow in the open window, propped her head onto her hand, then tilted it. “I know,” she said. She reached out and let her fingers run delicately across his hand. “Things got a little busy. So I thought I’d come early.”