WE REACHED THE rallying point without incident. The sound of intermittent gunfire behind us in the distance reminded me we’d left several of the assault team behind. Buck answered Lalo’s challenge and he let us pass. Artemis padded over to greet us, tongue lolling from the heat. Lauren glanced at me to see if it was all right to pet her. I nodded. She put out a tentative hand, and Artemis moved closer and licked her face. Abby squirmed in my arms, and I set her down so she could pet the German Shepherd, too. Loaded up and ready to go, Lalo and Hector joined us, anxious to find out how things went.
“Anaya put me in the wrong room, but Quinn and the others found it.” I searched the shadows behind me. Darkness had fallen and I couldn’t see much.
“Did anybody smoke Anaya?” Lalo asked.
“I didn’t see his body, so I can’t say for sure.” I’d learned the hard way to never assume a person was dead unless you had verification.
Buck suggested we rest before continuing. I sat down on a rock near the dry riverbank with Abby in my lap. Lauren sat beside me. The sound of fighting became less pronounced as the minutes ticked by. The sun disappeared below the horizon and dusk turned into night.
Even though she had to be exhausted, Abby grew restless in my arms. I ran my hand through her hair and murmured in her ear, hoping to calm her. Buck noticed and walked over.
“How you doin’, Abby?” he asked, squatting so he could look her in the eye.
Abby took a deep breath. “I want to go home,” she said, a stern expression on her face.
“We’re almost there, sweetie. But first, you get to go on a helicopter ride.”
Lauren and Abby both perked up at the mention of the helicopter. Distracted for the moment, Abby gasped. She turned to me, her mouth a small O.
“We’re going on a hellacopper?” she asked, her eyes wide.
“We are,” I answered. I didn’t think her little heart could beat any faster, but with the anticipation of seeing her father again, coupled with a ride in a helicopter and all the excitement she’d just been through, it galloped.
The two sisters looked at each other in surprise. I felt my shoulders inch away from my ears at the picture of two safe little girls.
Moments later, the distant clack of the belt-fed machinegun erupted behind us. Alarmed, I glanced at Buck. He shot to his feet. With Abby in my arms, I struggled to my feet, my heart pounding. Both the girls were quiet.
“Shit,” Buck muttered. “The M-60. That means they’re coming after us. Hector—” he called out. Hector sprinted over to see what he wanted. “Take Kate and the girls to the pickup zone. Call the bird when you get there.” He turned to me. “Go with Hector. We’ll be right behind you.” He handed me a pair of NVGs, which I slid on.
Hector reached for Abby and, grateful, I handed her to him. Hector was stronger and well rested. His taking Abby would make it easier to cover more ground. I took Lauren by the hand and the four of us set off at a run toward the pickup zone.
“Trip wire,” Hector warned and we approached the double Xs Quinn had used to mark the wire. We carefully skirted the trap and continued on. Someone would remove the markers on the way back in the off chance Anaya’s gunmen forgot the mine was there.
“If his men are aware Anaya had been killed, why are they coming after us?”
“Too much confusion, probably. Word hasn’t gotten back to them yet,” Hector replied.
Or he’s not dead, I thought.
Hector veered northwest, and we left the dry riverbed behind, heading up a small rise marked by a piece of glint tape. The terrain changed to scrub and desert trees and we picked our way through, careful to avoid holes in the ground where an ankle could twist.
We reached the perimeter of the pickup zone a short while later. One of the commandos from the security team materialized from behind a rock and issued a security challenge. Hector answered him and he stood aside.
Two commandos met us as we made our way to the center of the zone. Hector handed Abby to me and spoke into his headset, calling the pilot. The other two commandos set up the strobes in a Y pattern, separated by several yards. The five infrared lights pulsed in the darkness, ready to guide the helicopter in for a landing. I could see why Quinn had chosen the site: devoid of trees, the flat expanse of desert had a large area for landing the group of commandos as well as an aircraft.
Lauren and Abby stood next to me and we watched the others as they prepared for the pickup. I kept looking back the way we’d come, hoping to see the rest of the group, but saw only scrub.
I wondered what Anaya had meant when he’d told me I had no idea what the information signified. He’d grabbed the computer when the commandos showed up, but if he’d been killed then the information didn’t matter anymore. Part of me wished I could have seen it. He’d been so surprised. The other part never wanted to have anything to do with Anaya, the cartels, or even Mexico, again.
One of the guys came over and handed me a radio transmitter. Thanking him, I slipped it over my ear in time to hear Quinn say, “ETA five mikes.” I breathed a sigh of relief. He made it.
Several commandos came toward us from the southeast, with Quinn in front. I counted fourteen. With the three that were here, that left two unaccounted for. I scanned the group, trying to figure out who hadn’t made it back yet. The only ones I didn’t see were Buck and Fernando.
Quinn stopped and spoke to two of his men before he headed our way.
“What happened? Where are Buck and Fernando?” I asked.
“Anaya’s forces came after us. Pascal and Carlos opened up on the compound, launching grenades and delaying them with sniper fire until we were able to move the M-60 to the ORP. Anaya’s men followed, but we cut them down mid-assault. Buck stayed behind to cover Fernando while he booby-trapped the riverbed to catch anybody coming after us. They should be here in a few minutes.”
“And Anaya? Why did his gunmen follow you? If they knew he’d been killed, they wouldn’t have.”
“They know now.” Quinn scanned the rest of the group, found Daria, and got her attention. She ran over to see what he wanted.
“Daria confirmed the kill.” Quinn nodded at her.
“Back of the head,” Daria said. “I thought you might want a memento.” She smiled as she reached in her ruck and pulled out Anaya’s iPad, handing it to me. It looked intact. I stared at her, and at the tablet, speechless.
“Thank you,” I managed.
“Any time, Kate. I’m glad we got the bastard.”
“Thanks, Daria. That’s all for now,” Quinn said. Daria nodded and left to join the others.
I stared at the tablet in my hands. “Whatever it was that he accessed on the computer, it must have been huge. He doesn’t surprise easily.”
“Aren’t you going to boot it up? The information is probably still on there. I doubt he had time to shut it down.”
“How long until the chopper gets here?” I asked.
“A few minutes,” he said. “You have time. I’ll be over here if you need me.” He walked away to join the group. Catching sight of Buck and Fernando, I waved, relieved they’d returned.
I pressed the button and the iPad flickered to life. A spreadsheet with account numbers in one column, dollar amounts, dates, and names in the others appeared on the screen. I doubted that would have surprised Anaya. So what? A bunch of old bank accounts from a decade ago. The owners had probably changed banks and account numbers by now. I looked more closely at the names listed in the far left column. Several of them were familiar: known leaders of each of the drug cartels active in Mexico at the time.
I still didn’t get why Anaya had been so surprised. I scrolled back to the top of the page. Fulcrum Industries’ familiar gray and white logo had been embedded in the spreadsheet.
Why would an international mining company worth billions be listed on the same page as dozens of Mexican drug lords? Did they have their fingers in cartel business, too?
The thwap thwap of the rotor blades broke the silence as the helicopter approached the pickup zone. My questions would have to wait. Lauren squeezed my hand and I squeezed back. Abby leaned against my legs, watching the big bird flare above the strobes, hover for a moment and land.
Pascal motioned for us to come forward and board the aircraft. I picked Abby up and turned toward Pascal. Lauren slipped her hand in mine and we ran to the chopper, ducking our heads at the rotor wash.
We were going home.