Sworn to Protect (29 page)

Chapter 54

You’ll find us rough, sir, but you’ll find us ready.

Charles Dickens

Alex rode in Ed’s truck in pursuit of Lucy’s car. Humidity hung in the air, and clouds drowned the stars and moon. The combination did nothing to boost Alex’s hope for Danika’s rescue. He prayed and fretted. Prayed and fretted.
O ye of little faith.

“They have at least a fifteen-minute head start,” Alex said.

“But the Border Patrol is waiting for them on the U.S. side and the Mexican police on the other.” Ed pressed the gas pedal. “And we’ve called for a helicopter to assist.”

Alex’s worst fears rose to the surface. “I’m concerned about a shoot-out in Reynosa between the Mexican police and one of the drug gangs.”

Ed didn’t respond.

How could Danika survive? Reynosa was a constant bloodbath. They weren’t going to make it in time. Lucy would drive into a barricade, and that would be the end of one courageous Border Patrol agent. And Alex hadn’t told Danika he was falling in love.

* * *

From the jostle inside the trunk, Danika realized Lucy had turned off onto a dirt road—which could be anywhere.

“Toss your shoe on the road,” she said to Nadine. “In fact, let’s leave anything we can.”

In the next few minutes, both pairs of shoes were tossed out, hopefully leaving a trail. Danika didn’t want to think it would be a path to their bodies. No car followed them or they would have seen the headlights. The car sped along, hitting all the potholes and bouncing them all over the trunk. Nadine squirmed against her.

“What are you doing?”

“My bra,” Nadine said. “Never liked it anyway, and I don’t have much to fill it.”

Any other time, Danika would have laughed. Now she wondered if she could wiggle out of hers. No matter how hard she strained her ears for the pulsating
whew-whew
of a police car, all that greeted her was silence.

“My parents will never find out how much I love them,” Nadine whispered. “They will forever believe I helped Lucy commit horrible crimes.”

“Don’t believe that for an instant. Jacob and Barbara know you, their daughter.”

“I lay awake at night and dreamed about how we used to laugh and have good times before Uncle Toby died.”

Danika yearned for the same thing. “We’ll have them again. I found out your parents are working out their differences. Your dad’s been meeting with Father Cornell again.”

“That’s worth dying for.”

Nadine had grown up. Too bad it had taken this. “I’m not giving up, and neither should you.” Danika hugged her stomach. She feared passing out. “Are you praying?”

“All the time.”

The car slowed, turned, and rolled to a stop.

This is it.
She wanted to think like the apostle Paul and tell herself that she won either way in whatever happened next, but she couldn’t bring herself to be resigned to a bullet.

Not yet.

Lucy’s car door slammed, her footsteps clapping against a gravel and dirt road.

“Estoy aquí,”
she said, “near the point we discussed.” Silence. “I’ve got the car hidden in the
carrizo
.” Silence. “How soon?” Silence. “
Bueno.
I’ll be waiting. I kept my word. Now you need to keep yours.”

Whoever Lucy was talking to on the phone would be there shortly.

“Do you think it’s ransom money?” Nadine whispered.

Danika refused to tell her it was most likely their executioners. The image of beheaded victims burst through her mind.

Lucy knocked on the trunk. “You two are in for a special treat tonight. Memorable.”

So they waited.

Chapter 55

Great deeds are usually wrought at great risks.

Herodotus

Alex refused to give up hope, but Lucy’s car had disappeared.

“They aren’t at the bridge.” Ed snapped shut his cell phone. “I have an idea.”

He spun his truck around in the middle of the highway while downshifting, then hit the accelerator, squealing tires that could be heard a mile away.

Alex grasped the hand grip above the truck door but said nothing. Ed had a handle on what he was doing, and hopefully God guided the truck. “Where are we going?”

“Near the riverbank. I bet there’s going to be an exchange, and it’s taking place in the blackest, thickest part.” Ed whipped the truck onto a dirt road at the intersection where a convenience store often held illegals who mixed in with the other customers. He flipped open the phone again and dialed. “See where I turned off? Right. I need backup with no lights or sound and a couple of good shooters.” Without waiting for an answer, he disconnected the call. Good thing the Border Patrol and police worked together. He doused the lights and swung a glance toward Alex. “Okay, rodeo star, I need you to take over the wheel.”

Alex shoved aside the thought of his wounded leg to size up Ed’s request. “I could grab the steering wheel, while you scoot out from underneath it. Then I’ll take over.”

“I don’t intend to slow down much.”

No point in wasting time and energy to argue. “Let’s do it.”

Alex slid next to him and took the wheel. The gearshift on the floor would be the next obstacle. “Why are we doing this?”

“So I can get a clear shot.”

Alex guided the truck with one hand and positioned himself to straddle the gearshift. “Aren’t you taking a risk?”

“Don’t think we have much choice. Get your foot on the gas now.”

With both eyes on the road, Alex managed to steer and swing his leg over to the accelerator. Fire raced through his right leg, and he still had to drag it over the gearshift. Ed drew his feet up onto the seat and maneuvered to the passenger side. For a big man, he moved quickly.

Alex gritted his teeth and pulled his right leg over the gearshift. He eased down onto the seat, his leg throbbing while he blinked back the blinding pain. “That was impossible.”

“Not for two old cowboys.” Ed chuckled and pointed to the right. “There, slow down a bit and follow the road. I’ll tell you where to stop.”

Ed grabbed his backpack from the floorboard and pulled out his night vision goggles. He reached under the seat and wrapped his hand around a rifle. Alex had seen this jewel before, a M40A1 sniper rifle.

* * *

Danika listened to the distant sound of Spanish-speaking voices—two, possibly three men. Obviously the men didn’t trust Lucy and wanted her to bring the women to them. Danika heard the word
decapitar
. Nadine heard her fate, but she no longer sobbed. Maybe they’d see youth and beauty and spare the girl. But that alternative sounded almost as grim. Nadine needed the courage that had kept her strong for the past several days. More importantly, she needed God’s grace. They both did.

The trunk popped open. In the darkness, Danika made out Lucy’s shadowy form. The woman stood back to avoid a kick or a punch, knowing Danika would have welcomed an opportunity to send her sprawling on the dirt road.

“Get out,” Lucy said. “Slowly. You don’t have anywhere to run.”

That was her opinion. As soon as Danika climbed from the trunk, a man stepped from the side of the car and jerked her hands behind her, tying them with a cord. Nadine followed behind her.

“The girl shot Jose,” Lucy said. “Should bring you a good price.”

The man laughed. “If she doesn’t slit a man’s throat.”

Lucy swore. “What she’s about to see will take care of her fight.”

Dread washed over Danika, not for herself but for Nadine.

“We’re taking them back with us,” another man said. “We got plans.”

“What about mine?” Lucy’s voice tightened. “I’ve thought about this for two years.”

“What’s more important to you: revenge or money?”

Lucy paused. “Okay, Carlos, take them with you.”

The men laughed, drowning out the dirge of insects in the surrounding brush. Two of them grabbed Danika and Nadine.

“Wait a minute. I want my money for the girl.” Lucy’s exasperation wouldn’t go down well with these men. They’d chew her up and use her for fish bait.

“When we’re back, I’ll send it to you,” Carlos sounded confident, his mocking words no doubt aimed to frustrate her.

“Neither of them go until I have the cash.”

“You don’t know who you’re talking to.” Carlos’s tone edged beyond menacing.

“I’ll kill them right here.” Lucy raised her gun and aimed straight at Danika’s face.

This is it. Is this how Toby felt? I wish I hadn’t argued with him that day. . . . I wish I’d gotten to know Alex better . . . been a better friend. Trusted more. Jesus, take care of my baby.

Danika stared into the dark outline of Lucy’s face.
I’m ready.

Rifle fire cracked and Lucy fell as the shot echoed across the night. Two more rapid shots, and the men holding Danika and Nadine fell. Only Carlos remained.

“U.S. Border Patrol. Raise your hands.” Chief Patrol Agent Edwardo Jimenez’s booming voice sounded like sweet music as four vehicles swarmed the riverbank drop point.

It was over. Finally over.

Danika peered at Nadine and the two leaned into each other. Words failed both of them, for none existed to claim the joy of life and the sadness of death in one breath. Nadine did not sob. She was made of the same sturdy stock as her dad and uncle.

“Danika.” Alex’s voice rang out in the darkness. She heard the thud of boots and the thump of his crutch and craved his arms around her.

Helicopter blades whirled above them. Vehicle headlights ahead flashed on, and then she saw them—the dynamic duo of the chief and Alex. Her superheroes. Alex limped faster, and her eyes pooled. Shaken, she refused to give in to a complete breakdown. Alex reached for her at the same time that the chief reached for Nadine.

“You all right?” Jimenez asked as he untied the young girl and Alex untied Danika.

Nadine nodded and sniffed. “Thank you, sir. I was so scared. I just knew they were going to kill us.”

“They’re dead or in custody,” he said. “This whole thing is finished.”

“I’d like to see my dad,” Nadine said. “Can we do that? I have to tell him I’m sorry and ask him to forgive me.”

“I’ll take you myself.”

While Danika listened to the conversation and the scuffle of men handling the bodies and handcuffing Carlos, she basked in the arms of a man who meant more to her than she could imagine.

“I was afraid I’d lost you,” he said, “that Ed might be wrong.”

“Was he the one who killed Lucy?”

“Sure thing.”

Danika turned to Chief Jimenez. “I take back all of the things I ever said about you. You saved my life.”

“Why do I think all those things weren’t good?”

“Maybe the other agents need to get to know you better.”

“Ruin my image? Hey, there’s something you can do for me.”

She breathed in and fought the pain tearing through her body. “What’s that?”

“Take the supervisor position. Chasing you down is making an old man out of me. Besides, I think you have a lot to teach the new guys.”

“Deal.” She nestled into Alex’s embrace. Deep inside, she realized they’d been placed together for a purpose. “Thank you,” she whispered.

“For what?”

“For not giving up on me. For being here. For finding a place for Tiana. For helping to solve this whole thing. For—”

“Agent Morales, hush and let me kiss you.”

And she did.

* * *

Jacob woke in the wee hours of the morning. A police officer rattled Jacob’s cell, startling, then annoying him. He snapped his attention toward the cop.

“You’re out of here, Morales,” the officer said. “Free to go.”

Barbara must have paid his bail. She shouldn’t have gone into her savings for him. She’d get it back, for sure. “Is my wife waiting?”

“I have no idea. Let’s go get your belongings, and you can see for yourself.”

The fluorescent lights immediately wakened him, and he followed the officer down the hall and through two locked doors. He hoped he never saw the inside of a cell again. A clerk who talked through his mustache shoved discharge paperwork Jacob’s way and had him sign a receipt for his personal belongings. Odd, there wasn’t a bondsman or paperwork to complete for the bail.

The officer opened the door to the front office and bade him good night. Jacob hoped so. He stepped across the threshold and saw Nadine. He blinked, wondering if he was still asleep.

She hurried across the waiting area. “Dad, oh, Daddy.”

The sound of her voice awakened a part of him that he thought he’d never find again. She rushed into his arms like the little toddler who used to greet him after work. He could die this very minute and be one happy man.

“It’s over,” she sobbed. “I’m sorry for running away and causing all of this trouble. It was Lucy who killed Uncle Toby, and she wanted to kill Aunt Danika and you too. She made me ride along and hold your watch when Jose put a bomb in the truck.”

“Go ahead and cry, Naddie girl.” He stroked her silky black hair. Never would he let anything come between him and his family again. God might have to bridle his tongue, but it would happen.

He glanced up to see Barbara standing with a small group—Danika, Alex Price, Chief Jimenez, and a handful of Border Patrol agents. They all looked beat. Must have been a hard night on the line. Later he’d find out what all had happened. Right now, he wanted to hold his daughter and his wife. Blinking back the tears, Jacob beckoned Barbara to join him and Nadine.