Tom Higgins. Tom is engaged. Going to get married December 1.”
Was engaged, Beth silently corrected him. He was dead now. He wasn’t getting married. But Mike still had a chance. Please let the ambulance get here.
“Where is O’Grady?” Beth asked.
“Killed, along with his wife and daughter.”
Beth nodded. No surprise there. There was no loyalty in Los Treintas. Even if you accepted their money, there was no guarantee you would be safe. People were expendable. When they were no longer of use, they were killed.
And some were left behind to suffer and serve as a warning. That is what Raul was, a warning for everyone else. He made a mistake by getting in a cartel’s way. Every Border Agent working would know his fate and it would be foremost in their minds when they were checking cargo or processing documents.
Behind her, Raul screamed. It was a guttural sound that reverberated in her core; it was a shriek that sounded more animal than human.
Her head jerked up and that is when she saw it: in a large clear bag, four severed heads.
“Oh God.” Beth sprung up. In an instant she was at Raul’s side, her arms around him for support. He screamed again as his legs bucked and he collapsed down on the worn floorboards of the porch, bringing Beth crashing down with him. She never loosened her hold. There were no words, nothing she could say to begin to numb the pain so she just held him as he screamed.
She closed her eyes. She had no emotions left, but she didn’t need them because she could feel all of his, each drop of pain that fell from him was absorbed by her, became her own. “I will catch the man who did this. I promise. I swear I will make him pay.”
Her words were swallowed by his sobs.
“I promise,” she said again and it was true. These people’s lives meant something. All of them. Beth was going to bring El Escorpion down.
He would pay.
Beth stared down at the glossy picture of Raul’s family. She knew their names now: his wife Carmen and his children Amalia, Santiago, and Pepe. They were important. They were loved and now they were gone.
Garcia’s family mattered. Tom and Mike mattered. Paige mattered…
She took a deep breath and then slid the picture back behind her shield. She traced her finger along the embossed outline of the Bald Eagle, down over the words: Department of Justice and Special Agent.
Her job meant that she could make a difference. For the first time in a long while, she was grateful for the badge and what it represented. This badge meant that she had the power to bring El Escorpion to justice.
He would pay. She was going to catch him and he would answer for every life he had taken.
Beth picked up the file on her desk. She had a plan but first she needed approval.
She hated asking permission. The whole point of being in charge of the Treinta Task Force was that she was in charge. It was a crying shame that the only country that recognized her authority was the United States. Damn all these foreign countries expecting their sovereignty to be respected. It wasn’t like El Escorpion followed the law when he was ordering the murders of innocent women and children. It wasn’t exactly fair that she was bound to laws when he wasn’t.
“Hey Jessop, you got a minute?” She paused at her boss’ door.
Larry Jessop gave her a terse nod. He picked up the phone as he motioned her in. “Jennifer, hold my calls. Thanks.” He gestured to the seat across the desk from him.
Beth hesitated before she sat. She had one shot at this. She was so close to finding El Escorpion but she needed to do this right. There was no point in finding the bastard if she couldn’t nail his ass to the wall. This had to be above board.
“Tough night for you last night,” Jessop said.
Beth shrugged. She didn’t want to talk about it. Her hands were still vibrating from the adrenaline but she was doing her best to ignore it. Undoubtedly Jessop would refer her to Adam Frazer, the department psychologist, so she could talk things through but she didn’t want to talk, she wanted to work. Talking would not get justice for the victims. “I need a search warrant.”
Jessop’s eyes narrowed. They both knew she didn’t need his permission to get a search warrant. “OK,” he said, clearly waiting for the catch. “What do you need a warrant for?”
Beth raised her shoulders. “Just some garden variety wire-tapping.” She was trying to sound relaxed but it came across as flippant.
He raised a dark brow. She was losing him already. He was slipping through her fingers. “We’re close now,” she began. She really needed him onside for this. “Always follow the money. That’s what you taught me.” She cringed inwardly. She wanted to butter him up, not sound like a snivelling sycophant. She needed to dial it back if she wanted to get this done. “We have El Escorpion’s money man, Bashar Zayat. I need to bring him in. We get him, we get El Escorpion.”
Jessop didn’t say anything. He just continued to stare at her. This wasn’t new information. They had known about Zayat for over a month and still they were no closer to finding the head of Los Treintas. “So what’s the problem?”
“It’s not our jurisdiction.”
Jessop nodded. “Where is he?”
Beth took a deep breath. This is where it got tricky. She didn’t know where he was. “He has properties in Damascus, London, Zurich, Monaco, and Dubai.”
Jessop shook his head. “Stop. If this is going where I think it’s going, you can turn around and walk right back out.”
“Sir—”
Jessop raised his hand. “No, Beth, the answer is no. You cannot possibly think you can get a warrant in five different countries. You know what says reasonable doubt? Not even knowing the residence of a suspect. I could get you one from that list. Maybe. Pick one and get back to me.”
Beth shook her head. “No, sir, with all due respect. We will lose him. By the time I track down where Zayat is staying, he will have moved on. He has dozens of aliases. We can’t lose him.” Panic laced her voice. The idea of losing her only credible lead sent a bolt of fear straight through her spine. Carrizo Springs was a dead end. Every possible witness was dead. She was still looking at all the other Border Agents but she wouldn’t find anything.
They couldn’t lose Zayat. He was all they had. “Zayat is our key. He is our way to El Escorpion. We find him, we bring down Los Treintas.” Everything they had worked for, all of their sacrifices meant shit all if they didn’t find El Escorpion. All the crappy things that had happened would mean something. Her sister’s death would never be worth it but maybe if they brought down Los Treintas, things would be OK again. Maybe she would feel again. Maybe all the other families would get a little peace. So many people had been affected. It had to stop. No more victims, no more murders.
“He is the key? Like Martinez was the key? Remind me how that worked out.”
Beth winced. His words were more than a slap in the face; they were an insult to her abilities as an agent. Beth bit her lip to keep from speaking out of turn. If she spoke now it would be something along the lines of “screw you”. Martinez had been a strong lead, right up to the point where he was murdered by his own people. Los Treintas were nasty like that.
Resentment built in her, settling in her stomach in the form of a burning ache, flaming the anger she tried in vain to bury. “What happened with Martinez wasn’t my fault.” So much for trying to butter Jessop up, but she wasn’t going to take the blame for what happened. She was a damn good agent. Sometimes she was a shitty person, but she was always a good agent. She had been right; Martinez had been key to finding El