I'll Remember You (Hell Yeah!) (18 page)

“Are you sure Jaxson said Los Banos?” Roscoe asked the question before he even sat down.

“Yea, that was it. If I’m not mistaken, the name sounds familiar.” Noah berated himself. “I should have checked the records at home before I left, but I’m almost certain we’ve done business with them before, several years ago. I think Aron went down there a couple of times.”

“It’s possible. Tomas Delgado runs a clean operation, unlike how his daughter runs her business.”

“What do you mean?” Skye asked, her fork paused in mid-air.

Roscoe looked between the two of them, pushing his Stetson back on his head. “Let me explain. Delgado raises cattle, but he married into the Rodrigo family, who run an entirely different kind of business.”

“Like what?” Noah had no idea what he was getting at. He had stopped eating, realizing he was about to learn something he wasn’t going to like.

“Martina Delgado, daughter of Tomas, runs the El Duro drug cartel.”

“Drug runners?” Skye was aghast.

“Drug lord,” Noah corrected her. “Why would Aron be mixed up with people like that?” All he could think was that his brother had known these people before. What did this mean?

“First, we don’t know for sure it’s Aron.” Roscoe reasoned. “And second, if it is, we can’t assume what his situation is there. But what we do know is that you’ll have to be careful. You can’t just waltz in there and ask to see him.”

Noah thought. “You’re right. We need a plan. These people could be dangerous.”

“Dangerous?” Roscoe laughed harshly. “Try deadly. If it is Aron, and they know his true identity, the name McCoy would be like waving a red flag in front of a bull.”

The waitress brought them their check. Noah took it. “There’s no way Aron is working with them willingly.” He dry scrubbed his face. “Do you think he’s undercover?” The idea that Aron was a spy of some kind almost caused him to laugh. “He isn’t known for his subtlety.”

“I agree with you, but we still need to have a plan.”

“But I want to go now,” Noah protested. “What if he’s there now, but if I wait too long, he disappears?” He wasn’t pretending to make sense. The idea that he could see his brother again soon was incredible.

“I agree we can’t waste time, but you need help.”

“Who?” Skye asked, knowing they needed to keep this from Libby until the information was more concrete.

“You tell me.” He looked at them both. “We need a real rancher who can contact them to get us an appointment to see Tomas.”

“Our cousins won’t do,” Noah admitted. “Unless one of us uses a false name.”

“Too risky,” Roscoe countered. “You have to know these people are sharp. They are technologically savvy. In seconds of them meeting you, they’ll run your image through a computer and know your real name and your dog’s name.”

“Unless you have a fake identity.”

“True, but we don’t have time to manufacture that, not if you’re in a hurry to verify he lives.” Roscoe told the waitress to bring them coffee. “So, think. Who can you ask? More importantly, who can you trust?”

Noah racked his brain.

“And it can’t be someone who is readily associated with your family.”

Noah huffed. “Well, it’s going to be hard to find someone we can trust and them not be associated with the family.” Skye rubbed the top of his hand, giving him support. “Micah Wolfe,” he said at last.

Roscoe paused, thinking. It was his business to know the family’s business, history and associates. He took his ipad and checked some notes. “Good choice. He’s been out of the country for several years. Former SEAL. Has valuable connections. Plus, he’s Aron’s friend.” He looked up. “Call him. See if he’s willing, and if he is, ask him to meet us at the airport.”

***

Los Banos Ranch

“What did she do to Austin?” Brock asked Alessandra. Her head lay on his shoulder as they nestled down into the hay.

She faced him, feeling more at home with him than she ever had with her family. “I don’t know the details, but I am sure she did something to ensure he didn’t recover his memory.”

“Drugs?”

Alessandra laughed. “Well, that is what we do.”

“Not ‘we’, mi amor, you are an innocent.” Brock caressed her face.

“Not completely innocent.” She sighed. “You can’t live as close to this as I have and not be tainted by it to a certain extent.”

“Can you tell me what’s going on?” he asked, carefully. “I just want to protect you.”

“I could,” she spoke slowly. “And I hesitate, not because I don’t trust you, but because I do not want to endanger you.”

“I want to be where you are. If you are in danger, where else would I be?”

She smiled wanly. “Austin Wade is a man named Aron McCoy. Martina fell for him a few years ago when he came to the ranch. He wasn’t interested, but she never forgot him.” He was listening to her intently, so she continued. “I’m sure you saw the news or read the papers. On his honeymoon, he disappeared while snorkeling off the coast of the Caymans. Thousands turned out to search for him, but they didn’t find him because Martina picked him up from the water and brought him on the yacht. He was severely injured and had no memory of who he was or what happened. We took him to Mexico City where he had surgery, and then we brought him here. But his memories began to return and my sister took him to someone who could ensure those memories were lost and would not surface again.”

“Jesus!” Brock knew it was something like that, but to hear it stated so baldly made him realize how cold-blooded Martina actually was. He had to be careful. It didn’t matter if Alessandra loved him or not, her older sister would kill him in a heartbeat. “What can we do?”

Alessandra buried her head in his chest. “I don’t know. But the deception won’t last much longer. Aron’s brother has offered five million dollars for information on him.”

“Five million is a lot of money.”

“Yes, and even though she’s tried to hide his identity from people in the organization, there are many that know. She controls by fear, but there will be someone who is brave enough to take the risk. It’s only a matter of time.”

Brock agreed, because he planned to make the phone call himself.

Chapter Nine

Austin, TX

“Of course, I’ll help you,” Micah answered after Noah had explained to him what was going on. “I think we ought to be prepared for anything.”

“I agree, what do you have in mind?” Noah listened.

“We need to be armed and since we can’t take weapons on a commercial flight, I think we ought to go by private plane.”

“We don’t have a plane, and I’m drawing a blank on who to ask. If we have to charter, it’s going to take a while. We’ll also have to be honest about what they’re getting into.”

“True, but I have a suggestion. Let’s ask Kyle Chancellor. He has a plane, plus he was on the SEAL team with me. He knows Aron and would want to help. Besides, the guy will come in handy if we get in a gunfight too.”

“Gunfight...shit.” Noah was realizing this wasn’t going to be a piece of cake. All he’d envisioned was flying down, tapping him on the shoulder and bringing him home. “But as far as your suggestion goes, hell yes. If Kyle Chancellor will fly us down there, that would be great. I didn’t know he was back in the states.” He had played for the Longhorns along with Micah and Aron. Heir to Chancellor Industries, he’d won the Heisman trophy his senior year at UT. “How soon can you ask Kyle?”

“Actually, he’s sitting across the couch from me and is on his cell having his plane fueled up. Hold on.” Micah was speaking to Kyle, then he was back. “He said for you to meet us at the Austin Executive Airport off of I35. We’ll bring the guns.”

Noah pocketed his phone, turning to Skye. “I don’t know if you should be going, Princess. This could be dangerous.”

“Oh, no.” Skye shook her head. “Where you go, I go.”

Roscoe didn’t say anything. He didn’t want to get in between a McCoy and a female.

Noah ended up losing that argument. He paid their tab and they drove out to the airport. When they arrived, Micah was waiting for them at the gate to direct them to the right hangar. Once they boarded, Noah realized Kyle wasn’t flying the plane himself. He had brought another member of the team along to pilot, Tyson Pate.

Once they were in the air, Roscoe got their attention. “We’re flying into Hermosillo. Vance will have a car waiting on us and he’s found a house in a town closer to the ranch, a village called Cananea. He’ll have a sweep done before we get there. We just can’t be too careful.”

Skye’s eyes got big at the ‘sweep’ notion. She knew they didn’t mean with a broom.

Roscoe looked at Noah. “Once we land, let’s get some food and place the phone call to see when Tomas Delgado will see you.”

Micah and Kyle had several questions for both Noah and Roscoe. They knew the same details of Aron’s disappearance as told by the news media, but there was some information the family had managed to keep under wraps—some leads, the wedding ring and the dive suit. None of those things were ever made public.

“Noah, I have some news for you.”

Roscoe had his attention, immediately. “What news?” After so much had happened, he didn’t think anything would surprise him.

“Your brother, Jacob, has offered a reward for anyone who has any information on Aron’s whereabouts.”

“Really? I had no idea.” He wondered if the rest of the family knew. Not that Jacob needed to ask their permission, he had his own money. But, like Noah, the rest of the brothers would want to be involved too. “He doesn’t know about Jaxson phoning me.”

“I’m sure your cousin didn’t call for that reason.” Skye injected. 

Noah nodded his head. “No, Jaxson didn’t know about any reward money and wouldn’t take it if he did.” Considering that new bit of information, his eyes met Roscoe’s. “You’ll get the chance to review any claims before he pays off, of course. I’d hate for him to have to pay for information we already possess.”

“True.” Roscoe got up to get himself a bottle of water. “We’ll just have to play that part by ear.”

Micah had been quite for a while, with a guarded look on his face, like he was analyzing the situation and seeing a problem. “On the way to the airport, I called Saxon, our team’s computer expert. If there’s anything to be found on these people on the net, he’ll find it. He’s going to be checking things out and told me he would call tonight. But what he did say was this, Martina Delgado is deadly. She works with her uncle Esteban Rodrigo and together they run a conglomerate which pulls in about 2.3 Billion dollars a year. Esteban is the brains behind the outfit to some degree, but Martina is the clear-cut leader. She’s the one the people develop a loyalty for. She is the deal-maker and when someone displeases her or betrays her, she has no compunction about ending their life. At least five hundred deaths have been attributed to her, a few by her own hand.” All eyes were on him as he spoke. “Saxon also said, to the best of his knowledge, the cartel operates out of an estate just outside of the town of Cananea.”

“How do these cartels keep such a stronghold on the country?” Skye asked. She’d heard a lot of talk during the time she’d spent in Eddie Warrior. The violence was spilling over into the United States, especially in the border towns of Texas.

Kyle Chancellor spoke up. “I can answer that,” he offered. “The cartels are essentially organized crime, they are Mexico’s mafia. They offer an illegal substance to those who can pay for it. Unfortunately, most of their customers live in the U.S. and Canada. So, they are the supply, but we are the demand. It’s crazy. And in order for them to be successful, they have to be protected to a degree. So, they bribe the police, the government, even the military.”

“Is there no one who is fighting to stop them?” Chills of apprehension covered Noah’s skin. To think his brother might be exposed to this amount of danger made his belly ache.

Kyle shook his head, sadly. “A few have stepped up, but they usually don’t live very long. Although at the moment, Mexico has a new Chief District Attorney, Cisco Salazar who is determined to make an impact and bring some of the cartels down. He is calling for help. One of the things he’s asking for is a list of the suppliers and snitches. They can’t do a lot about the users from this end, but if they could eliminate the source, that would mortally wound the beast.”

Skye listened at them talk. She was glad they weren’t alone. Micah and Kyle seemed knowledgeable.

Roscoe and his partner, Vance, had been traveling extensively through Mexico following leads about Aron, but none had been up in the state of Sonora. It sat just below Arizona and they’d been concentrating their efforts on the territories which bordered the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico. She was so worried for Noah, not so much about the danger they faced, but for what he might discover. He’d spoken to her about his fears and his doubts. Was Aron dead? Had he stayed away from home on purpose? She knew he idolized his older brother and what Skye knew of him only reinforced the opinion everyone else had. If there was any way in the world it was possible, Aron McCoy would come home. She held his hand, listening and looking around the Lear jet. She’d never been in one before and its sleek elegant interior was entrancing.

When they began their descent, she watched out the window, seeing quite a bit of desert, barren land. But the city of Hermosillo was quite large, seeming to her to be about the size of Austin, or a bit smaller. She liked that. She wanted them to be able to blend in rather than sticking out like a sore thumb. After they’d exited the plane, the promised car, a dark SUV awaited them. Roscoe called Vance and got the directions to Cananea and the house which had been reserved for them. He’d said it was in one of the better neighborhoods. Skye didn’t know what to expect, but when they pulled up to a white stucco home, what she would classify as a ranch house, but with arched windows and a circular drive. She was impressed. The interior was quite barren, just the required furniture, but it was spacious. The kitchen was fully equipped and all the bathrooms had linens. It wasn’t 5 star, by any means, not that she’d stayed very many fancy places, but this wasn’t really a vacation. This was a rescue mission.