Against the Law (18 page)

Johnnie grunted. “Place looks like Fort Knox.”

The next image zoomed in closer. “House, outbuildings, garages. He's even got a surveillance tower, all enclosed by a big cement wall.”

“Some of those buildings could be barracks,” Johnnie said. “They're the right shape for it.”

Clive leaned back in his chair. “Man, who's this guy think he is? The emperor of Mexico?”

Johnnie crossed his arms over his barrel chest, making his biceps bulge. “Alvarez definitely has some serious paranoia issues.”

“It's going to take an army to get inside that place,” Clive said.

Lark leaned forward to study the image and Dev thought how hard this must be for her, the not knowing, the waiting, the hoping. And yet she was clearly focused.

“How about instead of fighting our way inside, we flew over the walls like they do in the movies? You know, use a helicopter to get inside the compound?”

Clive's sandy eyebrows went up. “Helo in?” He leaned forward, studied the satellite pictures of the compound again. “Stir up an awful big firefight if we go in hot that way. But it might be a damned good way to get out of there.”

Johnnie studied the photo. “There's a big open courtyard in front of the house. Another wide space behind it. We go in at night, take out the guard in the tower, slip over the wall and collect the kid, then the chopper swoops in and flies her and us the hell out of there.”

“I hate scorpions,” Clive added. “Flying sounds good to me.”

Dev cast Lark an approving glance. “I like it. We'll figure out the details once we get down there.”

Johnnie's lips barely curved. “What about weapons?”

“Cantrell has that covered. With Homeland Security the way it is, we can't bring our own toys to the party, but we'll have a brand-new set to play with once we get there.”

Clive smiled.

Johnnie actually grinned.

“We'll need a base of operations,” Clive said.

“Cantrell's on it. As soon as we hear from him, we're out of here.”

“So how do we get to Mexico?” Lark asked.

Dev turned to Johnnie. “Hambone, you get us a ride south of the border?” Dev wished his brother lived closer. He trusted Gabe to get them in and out in his twin Aero-star, and Gabe was an ex-marine. But Dallas was just too far away.

“All taken care of, Dev. Soon as you give the word, we're off to the Burbank Airport. Pilot's an old friend. Ex-gunnery sergeant. Good man, someone we can trust. Plane's on standby. He's waiting for our call.”

“Good. Once we get through customs, we're dropping off the grid until this is over.”

“Customs?” Lark's dark eyebrows went up. “I thought we'd just fly in at night or something.”

“Not legal to fly into Mexico at night,” Dev explained. “Our beef is with Alvarez, not the authorities. The four
of us will fly into San Felipe. That's far enough away from Hermosillo that Alvarez's watchdogs won't be on the lookout for us. We go through customs there then fly to the rendezvous point on the mainland.”

“So we're waiting to hear from Cantrell?” Johnnie asked.

“He'll call as soon as he's got a place lined up.” He glanced over at Lark, who was dressed in jeans, sneakers and a khaki shirt. It wasn't exactly Cabelas, but she had packed to travel and the clothes would do. Both of the men had duffels and overnight gear in their cars, ready for the trip.

In the meantime while they waited, Lark phoned room service and ordered up some sandwiches and Cokes. The men were just finishing off the food when the phone rang. Dev walked over to the desk and picked it up.

“It's Cantrell,” a deep voice said. “Montez has heard some rumors…Alvarez's men flew in with a little
gringa
girl.”

“So she's there.”

“She's somewhere in the area—or was. But I'm betting you're right about her being in his house.”

“At least we know where to start looking.”

“Montez also scouted a place he knew,” Cantrell continued. “An old abandoned mine about ten klicks north of Alvarez's compound. Mine's been closed for years, but there's a dirt strip there and buildings we can get inside for cover.”

“Give me the coordinates.”

“Longitude twenty-nine degrees, seventy-five minutes. Latitude one zero nine degrees, fourteen minutes. The
strip's hard to see. I'll park my Jeep out there so you can spot it.”

“Good. I'll call Rawlins, give him the info. He'll be meeting us there.”

Cantrell signed off. Dev called Trace with the information, then turned to the others. His gaze swung to Lark, who looked worried, but even more determined than the rest.

“Well, that's it,” he said. “Time to party. Get your stuff and let's roll.”

I
t was dark by the time they collected their gear, checked out of the hotel and made the drive in traffic to the plane that sat waiting at the Burbank airport. A Baron, Dev told her.

“We could have stayed at the hotel till morning, but I could see these guys were too wired to sleep and I wanted to meet the pilot, check out the plane myself. We can go as far as Calexico tonight, then we're off to San Felipe first thing in the morning.”

Lark towed her wheeled bag toward the red-and-white twin-engine plane waiting on the tarmac. Next to it stood a man with silver hair and tanned, weathered features. He was attractive and yet there was a hard edge about him, a toughness she had noticed in Dev and the other two men.

Johnnie Riggs shook the pilot's hand and turned to Dev. “This is Colin Mercer. Plane's his.”

“Nice to meet you,” Dev said, shaking his hand. “This is Lark Delaney and the big guy's Clive Monroe.”

Lark and Clive shook Mercer's hand.

“Nice aircraft,” Dev said, sizing up the pilot with the same thorough regard he did the plane.

“I take good care of her, if that's what you're wondering. She'll get you to Mexico and back.”

“Johnnie's filled you in?” Dev asked.

“Desert landing. May have a stowaway when we come back.”

“That's about it.”

“Calexico tonight, then San Felipe? On from there?”

“You got it.”

“She's gassed and ready. Load up and let's go.”

Lark handed her bag to Dev, who stored it in the baggage compartment with the rest of the gear. He climbed aboard then extended a hand and helped her climb up.

The inside of the plane, which seated six counting the pilot and copilot, was done in dark brown leather. The interior was clean and well-cared for, which gave her confidence that the engines were also well-maintained.

She settled herself in one of the seats and Dev sat down beside her.

He'd been remote since their lovemaking that morning and she told herself she understood. He was all business, the man in charge of the operation, and part of her wanted it exactly that way. Antonio Alvarez was a dangerous man and the mission the men were about to undertake could get one or all of them killed. If that happened, dear God, what would happen to Chrissy?

Dev needed to focus.

Still, every time she looked at him, she felt an ache in her chest. What had happened between them should have been exactly what it was—a satisfying sexual encounter with a man she was physically attracted to, a means of coping with the situation.

But deep down, being with Dev meant more to her than that. She needed to find a way to control her feelings for him, feelings she couldn't afford to let deepen.

Soon this will all be over,
she told herself.
We'll find Chrissy and bring her home and Dev will go back to his life in Arizona.

She wished the notion made her feel better.

The pilot made a final inspection, climbed aboard and started the engines. As the plane began taxiing toward the runway, Dev surprised her by reaching over and catching her hand.

“You okay?”

She nodded. “I'm nervous. Scared. I wish I knew for sure we were going to find her.”

Dev gave her fingers a reassuring squeeze. “We'll find her.”

Lark looked up at him, the question she had been pondering hovering on her lips. “Even if we bring her back home, what's to keep Alvarez from coming after us again? Maybe even killing us this time?”

Dev sighed and let go of her hand. “I wondered when you'd get around to that.”

“I can hire bodyguards, but even that might not be enough.”

“I know.”

“So what should I do?”

“There are a couple of things we can do. We can talk to the feds, see if they'll help you. The DEA knows Alvarez. I'm sure they've connected him to the murders in Ari zona. By now they know about Chrissy's abduction.”

She scoffed. “All they'd have to do is walk by a rack of tabloids in the grocery store to know about that.”

“So they know what you're facing. They might be willing to come up with a new identity for you and Chrissy. You'd have to drop out of sight completely. Change your name. Give up your job and move somewhere else. Never contact your friends again.”

Her face went pale. She started shaking her head. “I can't…can't do that.”

“You might have to, baby.”

Her chest squeezed. She couldn't imagine giving up everything she had worked for, giving up her friends, living like a recluse under another name.

“I'm hoping you won't have to,” Dev added at the bloodless color of her face. “I've got a couple of other ideas that might work. I'm not ready to talk about them yet, but if things go right, maybe there'll be another way.”

She looked up at him, felt the same sense of trust she'd had in him since she had first met him.

She took a deep breath, released it slowly. “All right, we'll figure something out. I'll hold on to that.”

He nodded. “Good girl. First we've got to find her.”

Lark's featured tightened. “He's got her. The rumors are true—I can feel it. He wants to gloat, to prove to
himself he's someone more important than I am.” She leaned her head back against the headrest. “If those reporters had stayed away, if they hadn't printed all those stories, this never would have happened.”

“You're probably right, but that's the way success works in this country. There's always a price to pay.”

It was true. She didn't regret her accomplishments or the money she earned. She just didn't want her little girl to be the one to suffer the consequences.

It was almost midnight when they landed in the sleepy little town of Calexico just a few miles north of the Mexican border. Dev rented two rooms at the El Camino, a nondescript motel just a short cab ride from the airport.

As Lark walked into the room with Dev and tossed her bag on one of the beds, a memory arose of lying next to him that morning. She thought of the fantastic sex they'd had and her gaze unerringly went to his.

His thoughts must have mirrored her own. His eyes were a scorching blue, his expression filled with greedy hunger. He walked over and caught hold of her shoulders, bent his head and kissed her.

“God knows there is nothing I'd like more than to make love to you right now. But I need to be thinking about the mission and not how much I want to be inside you.”

She felt the heat creeping into her cheeks. She was thinking much the same thing, how good it would feel to have him touch her, make love to her.

“I know.”

“And we need to get some sleep. There'll be a lot to do once we get to Mexico.”

She nodded and moved away from him, giving both of them room to breathe. Still, the air in the room was thick with sexual heat and she wondered if making love wouldn't be easier than trying to deny the hunger they were feeling.

Careful to keep her eyes off those gorgeous muscles as he undressed, she walked into the bathroom, showered, then borrowed one of his T-shirts and climbed into bed.

The light went out.

A few minutes later, she heard his deep breathing. He was a man and ex-military. They were trained to sleep under the most grueling conditions and he'd only had a couple of hours of rest before her frantic phone call and his mad rush to L.A.

Lark had napped a little that morning while he had been on the phone, but it wasn't nearly enough and she was exhausted. She needed to sleep but all she could think of was Chrissy and how scared she must be and how abandoned she must be feeling. It made her heart hurt and her eyes burn. She took a deep breath and vowed to do as Dev had said and focus on finding her and bringing her home.

Eventually she fell asleep but it seemed only minutes until Dev was gently shaking her awake.

“Time to go,” he said. He was dressed casually in chinos and a blue-flowered short-sleeved shirt, his nearly black hair still wet from the shower. He looked like a tourist. Or maybe a movie star.

Lark took his cue and put on jeans, a bright orange T-shirt that revealed a hint of bare skin at the waist, and a pair of sandals. She didn't bring a lot of clothes, but she had been determined from the start to go with him to Mexico, and she had packed accordingly. Which meant her hiking boots were in the bag, a pair of loose-fitting jeans and a couple of long-sleeved shirts.

“You look perfect,” Dev said, assessing her up and down. For a moment, his eyes darkened and she caught a glimpse of hunger. As quickly as it was there, it was gone. “We just need to get through customs, then we're on our way.”

Clive and Johnnie were also dressed casually, though even in a Hawaiian shirt and khaki pants, with his dark hair and constant shadow of beard, Johnnie Riggs looked like a mercenary.

They landed in San Felipe, a sleepy little village of sixteen thousand on the coast of the Baja peninsula about a hundred forty miles south of the border. A quiet, outof-the-way place that handled customs for tourists who came for the sun, the beaches and the fishing.

They passed through without incident and soon they were back aboard the plane and once more in the air. After they had crossed the Gulf of California, a wide expanse of crystal-blue ocean, the plane veered southeast. This was the longest leg of the trip and as the engines droned on, Lark finally fell asleep.

The plane had begun its descent when she awakened, passing over occasional patches of green where crops were grown, each a tiny oasis in the desert.

“We're just about there,” Dev said. “You ready for this?”

Lark didn't hesitate though she wasn't really ready at all. “You know I am.”

His mouth edged up. “Yeah, I know.” He caught her hand and brought it to his lips. Lark felt the soft kiss all the way to her toes. “Have I told you how amazing you are?”

She smiled. “I think you did.”

“Good. Whatever happens, just keep that in mind.”

The plane continued its descent. As Lark looked out the window, she spotted what appeared to be a cluster of abandoned buildings, and a black hole in the side of a barren mountain she guessed was once the entrance to the mine.

“See that vehicle down there? That Jeep belongs to Jake Cantrell. It's the marker for the runway.”

She searched the ground below, which mostly appeared to be sand and cactus. “I don't see any runway.”

“It travels along the base of those jagged mountains. It's just a dirt strip.”

She spotted it, saw that it was narrow and not all that long. She hoped the pilot was as good as Johnnie seemed to think.

The plane swooped down, slowed, dropped, settled onto the dirt like a swan on a lake and rolled along the fairly smooth roadway till it came to a stop. There wasn't much room to spare, but there was enough.

“Nice landing,” Lark said. “Considering…”

Dev grinned and his dimple appeared. “In my book, any landing you can walk away from is a good one.”

Lark laughed. It felt good. She felt a stab of guilt. How could she be laughing when Chrissy was in such grave danger?

She sobered.

“I know what you're thinking,” Dev said gently. “A little laughter's all right. You do whatever it takes to get through something like this.”

She looked up at him, appreciating the way he always seemed able to ease her mind. “Thanks.”

The pilot turned the plane and taxied back toward the buildings in the distance. Everyone waited as the engines came to a stop and Mercer ducked out of the cockpit. He opened the cabin door, walked out on the wing and jumped down, then reached up to help Lark.

Two other men stood next to the plane, she saw, one at least six-five and built like Arnold Schwarzenegger, the other a handsome Hispanic. Montez, she remembered hearing Dev say, looked her up and down with a pair of black eyes heavily rimmed with thick black lashes. Next to him, the big man clenched his jaw and looked past her as if she weren't there.

His hard gaze fixed on Dev. “What the hell is she doing here?”

Dev just smiled. “Lark Delaney, meet Jake Cantrell. I take it this is Rafael Montez.”

“Rafe will do,” he said. Montez tipped his head toward Lark and flashed her a charming smile. “A pleasure, Ms. Delaney.”

“It's nice to meet you both, but it's just Lark.”

“I asked you a question, Raines. Since when do you bring a woman on this kind of mission?”

Dev's congenial expression faded. “Since the lady is the child's adoptive mother and she earned the right to be here when she killed one of the bastards who took her little girl.”

Cantrell's dark eyebrows went up. He was a good-looking man even with his fierce expression. Square jaw, short brown hair and light blue eyes. He looked her over, for the first time actually seemed to see her. “Hard to argue with that.”

Dev winked in her direction and Lark bit back a smile.

Since Johnnie and Clive knew Cantrell, Montez introduced himself to the men, and Cantrell cocked his head toward the dusty black Jeep.

“Toss your gear in the back and we'll head over to the mine. We'll be using the office as our headquarters.”

Dev said something to Colin Mercer, who turned and climbed back aboard the plane.

“He'll refuel at the closest small airport,” Dev explained, “then stay there till we call him back. No place here to hide the plane.” He grabbed her bag and tossed it into the back of the Jeep.

“You ride with Jake,” Dev said. “I don't think those sandals are gonna cut it out here.”

“I'll change as soon as we get wherever it is we're going.”

He nodded, turned and started walking with the others toward the metal buildings in the distance.

It wasn't that far. As the Jeep rolled along, Cantrell made no comment, just wheeled the vehicle past the men
and pulled up in a cloud of dust in front of one of the abandoned metal buildings.