Cobb by Maryann Jordan
26
“She’s in Ciudad Juarez.”
While not surprised, hearing the words from Rank shot adrenaline throughout Cobb’s body. Blanking his mind as best he could of all extraneous emotion, he barked, “Get me the location.”
It only took a few more seconds for his fellow Keeper to add, “The Grand King Casino.”
“I fuckin’ knew it,” he growled, looking across the room as Drew, Tate, and Bray readied for their accelerated rescue mission. Dark pants, dark long-sleeved shirts, dark knit caps, dark boots. Tate’s forehead had three stitches but he had no concussion. After the firefighters cut him out of Josie’s car, they realized how lucky he had been. The metal had crushed the driver’s side, trapping him, but it had not crushed his leg. Once out, the only injury was his head wound, which Bray stitched up after Tate refused to go to the hospital. Now, they were in Josie’s living room, preparing for her rescue. And her retribution for anyone who dared touch her.
“Coordinates being sent to you and the others,” Josh interjected. “I’ve got their security up on my screens. Good, but not great. You’ll have no problems.”
Cobb knew he’d have no problems anyway. Nothing—and no one—was going to keep him from getting Josie back.
Mace’s voice cut through his thoughts. “This needs to be clean. Shut the emotion down and go in as planned.”
It was on the tip of his tongue to bark at his boss, letting him know that he didn’t need anyone telling him how to run a mission, but before he could, Drew spoke.
“Got it, boss.”
He glared at his friend, but Drew only cocked a brow at him. Turning, he checked his weapons before slinging his backpack over his shoulder. “We’re out of here.”
Before they had a chance to leave, Josh called out over the line. “The info on the drive Caesar stowed in her purse confirmed the operation as we suspected. Once the code was broken, it listed the money received from the cartel and moved through various charities before being sent on its way. We’ve got names, dates, companies… he kept meticulous records, and this backup must have been made as his insurance policy. Too bad it didn’t work for him.”
“Any surprise names?” Cobb asked, wondering if his suspicions were correct.
“Carson Wright. We know their identity.”
As Josh called out the name belonging to the fake attorney’s true identity, Cobb’s jaw ticked with anger. “Fucking hell.”
Floyd met them at their vehicle parked outside. “I’ll go as far as El Paso and smooth the way for you to get back if you have any problems. I know you want her… so do I. But I want the person masquerading as Carson Wright. And any other American citizens involved.”
“You’ll get ‘em… after I do.”
Floyd looked as though he was going to argue but wisely kept his mouth shut.
An hour later, the dark SUV maneuvered off the highway in El Paso that passed close to the Rio Grande. With papers and IDs that LSI had created and sent to Cobb, he went through the checkpoints at the bridge leading to Ciudad Juarez. Behind the wheel of the old truck filled with boxes of vegetables hiding the other Keepers in the back, he gave his papers to the guard and without a problem drove across the Rio Grande into Mexico. Once there, he drove to the Grand King Casino, pulling into the wide alley at the back where a few other delivery trucks had parked.
While he climbed down, the Keepers slipped unnoticed from the back and crept along the shadows in the alley. With Rank’s voice in his ear, he and Bray moved toward the kitchen door, each hauling a crate of vegetables while Tate and Drew made their way further down the alley.
Unlike many of the casinos in the U.S. that never closed, the Grand King Casino and restaurants were closed from one a.m. until seven a.m. This worked in Cobb’s favor since the kitchen now had a skeleton crew, mostly cleaning up from the previous day or prepping for the next. Security was so lax that no one in the kitchen even looked up to see who was walking through. Entering a back hall, Cobb and Bray set down the boxes and waited for the all-clear from LSI that the security cameras were on a different loop, allowing them to traverse the halls without any guards noticing a difference.
Following the trail given by Josh, they moved with stealth toward the stairs. Knowing he was getting closer to Josie but having no idea what had been happening with her, his heart pounded. Working to control his emotions, he focused as they slipped through the fire door at the top of the stairwell.
With an angled viewer around the corner, he could see a man at the end of the hall guarding a doorway. A gun was in his holster, but he must’ve felt no threat considering his back was against the wall, his arms crossed leisurely in front of him, and his eyes closed. Almost laughing at the ludicrous excuse for a guard that either the cartel or the casino employed, he listened for Drew’s signal. Once given, he bolted around the corner. The deliberate noise Cobb made brought the guard to an alert, stumbling as he straightened his body while reaching for his weapon. The guard had barely moved before Drew came up behind him, putting him in a chokehold. As the man dropped to his knees, Drew and Tate grabbed him and noiselessly dragged him back to the door where they’d entered. Cobb knew they’d have him subdued and gagged, no longer a threat.
* * *
Josie stared in dumbfounded confusion. Carmen had entered her confinement room dressed in a dark red cocktail dress, modest in length but immodest with the slit up the leg from knee to hip. Carmen’s hands were on her generous hips, her long fingernails painted to match the dress exactly. She also wore the same color on her lips, which were tangled in a snarl.
“First, that imbecile Caesar let you see the clinic records, and then you had to put your nose where it didn’t belong.” Carmen’s hand darted into the air at her sides. “How moronic can you be? You suspect him of illegally moving money and you don’t think that someone with power and position might not want that investigated?”
“But… you?”
With her hands back on her hips, she towered over Josie, still seated on the bed. “Hate to burst your bubble, dearie, but being your father’s political lackey isn’t my career goal.”
With too many thoughts crowding her brain, it took Josie a moment to hit pause and give consideration to just one. “You… my father?” she screeched. “He gave you a chance over so many other candidates.”
“Yes, and I would make pennies compared to what I can do now. But the people I work for need his influence, and you’ve put that at risk.”
Josie realized that Carmen had no idea Caesar had kept his own records. She wondered if he did it to eventually use as blackmail or for his protection but never got a chance. Or maybe he knew if everything else went to shit Carmen wouldn’t get away with what she was doing. Trying to keep her expression blank, she battled the desire to ask Carmen how the operation worked. That’s what they do in the movies, right before someone gets killed. Then a hero comes in. Right now, with Carmen looming over her, she was uncertain that Cobb would get to her in time. Swallowing deeply, she said, “Well, since I don’t know anything, I don’t know why you felt the need to threaten me.”
For the first time since she’d entered the room, a flash of fear raced through Carmen’s eyes. She sucked in a deep breath through her nose, then let it out slowly. “I can’t have any loose ends.”
A gasp of nerves flew from Josie’s lips. “Loose ends? Do you really think kidnapping a state senator’s daughter—one who’s dating the governor’s son—is going to be swept under the rug?”
“No, but there’s nothing to tie you back to me. Nothing to tie any of this back to me.”
Before Josie had time to react, the door slammed open, and the air rushed from her lungs again as another familiar person raced in. “Timothy?”
His gaze landed on Josie before shooting over to Carmen. With his face screwed into a grimace, he groaned, “Fuck, Carmen. I heard you brought her here! What the hell are you thinking? Jesus, this is a train wreck!” He walked the length of the room, his hand tearing through his hair. “Christ, Bert can’t know you’ve done this!”
“Bert?” Josie blinked, her voice shook as her body began to quiver. “There’s no way he’s part of this.”
Timothy whirled around and looked at her, opening and closing his mouth several times. Finally, he ignored her and turned toward Carmen. “What the hell are you doing? This is about making money. Only making money. Jesus, what are you doing?”
“I make sure that we keep making money, you idiot. Something of the rest of you don’t seem to be able to understand.”
Josie’s mind was still reeling with the idea that her cousin would have been part of any scheme in any way but especially knowing that it affected her and her clinic. Still shaking her head, she repeated, “There’s no way Bert’s part of this.”
As though remembering she was still in the room, Timothy turned around, his gaze meeting hers. “No, he’s not part of this.”
“Only because I made sure to keep him in line,” Carmen bit out. “Well, keep all of you in line.”
“What is she talking about, Timothy? What does this have to do with Bert?”
Timothy sighed, his chest deflating and his chin dropping. His head shook slowly from side to side. “It’s not Bert. He would never do anything to you.”
“Then what is she talking about?”
“It’s his… um… habit.” Lifting his head, he added, “It’s just recreational, I swear. But it was enough for her to hold over our heads. She promised a way to make a lot of money. Bert didn’t even know what she was talking about but said ‘no’. Same with Roberto at first, but then he came along with me. We partied together, gambled together, but Bert was never part of her deal.”
Her wariness was still heightened, although fatigue was nipping at her heels. “None of this makes sense.” She kept her eye on Carmen, who seemed to swell with vibrating anger as Timothy seemed to deflate.
“It was just supposed to be a way to make money,” he said. “That was all. I swear I didn’t know we were in bed with a drug cartel. I had no idea that was where the money came from. It was supposed to be just like investing. Put a little in and hope you come out with a lot.”
“What’s the matter with you? If you’re doing that illegally, then it’s just wrong. You can’t make it sound like it’s anything else but just wrong.”
He lifted his gaze to her, defeat written on his face, and whispered, “But it felt so right.”
“Getting your friend hooked on drugs to keep him complacent? That felt right to you? Kidnapping me? Threatening me? What’s next? Killing me?” Josie’s voice lifted with each word, her chest hurting with the exertion. Her anger rose to rage burning in her heart, and it focused on the sneering woman standing next to him.
“No!” he shouted. “That’s not going to happen!” He shifted his gaze to the side. “Right, Carmen? You’re just questioning her?”
A perfectly arched brow lifted as Carmen sneered. “You really are pathetic. A sniveling excuse for a man.” Casting a glance toward Josie before pinning him with a glare, she added, “You just might be next after her if you’re not careful.”
Timothy gasped, but Carmen ignored him as she peered down into her small handbag and pulled out a plastic case, then extracted a hypodermic needle. Smiling at Josie, she said, “Don’t worry, sweetie. You’ve already had this done once today, only this one will be a little bit more permanent.”
She barked at Timothy to hold Josie, but he threw up his hands and stepped back. “No, no!”
“You know what will happen if you don’t. It will be a lot more unpleasant than this. The people we work with would be much more likely to handle you the same way they handled Caesar.” Carmen took a step closer, but Timothy intercepted, swinging out to hit Carmen’s hand.
Fury flowed through Josie’s veins as much as the drugs still in her system, and she swung wildly, her fist connecting with Carmen’s face as the door slammed open, bouncing against the wall. She screamed, “That’s for getting my cousin hooked!” Pain rocketed through her hand and radiated up her arm, and she dropped to her knees, ignoring the blood running from Carmen’s nose.
The room filled with so much vibrating electricity, she swung her gaze over just in time to see her warrior enter the room.
