10

Matt saw Vince off and with the help of Roberto Cuevas managed to catch a flight to Palm Springs with a friend of his. The older man was quite the talker, but after several tries to engage the young stranger in conversation, he finally gave up. If not for the fact that he had known Cuevas for over ten years, he would have been reluctant to take the man. Once they landed at Palm Springs however, he was bowled over by the younger man's generosity: he not only paid to refuel the plane but gave him $1,200 for his trouble. Once clear of the pilot, Matt chartered a jet and instructed the pilot to fly to Laredo. While onboard, he got caught up with CJ and Francine by way of a conference call.

"Hon, I know you want to get down there to get Will, but what is your plan?" She was sitting at the desk in the study with three monitors going in front of her: one with the satellite trained on Mendoza's estate and the second with an ever-changing list of flights going from Los Angeles, San Diego, and Las Vegas to Nuevo Laredo. She had even hacked into the passenger manifests for the airlines and was running through the lists of names on the third monitor.

"I'm on the way to Laredo. After I hit Mexico my first stop will be to Wade's bar. Then I'm going to settle things with Diego."

"Do you know for sure that's where they've taken him?" Francine had put her second in command in charge of what remained of the weather emergency that the storms had left behind and was now concentrating on trying to help Houston.

"That's my best guess." He paused. "Either way I'm done with the son of a bitch." The voice was a low growl.

"Alright. Chuck and I are going to Laredo. We'll be there if you need us."

"Y'all don't need to get mixed-" He didn't get to finish as Chuck interrupted.

"Damn it, Houston! I should be with your sorry ass right now." He was infuriated.

"Bud, I don't want you getting involved in this. It's my fault and I'm the one that needs to deal with it."

"None of this is your fault." Martinez exchanged an exasperated look with Chuck.

"Every bit of it is - I should have taken him out before he ever had a chance to get Will." He turned his attention to CJ. "Babe, I need you to call Chris Oakley and let him know what I'm doing."

"Are you sure he'll let you?"

"I'm sure I may need his help getting back into the states." Pausing again, he asked about the kids.

"They're okay, just worried about you. Catey was pretty upset that she didn't get a goodbye kiss." There was no reply on the other end of the line.

When he finally spoke his voice was very subdued. "Give her one for me - and the boys." His phone beeped. "That's Vince. Gotta go. Love you."

"Love you more." She looked at the phone as the call was disconnected. "Chuck?"

"We're still here." His voice was tight with worry and anger.

"Thank you for going down there."

"You're welcome, hon. Just try to take it easy and I'll call you as soon as we know something."

"Thanks." She hung up and swallowed hard, hoping that she would hear from Matt again before he crossed into Mexico.

As the jet soared closer to Laredo, Matt answered the call from Vince. "Yeah?"

"He's okay." Vince had pushed the plane as hard as he could just like Houston had done on the way to Big Bear.

"You're sure?" He was relieved to say the least.

"Yeah. I've got eyes on him. He's talking to a blonde." Vince was striding across the quad toward the young man who looked up, the color draining from his face as he spied him.

"Phew." Matt heaved a shaky sigh of relief.

"Want to talk to him?"

"I don't know if he wants to talk to me."

"Hang on." The former cop stopped in front of the bench where the boy was sitting and handed him the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hey…" Matt wasn't sure what to say.

"Pop? Why is Vince here?"

"They got Will." He was trying hard to keep his voice even but it was shaking nonetheless.

"Will? No…" He looked to Vince who nodded his head. "But…"

"Do you understand now?"

"I'm sorry. I was going to call you later." Tomás buried his face in his hands.

"I'm on my way to try to get him back right now." He paused for a minute. "If I don't make it back I want you to help CJ with the kids."

"You can't go!"

"I've got to - or we'll never get any peace. It's the only way."

"I don't want you to-"

"I don't want to do it either, bud. There's no other way. They've got Will."

"But-" The teen could hear another voice in the background.

"I've got to go. We're about to land. Just remember that I love you."

"I love you, too. Please-" The call was disconnected.