Frank came out of the store with his new burner phone and dialed Tarconi's number.
"Frank! Where have you been?!" Tarconi exclaimed after Frank identified himself. "I've been worried over here."
"Trying to stay alive," Frank answered, looking across the street to Kate sitting in the car they'd "borrowed." He greatly missed his own car.
"I'd say you're successful so far, yea?" Tarconi asked, a slight teasing tone in his voice.
"Barely," Frank sighed. "I need you to look into the whereabouts of Alejandro Gillick, and while you're at it, look into Fernando Alarcon."
"So demanding," Tarconi commented, but Frank could hear him typing in the background. "Goodness. You're tangled up in quite the villain."
"When have I ever been tangled up with someone who wasn't?" Frank asked.
"Touche," Tarconi laughed. "Well, it seems this Fernando is quite the violent man, and anyone dealing with him usually ends up dead."
"Sounds about right."
"I will keep trying to find this Alejandro," Tarconi went on. Frank was half listening as he noticed a figure walking towards the car.
"I think I just found him," Frank said, hanging up on Tarconi and crossing the street quickly.
...
Kate was resting her head on the back of her seat with her eyes closed when tapping started on her window. She gave a start and turned to see Alejandro himself standing there looking at her.
"Shit!" she yelped, putting a hand to her chest. He gestured for her to get out of the car, which she did.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
"What do you mean?" she countered.
"I mean, why are you here? Why are you following me?"
"I'm trying to find you," she said hotly.
"What for? You're interfering with what I'm doing," Alejandro said, his tone annoyed.
"The cartel...they have your daughter. They want revenge for Alarcon's murder. They tried to kill me when I didn't know where to find you."
Alejandro's jaw twitched during her speech. His heavy lids didn't even blink when she was done.
"My daughter is dead," he said flatly.
"I heard her," Kate insisted. "She was crying for you, calling out for you."
"That's impossible."
"How so?"
"My daughter was deaf," Alejandro said. Kate faltered at this.
"She was?"
"She did not speak. She would not have called out for me."
This confused Kate even more. Frank had approached them by now, and he was watching warily.
"Then why would this girl be calling for you?" she asked.
"I have no idea, but you've been misinformed. You need to leave. Now."
"Whatever is going on, they want you. They won't stop trying to kill me until they get you."
"And what makes you think that I'd risk my life for you?" Alejandro asked.
"Because you dragged me into this mess to begin with by hiding behind me to make what you did okay," Kate answered. Frank looked back and forth between the two of them, waiting.
"How so? It was a legitimate case. All proper procedures were carried out. You signed off on it," Alejandro said simply. Frank didn't even have time to react. Kate punched Alejandro right in the mouth hard and fast.
"Asshole!" she shouted. Frank caught her hand before she popped Alejandro again and pulled her back. People were looking their way now.
"Graver was right," Alejandro said, wiping the blood off his face. "You do have a mean right cross."
"Let your daughter die. See what I care," Kate said angrily. "I'm out."
She turned to get back into the car, and Frank gave Alejandro one last look before doing the same. Alejandro didn't waste any time walking away and disappearing into the crowd.
"Hey," he said, taking her hand in his with such ease it was as though he'd been doing it his whole life. "We don't need him."
"Yes, we do," Kate argued, stopping in a quiet spot. "Without him, I'm dead."
"With me, you're not dead," Frank insisted. He touched her cheek softly. "I mean it."
Kate turned her head away. She felt all sorts of mixed up feelings. Something for Frank was one of them. She hadn't stopped thinking about their kiss earlier.
"I don't know what to do," she admitted. "How do I stop Fernando from trying to kill me?"
"We kill him first," Frank answered simply. She stared at him.
"Just like that?" she asked.
"Just like that," he nodded.
"Okay," she said. "But I'm a federal agent. I can't just murder someone."
"You won't," he assured her, gesturing to Alejandro standing a few feet away and looking at them. "He will."
Kate looked to see Alejandro and felt surprised.
"He came back?" she asked.
"If there was a chance, no matter how small, that your child is alive, wouldn't you want to know for sure?" Frank asked. He got out of the car then and walked towards Alejandro.
"Who are you?" Alejandro asked.
"Frank. What's made you change your mind?" Frank countered.
"It's my niece," Alejandro told him. "We had her live with us for a long time, and she started calling us her parents. She wasn't home when my family was murdered, and after, I sent her far away somewhere safe. Clearly, it was not safe enough. I just called to confirm she's missing."
"Well, then let's go get her back," Frank suggested. Alejandro nodded, and they walked to the car together. Kate glowered at Alejandro as he climbed into the backseat. Frank shut his door and looked at her.
"Let's go to war," he said.
...
Alejandro was on the phone with Matt Graver, and Kate was trying not to feel angry inside. They had driven to a safe house, courtesy of Alejandro, and Kate was feeling frustrated all over again that any of this was happening.
"All right," Alejandro said, hanging up. "Fernando is having a fancy to-do tonight, and we're gonna infiltrate it and take him out."
"That easy, huh?" Kate asked.
"Yes," he nodded.
"Why was he on your hit list?" Frank asked. "I'm just curious."
"He took over his brother's operation," Alejandro shrugged.
"I don't do this," Kate interrupted. "I'm not a hitman."
"You're not doing the hitting," Alejandro reminded her. "You're going to distract Fernando, and I'm going to take him out."
"And your niece?" Frank asked.
"We'll extract Lesia in the process. He'll have her close."
Kate shivered thinking about her torture. She hoped Lesia hadn't experienced that. The fact that Fernando had done that to her was the only reason she was going along with this. The old Kate would be going on about rules and procedures. This new Kate didn't care all that much. She was beginning to see Alejandro's point about it all. Maybe she was becoming a wolf after all.
"You two better dress up," Alejandro noted, moving past them to go to another room. Kate raised a brow at Frank, who made a face back at her.
Evening
Kate didn't even want to know how Frank found formal wear, nor did she want to know how he knew her size.
"Are we sure he's going to be there?" Kate asked from the bathroom. She adjusted her dress, which was dark blue with light blue patterns on it and thin straps. She put the accompanying big, dangly earrings in and looked at herself. It would do.
"If Alejandro says he's going to be there, then he'll be there," Frank replied from the other room. She came out to find him looking sharp in his dress pants, white dress shirt, and black blazer.
"No tie?" she asked.
"Not tonight," he answered. She blew him away just looking at her.
"All right," she said, lifting her leg up onto a chair to reveal her holster on her upper thigh and slid her small pistol into it. Frank swallowed, feeling some interesting sensations in his body. "Let's do this."
He stood frozen, eyes still on her. She shifted her hair a bit before noticing he wasn't moving.
"What's wrong?" she asked. "Is the gun too obvious?" She looked down at her leg, checking.
"Not at all," he answered.
"Then why are you staring?"
"You look beautiful is all," he replied softly. She paused, unsure if she heard him correctly. When his face flushed a little, she realized she had heard him right after all.
"Um...thank you," she said. That feeling she'd had back at the abandoned house returned. She could tell Frank was feeling it too. He cleared his throat then.
"Shall we?" he asked.
"We shall," she answered, nodding. He gestured her to go out first, and she did. She felt tingly when he put his hand on her lower back as they walked out of the safe house together. Alejandro was going separately with their weapons and body armor. The plan was to catch Fernando's attention to give Alejandro the chance to find Lesia, run like hell, then gear up and finish the job by taking out Fernando. It sounded simple enough, but Kate had a bad feeling about it all. She didn't know why.
...
Frank kept Kate's hand in his as they walked into the mansion through the staff entrance. No one was paying attention to them, which was fortunate. They slipped through the crowd and hid in plain sight. Frank looked around until he spotted Fernando on the second floor looking out at everyone. It would only be moments before he saw them.
"Upstairs," he said into the comms. Kate turned to look, and he hoped Alejandro was in there somewhere. He pulled Kate into his arms, and she looked surprised as he started moving them around to the music.
"What are you doing?" she asked.
"Blending in a little longer," he answered. She relaxed a little then, and he imagined what it would be like if they weren't running for their lives 24/7.
"I don't do these kinds of events," Kate told him after a bit.
"Why not?"
"Not my scene."
"Well, you could have fooled me," he smiled. She blushed in return and looked away, scanning the room. Fernando was gone, and Frank tried not to feel anxious.
"When this is over," Kate said suddenly, looking at him again, "I know we're probably not going to see each other again."
"Says who?" he asked.
"Well, I live in America, and I imagine you'll go back to Europe, so I don't expect you to just drop your life there and be with me," she laughed. "We still don't really even know each other."
"Is that what you want?" he asked her, stopping suddenly. "To never see me again?" Kate looked at him as they stood still among the other dancers.
"No," she answered. "That's not what I want."
"Then I think I can work something out," he said, tilting his head at her. She started to smile slowly, and he smiled back.
"Package secured," Alejandro's voice said in his ear, and he knew it was time to start.
"Frank," Kate said, grabbing his arm and nodding her head to the corner. Fernando's men were looking at them and at photographs in their hands.
"We gotta go," Frank said, taking her hand and moving through the crowd with her. He knew the guards were right on their heels. They rushed back to the kitchen where Alejandro had stashed their bags. He ducked to grab it now and threw a vest at Kate, who caught it and quickly threw it on over her dress. Frank put his on, tossed her a second gun, and pulled out his. Some of the staff were tittering nervously now.
"Come on," Frank said, grabbing Kate's hand again before hustling to the exit. They were blocked off by six men, guns aimed at them. Frank pulled Kate through the door on the right, and bullets started to fly. They ran down the hall, and Frank wasn't entirely sure where he was going now.
"Target in sight," Alejandro's voice said. "Where are you two?"
"Coming out," Frank answered, finding another exit. When they approached, though, Fernando was already standing there, waiting. Alejandro was nowhere to be seen. Frank felt confused. Had he abandoned them after all?
"Well, look here," Fernando said, arms crossed. "Who would have thought that you'd just both willingly walk back into the hornet's nest?"
Kate hid behind Frank, and he kept a protective hand on her arm. Frank saw the red dot appear on Fernando's head now, and he smiled.
"You didn't think we'd come alone, did you?" he asked, and Fernando gave him a confused look before realization hit. Then he ducked, missing Alejandro's bullet by an inch. Frank yanked Kate forward again, firing at the guards who had appeared. Kate fired too. They crashed through to the other room, and Frank blocked the door with the desk with Kate's help.
"What now?" she asked. Frank moved and shot out the window, making her cover her ears.
"Out you go," he answered.
"What about you?"
"I gotta make sure the job is done."
"Let Alejandro worry about that," she argued. "Frank, I'm not leaving you."
"You don't have a choice," he said, picking her up and putting her through the window.
"Frank!" she shouted. He set her down on the other side and ducked just as the door was shattered and guard climbed in over the desk. Kate dropped out of sight as more bullets flew. She crawled away, knowing Frank would kill her himself if she didn't listen to him. She managed to get to the car and found Lesia hiding in the backseat. The girl screamed.
"It's okay!" Kate exclaimed, holding up her hands. "I'm with your...I'm with Alejandro."
"Kate?" she asked tearfully.
"Yes."
"I'm scared," Lesia said.
"I know. Me too," Kate agreed. "It's going to be all right." She hoped it was going to be all right. She heard continued gunfire from the mansion and felt very worried about Frank.
...
Frank managed to escape unscathed. He found Alejandro pinned down and helped him out. Then the two of them started running to an exit.
"I missed," Alejandro said, cursing after.
"Let's just get the hell out of here then," Frank suggested.
"He'll come after you and Kate," Alejandro warned.
"Then let's be waiting for him, shall we?" Frank said. "You have extraction ready?"
"Yea. Graver is waiting."
"Then let's go. We can deal with this when he comes to find us."
Alejandro nodded, and they escaped quickly through the mass of panicked people outside. They found Kate and Lesia hiding in the car.
"Dad," Lesia gasped upon seeing Alejandro.
"It's okay," he told her, getting in next to her and putting his arm around her. "We're getting out of here."
Frank got into the driver's seat and started the car. Kate reached to put her hand on his arm, and he looked at her.
"Well?" she asked.
"Plan B," he answered. Her face fell slightly, but she nodded.
"Okay," she agreed. He drove fast, reaching the extraction point in less than thirty minutes. He was not sad to leave Mexico behind him.