Chapter 32

SPOV

When the van eventually stopped again, I was definitely close to panicking. With the engine turned off I tried to listen to what was outside in the hope that maybe there might be someone who would see or hear me. Yeah, as soon as that door opened, I intended to scream my lungs out. The sound of the door unlocking had me moving quickly, ready to jump out and cause as much havoc as I could. As the door slid open and I moved forward there was suddenly a hand around my throat, I scratched and clawed to get myself loose but to no avail. As I tried to lift up my knee to hit him, I felt myself being lifted higher rendering that move useless without a having the floor to push from. I wasn't even making an impression as my fingers slid over the leather gloves. I felt myself struggling to get air into my lungs and could swear that I could hear laughing coming from near me. With wide open eyes I was looking into the eyes of Garner.

Nothing beyond him was in focus and slowly I felt the strength in my arms begin to betray me until I was hanging limply from the hold that he had on me. Even my legs wouldn't do as I told them, wouldn't move so that I could use them. Stars began to float across my vision before merging into a bright white light that pierced my senses before darkness came over me, swamping every feeling and emotion.

My throat hurt but I was aware that I could draw air down into my lungs. I felt like shit and it took me a few moments to fully remember what had happened. As I tried to move my arm and hand to touch my neck I panicked when I felt cold metal digging into them. I think that I was laid on something soft, on my side, which made me wonder about the bruise on my hip and the fear that I'd been poisoned. It was dark but there was also the feeling of material on my cheek. That's when it hit me, it wasn't dark, there was something over my face stopping me from seeing anything.

Noise infiltrated from my surroundings, a low constant noise that didn't bare any resemblance to that of a car or van, it almost vibrated through me like a steady droning. In fact, when I started to focus on my surroundings, it didn't feel like I was in a vehicle, no bumps or the stopping and starting I'd detected earlier. Unless we were on a long flat section of road.

That's when I felt it, my stomach dropping suddenly in my body, bile rising up my throat. I'd only ever experienced that feeling once before because I'd only ever flown in a plane that one time. This time I was panicking, the air whizzing in and out of my lungs and the material closing onto my face. I could feel my blood pumping around my body, so I tried to curl up into a ball, drawing my legs up and bending my back. There was a jostling underneath me and that's when I felt it, a sharp stab at the top of my arm. I was sure that it felt like a needle, was it the antidote? Was I near to where we were going? That was my last thought before my eyes became so heavy and my muscles relaxed their tense hold on me.

It was the pressure around my arm and being pulled that had me suddenly awake. My hands were still fastened behind me and now I was sure that something was over my head. I felt warm, sweaty, and slightly dizzy and nauseous. The grip on my arm continued to pull me and my feet automatically stepped down until I was stood on my own. It was so quiet, that it felt surreal. I had nothing to indicate where I was, so I stepped forward, feeling the sharp edges of stones or grit under my feet. Another step was too much, my legs unable to cope with my weight so I sank down onto my knees, tears rolling down my face. I felt so alone and scared to death not seeing a way out. I didn't even have the energy to react as a voice shouted out, but I heard what was said.

"What the hell Garner. I told you to bring her to me unharmed"

"I haven't hurt her"

I was suddenly lifted up from the ground by strong arms, a loud scream coming from me as my arms and shoulders swung underneath me.

"Get those cuffs and the bag off her"

Was shouted from the man who was now holding me. As the cover over my face came away a scrunched my eyes up tight, the bright light now shining onto me causing them to hurt. My arms and hands started to tingle and the movement I felt was excruciating as blood suddenly began to flow. The tears turned to sobs as I was carried, I wanted the pain to go away, I wanted a release from what was happening. My breathing and sobbing were hurting my throat and I had no way to stop it. My reality became unfocussed and if someone was to ask me what happened next, I had no idea. The bright light faded, and I felt cool air moving over my face before I felt myself being laid down on something soft.

The feel of something cool on my face was calming and I seemed more composed. Once more I was dreading opening my eyes. As I started to focus on where I was, I'm sure that I flinched at the sight of a man sat next to me.

"It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you"

Yeah right. Hell, I'd been threatened, choked, drugged, tied up and then brought to god knows where and this man was saying that he wasn't going to hurt me? And let's not forget poisoned.

"Am I going to die?"

Was what I wanted to know, and the words just slipped out of my mouth. The threat of what had been done to me becoming very real. He honestly looked confused as he continued to look at me, which had me feeling somewhere between scared and annoyed, making me wonder if he was just taunting me.

"You poisoned me"

I spat out at him, trying to get him to tell me what the hell he was intending to do.

"I did, but for some reason you're not exhibiting any symptoms"

"Symptoms, what the hell does that mean?"

"By now you would be feeling very ill, nauseous and tired. Your veins and capillaries would be causing bruising over your skin and your eyes would be bloodshot"

That had me looking down at my hands, which to me looked as they always had. My hand went to my neck because that was where I was hurting the most.

"How did that happen?"

"Your friend Garner nearly choked me to death"

Hearing a small growl emanate from his throat had me looking up and into his face. He looked annoyed with his lips drawn into a tight line and the muscles around his eyes moving to display a frown.

"Take off this top and let me see"

He'd already begun to pull the hoodie I was wearing up, so I sat forward and allowed him to pull it off over my head. Thank goodness I had a T-shirt on underneath, but I still yanked the hoodie from his hands and held it tightly to my chest. His hand on my shoulder had me leaning back onto the pillows behind me before I felt my chin being tilted up. He was so close as he leant over me and gently touched my neck. His touch was like a feather slowly sweeping over my irritated skin, like a caress that was soft but firm.

"Let me get something for that"

He said as he stood and walked out of the room. Being left alone gave me time to analyze his behavior and where I might be. Not once had this man threatened me, in fact he'd behaved impeccably toward me and to me it seemed that he was annoyed with Garner. It didn't quash the questions racing around in my head though. Why the hell was I here, what were his plans? I mean here I was in a beautiful room, laid on a soft bed. The furnishings and décor certainly not what I would expect if I was his prisoner.

As the door opened, I looked up to see him walking back in holding a jar in his hands.

"Lay back, this is from the flower of the arnica plant. It's been used for hundreds of years for its apparent benefits. Traditionally, it's used to reduce pain, swelling, and bruising"

I appreciated him telling me what he was now smoothing over my neck, but it still made me nervous as to why he was treating me so well.

"Why, why am I here?"

Okay, it seemed that he was going to ignore me because he stayed silent as he rubbed the lotion onto my neck. Once he'd finished, he stood up and just looked at me, oh shit, what the hell was he thinking?

"There are some clothes in the closet that should fit you. When you're ready come

downstairs to the back of the house and we'll talk"

"And if I decide that I want to walk out of here?"

Okay, that even sounded sarcastic to me but come on, when has anyone kept me somewhere that I didn't want to be?

"We're in a compound with twelve feet high walls and only one exit with guards"

I could have sworn that he was almost smiling as he turned and walked out of the room. Maybe twelve feet was a bit high for me to climb but I'd managed to get out of Ramos's compound, hadn't I.

Moving from the bed was actually easier than I thought it would be, no dizziness or weakness which had seemed to plague me when I'd arrived here. Opening the closet there was a small selection of clothes but they all seemed quite thin and light. Maybe he kept the house really warm so didn't see the need for warm clothes, then again, he had been wearing only thin trousers and a T-shirt. Walking over to the window I wanted to know what was outside and pulled a thin sheer net to the side to give me a better view.

I couldn't believe how blue the sky was or how bright the sun seemed to be and even as I stood there the rays of sunlight seemed to warm me. Below me there looked to be some sort of courtyard with tables and chairs arranged underneath umbrellas. Was that a swimming pool to the side, the pale blue water reflecting the light from its surface?

Beyond a tall hedge was where I saw a tall stone wall and I was mortified when I recognized a curl of barbed wire along the top. Maybe climbing the wall wouldn't be such a good idea after all. Straining my neck to the side and looking to my right I could just make out the outline of hills, though it seemed too hazy to make anything out clearly. What was beyond the wall though had my heart drop, because it seemed we were next to a large expanse of water. A lake that was flat calm, reflecting the blue of the sky with occasional ripples on the surface.

My mood deflated as I went back to the closet, but at least I found some underwear. Not exactly my style, more the type that I sold when I was at E E Martin, the style that an older person might wear. Dressed in thin cotton cut offs and a T-shirt I studied myself in the mirror on the door of the closet. The clothes were on the big side making me look thinner and the pale colors gave my skin a washed out look, except for the black and blue marks around my throat. My hair, well it was a mess with my curls flying out from around my head. The only part of me that looked normal were my eyes, still white against the blue.

I found the attached bathroom, a room where everything was white from the tiles on the wall to the ones on the floor. Even the fixtures and towels were all white. The only color came from the plastic bottles inside a cabinet on the wall. I found a comb and tried to calm my curls but was struggling without anything to fasten it back with.

Deciding that there wasn't much else I could do I knew that I had to leave the room. You would have thought that I'd be keen to do that but the idea of having a talk with that man was actually making me feel nervous. The door to the room where I was, opened quietly onto a wooden floored hallway. There were three other doors, that I assumed led to other bedrooms, and a wide stairway that curved down through the middle of the house. All the walls were white with an occasional picture, contrasting starkly against the dark grained wood of the floor. I hadn't been able to find any shoes and was regretting not having showered knowing that my feet were probably quite dirty.

The stairway opened out into a beautiful open plan room with a lounge and dining area. To my right was a beautifully appointed kitchen with large doors that opened up to an area outside. I jumped at the sound of a door closing and the sudden appearance of the man stood in the kitchen holding two glasses and a jug in his hand. Okay, I felt embarrassed because I hadn't noticed that the door to a large refrigerator had been open. As he turned he actually smiled at me before apologizing to me. Weird, I'd never had the person who had kidnapped me apologize to me before.

"Sorry, I didn't realize you were there. Shall we go outside?"

I followed him outside surprised at how warm it was even though to me it seemed as though the sun was sinking in the sky. He led me to one of the tables and pulled out a chair for me to sit on. Looking at the table as I sat I was surprised with what I was seeing and couldn't stop myself from licking my lips. I hadn't realized just how hungry I was until I saw the tacos sat in the middle of the table surrounded by small dishes with fillings.

"Help yourself, you must be hungry"

"Thanks"

I said as I took a taco and started to spoon in minced beef, salsa and shredded lettuce. Having eaten that I grabbed another taco and surveyed the choice in front of me. As I filled it with cheese, tomatoes, onions and sour cream I looked up to see the man watching me. Okay maybe I was being a bit greedy, but hey, I was famished. Once done with eating I sat back with the glass in my hand and took a sip of the drink now in it.

It allowed me time to really look at the man. His dark straight blonde hair was cut just above his shoulders, with a brown skin that looked as though it was from being out in the sun. His face was long and lean with the shadow from not shaving and grey eyes. His body looked toned, though not with the muscles that Ranger or any of the Merry Men had, maybe through hard work. I thought that maybe he was a bit older than me and was actually a good looking man. It was his face that worried me, why was it that men could make their faces expressionless, with no emotions showing through?

He turned that look on me now, making me cringe slightly with what his talk was going to be about. Seeing as he never immediately said anything I decided to start the conversation myself.

"What do I call you?"

I saw a slight surprise cross his face, as though he thought I should know.

"Lucas, Lucas Leneghan"

As he said that I was sure that he was expecting a reaction from me.

"Okay Lucas. So tell me what the hell is going on"

It was all I could think of to say to show this man that I was annoyed at him, because the name Leneghan definitely sounded familiar.

"Several years ago, I was a very happy man because I'd found the woman of my dreams. She was pregnant so we'd planned to elope, to marry quietly without the interference of family"

Oh shit. I had a horrible feeling that he was talking about Antonella and that me being here had something to do with her death.

"She'd gone to her parents to collect some personal things and was to meet me that evening. Then we were leaving. When she never arrived, I got worried so drove over to her parent's place. Not a trip I was looking forward to because her parents really didn't like me seeing her"

I watched as Lucas closed his eyes as though trying to block from his mind what he'd found but when they opened, I could see the contained fury festering below the surface.

"The place was so quiet when I got there, no guards at the gate or on the grounds. I found her, laying in a pool of blood"

"I'm so sorry Lucas. I'm not sure how I would cope if something happened to the love of my life"

I was being very sincere as I spoke, it was something that had my heart hitching, thinking that if something happened to Ranger then I was sure that I wouldn't cope.

"Her father was dead along with his men, but the servants managed to escape. It nearly broke me, her not being there anymore so I drowned myself in my work. It was a few years later when I was working in the area that the locals who knew her told me of the attack. American soldiers they said, there to shut down her father's business and end his reign of terror. The locals were actually grateful with what happened"

"They were being made to work for the father?"

I'd heard the stories and read the books of how cartels would force local people to work, usually for very little money and in awful conditions.

"Yes. Antonella hated what he was, that was why we were leaving"

They had been so close to that happening before the Ranger team had arrived and she was killed.

"When I found out that it had been American soldiers that had killed her, I was angry. Hell, I'm American, yet it seemed they had no compassion for Antonella. I swore that I'd find the man who had killed her"

That did have me frowning because if Garner worked for him then he must have known about McCann.

"About a year ago I found what I needed. A report of that incident that had been buried and forgotten. that told me exactly who had pulled the trigger"

Now I was confused because I remember Les telling me about the problems that they'd had with McCann and that he was the one to shoot the daughter.

"But you're working with him, why do that?"

This time it was Lucas who looked confused, maybe I shouldn't have said that to him because maybe now he would know that I knew more than he thought.

"You have that wrong, why do you think I brought you here?"

Okay, this conversation was starting to confuse me because it seemed that Lucas wasn't following anything that I was trying to say.

"I don't know"

Because I still hadn't worked that one out yet.

"I wanted Manoso to know how it felt to lose someone. I've followed your life very carefully, Stephanie. I can see how much you mean to him"

I swallowed hard when I understood that Lucas thought that Ranger was responsible for Antonella's death and was surprised that Lucas had seen what was between us. Hell, it was only recently that we'd both admitted it to each other.

Then it hit me, did that mean that Lucas was planning on killing me, to get back at Ranger? Ranger had always said that he'd kept me at a distance to protect me from his enemies and here it was happening already. Somehow, I had to get Lucas to believe the truth but the only weapon that I had were my words.

"He didn't kill her Lucas"

The only response was for him to shake his head at me. I suppose it would take a lot more than saying that to persuade him.

"Okay, who gave you the report?"

He leant forward in his chair, his elbows on the table, an amused look on his face as though he was prepared for me to entertain him with whatever I would say.

"A man called McCann?"

"Maybe"

Okay so it was McCann, and I had an idea of exactly what he'd done.

"McCann heard you were looking for that report and he knew if you found it then you would read exactly what happened"

As I said that I could see that I had Lucas's attention so maybe I was right with what I'd said.

"McCann doesn't like Carlos Manoso because after a mission he reported back that McCann was incompetent and should even be court marshalled. The problem that McCann had was that if you did get hold of the report then you'd read that it was McCann who shot Antonella"

"Why should I believe you?"

"There's a saying, keep your friends close but your enemies closer. McCann wangled a job in intelligence, so I bet that he rewrote that report for you, maybe even switched it out with the original, then had you believe that Carlos Manoso was responsible"

"A good story Stephanie but unless you have proof then I won't waver from what I'm planning to do"

How the hell was I going to do that? I had nothing with me and didn't even know where I was. The only way that I could see me being able to get Lucas his evidence was to get McCann to admit what he'd done. Like that was going to happen. Unless.

"Get McCann here. I'll get him to admit it to me"

What other option was there? This was mine and Ranger's life at stake here, surely Lucas would give me that opportunity, wouldn't he?

"You owe me Lucas. In the last few weeks, you and the men you've worked with have chased me, shot at me, involved me in a car accident, kidnapped me and nearly killed me again with that horrific drug that you produced"

"But you were the one that destroyed it"

I looked shocked as he said that wanting to know who the hell would say that. Then it occurred to me that Garner knew that I was inside the museum and that somehow, I'd escaped. So maybe he was the one to tell the others that it was me that had done it.

"No. Okay fires and explosions follow me around, but I never cause them. Garner had me at that museum, but someone managed to carry me out. I nearly died from inhaling that white drug"

"Garner said that it was you"

Great, did he think I could prove everything that had happened to me? Though I wasn't about to tell him about Denby.

"I don't know who it was, but I swear that it wasn't me. Hell, I had nothing on me to start a fire with and someone used gasoline to start it"

"Maybe that's why the poison doesn't work on you"

"What?"

I was struggling to follow his line of conversation when he said that and decided to just ignore him.

"One thing at a time. Get McCann here"

I almost felt like saying wherever here was because I had no idea where the hell I was.

"Okay, I'll get him here by the morning, but you will only have one day to prove to me that he has double crossed me"

RPOV

I was looking around the men as they sat on the couch and chairs trying to read from their expressions what they were thinking as they looked through the papers that I had given to them. I saw as Tank glanced my way every so often, but I wasn't sure if it was because he thought I was onto to something or just desperate. It was Brown who put down his papers first, but he didn't say anything, probably waiting for the others to finish reading.

"How the hell did you pull all of this together?"

I looked to Santos knowing that he would be the one who would be the most difficult to persuade but then again maybe if he knew that it was Steph who had done most of the work then he would be more inclined to believe what he was reading.

"Steph, she'd started some searches but had left them running. I followed where she left off"

I was waiting for someone to say that maybe she'd been wrong, that her logic was flawed.

"When do we leave?"

Came from Santos which had the others smiling at me. Yeah, maybe they'd been worried about Santos's reaction when it pointed a finger at Tali. It wasn't often that Santos was misled by someone, his instincts were almost as good as mine, so maybe they'd expected him to argue with me. I watched as Hector got out his pad and air played it to the TV. As a map of the area where that van was last seen came onto the screen he stood up and pointed to a place.

"Trenton Robbinsville Airport. If they took her to Mexico, then they must have used this airport and used a private jet"

It made sense to me but to be honest I was so sure of where Steph was that I wasn't overly interested in how they'd transported her.

"I'll get a team to check it out"

I suppose it had to be done and I was pleased that Tank was going to organize it because we had a lot of planning ahead of us if we were going to get to Steph in time. My biggest worry was whether or not she had been given the antidote by the person who had her, the man Lucas Leneghan. I swore that if anything happened to her, he wouldn't be allowed to live.

"This man Lucas Leneghan, he was engaged to Antonella Cordoba. I could understand him wanting revenge but why take Steph?"

I'd thought long and hard about that and I only had one possible suggestion.

"Maybe he thinks that I was the one who killed her"

I saw each of the guys frown as I said that because they knew as well as me that it had been McCann who was responsible for that.

"McCann. He's been working with Leneghan so he must have told him that. Hell, I bet McCann is laughing at us"

"Why's that Santos?"

"Because by lying to Leneghan that Ranger here shot her, he's got Leneghan doing his dirty work. McCann probably hates your guts after you reported in afterwards"

"Plus, he'd want someone else to take the wrap for killing the woman because he'd know that Leneghan would eventually find out the truth and kill the man responsible"

It made perfect sense now. McCann had masterminded the whole thing. He'd make a lot of money from the enterprises that had been set up, get rid of me and my company and ensure that Leneghan never went after him. Hell, Steph had been so right when she'd said that this went so much deeper than we thought.

As I thought through what we would need to do I realized that Leneghan needed to know the truth and I had exactly what was needed for that to happen. As part of an army unit the ones in charge insisted that we wore jacket cams so that the whole assault could be recorded. Yeah, nowadays it was live streamed back to control but that many years ago it was a stand alone camera and even that long ago I always had back up plans just in case. In my safe in the office, I would have a recording from that job, somewhere.

"We need to do this covertly. It's probably Tali who has given Leneghan access into our systems"

"What do we do about her?"

I looked at Tank and as our eyes met, he knew exactly what I wanted to do but fortunately Brown was the man of reason and came up with an alternative suggestion.

"She can't find out what we know, it might put Steph in danger"

I wasn't too sure how we would manage to get a team of men away from Rangeman and out of the country without alerting her. We needed a distraction, or to create one.

After planning out what we were going to do and who would be involved the men left, each with their own specific task to finalize. Hector was to arrange for a private jet to take us down to Aeropuerto de Bacubirito, where we would collect two vehicles, courtesy of Santos, and drive toward Guamuchil, located in the north of the state of Sinaloa. Tank was organizing for us to get to Pemberton Airport a very small but secluded airfield that would be able to accommodate a private jet.

Brown and I were going to create the distraction and hopefully throw anyone from suspecting what our real purpose was and then we were meeting in four hours down in the mission prep room in the lower basement.

I collected some clothes for Steph along with combat trousers for myself. Whilst we would want to be dressed ready for an assault on Leneghan's compound fully kitted out it would be necessary to dress in civvies whilst travelling so as not to alarm the locals.

Once down in my office I opened my safe and searched through a strong box that contained reports and copies of video footage relating to missions, relieved when I found the brown envelope with the name Cordoba written on the outside. Calling in at the monitoring room I made sure that the rotas for the men were covered, pleased to see that Tank had already taken out the men who would be going with us.

As I passed the break room, I was surprised to see Tali sat talking to Binkie. Standing in the doorway I was curious to know what she was doing here and what she was saying to Binkie. Of course, she saw me straight away, a forced smile on her face and tears in her eyes. It went against every feeling that surged through not to walk in and ram her hard against the wall, forcing her to tell me what she had planned. Instead, I made sure my emotions were locked down tight and went and stood next to the table.

"It was her Carlos. I don't know what to think. Why would someone kill her?"

She was a piece of work and had obviously put on a hell of an act for Binkie because he took her hand in his across the table as though to comfort her.

"If she did have contact with Garner then maybe he saw her as a threat"

Was all that I could think of to say as the image of Jayce came to me. Had Tali had something to do with Jayce being murdered? Was Tali that scheming just to throw us in the wrong direction? I watched as she forced tears from her eyes and then stood up, coming toward me. As I felt her arms come around me I had to fight every impulse to try and act like a consoling boss.

"Maybe she was following a lead and never told anyone. Oh god what will happen to Steph? I have to help find her, please, you need someone to support you and I can do that"

I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised that she knew that Steph was missing, every man in the building was helping in the search for her.

I had to remove Tali from being so close to me because I had an awful feeling that she thought I would turn to her if anything happened to Steph. Was that also in her plans? She had always been flirtatious with me, her body language provocative, but I'd never responded to her, comfortable in the knowledge that she was a couple with Jayce. I'd even made sure that she remained up in Boston despite her frequent requests to be transferred to Trenton or help here with more difficult jobs. I'd cut her dead when she'd tried to insist on helping me when Julie was kidnapped. I had to admit that she made me uncomfortable.

"I thought you'd be going back to Boston with Jayce, Tali?"

"No. Her parents are making all of the arrangements, so I'll go for the funeral"

Damn, that meant that she really was planning to stay around for a few days which would make it even more difficult to keep her in the dark from what we were doing.

"I can help until then"

Over my dead body. I only had thirty minutes before I was to meet the men and was hoping that Brown had come up with a brainwave for a distraction that would be good enough to keep Tali in the dark. I turned from the break room not surprised when Tali followed me so as I walked into my office, I closed the door and locked it before she could follow me in. I checked the small bag that was in there and then opened the computer to check out the cameras in the building. There at the monitors was Tali, making it difficult for me to disappear down into the basement.

The only way that I was going to shake her was to leave the building and then return using the back entrance into the lower basement. I left my phone on my desk and then took the stairs to reception. The hair on the back of my neck was crawling as I felt the cameras watching me. Once outside the building I made sure that I walked beyond the range of the cameras and then doubled back using back streets and lanes.

Entering the lower room, I was totally pissed off with having to sneak back into my own building and it must have shown on my face.

"What's happened to get you looking so annoyed?"

Looking at no one in particular I sat down at the table and dropped my bag next to me.

"Tali, she's still here and was at the monitors"

"Well, I'd say that she wants to see what happens when she knows that we've discovered encrypted messages on an email account that leads us back to Jayce"

Hector looked as annoyed as I felt but I couldn't but notice that Brown was smiling.

"Seems that she's given us the perfect distraction Ranger. The last email that looks to be between Jayce and Garner mentions a property out of the city"

"So all we have to do is look as though we're going to stake out the place and come up with a plan to break in and free Beautiful"

"And in the meantime, we'll be on our way to Mexico"

It could work, it would have to, but it did make me wonder what the hell was supposed to happen at that house when we supposedly turned up.

"The plane will be at the airfield in two hours"

"Transport at the other end is arranged"

I looked to Tank for what he was going to report back with and saw immediately that he looked hesitant.

"The team that I sent to scope out Trenton Robbinsville Airport found the van inside one the hangers. We have a problem though, because they also watched as McCann boarded a plane and took off"

"Destination?"

I asked, but in my mind, I think I already knew the answer.

"Manifest registered with the control tower recorded Guamuchil, Sinaloa. He'll be at least three hours ahead of us"

We didn't have much time to sort out any plans for Mexico because now we had to somehow plan out a surveillance on this house while giving the illusion that we were there.

"We can plan for when we get there on the flight. Let's get back upstairs and make public a strategy for approaching this property"

That meant that while the men took the elevator back upstairs that I had to exit the building and return through the front entrance. I made out that I was in a hurry and exited the elevator on five to walk to the conference room.

"What's happened?"

Asked Binkie as he saw some of the men rushing to get into the room.

"Hector messaged to say that he may have found out where Steph is being held"

I hated lying but deception was going to be important if this was going to work, my one regret was that I couldn't let any of the men involved know what was actually going to happen. Taking a seat, I looked around the room, not surprised to see Tali sat there.

"Hector managed to break an encryption on an email account. It looks as though Garner has a property north west of Trenton"

"Do you think he has Steph there?"

Came from Tali as she interrupted me. I looked at her and then around the table as the men seemed to be hanging onto every word that I was saying.

"Maybe. We have to check it out. Steph was threatened with her nieces and yourselves being hurt if she didn't go with Garner, so I'm not sure what his motives are"

I brought up on the screen the position of the property and then a map of its location. The property looked like an old farm in an isolated area amongst open fields. There was only one road into the property which would make it hard to get close enough to do any surveillance. It would need to be planned out carefully because I didn't want any of the men who were going to be assigned to this to get hurt.

"Santos, you and Ram take up a position here. Tank and I will come in from this side and position ourselves here. We need to establish if Steph is there and who else is with her. Brown and Hector remain outside of the property and keep a visual on the access road. We'll use comms to keep in touch, so Hal you're here at the control to coordinate"

"I could go in with you Carlos, you know, in case Steph is injured and needs my help"

"She can partner me"

Came from Cal which meant that at least we would know where she was and what she was up to. I'd originally planned on taking our four best teams to Mexico but as Tank had said that many men being seen to disappear might be too obvious to the rest of the men. Cal and Hal had agreed to remain here in Trenton with Hector transmitting false sit reps from us to maintain the illusion that we were actually there. I nodded my head at Ram, the last man who would be with us.

"Miguel, see if you can find any high ground and set up a sniper position. We need to be very discreet and ensure that we're not observed. Second teams relieve in eight hours. Surveillance to establish who is there and then we plan an extraction of Steph"

"Hooah"

Was heard before the men started to leave the room, even Tali seemed to be smiling as she followed Cal. Hal remained with us and spent some time talking with Hector while the rest of us retrieved our ready bags and headed down to the garage. Santos had already left and was going to place trackers at the property that when activated by Hal would show us all as though in position.

Leaving the garage, it was SOP for cars to take different routes to reach a destination so no one would think anything was amiss when we each took different routes. The trackers for our cars had been disabled by Hector so we were soon convening in one of the hangers at the airport, moving our supplies onto the jet.

As the wheels left the tarmac, I calmed my breathing and cleared my head. I had to be in control of my emotions to pull this off without Steph being hurt, be the soldier who was preparing to lead a team into a mission that would be the most important one in my life.