County wasn’t a problem for him. Right now, he was the only one who was looking for Elise Hunt.
He had already assessed the terrain. Sitting out here on this country road wasn’t an option. Though the houses were few and far between, they’d be easily spotted if they parked for too long. They’d driven close enough to the target property to determine that there were no external security cameras; while Nate drove, Aggie had looked up property information and learned that the house was owned by an out-of-state investor and managed by a local company. A couple of calls later, and she had confirmation that the house had been rented on a month-to-month basis, since February 1, to Clara Valeria. She’d moved here two months before Elise had been released from juvie. The same week that Erica Anderson had quit her job. Coincidence? Unlikely.
When a neighbor drove slowly by them, Nate drove away and found a place to pull over and figure out the best way to approach and assess the property. Nate looked at satellite footage of the area.
“I got it,” he said.
He turned the tablet around so Aggie could see it. “If we drive down here, go up this street, which is parallel to the target, here’s an entrance to a state preserve. We park there and then cut through the preserve. We’ll only have to cut through one parcel of private property to hit the rear boundary of Valeria’s place—then we can recon.”
“Do we need a warrant?”
“To search. But we’re not going to search. If we stake out here”—he pointed—“the trees will shield us. I have binoculars and we can assess whether any of our subjects are on the property. If we get eyes on Donny Valeria, we call it in.” His boss wasn’t happy that he was working with Aggie on this case, but Rachel hadn’t told him to stand down. SAPD already had their description of Valeria, and that Aggie had ID’d him through DEA photos. No one else had a lead on his whereabouts. “You have cause to talk to Pablo Barrios, so if we see him and not Valeria, then we talk to him about the sixteen kilos.”
“What do we say when they ask why we’re out here?”
“Just checking up on an unverified lead. Look—you don’t have to be here. We’re in the gray area and could both be reprimanded or worse. I’m okay with that. But I don’t expect you to give up your career to follow me down this rabbit hole.”
She bristled, her eyes narrowing. “That doesn’t say much about how you think of me, does it?” she snapped. “I’m doing this because my boss, a man I respect and admire, is missing and very well may be dead. Our office was torn apart because of the Hunt family, and I’m not going to sit by and wait to find his body. They must have taken him for a reason—to torture him? To get information? To draw away resources? I have no idea, but one thing Lucy said was that Elise Hunt does things that don’t make sense because she thinks it’s fun or disruptive. It’s like yelling fire in a crowded theater and enjoying the chaos. Maybe Brad’s kidnapping is part of that chaos, or there really is a bigger plan.”
Nate admired Aggie’s fire and appreciated the fact that she didn’t back down. He didn’t encounter many people like Aggie in federal law enforcement. Rules were important—but so was doing the right thing.
“We stake out the house, get confirmation, call it in. Agreed?”
“Agreed.”
He turned the ignition and headed to the state preserve.
Chapter Thirty-five
GULF OF MEXICO
For the first hour that Sean was tied up in the hull of the yacht, he panicked. He worried about what Lucy would think when the guard told authorities that he’d been the one to shoot his partner. He worried about what the police would do when and if they found him. How would he be able to clear his name?
The second hour, Sean found surprising calm. He couldn’t do anything to help himself if he only focused on the bad … he had to find a way out of this mess. He had no idea where they were taking him. He had a good sense of time, but on the boat he didn’t know the direction they were going. Toward Beaumont? He doubted it. Toward Corpus Christi? More likely. Or heading to a boat deeper in the Gulf. But then they’d have to worry about