“Then why aren’t Jack and Kane here? What’s so important in Mexico that they can’t drop it and come when we need them the most?”
“Kane and Siobhan just rescued six young girls from a human trafficking ring. There were some complications, so Jack’s there. They’ll be here as soon as possible.”
“But they’re okay, right?”
“As far as I know.” She hated obfuscating the truth.
He stood up. “I still want to visit my dad.”
“I’ll tell you what. I don’t think they’ll let him out this weekend, but I think our lawyers are really good and he’ll get bond on Monday. If something happens and he doesn’t? I’ll take you to see him.
“Promise?”
“Yes.”
I hope it doesn’t come to that. Please, God, don’t let it come to that.
Jesse went upstairs to his room and Lucy didn’t know whether she’d made the situation better or worse. Bandit, who’d been asleep on his dog bed, immediately jumped up and followed Jesse.
Her cell phone rang and the number was unfamiliar, but she answered anyway.
“Kincaid.”
“Lucy?”
She didn’t recognize the young female voice and demanded, “Who’s this?”
“Aggie Jensen. From the DEA.”
Lucy rubbed her eyes. “Right. Of course. How can I help you?”
“Brad was kidnapped an hour ago, a block from DEA headquarters. I would have called you sooner, but it’s a madhouse here.”
If Lucy wasn’t already sitting, she would have dropped on the spot. Brad … missing. “What happened? Do you know who’s behind it?”
“Not yet. Martin—SSA Martin Salter—he’s not listening to me. Well, that might not be fair. He’s weighing all the facts in the situation, but we don’t have any evidence that what happened to Sean and Nate is related to Brad’s kidnapping, so he’s running the investigation from the wrong angle. He’s a good agent, but … well…”
“I know Martin. He’s by the book and very honest, which is why Brad brought him on the team. Are you sure—”
“Yes, Brad was taken, his tire shot out, his gun kicked away. This can’t be a coincidence, right?”
“No. The big question is why. And how did they know he would be there at that exact time?” They’d ambushed him, but Brad wasn’t a novice. How’d they get the edge on him? Had he missed a tail? Or was it a tag team? Had they waited for him?
“Brad asked me confidentially to look into Nate’s situation. I don’t have anything solid, but a drug house was hit last week outside Austin. The house was run by the Merides brothers, known dealers. Three days later a gangbanger came in with an infected gunshot wound. They cut him loose, he missed his court date yesterday. So now there’s a warrant. He was part of the Saints, a rival gang.”
Lucy knew all about the Saints.
“And you think the drugs taken in this raid were planted on Nate.”
“I don’t think anything at this point, I’m still gathering information, but I was wondering why sixteen kilos? It’s a quarter-million-dollar bust. Most gangbangers aren’t going to want to give up that weight, even to frame a cop, unless they take it from someone else, or get paid even more than it’s worth to plant it. Honestly, it’s overkill. A kilo would have netted the same result.”
Aggie was right. “Where are the Merides brothers now?” Lucy asked. “Jail?”
“In the wind, no active warrants for either of them. The police didn’t connect them to the shooting of Mitts Vasquez—the Saints gangbanger—but Mitts is in the wind as well. This is my theory.”
“Can you send me what you have?”
“Aren’t you kind of busy?”
“Helping Nate helps Sean.”
“We might have caught a break,” Aggie said. “There were security cameras on a warehouse right outside where we found Brad’s car. Martin sent two agents to retrieve copies from a digital warehouse. We should have them within an hour.”
“Good. Show them to me, if this is connected to the Hunt family I might recognize some of the people.”
“I’ll do what I can. Oh! I forgot, I reached out to Zach—on the q.t. I don’t want to get him in trouble. But he’s been trying to call me and I couldn’t talk to him with Martin around. Brad wanted to look at the evidence from Nate’s truck. Different gangs have different signatures, and if this is a major gang, he might be able to ID where the drugs came from. I have to go into a meeting right now.”
“I’ll call him. Thanks, Aggie. I appreciate everything. I want to find Brad, but I have to go to Houston.”