in the system, but also knew that the system could be corrupted. Someone who had been by her side her entire life.
Tears threatened. “Thank you,” she whispered. “I—I don’t know if could do this on my own.”
Patrick walked over to where she sat at Sean’s desk and hugged her. “We are going to get through this, Lucy. You, Sean, Nate, Kane, Jack, Megan, me—no one can defeat us, not when the Kincaids and the Rogans work together. Never forget that. You will never be alone, Lucy.”
Then the tears came. For the first time, the tears came and wouldn’t stop.
Her brother held her tight.
Chapter Twenty-two
SATURDAY
OUTSIDE MONTERREY, MEXICO
Jack was up before the sun, cleaned up the small camp they’d made, and had eaten his rations and cold coffee before Ranger came back from his recon.
“I caught his trail.” He handed Jack a small black bag.
“His phone?” Shit. Kane had lost his sat phone, which is why he couldn’t check in.
Ranger nodded. “But it was hidden and marked.”
“He planned to return. Idea of how long?”
“Less than twenty-four hours.”
They had an internal code system that worked in the field, especially on long, complex ops with multiple teams. Less than twenty-four hours meant that Kane had dropped the phone sometime after sunrise yesterday morning. “We’ll put it back on the way, leave a message. Ready?”
“Yep.” Jack put on his pack and handed Ranger his. Checked his sidearms even though he’d checked and rechecked them both last night and this morning.
Ranger’s contact yesterday was adamant that Kane hadn’t been recaptured, but that he was still pursuing Peter Blair deep into the steep mountains southeast of Monterrey. It was dangerous because Kane was persona non grata in this part of Mexico. And the whole thing stunk like a trap. Why had Kane pushed so far into hostile territory?
When he was grabbed Thursday, Ranger called it in, but Ranger’s contact was certain that Kane had escaped and was still in pursuit. Why hadn’t he pulled back? This whole thing made no sense; that Kane hadn’t called in to say he was alive was problematic, and made Jack question Ranger’s source of information.
Maybe this was a trap for Jack and Ranger as well. Take out Kane, leave a few crumbs to think he’s still alive, draw in the rest of the RCK team. Without Kane’s or Ranger’s leadership, RCK operations south of the border wouldn’t survive long.
Jack had to think about all possible contingencies. He told Ranger to hold up. He pulled out his sat phone and called JT to give him a report and their exact location. JT didn’t say much—there wasn’t anything to say—but indicated that he had mobilized a second team that was waiting for instructions in Hidalgo. If Jack needed it, they could parachute to any location near them in two hours.
Jack hoped it wouldn’t come to that.
He asked about Sean.
“Let me deal with Sean. You find Kane. Out.”
Shit, that wasn’t an answer, which meant the situation was bad.
Jack secured his phone and motioned to Ranger that he was ready. They hiked nearly a mile southwest when Ranger stopped and hid Kane’s bag back in its spot, with a message in the bag that said when they found it and to make contact.
Silently, they continued. Kane either marked his path because he’d need help finding his way out, or he’d expected Ranger to follow.
Jack knew Ranger was upset because Kane had been grabbed in the first place when they had been paired off. He blamed himself, and that wasn’t going to help them in the long run. Guilt made good soldiers do stupid things. But he hoped that Ranger’s experience and training had him coping with the situation.
He let Ranger lead not only because he knew this area better than Jack, but because he needed the focus. They stopped for water and a one-minute rest every hour, and to confirm their location, even though Ranger knew exactly where they were and hadn’t gotten off course.
Nearly four hours later, Ranger put his arm up, fist closed; Jack froze.
They were on the edge of a small village far from any other town. So small that Jack could only see three structures, all appearing unoccupied. He knew where he was on the map, but he’d never been on this side of the mountain. A dirt road could be seen through the shrubs, and in the distance Jack heard an approaching Jeep. He and Ranger maneuvered closer to the road, then crouched so they could observe unseen.