While they were waiting, she sent a message to Rick Stockton.
Hunt transferred to Beaumont two weeks ago per AUSA Neil Barnes to testify in a DEA trial. I requested all logs. Please advise.
Chapter Twenty-five
OUTSIDE CUIDAD VICTORIA, MEXICO
Jack stayed hidden in an abandoned barn that looked ready to fall at the slightest breeze while Ranger confirmed that the trucks they’d seen two hours earlier were at the compound in the center of town. Town being relative, as there were few structures, no maintained roads, and they hadn’t seen anyone other than Blair and his men.
There was no reason that Kane couldn’t have alerted them that he was safe. Jack had been thinking about it for the last twenty-four hours, and if Kane had told Ranger that he’d escaped, Jack wouldn’t have had to come down here. Instead they learned through Kane’s actions—he’d left them a path to follow, but Jack was certain Ranger could have tracked Kane on his own.
But it was always safer in numbers.
Jack was worried about Lucy. He considered Sean as close as any of his brothers. He wanted to be there not just to support them, but to protect his family. That he couldn’t be was troublesome on multiple levels.
And he really didn’t like not knowing what was going on.
Ranger returned after forty minutes.
“There’s a meeting. Two other vehicles came while I was observing. I didn’t recognize any of the players, but they look mid-level cartel. Village is abandoned, but looks like a regular meeting spot.”
“Kane?”
Ranger shook his head. “If he doesn’t want to be found he won’t be.”
“Damn straight.”
Jack and Ranger both had their guns out at the sound of footsteps, but didn’t fire. Kane walked into the barn.
Ranger breathed an audible sigh of relief, but Jack was irritated. “You fucking broke protocol, Rogan,” Jack said.
“It couldn’t be avoided. I knew Ranger would learn I escaped—Peter Blair and his people are used to keeping young girls in line, not trained soldiers.”
“Sean’s in trouble.”
“I know.”
“Know? How do you know? He was just arrested yesterday.”
Kane looked surprised. “Arrested?”
“What kind of trouble are you talking about?”
“It’s why I went after Blair. When they had me in the root cellar, they were chatty. Sound carries. Blair told his people that Sean would be under their thumb soon, that everything was on schedule. I sent Sean a message as soon as I could to give him the heads-up, but I needed more information. There’s no reason that Sean should be on their radar. Maybe to leverage me, but that didn’t seem to be the context of the conversation.”
Kane looked from Ranger to Jack. “Why was Sean arrested?”
“Killing Mona Hill.”
“I don’t know who the fuck that is.”
Jack reminded him of Mona Hill and her connection to the Hunt family and their drug cartel. “Sean’s in jail in Houston until he can be arraigned on Monday. Donnelly was grabbed outside DEA headquarters and is currently MIA, and Dunning’s been suspended after SAPD found sixteen kilos of coke in his truck. Sean had Nico Villanueva down in L.A. investigating Elise Hunt, but didn’t tell anyone. We only found out after he was arrested.”
Kane didn’t say anything. He walked out of the barn.
Jack didn’t follow. He knew his friend well enough to know that Kane needed a minute to process the new information. Kane Rogan had an uncanny way of seeing the bigger picture. Not to mention he usually had more information than anyone else.
It didn’t take him long to return. “Peter Blair was in the States three weeks ago. Wasn’t that the same time that Elise Hunt was released from prison?”
“Yes.”
“This is a setup, but I don’t know who the primary target is—me or Sean.”
“We need to go back.”
“First we get Blair.”
Jack disagreed. “Lucy is in trouble, Rogan! Sean, Nate, Brad—they’ve all been taken off the field. That leaves Lucy and Jesse vulnerable.”
“Nate’s not in prison, is he?”
“No.”
“He’ll stay with Jess. But Blair knows the bigger plan. He will talk. Why would Sean be under their thumb? Blair’s a freelancer. He could be working for anyone. He can go in and out of the country with ease, he has people all over the fucking place. He’s worked for the Hunts in the past, before the shit went down. I wouldn’t be surprised if Jimmy Hunt was running his operation from prison. Hell, they could have built an alliance that we don’t know about yet, people we didn’t shut down two years ago. Blair knows details. We make him talk. We