Rescuing Jenna - Anna Blakely Page 0,70
Adrian had filled Bravo Team in on everything he knew about Cesar Ortiz. They’d received no incoming calls or texts on the phone he’d been given, but it was charged and ready for when they did.
Since then, Nate had been working like crazy to find something—anything—that would give them a clue as to who from the old cartel would’ve had a reason to come after Adrian.
He’d first spent time hacking into the security feed at Jenna’s hotel. As expected, the person who’d entered her room with the box had done a damn good job at keeping their face hidden from the hotel’s cameras. In addition to that, Nate also had a separate program searching further into Amanté Perez’s background.
Rather than dick with a bunch of back-and-forth phone calls, Ryker had chosen to hop on one of Homeland’s private jets to come deal with whatever this mess was in person.
Something Adrian appreciated more than he’d ever admit.
“Well, I’ll be damned.” The Homeland agent gave him a long, assessing glance, and immediately Adrian realized Ryker could see too damn much. “I didn’t believe you when you called, Dawson. I mean, this is the Adrian Walker we’re talking about, after all. But you were right.” Ryker slid an amused glance in Gabe’s direction. “He’s got it bad, doesn’t he?”
Ryker and Gabe had been talking about him and Jenna? What was this, junior fucking high?
Forget it. I take my appreciation back, dickhead.
“What I’ve got”—Adrian limped closer to the other man—“is an innocent woman who’s being held captive by someone connected to Cesar Ortiz.”
“Don’t forget a dead police chief and an asshole who likes putting date rape drugs into women’s drinks,” Zade chimed in.
“Amanté Perez.” Ryker nodded. “Everything we know about him is in the folder, as well.”
“How ’bout you give us the cliff notes version, yeah?” Adrian crossed his arms and waited. “Do you know who’s behind all this or not?”
“The short of it? Yes.” The man’s dark eyes zeroed in on his. “Matais Ortiz.”
The name was like a kick to Adrian’s churning gut. “I take it the guy’s is related to—”
“The late Cesar Ortiz,” Ryker confirmed. “Matais is Cesar’s son.”
What. The. Fuck.
Adrian blinked before shaking his head. “Ortiz didn’t have any children.”
The man didn’t have any family. Or so Adrian had been told.
“That’s what we originally thought, but…” Ryker sighed. “We were wrong. Ortiz had both a wife and a son.”
“You were wrong?” Shock and anger threatened to undo the careful control he’d forced into place. “You’re fucking Homeland Security, Jason. For Christ’s sake, the CIA was in on that op. How the hell does something that big get overlooked?”
After Adrian tortured and killed Cesar Ortiz, the United States government made sure pictures of the man’s body were leaked to all the major news channels. The hope was that the horrifying images would reach the remaining members of the Ortiz cartel. Convince them it was a good idea to cooperate with authorities.
They’d also hoped the photos would act as a deterrent to anyone else who may have thought joining a cartel was a good life choice.
Adrian had been all for the plan, but now? Shit, now he realized Ortiz’s own son had seen those images as well.
Matais knew exactly what had been done to his father. And somehow, he’d discovered Adrian was the person responsible.
“Trust me,” Ryker attempted to empathize. “I was just as pissed as you when I found out Cesar had a son. But up until two months ago, Matais Ortiz didn’t exist. Matais Sanchez, however, did.”
“He used a different last name?” Matt asked from his seat at the corner of the room.
Ryker nodded. “His mother’s maiden name. Rumor has it Matais was born in some shack in the middle of Cesar’s in-law’s family land. Cesar insisted they not list Ortiz as the baby’s last name to protect the child from his enemies.”
“That’s surprising,” Nate commented. “Usually guys like that are all about carrying on the family name.”
“As was Cesar.” Ryker turned to the other man. “However, he had the aforethought to focus on the long game. He knew our government had him in their sights, even back then. Since the man is dead, we can only go by assumptions. But our guess is he knew the risks that came with running a successful cartel, and he needed someone to take over the business should anything happen to him. Someone he trusted.”
Gabe cursed beneath his breath. “Like a son.”
Son of a bitch.
“So…what.” Adrian looked to Ryker for more answers. “This secret