one.” He shrugged. “I think she could have handled the second guard, too, if I hadn’t arrived in time.”
His girl shuddered. “I don’t think so, Logan. He planned to shoot me.”
A quick grin from Logan. “You had plenty of rock coverage. The only danger was bullets ricocheting off the rocks. With his broken ankle, he couldn’t climb.” He glanced at Owen. “If you’re stupid enough to let her go, I’m first in line to ask her out. Just saying.”
“Not happening. Get your own girl.” Owen brushed his mouth over Gigi’s. “I want to hear all about what happened on the way home. Brody, sit rep.”
“Trafficking victims are free. The feds are calling in more help to handle their care. No injuries for either team. Sawyer and Jesse confiscated all the computers and tablets in the mansion and in the buildings containing the trafficking victims, and transported them to the SUVs. You three ready to get out of Mexico?”
“Yep. What about the weapons?”
“Not our problem anymore. The feds confiscated the weapons since an unnamed American agent bought them as part of an undercover assignment.”
Stretching the truth a bit, but Owen was more concerned about leaving Loera as soon as possible.
“We’ll report to the boss once we’re airborne. The feds are mopping up the rest of Gonzalez’s crew. Meet at the rendezvous point, and we’ll get out of here.”
“Yes, sir.” Owen wrapped his arm around Gigi and turned her toward the mansion. “Time to go home.”
“Thank goodness. Toni is safe now?”
“Yeah, babe, she is. I doubt Gonzalez will be out of prison until he’s old and gray. He’s no longer a threat to you or Toni and Ellis.”
She frowned. “Gonzalez is a Mexican citizen. Won’t the local authorities want to put him on trial here?”
“Too much corruption in Loera and this province to trust their justice system.” Owen kissed her temple as they walked past a still unconscious Gonzalez and his guard who lay sprawled on the sand a short distance away. “President Rodriguez wants to stay in President Martin’s good graces. They’re friends and have pledged to work together to reduce crime affecting both countries. Gonzalez unlawfully detained and threatened to murder two American citizens, and is a human trafficker. Believe me, Rodriguez will be happy to dump the gunrunner into our justice system.”
Two men with their weapons drawn ran toward Owen and the others. “Get your hands up,” one shouted. Both of them wore dark jackets with FBI stenciled across their bullet-resistant vests.
The second agent slowed his partner with a hand on his forearm. “You’re the undercover agents,” he said as they approached.
Owen’s eyebrow rose. “Yes, but how do you know?”
A smile curved his mouth. “We were told to look for a big, broad-shouldered bruiser with military bearing with a beautiful woman at his side.” His gaze skated to Logan, and the agent indicated the operative with a tilt of his chin. “Who’s he?”
“Fortress teammate.” He pointed at Gonzalez. “The Department of Defense has first dibs on this guy, and several more agencies are lined up behind the DOD.”
“We were briefed,” Agent Two said, voice clipped.
“Don’t let him out of your sight. If he becomes a threat to my woman again, I’ll take care of him permanently.”
“Move,” Brody said through the comm system. “Government reinforcements are ten minutes out. We need to be gone before they arrive. Otherwise, we’ll be delayed and could lose control of the electronics.”
Not an acceptable occurrence given the sensitivity of the DOD program.
“Copy,” Logan murmured.
“Gonzalez is all yours.” Owen nodded at the two agents and started toward the mansion again. Instead of heading for the patio, he guided Gigi toward the side of the home. When he escaped the mansion with Gigi, he’d seen enough to know many of the guards didn’t survive the fight with the American agents. Gigi had been through enough trauma tonight. He didn’t want her to see bodies scattered around the patio and inside the home, especially if Maria had been caught in the crossfire. Owen walked quickly toward the SUV. “Brody, Logan is riding with us.”
“Copy. Five minutes.”
He opened the passenger door for Gigi and lifted her to the seat. Logan climbed into the backseat. A moment later, Owen drove toward the front gate which stood wide open. Two agents stopped him, glanced into the back at Logan, then waved them through.
Huh. If Owen had been in their shoes, he would have demanded identification. He wouldn’t complain, though. Owen didn’t want to be on scene with the other Fortress