Protecting Arizona (Special Forces: Operation Alpha) Read online

  “Of course, of course.” Valeria wrung her hands.

  Luca just shook his head. “I cannot believe this. I will ask Octavio to oversee things and get back to you when I can.”

  “Of course,” she assured him. “Don’t worry. I’ve got it covered here.”

  “Thank you.” He turned to the two detectives. “I will follow you to wherever we are going.”

  Trainor nodded. “That works.”

  As he headed away from the dealership close behind the car with the two detectives, he placed a call to Octavio.

  “Si?

  “Two detectives just paid me a visit. I acted the properly distraught and dismayed husband, and angry that someone would do this.”

  “Of course you did.” Octavio paused. “Were they hostile? Did they think you did it?”

  “At first but it might have been an act, to see how I reacted. I’m on my way to make the formal identification. How is Ruby?”

  “Okay, but she keeps asking about her mama and where she is. They were supposed to go shopping. And then her mama said to take a nap.”

  “Carajo!” Of course she would ask. He needed to come up a with a plausible story until he figured out how to break the news to his daughter. And then stash her away.

  “What do you want me to do?”

  “Just make sure she is occupied until I decide whether to move her or not. Fuck! Not a good time for Florida to decide to throw a monkey wrench into the works. Not with a DEA raid imminent.”

  Octavio just shook his head. “She was trouble from the day you met her. I told you from the beginning—”

  Vasquez held up a hand. “Not now. We need to deal with the present.“

  “Fine, but as your oldest friend I have to tell you, we need to make plans to properly handle this.”

  “Si! Si! I know that.” He ground his teeth. “I hoped it would be a long time before the body was found. Her fucking sister was the one who called it in. They said it was a woman, and you saw her there yourself when she arrived. Fucking Florida must have called her. The policía arrived soon after she left the motel, so of course she was the one who called.”

  “Do you want me to do a little checking around?”

  “No.” Luca was firm on that. “Let’s not open any doors we don’t have to.”

  “Understood. We have only three more distribution runs on the schedule right now, and the last of the shipments will be out. Can we do the run before the DEA hammer drops?”

  “As soon as we know the exact date, we will start the run. Please check at the dealership and make sure they are all properly stored in the designated motor homes. Valeria has the list of the latest unit deliveries at the office. No one looking at it would think it is anything but what it purports to be.”

  He could not afford to have the pipeline affected in any way. The cartels punished mistakes with death, and he very much wanted to stay alive. “I’ll discuss it with you when I get back to the house.”

  “Good. Oh, and about Ruby. She’s getting a little antsy about her mother. Says again she took a nap and now her mother isn’t here. She wants to know where she is. That is a very confused little girl.”

  “That’s good.” In fact, Vasquez thought, very good. “It will make it that much easier to convince her that her mama suddenly got very sick and died.”

  “You need to come straight back to your house after you finish the identification.”

  “I plan to. Meanwhile, take her out into the backyard. That way if her fucking sister is watching the house—and I’m pretty sure she is—she has to be out on the water to see her. I checked her out, as you know. She has no vessel of her own If she has friends that do, it will take her a while to make arrangements and give us some breathing room.”

  “You really think she’ll snatch her niece?”

  “Why wouldn’t she? I’m aware she hates me with a passion. Plus, I’m positive the fucking DEA somehow has eyes on us.”

  “No problem. We’ll take care of it. You go play the grieving husband. See you when you get to the house.”

  He disconnected the call then texted his DEA contact.

  “Let me know if there is any change in plans. Your son is doing well as long as you hold up your end.”

  Now, he just had to get through the performance at the morgue. And of course, the weeks after. Somewhere in there he would take care of Arizona Hunt. The DEA agent

  One step at a time, he told himself. One step at a time.

  * * *

  “Don’t drive directly to your friend’s,” Razor told her. “Take a little drive like you’re showing me the sights.”

  She glanced over at him. “Are you crazy? Why?”

  “Because we may have another problem.”

  Now what?

  “What do you mean?”

  “There was a pretty boring gray sedan that fell in behind us when we left your house. I didn’t think too much of it at the time because after a few blocks it disappeared.”

  She frowned. “Following us?”

  “My SEAL brain is always looking for something out of place. So I noticed after the gray sedan disappeared, a tan two-door showed up. Then a pickup truck. Then the gray sedan again. The only time no one was behind us was when we were driving past Vasquez’s house. My guess is they had cars waiting at both ends of where that street curves back to the intersections and whichever way we turned one of them would pick us up.”

  “Shit.” She slammed her fist on the steering wheel. “You’re right that he knows about me. Florida must have slipped up somehow, although we haven’t had that much contact.”

  “My money says he pulls the records of her cell phone every month. Do you have a civilian phone, one not tied to the DEA?”

  “Of course. All of us do. If someone in the drug business got hold of that public number, the fallout would be unbelievable.”

  “I figured, but I always check. That’s how they identified you. Tracing a number is easy for these guys. You know that.”

  “Damn, damn, damn.” She smacked her fist on the steering wheel. “So how do we do this?”

  “Like I said, drive around a little. Call your friend and say we’ve been delayed. Then let’s see if we can lose these jokers.”

  “I know how to do that.” Her voice was grim. ”I’ve had to do it before.”

  “Then let’s get to it.”

  They spent a precious thirty minutes while Arizona navigated downtown Tampa, making sudden turns, crossing a little bridge, winding around then coming back from another angle. Razor kept watch out the side-view mirror, only his hard-won discipline keeping him from mentally undressing the woman next to him.

  This shit has to stop, you idiot, A woman’s life is at stake here.

  “I think we’re clear,” he said at last. “They’ve been using three different vehicles, and I haven’t spotted any of them in the past five minutes.”

  Arizona called Charles to tell him they were on their way then took them via a circuitous route to the man’s house.

  “Everything okay?” he asked after she introduced Razor.

  “It will be,” she assured him, hoping she was right. “Thanks again for this, by the way.”

  “I told you, anything you need, any time. Just ask.”

  Charles Winters’ boat was a center console deck boat. Arizona breathed a little easier when Razor said he’d driven one many times over the years. No sweat.

  “Well, I’d say you’re all checked out here.” The man smiled at Razor. “Of course, I’d expect no less from a SEAL.”

  “Truth be told, I grew up on a lake. My brothers and I learned to drive boats as soon as we could stand behind a wheel.”

  Arizona looked over at him. Somehow she hadn’t thought of him as having a personal life, which of course was stupid. She wondered if he had anyone waiting at home for him then dismissed the thought the moment it entered her brain. Of course he didn’t. He was not the kind of person who’d do what he did with her in that motel if
he was in a relationship. Tex Keenan certainly wasn’t like that, either, especially since he and Melody had met and married. And she was sure his friends were no different.

  Unbidden, a scene flashed into her brain. The two of them naked in the motel room, the pale light on the lamp outlining his rock-hard muscles, his broad shoulders and had muscles. But mostly the thick, hard length of his cock, which he slid into her body with ease after teasing her to the point where her sex was wet and ready.

  Forget it, you idiot. This is not playtime.

  Still, she’d need all her wits about her to get through however long this took without stripping off her clothes and climbing onto his glorious body.

  Motoring out away from the dock, she stood under the canopy next to Razor as he guided the boat with obvious assurance. The day was warm and sunny, so a lot of other people were taking advantage of it, meaning there were a lot of boats cruising the water. Razor steered expertly, not going so fast as to call attention to them, listening as Arizona guided him down the channel, out into the open water, and eventually into Hillsborough Bay. Before long they were in the area of the Vasquez house.

  “There it is.” She pointed to the rear of the massive gray house and the manicured lawn stretching down to a sea wall.

  “Can you hold this steady while I take a look?” Razor asked. “Thank god your friend Charles keeps binoculars on this boat.”

  “A lot of people do, and yes, I can.”

  She shifted until she had the wheel centered on her body, then held her hands at ten and two o’clock. Razor lifted the binocs to study the scene on shore. She gave thanks that a lot of the other boats were just cruising around, maybe sightseeing, so they didn’t stand out.

  “Anything?” She hated asking, but they were in such a tight time period.

  “Nothing exciting. Some guy is pruning the shrubbery around the back of the house, that’s all. Wait. I see something at an upstairs window. Okay, a little girl just appeared. I can just make her out because the sun is reflecting off the glass. Does your niece have long black curls?”

  “Yes.” Arizona’s heartbeat sped up. ”Yes, she does, Oh god, Razor. She’s really there. He didn’t send her off anywhere.”

  “Not yet, anyway.”

  “I wish I knew how much she saw of what happened at the motel. We know Florida had the child with her but was she drugged? Incapacitated some other way or was she awake? Did she actually see her mother get shot?”

  He lowered the binocs and put one hand over hers on the wheel. “We don’t have any answers to those questions, but I have to think that if Vasquez was the one who ordered the hit on his wife, he’d find a way to shield Ruby from it.”

  “I agree. That’s why I keep thinking he’s going to squirrel her away someplace.” She kept her hands steady on the wheel. “The most logical place to do that is with the second in command and longtime friend, Octavio Ruiz. He and his wife could take her to their home in South Tampa or, worse yet, he could have Octavio’s wife take her out of town. Then what would I do?”

  The boat swerved slightly as her hands jerked.

  “Let’s cross that bridge if we come to it. Here.” He handed her the binocs and took the wheel back. “Meanwhile, we need to move from this spot before someone notices we’ve hovered here too long.”

  “But—“

  “We’ll come back. Let’s do a little pleasure trolling so we blend in with the other boats, though.”

  Arizona took the binocs from him and dropped into one of the seats at the console. Razor usher the throttle forward and they took off away from that area of Davis Islands. Desperation and frustration roiled together in her stomach, as she realized that getting Ruby away from Vasquez looked to be more difficult than she’d imagined if not completely impossible.

  Then, what did she do?

  Chapter 7

  Luca Vasquez was sure he deserved an Academy Award for the performance he put on at the morgue. He was aware that under normal circumstances the body would be brought to a viewing window and the bereaved would stand in the hallway outside the window to see the deceased. But Trainor and Burrell were obviously determined to get the most out of his reactions, looking for anything that to them seemed off kilter. Anything, he was sure, that would bolster their theory he was responsible for this.

  “We’re ready.” Trainor touched his elbow. “Are you prepared for this? Sorry to put you through it.”

  Vasquez didn’t think he sounded sorry at all, but he forced himself to ignore it. He simply straightened his spine and nodded his head. Trainor pushed open the door to the main part of the morgue and led the way inside. A man in scrubs came over, yanked off a rubber glove, and held out his hand.

  “Dr. Moreno. Sorry to meet under these circumstances. My condolences.”

  “Thank you.” Vasquez dipped his head. “Let’s move forward.”

  “Right here.” Moreno led them to one of the stainless steel tables and gently folded back the sheet to reveal Florida’s head.

  It did shock him to see Florida’s body lying there with a sheet draped over everything but her face. He wanted to see where the bullets had entered her body, but he didn’t think it would be appropriate to ask. A grieving husband would not want to see the wounds, so he played the part to the hilt.

  Her thick, lustrous black hair was swept back from her forehead, accentuating the awful paleness of her skin. Vasquez remembered the first time he had seen her, that ebony hair an exciting mass of ringlets framing a heart-shaped face and accentuating vivacious green eyes that sparkled with life. And that body she knew how to do wonderful things with. He cursed the fates bringing ruination down on him.

  I’m smart enough to fix this. I have before, and I can do it again.

  “Who would do this to my beautiful wife?” he moaned. “The mother of my child. The woman of my heart.” He took out his handkerchief and dabbed at his eyes.

  “Do you happen to have any idea in that department?” Trainor asked.

  “I’ll bet it’s that sister of hers.” He spit the words out. “Florida hardly saw her at all until the last year or so. She’s probably jealous of my wife and got her into a nasty situation. I don’t trust her.”

  “You think her sister had her killed?” Trainor asked. “Or did it herself? That’s pretty harsh.”

  “I wouldn’t be surprised. She hated the fact that Florida married a man with wealth and positioning and had all the things that she, Arizona, never would.”

  Burnell took out his little notebook again. “Name please? So we can check her out.”

  “Arizona Hunt.” Even saying her name left a bad taste in his mouth.

  “Do you have a phone number for her?”

  He did, but he wasn’t about to give it to them. He’d obtained it in a less-than-legal way, and he wasn’t going to get his dick caught in a wringer. Especially now with the DEA on his back.

  If I’m not careful, those assholes will ruin a business it took me a long time to build up. Maybe Florida’s death will force them to postpone whatever they have planned and I can make arrangements to move everything.

  Although that would be a huge fucking pain in the ass. His location was ideal. He had access to both water and air travel, and he’d learned the secondary road networks in and out of Florida. He had paid off the right people to give him access wherever he needed it and settled comfortably into the life he created. If he could finesse the DEA on this, he would have control of his life.

  And maybe the situation at hand would give him what he needed.

  He swallowed back the sadness and let out a slow breath. Then he looked at Trainor. “You must find whoever did this to her. Please.” He hoped he sounded properly distressed.

  The detective studied his face carefully then nodded. “We’re very good at our jobs. We’ll find the person. Count on it.”

  Vasquez wanted to tell him that no way in hell would that happen, but another thing he’d learned was not to be cocky. That was a path to disaster. “I
must make funeral arrangements. When can I do that?”

  “We’ll release the body later this week. Before the weekend, so you can make preliminary arrangements,” Burnell answered. “We are sorry for your loss.”

  “Thank you.” It killed him to say the words.

  The two detectives ushered him out of the room and the building to his car in the parking lot.

  “You know we’ll need to question the people at your house.” Trainor’s words were clipped.

  Of course they would.

  “I’m sure you don’t want us to waste any time,” Burnell said.

  “I understand. They will be devastated. My wife was beloved by everyone.”

  “Apparently not quite everyone,” Trainor pointed out, or we wouldn’t be standing here with you now.”

  Vasquez wanted to bite their heads off. He hated their attitude. They couldn’t know about his drug business, so it had to come from the assumption that if a rich man’s wife was murdered in a motel room he had to be behind it. Fine. Let them do their thing.

  “I will expect you before long, then.”

  They didn’t offer to shake hands, and neither did he. He simply got in his car and drove out of the lot. He kept checking his rear view mirror for several blocks, but no one was following, so he headed for his house.

  There would now have to be a change of plans. If he moved Ruby, those smartass detectives might get the idea she knew something and he wanted her out of the way. The cops would expect him to want to keep her close and to have her at the funeral, even if she was only four years old. He would play the heartbroken husband and doting father to perfection.

  As for everyone else in the house, he and Octavio would have to prep them all and remove anyone who showed the slightest hesitation to do and say what he told them. He had orchestrated things like this before with great success. He could do it again.

  He punched speed dial for Octavio. “Report,” he demanded.

  “We have three sets of eyes assigned to her,” Octavio confirmed, “but we might have a small problem.”