“Sure thing, Tío.”
Seconds later, gunfire filters through the comms. Erik and I exchange a fearful look, and he guns it.
23
LEVY
Nacho and I wait in the sweltering car as Charlie and Ant make their way to the warehouse. We’re in a shitty little one-row industrial park outside of McAllen, Texas, and despite the fact the sun went down over an hour ago, it’s so hot that the paved roads almost look like they’re melting.
Nacho points out the three old school buses parked in the lot. “That’s how they transport them.”
The buses showed up in our intel, and we plan on using them to transport the children to an abandoned hospital in McAllen. The Wimberley team bought the property a few years ago and has been quietly renovating it, so it should be a good place to help kids find their parents and reunite with them.
I suspect the proximity to the semiconductor plant is not a coincidence. Wimberley has been playing the long game.
Refocusing on our current situation, Charlie and Ant have to take care of the two guards, and if the one inside is anything like the one outside, I’m not too worried about it.
As soon as they’re done, Nacho and I can go in and talk to the kids, making sure they know they’re safe and will see their parents soon. I try to focus on that and not the fact Javier has killed two men. Or that it kind of turns me on.
As if he’s reading my mind, Nacho mops the sweat off his forehead and asks, “How’s it going with you and Javier? Is it a fling, or…”
I shake my head. “It’s early, but we’re pretty serious about each other. My mom always said when you know, you know.”
“True. You know, Bram didn’t talk about your parents very much, but now he’s doing it a little more. I wish I’d gotten to know them.”
I grin, thinking about how my mom always worried Bram would be too focused on academia to take a relationship seriously.
“My mother would love you to death. She’d want to put meat on your bones. She’d say, ‘Nacho, we need to put meat on your bones,’ and then she’d feed you until you begged her to stop.”
He chuckles. “Sounds like a good mom.”
“She was, and so was my dad. He would’ve taken a little longer to come around, though not because of anything to do with you. He was always slow to make friends. I suspect he’d recognize that what you do for Bram is what our mother did for him. He’d come to appreciate you so much.”
“Wow, I think that’s the nicest—”
His words are cut off by the sound of gunfire, and within seconds, Ant is back on the comms, panting heavily.
“Guard came back sooner than we thought. Charlie got hit. It’s bad.”
Nacho and I stare at the building just a few feet away.
“We’re less than ten minutes out,” Anders says. “I’ve got my kit with me.”
“Ant, can you and Charlie make it back to the car?” I ask as calmly as possible.
“I don’t think that’s going to be possible,” Ant says. “Charlie’s…um. Charlie’s unconscious.”
My stomach roils at the thought of Charlie injured and covered in blood, but Ant is by himself in that place.
“Ant, how many guards are there?” Erik asks, the urgency in his voice translating across the comms.
“I’ve only seen two. I’ve got the guy from outside right here, and he’s swearing it’s only him and the inside guy.”
“You’re talking to the guard?” Erik asks, incredulous.
“Yeah. He shot Charlie in the leg, so I put a gun on him and started asking questions.”
Frustrated with the particulars, I press him. “Are you in a secure location?”
