Linc didn’t stop, just kept roaring through the streets of the warehouse district back toward the interstate.
“How did they know?” Carly asked.
“I have no idea, but I’m damned glad to see them.”
Linc kept driving. They were rolling along I-30, heading back toward Iron Springs, when his phone started ringing. He pulled it out of his pocket and looked down at the caller I.D. “It’s Taggart.” Hitting the speaker, he rested it on the center console so she could hear.
“You guys okay?” Quinn asked. “You got Zach with you?”
“We’re all okay,” Linc said. “Damned glad you decided to show up at the party.”
“We would have been there sooner, but we didn’t know your final destination. Once you arrived, it took a few minutes to get the team to yourlocation. We’re mopping up now. We’ve got thirteen Mexican illegals, four men wounded, two dead guys, including Hassan Mohammed Al-Razi—who got his seventy-two Virgins by trying to shoot his way out. Two other possible terrorists are also in custody.”
“Nice work. How’d you know what was going on?”
“You didn’t think we’d swallow that BS you were slinging about cutting a deal with El Jefe? We’ve been monitoring you for days—McKinley put listening devices in Carly’s office and a GPS tracker on the truck you had modified. Good idea, by the way. Ought to give us some really good intel. We also put a drone in the air. Heat sensors detected human cargo in the trailer.”
“You knew about Zach?” Carly asked.
“Not until you got the call last night. We had no idea he’d been taken. Glad you managed to get him out of there safely. I’ll call the grandparents, let them know he’s okay.”
“I’ll have Zach call, too,” she said.
“That’s good. We can pick him up at your house this afternoon and transport him back to San Antonio.”
“Cool,” Zach said from behind the seat. “I get to ride with the FBI.”
Linc chuckled. “Looks like you’ve got things under control. Been a long night. We’re headed home.”
“Technically we need statements from all of you, but considering what you’ve been through, we can handle that when we get out to your place later today.”
“Thanks. By the way, what else besides Mexican illegals and terrorists was Zapata smuggling?”
“Sorry, that’s on a need-to-know basis. Matter of national security.”
Linc just grunted.
“One last thing. Zapata is still on the loose. We’ve put a BOLO out on him but we don’t have him in custody yet. You need to be careful until we can round him up and bring him in.”
“Good advice.”
“Carly, you and Zach stay close to Linc.”
“We will,” she promised, since close to Linc was exactly where she wanted to be.
As the truck continued home, it occurred to her that her troubles with El Jefe were about to be over. Once that happened, Linc’s promise to her grandfather would be fulfilled.
A sharp pang dug into her chest. How much longer did she have with him? How much longer before he was ready to move on?
Refusing to let her tired mind go there, Carly focused on the road back to Iron Springs and said a silent prayer of thanks that they were all still alive.
Chapter Thirty-Four
The morning after the shooting Linc insisted they take a badly needed day off. Late yesterday afternoon, the FBI had shown up at the ranch to take their statements. Taggart had confiscated Carly’s Glock as evidence, since she’d shot two of the rotten bastards.
The good news was the action had clearly been self-defense so she wouldn’t be facing any charges.
The raid was all over the news, the press giving accolades to the FBI for stopping a potential terrorist attack. The death of Al-Razi and the arrest of two radical jihadists were splashed in bold headlines across the newspapers. Since there was an ongoing investigation, there’d been no mention of Linc, Carly, or Zach’s role in the event. Linc hoped it would stay that way.
