The glimmer of heat in that cool blue eye drained some of the tension from her shoulders. Lissa managed to smile. Reaching out to take the hand he offered, she let him lead her down the hall to the bedroom.
THEMOUNTAINSABOVEthe metropolis of San Pedro Garza Garcia were rugged: jagged granite outcroppings shoving up from the earth, dense scrub vegetation that included the occasional cactus or palm, and thick deciduous forests.
Luxury homes dotted the lower slopes, the streets lined with leafy trees and colorful blooming flowers, but farther up the hill, the terrain turned forbidding, a hostile no-man’s-land.
Using GPS coordinates, they located Spearman’s house at the end of the road at the far edge of the city: a huge two-story U-shaped white structure with a red-tiled roof. It was completely surrounded by a ten-foot wall.
The good news was the terrain would provide the cover they needed to get close to the residence without being seen. The bad news was it was going to take a miracle to find a way in.
Alex parked his girlfriend’s SUV out of sight in the heavy foliage a quarter mile down the hill and they all got out of the vehicle. Wearing the camouflage cargo pants and T-shirt he’d had in his gear bag, Colt joined Alex and Lissa, who both wore lightweight camo.
Before they could come up with a plan, they needed intel, needed to know what they would be facing. They split up and took off in different directions, each taking a position to watch one side of the house. Careful to stay out of sight, they moved silently through the trees, keeping a lookout for any of Spearman’s men patrolling the area.
Colt hunkered down to track the east section of the house and grounds, while Lissa moved around to the west, and Alex took a position at the rear. An hour later, they rendezvoused in a hidden spot in front, where they could observe people and cars going in and out through the main gate.
“Sitrep?” Colt asked Lissa, once they were back in a secure location.
“I spotted two of Spearman’s men on foot patrol. They weren’t paying a lot of attention. Clearly they weren’t expecting trouble.”
“They’ll be far more alert the day the cartel higher-ups are due to arrive,” Colt said.
She sighed. “I wish we knew when that was going to happen.”
“I think Colt nailed it.” Alex rolled his beefy shoulders, probably stiff from sitting in one place for so long. “If I read my cousin Diego right, I’d say sometime this week, probably no more than a couple of days.”
“Which means we haven’t got much time,” Colt said. “You pick up anything useful out there?”
“I might have. You saw the rear entrance into the compound on Google Maps, right? A gate that opens onto a dirt lane curving around the hacienda to the main road?”
“We saw it,” Colt said. “Couldn’t tell much about it from the images we were able to access.”
“Could be exactly what we’re looking for,” Alex said. “Freight and staff go in and out that way, and from what I could tell, it was fairly busy.”
“You get pictures?”
Alex held up his smart phone. “Sure did. Sent them to your cell.”
Colt nodded. “Let’s go back to the casita and make some plans.”
Benito had insisted on meeting them when they returned that afternoon. He joined them just minutes after their arrival and he didn’t come alone.
“I brought someone who may be able to help us,” Benito said as he walked into the tile-floored entry of the guest house. He motioned for the man behind him to come forward. “This is Zachariah Bridges. I think you will find him a man of many talents.”
“Zach,” the man corrected, reaching out to shake Colt’s and Lissa’s hands. “Good to meet you.” He was in his midforties, whipcord lean and hard-edged, his skin sun-browned to the color of teak. With his dark hair and dark eyes, he could pass for Mexican, but the minute he started speaking, Colt knew he was an American.
“Zach has retired from the federal agency he once worked for,” Benito said. “He now makes his home in Monterrey.”
Colt looked him over, trying to discern which of the alphabet agencies had employed him. “Thanks for coming. We can use all the help we can get.”
“I understand you were at Spearman’s earlier today.”
Apparently Benito trusted the man enough to reveal their mission. If they wanted to succeed, they had no choice but to trust him, too. “That’s right.”
“Then you know it won’t be easy to get into the compound and possibly even more difficult to find the boy once you’re inside. I can help you locate him.”
One of Colt’s eyebrows arched up. “That so?”
“You’re talking about surveillance equipment,” Lissa guessed, earning another degree of respect from Colt.
