If Alana hoped to get out of Delgado’s compound alive, she had to use her mind.Though she was physically fit, she was no match for the superior strength of Delgado’s male entourage.
“Youresposowill be at La Casa Loca tonight.He will not want anything to happen to his pretty bride.”He clasped her chin in his grip and turned her face up to his.“But once I’m done with him,tú me perteneces.You will be mine.”
Alana bit down hard on her tongue to keep from telling the man to go to hell.
Delgado jerked his head.“Encerrarla en la bodega.”
The men holding her arms carried her up the steps and into the house.They passed through a grand entryway and through a dining room.All the way, Alana studied her surroundings, memorizing the number of steps, the doors and windows she could see.The place was opulent, decorated with rich mahogany furniture, expensive Persian rugs and original paintings on the walls.
The men carried her into a large kitchen with ultra-modern appliances and wide granite countertops.A windowed door led off the kitchen to the outside.But it wasn’t through that door that she was carried.
Another door opened onto a wooden staircase leading down into a darkened cellar with rack after rack filled with bottles of wine.At the back of the wine cellar was another wooden door, shorter, stouter and hinged with iron.
Alana shivered in apprehension.
The men were headed straight for that little door.As they neared, Alana struggled to free her arms, bucking and kicking with all of her strength.
The men were much stronger than she was.No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t work herself free.They only tightened their hold on her until she was certain they would break her arms.She’d have bruises where they’d held her.
One man lifted a metal latch, opened the door, and together, the two men shoved her inside.
As soon as she got her feet beneath her, she scrambled toward the door and pushed against it.
She was too late.The door closed, the latch slid into place and she was trapped in a dark, cool cell beneath a killer’s lair.
“Where’s my daughter?”Dwayne Neal asked as soon as Chase, Trevor and Carson entered the hotel room without Alana.
“Have a seat, Mr.Neal,” Chase said.
“I will not sit.I demand to know what you’ve done with Alana.”He stood his ground, his face a mottled red, his brow deeply furrowed.“Where’s my daughter?”
“Oh, my God.”Gina’s eyes filled with tears, and she walked into Carson’s arms.“He got her, didn’t he?”
Chase nodded.“The cab driver took off with Alana before any of us could get into the vehicle with her.”He pulled his phone out of his pocket, preparing to dial the only man he could think of who could help.
“What are you talking about?”Mr.Neal asked.“Why did the cab driver take off with her?Where did he take her?Who has my daughter?”He stalked across the room, grabbed Chase by the collar and got in his face.“I want answers.Now!”
Chase held stock-still.He understood the man’s rage.He deserved it.“Mr.Neal, your daughter has most likely been taken by Raul Delgado, the leader of the Jalisco cartel here in Cabo.”
“The leader of a cartel has my daughter?”Mr.Neal’s face grew redder.“You said you’d protect my daughter.How’s that working out for you?My daughter could be killed because of your incompetence.”
Chase couldn’t refute the man’s accusation.He felt the same way.If he’d gotten in first, he wouldn’t have been hit by the taser, and he’d at least have had a chance of saving Alana.Now, he had no idea where they were taking her or what they’d do to her.His chest was so tight, it hurt.“Excuse me, sir,” He pushed past Mr.Neal and hurried to the bedroom where Alana had slept, closing the door behind him.
He hit the phone number for Hank Patterson, praying he’d already come up with a solution to his problem.
Hank’s phone rang and rang.He didn’t answer.Chase stared at the phone.
Out of options and with no help coming, Chase couldn’t stand around and feel sorry for himself.It wasn’t his way.He had to take action.If they had only three Navy SEALs, they had to come up with a solution involving just the three of them.
A knock on the door made him stop in the middle of pacing the floor.
Gina pushed the door open and stuck her head inside.“We need a plan.”
“I know,” Chase said.
“Any ideas?”she asked.
He nodded, a plan starting to form, but it depended on information they didn’t have.“We need to find where Delgado lives.I bet that’s where he’s taken Alana.If we can find him quickly, we take the fight to him.”
