“What happened?”
“We lost two men.”
“Are they dead, or still alive?”
“One is dead. We can’t find the other.” She heard noises over the phone: things being thrown against a wall, cursing, banging on a desk, and Suretta said, “They will pay. Are your men still coming to help?”
“Two more men, from Morelos, Roberto and Adan. They are excellent. They will call you when they arrive in San Angelo on the afternoon flight.”
“Thank you, jefe.”
“Suretta, get this done. The clock is ticking, and I will lose more than money. If this doesn’t happen, I will lose everything.”
He clicked off before she could acknowledge his statement.
She drove to the airport and met them as they picked up their bags. The three of them talked in her vehicle as they drove from the airport.
Roberto said, “The jefe says not to kill the two troublemakers in town, but take them to the ranch so you can bury them and nobody ever finds them. One is La Patrulla, the Border Patrol.”
“Sandra is tailing them. When you’re ready, I’ll have the van brought nearby so we can load them in it.”
“Bueno.”
Suretta hung up and Called Sandra to find the location of their prey.
As Hunter drove, both she and Ike looked for any tails, and for any others that showed too much interest in them. “When you don’t know your enemies, it’s a lot harder.” Ike said.
Hunter’s eyes checked the side streets as she said, “But we have to draw them out or we’ll never find those kids.”
“Use ourselves as bait.”
“Yep. Think of us as tethered goats in front of a hunting blind, waiting for a tiger to come.”
“Only we don’t have a big game hunter to cover us.”
“There is that little thing.”
Ike checked the street on his side, saw nothing out of the ordinary. “We’re close to losing them, aren’t we? Anita and Kelly and the others?”
Hunter felt the weight on her heart, “Yeah, but we can’t give up.”
A van passed them and pulled in front as they continued down the street. Hunter said, “They sure were in a hurry to get in front.”
“One of my pet peeves.” Ike said.
The van slowed for a Stop sign, and Hunter watched in her rearview mirror as a black Escalade closed behind them, already slowing for the stop.
Hunter felt her neck hairs prickle. It might be nothing, but she never liked being between two vehicles, even when it was innocent.
Traffic was light, almost nonexistent on this back street. The van stopped at the next light, and Hunter did as well, leaving room between the two cars in case she had to make a run.
The black Escalade came to a rolling stop close to Hunter’s rear bumper. Hunter watched it in the rearview, taking her eyes momentarily off the van in front.
The van suddenly backed up, squealing the rear tires as it sped toward the front of Hunter’s vehicle. At the same time, the Escalade did the same to the rear, cutting off any chance to maneuver for Hunter and Ike.
The men and women sprang out of both the van and the Escalade, armed with AK-47 rifles. Half of them moved to the driver’s side while the other half covered the passenger side of Hunter’s truck, holding their weapons up and ready to fire.
Hunter thought about it as she touched the butt of her weapon, but Ike said, “Uh-uh. All we have are pistols. They’ll cut this truck cab to pieces with those. We’re pinned in here.”