“He’s losing his touch,” Oliver jested, which produced a small smile from Carter.
“We should bring Elaina and Emily with us to the safe house,” Beckett suggested, remembering their flight was arriving later that evening. “Once Liam arrives tomorrow, he can call the shots when it comes to his family’s safety.”
“Agreed,” Carter answered. “We’ll all stay there tonight. Tomorrow, five or six of us will head to the hotel where Jesse’s staying.” When Carter pinned Beckett with a look that asked, You in on that? Beckett nodded. “In the meantime, Camila’s working to obtain the names of everyone who flew to Santiago with Miguel today. While Natasha does her best to identify the men who traveled with him three weeks ago. It’s possible Miguel took the same guys today though.”
“If one of them is somehow connected to Cora’s time in LA, I’ll recognize him. I remember everything from then.” Though most days, I wish I could forget.
“Which means we need to be careful. If you can recognize this guy, then it’s safe to assume he can identify you too,” Gray pointed out.
That would impact Beckett’s plans to stay at that hotel, but damn it, he didn’t want to keep hidden and not be part of the op.
Beckett thought back to his time in LA. “I turned over the case against MS-13 and the cartel to another detective. I wanted to disconnect myself from it as much as possible before arrests were made to protect McKenna. But yeah, they’d most likely still recognize me as Cora’s original mark at the LAPD.”
“Let’s not jump ahead of ourselves.” Carter patted the air as if sensing Beckett’s concerns. “We’ll wait for intel from Natasha.”
Beckett nodded, grateful he seemed to be calling the shots more so than Gray, who didn’t exactly have any love for him at the moment.
“So, Cora must’ve called Ivy for help around the same time she phoned you,” Sydney said. Beckett shifted to the side to see her walking down the aisle. “Otherwise, Ivy would never have known the club was her best chance to get to Cora.”
“You mentioned yesterday Ivy had no connection to the cartel or MS-13 in LA,” Mya spoke up, “so she wouldn’t run the risk of being recognized when trying to seduce Miguel. Also, since Ivy and Cora haven’t seen each other for years, the likelihood of someone at Jorge’s connecting them as sisters is far less.”
Beckett nodded. “And I guess Cora decided to cover as many bases as possible and called me too.” Only someone stopped her mid-call.
Were they already too late?
What if McKenna’s mom was already dead?
Blood doesn’t make a mother. A.J. had said something like that to him that morning.
When Beckett focused back on Sydney, he couldn’t help but wonder what it’d be like for McKenna to have a woman like her for a mom.
“All I know is it feels like the universe has set us all on the same path for a reason,” Mya whispered, and Beckett looked over at her.
“Yeah, well, it sure as hell feels like the universe has given us a deadline,” Oliver chimed in. “And I get the feeling it’s this billionaire asshole’s birthday on Friday.”
“I hate the word deadline,” Mya said as Sydney sat alongside her. “Implies someone will die if we’re not successful.”
Sydney’s gaze fell for a moment before she shifted her attention to Beckett, a sad look in her eyes when she spoke, “In our line of work . . . that’s exactly what it means.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
SANTIAGO, CHILE
“That was fast. I’m grateful we have Natasha in our corner.” Sydney swiped her finger across the iPad screen she and Beckett were sharing and scrolled through the files Natasha had sent shortly after they’d arrived at the safe house.
“You recognize any of the men who traveled with Miguel three weeks ago?” Gray asked Beckett, maintaining his distance by standing as far as possible from Beckett in the room. Like practically out the door and in the foyer.
Sydney handed Beckett the iPad for a closer look. “I know one of them.” He pointed to the screen.
Carter stepped away from the rest of the team gathered in the living room and faced him. “Who?”
“Hector Lopez,” Beckett shared. “He ran drugs between Mexico and California for the Sinaloas back when I worked in LA. He was one of the men arrested shortly after Cora left town.”
“Looks like he got out a few years ago and moved to Mexico after his parole ended,” Carter commented while studying his own iPad. “He’s one of Miguel Diego’s cousins. This has to be the connection we’ve been looking for.”
“Well, Hector has reason to hold a grudge against Cora. I’m sure he assumed she betrayed him since not long after she left town, he was arrested for drug trafficking. It’s been thirteen years, but I’m sure he hasn’t forgotten her.” Beckett handed Sydney the iPad and folded his arms. “Was Hector on the flight with Miguel today?”
Sydney heard the concern in Beckett’s tone. If Hector was there, it’d change everything for him. He’d have to hang back at the safe house and remain out of sight.
“The cartel used their private jet again, and flying private doesn’t require a manifest, just an itinerary. Natasha’s working on accessing the CCTV footage from earlier today,” Gray shared. “The photos Camila took at the airport may be a quicker option.” He turned to Carter, planting his hands on his hips. “Where are we on that?”
“Camila’s on her way here, but let me see if she can text me the images now.” Carter swapped the iPad for his phone and left the room.
“If Hector’s—” Gray’s ringing phone left his sentence hanging. “It’s Natasha.” He placed her on speaker. “Hey, we’re all here. You have news?”
“Hey,” Natasha answered. “I don’t have the passenger information yet, but I can confirm Hector Lopez is not in Chile.”
Sydney spied Beckett’s shoulders collapse from relief at her words.
“He took a flight to Cancun this morning. My guess is he was sent there to track whoever was responsible for taking out so many of his cartel thug friends,” Natasha explained.
“We should give Martín a heads-up that Hector’s most likely poking around Tulum,” Oliver spoke up and Gray motioned for him to go make the call.
“So, if you all hadn’t been in Tulum causing some trouble for the cartel,” Natasha went on, “then my guess is Hector would be in Chile now.”
All the pieces seemed to be fitting together to their advantage, but how long would that last? In her experience, nothing ever worked out “just right.” No, there was always darkness around the corner.
“I have a call coming in from the director. I need to go,” Natasha abruptly said. “I’ll be in touch when I know more.”
“Thanks, sis.” After the call, Gray pocketed his phone just as Carter returned. “Hector’s in Cancun. Well, probably Tulum by now. Oliver’s warning Martín.”
“Martín’s men can handle Hector. I’m not worried.” Carter quickly handed Beckett his phone. “Camila sent me the photos of who was on the plane with Miguel, Jesse, and Ivy today. Know any of them?”