Page 112 of Hours to Kill
Sean nodded, his hands at the ready on the wheel.
Mack continued to look into the drizzling darkness at the empty lot, wishing he was with Addy instead. He’d hoped for time alone with her, but it turned out that Bear wasn’t the only one keeping Mack from realizing his hope. Eisenhower had ended that thought with one phone call.
He wanted the sovereign citizens for more serious charges than threatening messages, which meant delivering the guns to them, then arresting them on the spot. Cam had found the three men’s contact information on Razo’s phone and arranged a meet via text. So Harris went back to question Zamora, and upon learning Razo was dead, Zamora hoped to lessen his sentence by giving up the location of the guns and plans to smuggle them. Eisenhower contacted Mexican officials, and the RED team was soon in possession of five miniguns and had flown back to Portland with Addy to meet up with the sovereign citizens.
Addy had to sit out the op, though. She still hadn’t been medically cleared for duty, so Eisenhower wouldn’t let her join in. Mack didn’t mind her staying home, because then he didn’t have to worry about her safety during the op.
Headlights cut through the lot, and Mack forgot about everything but bringing this sting to a successful close.
“Suspects are in sight,” Kiley said from an unmarked van.
The sovereign citizens were expecting Razo, but the RED team convinced them to let his girlfriend make the drop. Kiley was wired and would be posing as the girlfriend, while Seanand Mack, along with an FBI SWAT team, waited in the wings with one of their snipers on overwatch.
Mack followed the rented U-Haul truck’s progress through his binoculars and watched them stop at the designated area. Kiley drove up to them and slid out of the van. Her eyes were tight, her posture assured.
A tall, heavyset guy with a bald head who Mack recognized as Ross got out of the truck.
“It’s Ross,” Mack said into his comms mic so that both his team and the SWAT team could hear.
“Roger that,” the SWAT commander replied.
Kiley didn’t respond because Ross was within earshot and would hear her.
“Macy Wallace,” Kiley said, using Razo’s last girlfriend’s name.
“I’d like to see some ID.”
“Sure thing.” She slowly reached for her pocket and pulled out the driver’s license they’d quickly made for her. She held it out. “Same for you. Let’s see your license.”
He dug out his wallet from the back pocket of worn jeans and held it out. “Now that we both know who we are, let’s make the exchange.”
“Money first,” Kiley said and drew back her jacket to reveal her holstered gun. “Just in case you think you can play me because I’m a helpless female.”
Mack waited for the guy to get mad or even draw down on her.
Instead, he grinned and curled his finger at the truck. “Shoulda figured Razo would have a strong chick by his side.”
Mack could imagine Kiley cringing inside, but as a very capable agent, she would never show her emotions to this creep.
Sean ran the wipers to clear away the drizzle on the windshield, the scrape across the window sounding almost like an explosion in the quiet to Mack, and he feared the others couldhear it. But they were too far away, and he was just being paranoid.
Another man slid down from the truck, a large bag in his hand. His mousy-brown beard ran to the middle of his chest, and his hair was pulled back in a ponytail. No doubt it was Turner. “Guy approaching is Turner.”
He dropped the bag on the ground in front of Kiley.
“Pick it up and open it.” She eyed Turner. Mack knew she wasn’t about to put herself at a disadvantage and get down on the ground to check the bag.
He stood, stroking his long beard and looking at her with contempt.
“Quit wasting time and do it,” Ross said.
Turner glared at Ross, then grabbed the bag and tugged the zipper open. He held out the handles, displaying a bag filled with cash.
Kiley inspected the money without losing her focus on the two men.
“And just what is it you think you’re buying?” she asked to clarify for the investigation.
Ross fired her a testy look. “You’re not trying to pull something, are you?”
