Wrecked (Josie Gray Mysteries #3)(95)
Nick entered the room looking wired. He went straight to the makeshift table, where a brown paper grocery bag had been cut open and laid flat. Someone had drawn a floor plan and planted an X in a small room at the back right corner of the house. The visual made the hair on Josie’s arms stand up.
“Have you confirmed Dillon is in the house?” she asked.
“The road name that you received from Wally, Espinoza Street, combined with local intel I received, supports that the Medranos are holding someone in that house. But it may not be Dillon. There’s no way to know until we go in.” Nick leaned over the floor plan and pointed. “The window on the front door of the house is boarded up. There are blackout curtains on the living room windows that allow a sliver of light to escape at almost all hours. Same thing in the kitchen. Neighbors say the lights are on throughout the night. We believe there are currently three men inside.”
Nick ran his finger down a hallway and tapped it on two rooms at the back of the house. “These are small rooms, probably bedrooms, maybe eight by eight. Somebody did a hatchet job nailing up boards on their windows. They’re nailed on from the outside. There’s a window in the back that allows access into what we’ll call the back bedroom. It’s next to the kitchen. There’s another window on the side of the house with access to what we’ll call the corner bedroom.” Nick tapped his finger on the X. “I believe Dillon is located in this back bedroom.”
“Did your men see anyone inside the rooms?” Josie asked.
“We’ve not been able to get that close.” Nick looked at Josie for a moment. “I want you to be prepared. I can’t guarantee it’s Dillon inside that house, but we need to move now. Kidnappers move victims frequently and with no pattern. Whoever it is could be gone by tomorrow.”
Nick leaned over the crudely drawn floor plan and discussed its orientation toward the street: the alley behind it and the houses on both sides. A thick red line in the back wall of the house represented the back door leading into the kitchen, and the same line in the front of the house represented the front door leading into the living room.
“We approach this like a police raid. I have six men here tonight, all former SWAT team members, American military trained. Four men are located at key intersections around the neighborhood. If the Medranos are alerted to what’s happening tonight, those men will be our first line of defense if the Medranos attempt to converge on the safe house. I’ll get everyone set up with tactical headsets. You’ll hear all communication, but orders come from me. I’ll remain in the truck monitoring your progress, giving orders.” Nick drew an X in front of both doors and said his other two men would enter the house first. “Tom and Juan will be here shortly. They’re getting the other four team members set up at their observation points. Tom will enter the back door, followed by Sergio as backup. Juan will enter the front door with Marcos as backup. Josie and Otto, you’ll be located outside the two bedrooms. If you can see into the room through cracks in the boards and can remove boards with little noise, do it. Just remember there may be a guard in the room. Don’t tip off the guard before we’re stationed or we’re all screwed. As soon as you get the signal from me that we’re going in, you get the window open.”
Josie took a long breath and exhaled slowly, trying to calm her racing heart. Walking into a house in a foreign country with so many unknowns, including the firepower, was extremely dangerous. But knowing that Dillon’s life depended on their actions complicated everything for her. She couldn’t allow her fears for Dillon to cloud her judgment.
Nick continued. “Best-case scenario, my men move inside the house, take the guards hostage, and Sergio and Marcos move in for Dillon. Worst case is gunfire, which will alert the neighbors and certainly draw the Medranos. If there are multiple guards, they may try to escape out the back windows. Josie and Otto, you’ll be there to make sure that doesn’t happen. You’ll also have a protected vantage point to shoot inside the bedrooms if it comes to that.”
He looked at both Josie and Otto, who nodded. “The man inside that house is worth nine million dollars to those guards. If they lose him, they die. They will not give him up out of fear, they will fight to the death. You understand?”
Sergio had been quietly interpreting for Marcos, who nodded at Nick to indicate he understood.
Nick’s expression was grave, his eyes dark and aggressive. “To capture these men alive would be a coup for the police. The chance to gather intelligence for a small-town department would send a clear message to the Medranos. However, the chance that the night ends in no casualties is not good. My men are dressed in riot gear, properly armed, and prepared to take the guards by surprise. If your safety is compromised, shoot to kill.”
Nick outfitted each of them with SWAT gear and headsets. Josie and Otto were both provided metal crowbars to pry off the window boards.
Then one of Nick’s team members carried in a chest and opened it to reveal six AR15 assault rifles. Nick introduced the man as Tom, the team’s ammunitions expert. He was tall with a dark complexion and eyes as black as his short-cropped hair. Josie guessed he was of Middle Eastern descent. Tom quickly distributed the weapons and two extra magazines to each officer. Tom explained the mechanisms behind the gun, how to safely load, unload, and switch to safety. Josie would have felt more comfortable with her Beretta, but she’d not been allowed to carry it across the border. A major positive was that the AR15s had been outfitted with lasers and night scopes. What had originally seemed like an exorbitant cost for Nick’s negotiator’s fees now seemed legitimate.