Deadly Game (Fortress Security #5)(43)

“No, but I’m ready to go into the field, Brent. I wouldn’t put my teammates at risk by going on a mission when I couldn’t hold my own.”

“You don’t have a team any more, Adam.” The men he’d trusted to have his back hadn’t. Instead, they’d been split apart by the jealousy and manipulation of one of their members. As a result, Brent had fired the one subversive and split up Adam’s remaining teammates. If these men couldn’t make it with their new teams, they would be fired as well. The jury was still out on them, but Brent wasn’t impressed with what he’d seen to date.

The Marine’s face darkened. “I know,” he murmured.

“If I need you for the mission to rescue Alexa, can you handle field work?” He held up his hand to stop Adam from answering. “Rowan is mine which makes Alexa mine. Do you understand what I’m telling you?”

Adam was silent a moment, then he slowly nodded. “I get it. You can trust me with both of their lives. I won’t let you down, Brent.”

Rowan’s footsteps approached. She set a mug of steaming coffee and a plate with two different pastries in front of Adam. “Here you go.” She laid her hand on the operative’s shoulder. “Thank you for looking after my employees, Adam. And don’t bother to tell me it’s your job. You aren’t treating it like a simple job and I appreciate your care for my people.”

“If it takes one more worry off your shoulders, I’m happy to do it,” Adam said simply. “I’m sorry I wasn’t around to protect your sister.”

Rowan’s eyes glistened. “Me, too.” She turned away to return to the coffee bar.

Brent wished he could take the away the pain. There was nothing he could do except be there for Rowan and Alexa. Somewhere in the past forty-eight hours, Rowan had slipped into his heart. She was an amazing woman. He meant what he’d told Adam. Rowan was his. If she didn’t kick him to the curb, he intended to keep her and Alexa.

He stood. “I’ll be back.” He walked to Rowan’s office and shut the door, trusting Adam to protect Rowan. Brent pulled out his phone and called Zane. “What do you have for me, Z?”

“Nothing good,” his tech guru said.

“Lot of that going around. Hit me.”

“Rumors abound on the Net about Maxwell dipping into the drug business.”

His eyebrows rose. “Drugs? We talking cocaine, heroin, pot?”

“All the above, plus Ketamine.”

Brent dropped into Rowan’s chair. “Ketamine? The drug used on animals?”

“That’s the one. Cheap to make and very profitable to sell.”

“Explains why Maxwell’s business made such a dramatic turnaround from one week to the next. Got a lead on who he was in business with?”

“Guess.”

Brent stilled, gut churning. “Navarro?”

“Give the man a cigar.”

This situation just kept spiraling downward. “How did Maxwell hook up with them?”

“One of his good pals introduced him to the head honcho while they were on a business trip to Mexico two years ago.”

Right around the time Rowan started Coffee House. Explained why the rest of the legit business owners were struggling at the time Maxwell was reaping huge profits. “Have you had a chance to research Maxwell’s associates?”

“Not yet. Had to run down information for St. Claire. Figured his search took priority since he’s headed into hostile territory with his team.”

“Are they still on U.S. soil?” Brent hoped not. The way things were heating up in Chihuahua province, St. Claire’s team wouldn’t have much time to do reconnaissance and plan a rescue.

“In the air. They should be landing at a private airstrip within the hour.”

He glanced at his watch. “Why the delay?”

“Accident on the highway prevented St. Claire from reaching the airport on time plus a delay before taking off. Heavy air traffic and a bad storm.”

“Rowan remembered the names of two of Maxwell’s associates.”

“Excellent. Who are they?”

“Nolan White and Toby Minter. I want to know everything about them, including how long they were associated with Maxwell and where I can find them. If the Navarro cartel is after Rowan, I need to know.”

“Copy that.”

He sat back in Rowan’s chair, sighed. Not good. Too much activity was centered in Navarro territory. What were the chances the connection to the cartel was a coincidence? Nil. How fast would the lieutenants and head of the cartel connect Rowan to Brent?

His cell phone signaled an incoming call. Brent checked the screen. “Mr. President.”

“Tell me your team is on the ground.”

“Within the hour, sir. They’ll need to do some recon before they’re ready for the extraction.”

“Understood. Anything else I need to know?”

“The Navarro cartel is probably the group targeting the Alvarez family.”

“How do you know this? There are several strong cartels around that area.”

“Lucero is in the center of the Navarro stronghold, Mr. President. They’re also well known for targeting families to pressure officials of Mexico and other countries to cooperate with their agenda.”