Sinclair Justice (Texas Rangers #2)(57)
Both of them nodded.
“About thirty hours ago there was a huge party with international guests.” Ross finally, slowly, offered her the picture he held as if he had to but didn’t want to. “This picture was taken at approximately twelve thirty a.m. Mexico City time outside the mansion.”
Emm accepted the picture. It had obviously been taken with night vision technology, and the images were grainy, but she recognized the proud tilt to that finely shaped head and the strange zigzag part that had been the bane of Yancy’s existence. No matter how she tried to comb her hair into a neat upsweep or side part, her hair always settled back to natural dishevelment, something that Emm had told her teasingly added to the wild sexuality that drove men crazy. It was also obvious that both women in the photo had fair hair that stood out against the dark background of the brick wall behind them. Even in her distress, she made a mental note of the details of the wall and its immediate surroundings. But she only whispered, “Yancy . . . Jennifer.”
“Are you sure?” Ross asked. He had to clear his voice.
“Yes. They’re in Mexico City?” She studied the picture for another long moment. It seemed as if both women were looking toward someone rounding the car parked before them. Both of their postures were very tense.
“They were about twenty-four hours ago. We also got one shot of both Arturo and his son Tomás getting out of the same limousine. So they’re either living at this compound or were guests. So far we haven’t determined which, because the ownership is through a convoluted set of partnerships we haven’t fully traced yet. But he was definitely in the company of two fair-haired women.”
“Were you able to confirm they’re wearing the same fabrics as the samples you found?”
“As you can see, visibility isn’t great, but our analysts say the patterns are consistent with the samples.” He still sounded very grim.
“Los Lobos knows you’re watching, don’t they?” Emm stated. At Ross’s jerky nod, Emm cried, “We have to go there, now!”
Ross took a deep breath and caught her hands, as if he’d been expecting this reaction. “Emm, this is the first actual confirmation we’ve had that Jennifer and Yancy are being held by the Los Lobos cartel. And if we’re right, and the scraps of fabric mean what we think they do, then it’s likely both Yancy and Jennifer are no longer even in the compound. They’ve been . . .” He couldn’t finish.
“Discarded?” Emm filled in bitterly. “Trash. Expendable. Used up . . .” She would have continued, but her voice broke. “Why do you think Los Lobos sent this message?”
“If they know we’re watching, I think they want us to know both women are no longer there. And it may be a warning. That the women will be killed if we seize the compound. If they’re still there. This is the only shot we had of the women, so we couldn’t tell if they were in the limo when it drove away.”
Emm was so anguished that she broke a nail as she gripped the arm of her chair. “We can’t just do nothing! They were still alive twenty-four hours ago, but what about tomorrow?”
Ross rounded his desk and knelt in front of Emm to take her hands. He tenderly kissed the broken nail and said into her fingers, “This is out of my hands now. You should know that I’ve resigned, effective as soon as my division chief finds a replacement.”
Her startled gaze leaped to meet his. But his deep blue eyes were veiled as he continued, “I have no control over what the international task force decides, and ultimately the Mexican government will make the call on whether to try to seize the compound or not. They won’t do it if they can’t confirm that Arturo Cervantes is nearby. It will be a hugely expensive operation and they’ll only green light it if they think there’s an excellent chance of success.”
Emm snatched her hands away. “Meaning Yancy and Jennifer are expendable. Tiny little pawns in the big, bad game of international chess.”
Ross sat back on his heels, but his only response was a small nod. “I don’t like it any more than you do, but that’s the way the system works.”
Emm leaped to her feet and ran from the office. Tears streamed from her eyes, making her path down the steps blurry, but she finally fumbled out her keys and got her car door open. She pressed the Start button, wiping her eyes on her sleeve, and roared out of the lot, uncaring that she broke about three laws as she did so.
On the steps, Abby and Ross peered after her.
“She’s going to look for them herself,” Abby said softly.
Ross raked his hands through his hair in frustration. “Why do you think I asked to be replaced as head of the task force? I’m also taking a leave of absence as soon as the reunion ends so I can chase after her if need be.”
Abby looked up at him, her wide mouth stretching into a skeptical half smile. “And what if you have to arrest her for interfering in an investigation?”
“As you know, even off-duty Rangers have that right, when the situation warrants it. And I’ll do whatever I have to in order to keep her safe, even if it means tossing her in a jail cell.” Ross spun on his heel and stalked back up the steps, leaving Abby walking down in a contemplative mood, wondering what she could do to help. It seemed to her Emm and Ross were made for each other, but her own limited forays into romance had ended disastrously, so who was she to play matchmaker?