Page 49 of Justice for Aleta

Two days had passedsince Amos and Matt had been there, and nothing had happened. Absolutely nothing. There’d been no new word on anything going on with Moss, no word on the Stone girl, and no word on what Menendez might be doing.

And then all hell broke loose.

Jack’s phone rang at a little after ten that morning and when he answered it, he didn’t like the sound of DaxChambers’ voice. “Kentucky?”

“Yeah.”

“I’ve got some news, and I don’t think you’re going to like it.”

Jack steeled himself. “Give it to me.”

“Menendez knows Ortiz has the girl, and he’s planning an all-out war. In the meantime, Ortiz has ordered Moss to take out anybody who could testify that they knew about the girl. They’re planning to kill her and hide the body so Menendez can’t find her. Cruz wanted me to call you because he’s busy. The FBI is going to launch an assault to extract her, and they’re expecting casualties.”

“Where is this?”

“Ortiz’s compound outside Austin.”

“And where is Moss?”

“That’s just it. We don’t know. Nobody’s seen him in days, intel’s gone dry, and every one of our informants have said they’ve heard nothing. He could be anywhere, Jack. Anywhere.”

A chill ran up Jack’s spine. “Does my captain know this?”

“He doesn’t, but he will shortly. They’re calling a conference in the war room at the post and they’d like to patch you in. Call him and get the particulars. But this is serious, Jack. You guys… We have to find that idiot before something horrible happens. Keep Aleta safe. She’s depending on you.”

Jack ran his hand through his hair in frustration. “She’s my only priority at this point.”

“As she should be. I begged them to send her to a safe house, but they told me they think she’s as safe or safer there as she would be anywhere else. You’ve got guys in the trees and perimeter, right?”

“Yep.”

“Good. Stay there. Don’t let anybody in or out unless you trust them. He’s not above using somebody you know and love to get to you. The guy has no soul.”

“I’m on red alert already. Let me know if you hear anything else.”

“Will do. Good luck, Jack. If this war breaks out in Texas, it’s just a matter of time before they bring it to your doorstep, and you’d better be ready.”

“Sittin’ on ready, waitin’ on go,” Jack answered. “Thanks, Dax.”

“Take care, Kentucky. We’re thinking about you.”

Jack ended the call and tapped the phone against his lower lip as he stood and thought. In a couple of minutes, something passed through his mind and he went straight to the bedroom. Donning his vest, he made his way out of the house to his cruiser, pulled his radio equipment, and carried it inside. Once he had it in the house, he hooked it up, powered it up, and turned it on. Then he went to the dispatcher’s channel and hit the mic button. “Fletcher detail, Fletcher detail. Go to channel seventeen. I repeat, Fletcher detail, go to channel seventeen.” Then he waited.

“Fletcher detail unit one, reporting.”

“Fletcher detail unit three, reporting.”

“Fletcher detail unit four, reporting.”

In all, twelve details responded. That was what he wanted. “This is TrooperFletcher. I’ve moved my radio equipment into the house and will monitor the dispatch channel unless otherwise directed. If so, I will return to channel seventeen to communicate with you.”

“Unit three. Roger that, trooper. You’re close enough that radio bleed will catch us if we’re on another channel and we’ll check with you. Everything okay in there?” the officer asked.

“For now. Things are heating up in Texas, and it may get crazy in a bit. Intel says they’ve lost the subject due here, and we have no idea what to expect.”

“Unit eight. Trooper, would you like to request additional manpower inside the house?”

“Negative, unit eight. At this time I’ve got it under control. I’ll be checking with all of you once an hour on the hour to make sure everybody’s still in position. If one of you doesn’t respond, I’ll pull the ripcord,” Jack said, knowing they’d get the parachute reference.

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