Page 53 of Jacqueline's Quest

“They tried to kidnap her as she exited the high school. Had Mateo and another quick-thinking teacher not approached Bex, who knows what would have happened,” Noah answered.

“Which means Los Trios has been following her as well.” Jaqueline frowned.

“Fuck,” Thomas snarled. “I’d thought we’d have more time.”

Noah glanced at him. “You want to fill me in?”

Thomas laid out everything in the same succinct way Luca had told them. From the fact Los Trios used the tunnels, to how they connected to the El Dorado FLDS compound in Texas. “AJ and I have been coming up with different solutions to keep Bex safe while we try to shut down Raul’s little club here.”

Surprise, surprise.Murray knew Thomas and AJ were spending tons of time together, but he thought it was due to them finally finding their mojo. They, however, were working on plans to keep Bex alive and safe without telling anyone about it. The only downside to them being so secretive; R.O.O.T. didn’t operate like that. Each team member had a task and they each worked individual assessments that would later be combined to coordinate a plan of attack. It also covered their asses in case shady shit went down, like the attempted kidnapping of Bex.

"And you didn't warn us?" Noah snapped. "My—Mateo could have been hurt. Several students could have been put in harm's way as well if it hadn't been for their quick thinking. You should have called it in."

AJ stepped forward. "It's my fault. I take responsibility. I knew the right thing to do was tell you, but I also didn't want to raise suspicion. How would it have looked to have people hanging around Bex? Do you think those guys don't know? Everyone does. It's how cartels and gangs work."

Noah blew out a breath. “You can’t hide shit like this from us.”

"And you would have jumped the gun and ruined our mission here," Thomas said. "The minute you would have set up an op around Bex, word would've gotten back to Raul and he'd have left here, canceling the auction. We both know it."

“Fuck!” Noah scrubbed his forehead. “I hate being put in these positions.”

“So, you’ve told him then?” Luca entered the room. “Sorry, I had a phone call to deal with.”

“Yeah,” Thomas replied. “We had to. Looks like Los Trios is moving up the timeline.”

“Hmm, same thing I’ve heard as well,” Luca said wiggling his phone back and forth. “It appears we’re running out of options.”

“Anything else I should know?” Noah muttered.

“Well, it seems obvious, doesn’t it?” Luca hedged. “We can start putting the pieces together.” When no one said anything, he blew out a breath. “The Nieto Cartel is being torn apart from the inside.”

Noah stared at Luca for a moment then cursed under his breath. “We’re on the same page. There’s no way Los Trios should have gotten as close to Bex as they had. Her bodyguards are paid to protect her.”

“Unless they were paid to look the other way,” Luca said. “Like I told the others, my sources are saying Raul isn’t long for this world. According to the rumblings, other cartel leaders are tired of the attention Raul is pointing in their direction along with his own.”

“This is why we have to be in constant communication.” Noah grabbed his phone. “I have to tell Asher.”

“Might as well send him all of the intel.” Luca handed Noah a thumb drive. “Everything I explained to them along with the photographs are on this drive. Use it wisely.”

Noah grunted. “Thanks.”

“But, it’s not the only thing I have.” Luca glanced at Thomas then Murray. “Remember the man from the club—Sergio Alcaraz?”

Thomas frowned. “How could I forget?”

“Yes, well,” Luca stated, “he is part of the Pueblo Cartel, a multi-billion dollar organization who is responsible for some of the most lucrative drug trafficking for North America. According to him and as we suspected, Pueblo has found out about Bex as well and is willing to use her as leverage against Raul. They’ve teamed up with Los Trios for the time being to accomplish their goal.”

"Son of a bitch," Murray snarled. "How the fuck?" They couldn't run both ops at the same time. Hannah, Christian, and Scotty were counting on them. "We have to finish this first. We can't show our hand." If they moved an inch, it might allow Pueblo or Los Trios to kill Raul. The possibilities of what could happen to Bex also didn't bode well for her if any of the cartels found out about her father's death. Talk about a rock and a hard space.

Noah grunted. “I agree. As much as it sucks and believe me, it’s eating me up, we can’t tip off Raul. He’s our target for this mission. Once we’re done here, we can figure out the situation with Bex. Until then, I’ll get with Asher and see if we can figure out a temporary solution.”

AJ sagged and sighed before giving a small smile. “Thank you.”

"Don't thank me yet. We still have to get through this assignment first." Noah unfurled a map and a blueprint of the building where Scotty was being held. On the exterior view, black circles had been made around the entry and exit points. X's were made on the boarded-up windows. From the third floor on, all of the windows were bulletproof, protecting everyone inside and just because the place appeared pristine, didn't mean shit in the long run. The place was wired for security. One false move and all of Raul's goons would be alerted to an intruder.

“According to our inside sources, there is an in-house alarm system. It doesn’t alert the police, but it will send all of Raul’s men running to whatever section of the building that’s been triggered. The only way to kill the power to the system is to enter the basement and shut it down from the inside. Killing the power to the building will do nothing. The alarm runs on generator power as well." Noah pointed to the small basement alcove where the alarm was located. "To get to it, you have to avoid three sets of armed guards."

“Sounds fun,” Luca said. “But something tells me we’re not going to touch it.”

---