Page 118 of Canyon of Deceit
I thanked the receptionist, but her attention veered to the vehicles surrounding the hotel.
I had questions, many of them. Major Montoya and Blane were here with the FBI, CBP, and Coast Guard? This had to do with Edik Baranov, but I didn’t understand the day, location, and the confusion made me crazy. How long would it take for Blane to give me answers? This all had to be good news, right? Dare I believe the nightmare had ended?
I scanned the area. Earlier we had hidden in a bathroom, but now where? I recognized one of the FBI agents at the front door. He’d been helpful the night the ROC waited at my house to kill me, which had never made sense since they’d triggered bombs at my front and back doors. I told him about Blane’s arrival and Major Montoya’s instructions. He said hotel staff were in the kitchen, and we would be safe there. The agent escorted us to the area and instructed the staff not to leave the room. He closed the door behind him.
“What’s going on?” Alina said. “Are bad people here?”
I drew her close to me. “No, honey. I think the cavalry has arrived.”
SEVENTY
BLANE
Binoculars bounced around my neck while I ran to the Waterway Resort. I craved to see Therese and confirm she and Alina were unharmed. How had the scenario unfolding in the ship channel hit unexpectedly in a world of instant communication and technology? Maybe this wasn’t a surprise, and the FBI covered the facts to keep Baranov and his family alive.
Sergio claimed a call to Quantico revealed a last-minute change in plans about the Baranovs’ arrival. That meant following highly regulated protocol where at least two federal agencies assisted in an operation, and in this case three—the FBI, CBP, and Coast Guard. No Texas Rangers, but Sergio and I received permission to be on-site, spectators of sorts. Didn’t suit me but at least we were here, and we were armed.
Intel had leaked to the ROC, but how wasn’t clear. The FBI would tackle that later. No one on board the cargo ship would have knowledge about the Baranovs’ escape to freedom, unless a crew member had identified them and told the Russians. Getting the Baranov family to safety where they could request asylum topped the priority list.
Two tugboats—both with armed men from the FBI, CBP, andCoast Guard were to transport the Baranovs inland. The clock clicked down the remaining fifty minutes.
The ROC were here but where? No one on the guest list of the Waterway Resort caught my attention—but no reputable professional assassin used a real name. Since Therese and Alina had been held inside the hotel, it made sense the killers also occupied rooms. But I’d not check off an attack from the air or water.
At the hotel’s front entrance, FBI Agent Blackburn talked with another agent. He and I had met the night Therese and I faced the ROC at her home. I shook his hand and his partner’s. “We meet again,” I said to Blackburn.
He introduced me to his partner. “The problems will end today.”
I didn’t share the same positive attitude. I explained to Blackburn why I was here, and he received permission to allow me inside the hotel. An ambulance arrived with its sirens blaring around us and flashing lights shoving traffic out of its way.
“Has someone already been injured?”
Blackburn shook his head and jogged to the ambulance. He spoke to the driver and made a call. One more time, I played the role of an outsider. The paramedics opened the ambulance’s back door and rushed a gurney to the hotel door. Blackburn let them in.
“A man has been shot in a room on the fourth floor,” he said to the other agent and me and hurried with them.
I waited until Blackburn and the paramedics reappeared with a man on the gurney. His eyes were sealed shut, and an oxygen tube had been inserted in his mouth. One paramedic held an IV. Blood was everywhere—Jurg Falin.
“Blackburn, he’s one of the ROC involved,” I said. “Who else was with him?”
“No one. I recognized him too. Not a speck of blood anywhere in the room.”
“He’s unconscious?”
“Yep. Vitals are not good.” He gave me a chin dip, which told me he’d been updated about Falin and the security required to keep him alive.
The ambulance left and Blackburn escorted me to a kitchen door where he greeted the people inside.
“Ladies and gentlemen, the lockdown will continue about an hour or more. I understand this is an inconvenience, but your safety is our primary concern.”
Therese rushed to me, her eyes wide and chin quivering. Alina trailed her. A lump formed in my throat. I was up to my eyeballs in love with this woman. She threw her arms around my neck and squeezed gently.
“I’m sorry for taking off,” she said. “I tried to save the world by myself.”
“We’re good. You’re safe and you have Alina.” I released Therese and gazed at the blonde-haired angel. “You’re one brave little girl.”
Therese held out her hand, and the little girl grasped it. “Alina, I’d like you to meet Texas Ranger Blane Gardner. He is my hero.”
“From the cavalry?” she said.
