Abducted:Reconnaissance Team (Texas Rangers: Special Ops) by Tarah Scott, Evan Trevane Read Free Book Online

two miles a day. She was in great shape, but could she survive a sixteen-foot jump? Survive, probably. But a broken leg would prevent escape. She yanked off her high heel shoes.
    “What the fuck?”
    She swung a leg over the railing, but iron hands seized her shoulders and yanked her against a massive body. Liz opened her mouth for a bloodcurdling scream, but a hand clamped over her mouth.
    “Bring her inside,” the American ordered.
    Liz grabbed the man’s wrist and tried to pry his fingers from her mouth as she kicked. He lifted her off the ground and turned. The other man stood in the doorway, silhouetted by the light behind him. He stepped aside as the Mexican dragged her inside.
    The American stepped into view. “I know her. She came with Billings.” 
    “A cop?” the Mexican said.
    The American stepped closer, hard gaze glued to hers. “He’s going to let you go. Make a peep and I’ll knock you senseless. Understand?” He motioned for the Mexican to let her go.
    The Mexican removed his hand from her mouth but kept his other arm clamped around her waist. Liz released his wrist.
    “Who are you?” the American asked.
    Liz’s mind raced. Murder. These men had discussed a murder. She swallowed panic. Think. Could they be sure she’d overheard them mention a death? It didn’t matter. They wouldn’t take the chance she hadn’t heard. They were going to kill her.
    * * *
    Ben murmured thanks to the maid who set a plate of food before him and looked across the dining room table at Carlos Sanchez. When the limo eased across the US-Mexican border half an hour ago, Ben knew that entering one of the most dangerous cities in the world in the company of a Mexican Mafioso could be considered a bad idea. Sitting in a modest but expensively furnished villa on the outskirts of Juarez with two of Sanchez’s bruisers standing eight feet away, he had to admit that things had gone well beyond a bad idea .
    He took a bite of the Puerco con Pina . “You didn't lie, Mr. Sanchez.” Ben lifted his glass of wine in salute. “You do know the finest chef in Texas—probably in Mexico, too.” Ben took two large swallows and set the wine glass back on the table.
    “I currently make one shipment a week across the El Paso border,” Sanchez said. “I want to make four.” 
    Ben looked up from his plate. Quadruple the number of women smuggled across the border?
    “That’s ambitious.”
    Not only was it ambitious, but Ben wondered why Sanchez shared this important bit of information. There wasn't a chance the mobster trusted him yet.
    Sanchez dug into his meal with gusto. “I am tired of the Texas Border Patrol impeding my profits.” 
    Ben wanted to ask how much of a kink Border Patrol was putting in his business, but there was no good reason Adam Billings would ask that question. Instead, he asked, “What preparations have you made to implement the increase in shipments?” 
    “My organization on both sides of the border is prepared to provide merchandise.” 
    Merchandise. That’s all human beings were to him. Ben nodded and took another bite of pork.  
    “I pushed through two shipments every week this month and attempted a third,” Sanchez said.
    “The two girls found by Border Patrol,” Ben said. 
    Sanchez took a long drink, then set the glass on the table. “How would you deal with the unexpected appearance of the Border Patrol?” 
    “There would be no unexpected Border Patrol, if I had been taking those girls across the border.” 
    “You're very certain of yourself, Mr. Billings.” 
    “I have to be.” Ben took another sip of wine to wash down the pig. It wasn’t tasting all that good anymore. “You have intelligence?” 
    “As a businessman, I am on good terms with everyone.”
    Sanchez wasn’t taking chances by admitting anything. They’d patted Ben down at the Remmey’s, but Sanchez had to know not all wires were detectible with a pat down.
    “But Border Patrol wasn’t the problem,”