Personal Target: An Elite Ops Novel by Kay Thomas Read Free Book Online Page B

since he’d left the CIA and had come to work for Gavin. The subdivision looked like any other North Dallas gated community, except alongside the garages and driveways there were also hangars and taxiways.
    Bryan’s car was already there. Good. He grabbed Jennifer’s purse that he’d brought with him from Drew’s house. They were leaving for Mexico as soon as he could pack a bag.
    “Look guys, I’m at the office. Bryan’s here, too. I understand your concerns, but I gotta go. Leland, I’d appreciate whatever intel you can send, but I won’t wait. Text or email me everything you got. I’m leaving as soon as I get packed. I’ll take any other information you gather once we land.”
    It was obvious they weren’t going to talk him out of this. Gavin’s sigh was audible over the phone. “Dammit. You be careful. I don’t want to come pull your butt out of another Mexican hospital this month. You understand?”
    “You know me, Gavin. I’m always careful.” Nick ended the call and headed inside to find Bryan Fisher—aka Hollywood, for a reason Nick wasn’t entirely clear on—waiting in the conference room. Bryan was already bringing up maps and pictures of Ernesto Vega along with information about the Vega cartel on the large computer screen in the AEGIS conference room.
    Hollywood didn’t spend time asking questions like everyone else had. Instead, he simply went to work. It occurred to Nick that Bryan might know more about sex trafficking south of the border—and in Tlaxcala, specifically—than anyone else at AEGIS. He’d been working the Yarborough case in that area last month when he stopped to help get Leland and the Mercados out of Tomas Rivera’s compound.
    Since Nick had been in the hospital recuperating after that misadventure, he’d never heard the debriefing on everything Bryan had found. Given that there’d been no more news of Elizabeth Yarborough, Nick just assumed it hadn’t been good news.
    Still, he got the feeling Bryan had been looking for her on his own time for several months. Amid all the ensuing chaos with Rivera and his own detour last month, Nick had never gotten the full scoop on the connection—if there was one—between the kidnapped woman and Bryan.
    Together, the men pulled supplies from one of the house’s bedrooms that had been turned into a storeroom. Those supplies included ammunition, multiple weapons, K-rations, a water filter, a first-aid kit, and a change of clothing for Jennifer.
    He wasn’t sure what kind of shape she’d be in when they found her. Drugged, beaten, naked? Sadly, all three were commonplace with what they’d found on past jobs and a distinct possibility here.
    Neither man spoke as they packed. Nick changed clothes, pulling on camouflage pants and a dark T-shirt with hiking boots. He took a couple more changes of clothes, having no idea what kind of cover he might have to use once they arrived.
    He refused to let himself think about the odds of finding Jennifer without more information. Was he making a huge mistake, taking off with no specific knowledge of her location? They had three different landing sites picked out in Tlaxcala, depending on what information Leland could get them in the next hour. Otherwise, they’d hope for more intelligence once they landed and drive to wherever they needed to go.
    Bryan closed the last duffel bag. Nick stuffed extra energy bars into his backpack. His phone buzzed as they walked downstairs to the hangar, carrying the supplies. It was Leland.
    “Tell me something good,” Nick said with a tone significantly more optimistic than he felt.
    Bryan opened the plane’s cargo door and loaded bags. He would be the pilot tonight.
    “I heard from my CI,” said Leland. “Jennifer Grayson is in Tenancingo. Right now they still think her name is Angela Donovan. My informant is there, too. His name is Hosea Alvarez and he’s agreed to work with you. He knows where she is being held.”
    “Isn’t it a bit of a