Liam and I followed Joey to a booth in the back of an old-fashion diner where a young Hispanic man with close-cropped hair sat. Jose couldn’t have been more than twenty years old and my stomach twisted at the thought of him risking his life as an undercover agent. Joey took the seat next to Jose while I slid in to sit across from him. The younger man’s eyes ran over me before his face split into a toothy smile.
“Man, you need to introduce me to your friends more often boss,” Jose said as he elbowed Joey in the ribs and I couldn’t help but return his smile. “So what’s this super-secret emergency meeting all about? I was in the middle of a Netflix marathon when I got your text.”
Joey wasn’t impressed with his carefree attitude. “Are you sure you weren’t followed?”
“Positive boss man. I am not interesting enough for anyone to follow me.” Jose gave me a suggestive simile before adding, “Well not yet I’m not. But give me time, I will become very interesting.” He finished off this statement with a wink.
Liam must have not apricated the teasing tone because he barked out, “My sister has been kidnapped by the cartel and we think they plan to sell her at auction.” That wiped the smile off Jose’s face.
“God, I’m sorry man. That’s rough.”
I decided to take over the questioning so that Liam didn’t scare the poor boy. “We were wondering if you have heard anything about kidnapped girls or their operation in trafficking women. Any details you can give us will help.”
Jose took a moment to think before answering. “I have been focusing on trying to integrate with the guys that run the drugs. I have heard that Los Zetas does traffic girls, but I have never seen any of them.”
“What did you hear when they were talking about the girls?” I pressed.
This question made Jose shift in his seat and he glanced at Liam. “Well umm I have heard some of the guys talking about...” he paused to clear his throat and his face started turning bright red. “They were talking about having sex with the girls before they were sold.” Jose looked down at the table unable to meet any of our eyes. “They called it free pussy.”
The glass in Liam’s hand shattered. Both Jose and Joey jumped at the sound and Joey stood to get something to wipe up the spilled water. Liam didn’t move but I could feel that every one of his muscles was taut with strain. I slowly moved to remove the broken glass from his palm and then placed my hand over his and squeezed gently.
Jose’s red face had turned pale as he witnessed Liam’s outburst. I could relate. Liam was one big scary guy. I knew that no one wanted to continue the conversation, but I had to know if there were any details that the kid knew. “Jose, when you overheard the guys talking did you ever hear them mention any sort of location?” He tore his eyes away from Liam and met my eyes.
“No. They were always just joking about it. Never gave any details. I couldn’t join in with the joking, I just couldn’t. So, they have never told me any specifics or tried to include me when they went.” The kid was trying to defend that he couldn’t stomach joking around about raping kidnaped girls. He was a good kid. The cartel was going to chew him up and spit him out. If he survives, he is never going to be the same innocent kid again.
“That’s okay Jose. It’s a good thing that you stayed away from the girls. Drugs are just powder. But if you had to see those girls and couldn’t do anything to save them, it would break your soul. You and Joey here are going to find the evidence to take down Los Zetas to prevent any future girls from being taken. Liam and I will help the ones that you heard about.” Jose looked at me with hope and determination. I just prayed that determination didn’t get this kid killed.
“Come on kid. I’ll walk you out.” Joey told Jose and they scooted out of the booth and walked out of the diner.
I was shaken out of my thoughts about young undercover FBI agents by Liam’s emotion filled voice, “How could you tell him that? How are we going to help Grace? I can’t even find her. I am her big brother. I am supposed to protect her. After our parents died, I promised I would take care of her. And now I can’t even find her. I can’t find her, and they are hurting her.”
Liam’s pain pierced my heart and I knew that I had no choice but to tell him about my plan to find Grace. “Liam we are going to find Grace.”
He turned and yelled in my face, “Stop saying that. You don’t know if that’s even true.” Wow, a yelling Liam was very scary. I fought to keep my own composure and remain calm. If we both lost it right now, Grace would continue to suffer.
“Yes, Liam I do know it. Because tonight I am going to dress up like Los Zetas’ wet dream and stay at The Church until someone comes and takes me to where they are holding Grace.”
“No, you are NOT.” Joey declared as he stood by the table. I hadn’t even seen him return. “There is no fucking-way that you are serving yourself up to the Los Zetas Cartel. Have you lost your damn mind?” I tore my eyes from Joey’s and glanced at Liam. I could see the idea taking hold and hope to start to form within him.
“I have heard of Whistler teams that pull operations like this off,” Liam told me like if he hadn’t heard a word of Joey’s protest. “We will need a tracker that they won’t notice.” His hands started to unclench as he worked out the plan in his own head. Liam needed a course of action and I had just provided him with one.
“No. You won’t need anything because you are not doing this Harper. I won’t let you.” I was not having this fight while being trapped in a booth. I pushed at Liam’s arm and we both stood from the booth. I glanced around and saw that our argument was drawing attention and decided to move things outside. I pulled out some cash to tip the waitress even though we never ordered anything and walked out of the diner. Joey followed and demanded, “Where do you think you are going?”
I strode to the edge of the parking lot before turning on Joey, “I am going to get ready. The sooner that I can get to that club the better,” I spat in his face.
“No fucking way. I already told you, you are not going through with this hair-brained idea.” Joey yelled back while making a grab for my arm.
I stepped out of his reach and demanded, “And what makes you think that you have any say on what I do or do not do in this world, Joe McDonald?”
“I am in love with you Harper. That’s why.”
I felt the words like a slap to the face and stepped backward. It took a moment to my anger burn through the shock that his words had caused. After regaining my bearings I hissed out, “No. You are not in love with me. You don’t do what you did to someone that you love. What you are, is guilty Joey. And you think that you can step in and protect me now to make up for the past. But that is not how it works. I can help those girls. I know what I am walking into and I am choosing to act. You do not factor into the equation anymore. You lost that right when you betrayed me.”
I let my words sink in before stepping back towards him. “We are going to do this. It’s up to you whether we do it alone, or with the backing of the FBI.” With that, I turned and walked down the block. After a few heartbeats, I felt Liam’s looming form next to me. Liam hailed a cab and we drove back to the hotel.
Inside the cab, Liam asked me in a quiet voice, “Are you sure about this?”
“I told you. No stone left unturned. We will find Grace.”
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