Page 19 of Liberating Mallory

Pratt looked over at Raso for several seconds. “Tie up loose ends. Hussein can’t have it known of his involvement. He doesn’t realize we already know about his involvement.”

“We need to put someone on Bo, because they don’t know we have Rodney. Something tells me that Hussein is going to make his moves soon. He has to know we’re in town and that Mallory’s disappearance is known about. Kevin would have told him by now. We need to find Kevin, get answers from him. Do you think Mallory’s mom would help us get to Kevin?” Diesel asked, crossing her arms across her chest as she leaned forward, her elbows on her knees.

“It’s worth a shot. I’ll ask her myself. We’re going to have to let Sheriff Collins know what we’re thinking and what’s going on. We can’t keep him totally in the dark.” Sgt. Brocard advised her team.

“Have him check more into that Barnes attorney. Brody can you do a deep dive on the attorney yourself?” Pratt asked, looking towards Brody who looked at Pratt like she had grown a second head with her question.

“Seriously? You’re asking me if I can do a deeper dive?” Brody asked in amusement, waiting for the jokes to start flying.

Ignoring Brody and his attempts to draw her into a sparring match of words, Pratt looked at Carter, “How the hell does Ian put up with him?”

“I wonder that myself sometimes.” Carter smirked at Pratt.

“Because he can’t operate his electronics without me.” Brody answered, ignoring the two as he fiddled some more with his laptop. “So, ignoring your hurtful words, since you’re pregnant, I already did a deep dive into the attorney. Barnes Bainfort, seriously what kind of drugs were his parents doing to give him that name?” Brody questioned no one in particular as he continued to look at his laptop.

“Bainfort?” York, Pratt, Cortez, and Sgt. Brocard all asked at the same time.

“You recognize that name?” Carter asked, coming off the wall at the same time Brody looked at the four women in question.

“Please tell me this douche canoe does not have a son named Jefferson or a daughter named Danica.” York pleaded with Brody.

“How did you know?” Brody asked in confusion, looking towards Carter in speculation.

“Mother fucker! That’s why he went toe to toe with us! He recognized us!” Pratt exploded moving fast from her chair, knocking it over, startling Carter, Knight, and Brody with the movement.

“Explain!” Carter ordered, staring Pratt down as he walked closer as she paced back and forth.

“Last month, we busted a human trafficking ring. Guy had some shady ties with the Sinaloa Cartel…” Pratt started to explain.

“Son of a bitch!” Was muttered by Brody, Carter, Knight, Abbott and Jordyn at the same time.

“We’re going to have to update Ian on this development.” Knight informed the group from his spot next to Abbott. The two remained quiet throughout everything until now.

“You think his father knows about the connections between his kids and the Sinaloa Cartel?” Abbott asked Alpha Squad.

“His son’s connections? Yes, he damn well knows about it and I wouldn’t be surprised if his raggedy ass has his greedy hands in that connection too.” York fired back, her voice laced with anger.

“Wait, you said the son, why not the daughter?” Knight asked, hesitantly.

“Because the daughter is one of the women we rescued in that bust. The daughter was sold to the Sinaloa Cartel when she was sixteen. According to the daughter, her father was the one who sold her to buy the son’s place into the cartel. The Sinaloa Cartel has been trying to run the American operation in San Diego and spread its operation towards Colorado. The dots are connecting now that we’ve met the pops. Sinaloa is going to demand Barnes take action if he’s called them to let them know we’re in Colorado.” Pratt answered, before turning to her Sgt. to finish her statement.

“I’ll call the sheriff to give him the heads up on the situation with Barnes and what we know. You said Barnes came at you?” Sgt. Brocard asked, looking between Pratt and Diesel who nodded her head.

“He got in Red’s face at the sheriff’s department, even put hands on her. Carter dealt with it.” Diesel answered for Pratt before she could say anything.

“Not the way I wanted to.” Carter muttered, wiping his hands on his jeans.

“I’m beginning to think there’s something more than just the ex and Greenly wanting revenge. We’re dealing with Hussein and now the Sinaloa Cartel. Nothing is making any sense here.” Pratt stated out loud to no one in particular, looking out the window at the sky.

“Hey Taz, can you send a message to Oz. See if he’s available to help Brody out on these deep dives?” Pratt asked Cortez, tilting her head at Brody. “Oz is another computer genius. He may be able to help you with some of the searches we need.”

12

Mallory looked around at her surroundings. She knew she was in a secluded area because of how quiet it was. The place she was being held had to be small because the few times she’s been awake, she could usually hear the voices of the men who took her, nearby. She knew one of the voices had been foreign with a thick accent. She figured him for Middle Eastern since she’d heard him speak Arabic on the phone a few times, even though she couldn’t fully make out the words he was saying. She felt like he was trying to speak quietly so the others couldn’t hear what he was saying.

Looking around the room, Mallory could tell she was in a cabin of some sorts. It looked sort of like some of the cabins she and her parents had stayed in when she was younger, when they would go camping in the remote mountains of Colorado. They weren’t far from the borders of New Mexico, Utah or even Arizona. The town she grew up in was close to either border that within an hour or two, at the most, they could be in either state. Unfortunately, since they kept her sedated for most of the first couple of days, unless it’s been longer, she mentally mumbled to herself, she didn’t know where the hell she was exactly, so escaping without intel was a mute-point at the time. She needed to make them think she was weak and unable to defend herself until she knew without a doubt where she was.

The room Mallory was currently being held in was small. There was a twin size cot, no dresser, no closet and no mirror. Off to the side, she did notice a small bathroom that had a toilet and a sink, thank goodness, and a small shower. She gave thanks to God that it was small so that it would be less likely her kidnappers would try something in there. She was good with hand-to-hand combat, thanks to her teammates.

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