Page 37 of Liaising Kai

The gun battle continued as she heard sirens in the background. With the imminent arrival of the police, the gang members got bolder and started trying to flank them. Kai hovered over Davis, picking off members who tried to get a clear shot of them.

The sound of a chopper overhead didn’t deter the gang members. They ruthlessly attacked until the police came from behind and rooted them out.

When the dust cleared, Hector and Jonny Z were dead, along with several of the police. The remaining Los Esmeraldas, Galo, was unharmed. Davis came around and received first aid to the gash on his temple, and the five of them boarded the helicopter for the final leg of the journey to the airport.

It wasn’t until they were all situated on the plane and in the air that Kai blew out a breath of relief.

“We’re not out of the woods yet,” Davis murmured next to her. He was still just a bit addled from getting his head slammed into the window and shortly afterward fell asleep.

No, they weren’t out of it yet, but once on their home turf, she was determined to continue to do her job no matter the threat.

She conducted the interrogation the moment they got back to NCIS, with Davis assisting, temporarily ignoring calls from their US attorney watchdog. She didn’t need another reminder to step up the investigation. God, the woman was a pitbull.

She focused on the job at hand. Galo was terrified, especially after the attack on them, but refused to give them any names. When they showed him the text they had recovered on Mayta’s phone, his mouth compressed, and he shook his head. Galo’s only slip up was that the person behind it was a high-ranking federal political official. That left California’s fifty-two congressmen and two senators in the hot seat.

It was time to delve into all of them to discover who might have sold out the task force and their own country.

Freddy Delgado slipped into the cell, the bribes she’d used to get to Galo Herrera working like a charm. Galo woke up and shifted back on the bottom bunk when he saw her, his eyes wide.

“I didn’t tell them anything,” he whispered. “I swear.”

“Are you sure?” she asked, her expression taut.

He shrugged, looking away sheepishly. “Well, except that it was a federal official. But no name.”

She smiled reassuringly, wincing inside. That wouldn’t be enough to implicate Finch, but she couldn’t really take any chances now. They would have to find another source for distribution. She was already working out a contingency plan on where she could store the shipment until she found another way to distribute the cartel’s coke. “Okay, Galo.” The handle of the concealed knife was gripped in her hand, but out of Galo’s line of vision. “Did you learn anything from them?”

“They have Mayta’s phone and the text he sent to her and her mom.”

She swore softly, and Galo went pale. Anxiety and dread washed through her. “Have they figured it out?”

He shook his head. “No, they didn’t have a clue what it meant. But that shipment needs to get here, and you should unload fast.”

“Thanks, Galo, for the information.”

“I won’t break,” he assured her. “My lips are sealed.”

She nodded and whipped the knife across his throat. “I’m sure you won’t.” She wiped the blade on his shirt and stepped away from his corpse. The feds didn’t know what they had. A road map right to the cartel’s shipment. If she didn’t deliver—she looked at Galo’s still face—she was going to end up just like him. That wasn’t going to happen.

She was a survivor, and she had a wealth of information to barter. But it wasn’t going to come to that. She was going to succeed. It was just a matter of one day…twenty-four hours, then she’d whisk their product right out from under the noses of everyone, including the feds. She slipped out of the cell and pulled out her mobile. She had plans to make.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

“Coast Guard Spartan C-27J 2315 to available cutters. Infrared is picking up a live one on the water, a fast-moving contact heading three-five-zero toward South Florida.”

“Copy that Coast Guard Spartan. Coast Guard Sea Coral ready and able to interdict.”

Davis was standing outside the bridge when the call came in. This was his first voyage as a newly minted petty officer. He heard the reply and realized they were going to see some action. He turned to his new friend, Petty Officer Carter Lennon, and grinned. Carter’s eyes ignited as he stared out over the dark ocean. They were both eager to engage with anyone who thought they could slip past them.

“Captain?”

“Intercept at one-eight-zero, speed seventeen knots,” the captain replied.

“The radioman said, “This is Coast Guard cutter Sea Coral. Vessel off our port bow, this is the US Coast Guard. What are your intentions at this time?”

There was no answer, and all they heard were engines revving. The captain, informed of the fast-boat shearing away, ordered pursuit.

A roar echoed from aft of the pilothouse as the lift fans sucked air into the plenum, and within three or four seconds, the Sea Coral’s wet deck pressurized. The cutter rose two feet, and with the reduced drag the officer of the deck gunned the engines, sending the cutter spinning in place in a sweet three-hundred and sixty-degree circle. The under-hull pressure forced out fifty-foot jets of water, in random patterns, misting the air and giving all the drama a young Coast Guard petty officer craved. Bouncing lightly on the bubble of air, the deck beneath them felt weird with a rubbery vibration.

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