Page 20 of Operation: Silent Angel
“Not enough to make you stop, though,” she said as she entered her code into the alarm panel.
“I can’t, Yvette. I can’t unsee what this guy’s done, and I can’t turn my back on the victims who deserve justice.” He stood beside her.
“Careful, Mac, you’re sounding like a…” Her words were abruptly halted by his lips taking hers in a fervent and lengthy kiss. She was breathless when he pulled away just enough fortheir lips to separate. “What did I do to deserve that incredible kiss?”
Mac caressed her face with the back of his hand. “Because you are the one and only person in the whole world that I can tell anything to. I know there’ll be no judgements, no ramifications, and I know you will never share my innermost thoughts and secrets. I never stopped loving you, Yvette,” he confessed.
Yvette’s heart warmed in her chest, and a magical feeling spread through her at his declaration. “You know I will always love you, Mac,” she said.
He pressed another kiss to her lips and then cracked the door open into the house. “We have an early flight. We should get to bed.”
“What if I’m not tired yet?” she asked suggestively.
“Even better,” he said with an amorous glint in his eyes.
Having made sure the house was locked up for the night, they immediately went to the master bedroom where they made love for hours before drifting off, exhausted and satiated, a tangle of limbs. It was very early when the alarms on both of their phones went off, waking them far earlier than either of them wanted. After the night of passion they’d just enjoyed, they wanted to repeat it that morning. But there was no time.
Yvette took a quick rinse-off shower, missing her shorter hair, which could easily be spiked up with little fuss. Mac showeredafter her, and they were out the door, headed to O’Hare International Airport and their early flight by zero four twenty. They had just enough time to grab coffee and a breakfast sandwich from one of the airport restaurants before boarding began.
***
The agency Lear transported the eight members of the team to NAS Jacksonville. Shepherd had contacted SecDef and was granted the clearance needed to allow both the Shepherd Security Lear as well as the private plane operated by the DEA to land at the naval base, neither of which was that unusual. The U.S. military supported DEA and CIA missions by allowing access to its bases when needed. No, Shepherd had not shared the complete nature of the mission, and after stating it was to go after one of the worst of the worst, a wanted criminal, SecDef didn’t ask any more questions. And he of course, did not know the destination of the DEA plane.
While en route, the team transferred as much of their gear as they could into suitcases, layered between the clothing of the three couples who would check into the resort. Both Mother and Garcia would enter the grounds of the resort with only backpacks, appearing to have come back to the resort with groups of registered guests who’d been on day tours. They also carried weapons and ammo in their backpacks. Only two larger cases with equipment were not able to be concealed. Those would have to be brought into the resort under the cover of night, most likely by one of the two DEA agents who would be nearby for the duration of the Op. It wasn’t optimal, but it was doable.
Hours later, after they landed at the covert strip northwest of Cancun, the team and the two DEA agents transferred their things to an awaiting van marked with a local popular tour company’s logo for the drive into Cancun. First, the three couples were dropped off at the airport, in the departures area, away from where the shuttle bus they would take to the resort parked, waiting for their arrival. When making the hotel reservations, Angel had entered false flight information to book the shuttle that would transport them from the airport to the resort, like most other guests who arrived did.
Then the van drove north to the resort. Planning the timing of their approach to the hotel, the van pulled up behind a large bus that had arrived to drop off the guests who had taken a day trip to Chichén Itzá. Mother and Garcia blended in with the group, even accepting cool glasses of water from the hotel staff in the lobby as they passed through. Having already studied the resort map, they proceeded to the right and made their way to building number one, and Mac’s room.
*We’re outside the room
Yvette’s screen lit up with Garcia’s text. She sat outside on the balcony, admiring the beautiful grounds of the resort, the wide strip of sandy beach, and the peaceful and breathtaking colors of the water that transitioned from shades of turquoise to the deep blue waters of the Gulf where it met the horizon and the cloudless cobalt sky. Even though it was ninety-four degrees with a stiff breeze and felt like she was sitting in a blast furnace, Yvette enjoyed the serenity and sights. She knew that even though the Op was already in full swing, she could have thesemoments before the team arrived, and her attention would be laser-focused on the team and safeguarding them.
When she and Mac had arrived, he’d brought her by the front desk, checking her into the hotel, a necessary step for her to receive her room card which also gave her privileges in the Preferred Club areas of the resort, including the enormous infinity pool taking up a good chunk of real estate beneath their room. They’d spent several hours in it earlier, surveilling Ruiz, who had a cabana across from where they’d taken two thickly padded lounge chairs beneath a wide umbrella.
Yvette rose from the couch seating area and slid open the sliding glass door. Mac sat at the dining table in the corner of the room that was just big enough to have two comfortable dining chairs pulled up to it. There, he had a laptop computer set up with the camera feed of the tiny camera he’d mounted at the top of the privacy screen between his and Ruiz’s balconies. The view gave them the first six feet inside Ruiz’s room. Yvette saw that Ruiz was still lying in bed, taking an afternoon nap.
“They’re here,” she said to Mac as she crossed the room and went to the door to let Garcia and Mother in. The air conditioning in the room felt refreshing.
Mac rose and met them just inside the room. “Mother,” he said with a nod, presenting his hand.
Mother shook it. “Nice digs,” Mother said, glancing around the room. “And it feels great in here. Damn, it’s hot outside.”
Yvette smiled at him. “Even the ocean breeze is hot,” she said.
“This resort is gorgeous,” Garcia said. “Must be costing Shepherd a fortune for the three rooms. Some of the rooms have pools right off their patios.”
“Swim out suites,” Yvette corrected him. “But you don’t get a good view of the ocean or the horizon from them.” She shrugged.
“If we apprehend Ruiz with cash on him or links to an account, I’ll make sure Shepherd is reimbursed for his costs,” Mac guaranteed.
Garcia glanced around the room, much the same as Yvette had when she’d first entered. At one end was a large, extra-wide sliding glass door that made up nearly all the wall. A glass dining table and two chairs were tucked in one corner. A couch was across from it with an end table nearest the sliding glass door. The king-sized bed was positioned in the middle of the room with its headboard on the same wall as the couch, a bank of dressers across from it. The large, open bathroom comprised the other side of the room. A large oval tub stood in front of a glass shower, most of it frosted. The toilet room was beside it, also frosted glass, and the large double sink was on the wall that the door into the room was on.
“Hope no one’s shy. There’s not much privacy in this room,” Garcia said, his eyes fixed on the bathroom.
Yvette knew he was talking to her. “It’ll be fine,” she insisted. “Unless you’re the shy one, Razor?”
Everyone laughed.
