Page 47 of Operation: Silent Angel
“Yes, and I’ll need to contact the Colombian Consulate in Cancun to get travel documents for Bella and any of the other girls that are from Colombia.”
“We don’t know where the others are from,” Mac said, feeling a bit callous for not inquiring about their origins. “We know you’ll work that all out on the government end.”
“Don’t worry. Christy and I will take care of them.”
“Don’t officially check out yet. Just bring a small bag with what you’ll need for a day or two until you get this sorted out. Our ETA is about thirty minutes, and I’ll text when we pull into the resort’s long drive. We’ll be in a panel van and will pull up in front of the lobby for you to load in.” Then he spoke to Briana and told her the plan.
They wiped their prints from every surface of the three boats and left them all as if they hadn’t been out for the night. The marina had no surveillance cameras. They didn’t have time to check each boat to ensure there were none on them, they’d have to take their chances. They’d leave the dead bodies on the Delphi Princess for some unlucky marina employee or passerby to findat some point in the future, most likely when they started to smell.
Mac, Roth, and Mother got into the back of the van with the girls. Mother explained to them that Roth was a medic, and he translated as Roth asked them health-related questions. Garcia, Cooper, and Lambchop drove the other vehicle. The two vehicles remained in a tight caravan this time, obeying the traffic signals and speed limit signs.
Garcia returned the car to the parking lot. From there, the three men saw Moreno and Christy climb into the back of the van when Mac, Roth, and Mother got out near the lobby.
The six men walked through the lobby and out onto the platform that overlooked the open area of the resort. From this elevation, the nighttime view was nothing short of spectacular. The pools were lit with blue lights. Open torches and cauldrons of flames gave off a primitive, tropical vibe. Up lighting cast the swaying palm trees in yellow lights, and the golden lights from each balcony on every building made the ten buildings look like they were studded with diamonds.
They descended the stairs and passed by the nightclub, which was just closing and spilling its inebriated revelers out into the night. The team blended in among the many nightclub goers who staggered around the resort, eventually heading back to their rooms.
“Pretty lively around here for zero three hundred,” Roth whispered to Mac as two drunk girls danced in circles around them before veering off towards the nearest building.
Mac chuckled. “And here I thought we’d look conspicuous walking around at this hour.”
“I’m going to go check on Laura Lee,” Lambchop said. “I’ll join you after.” He turned off towards the stairs that would bring him closest to his room. Yvette had notified the team that the decision had been made to leave the two women in Ruiz’s room to sleep. Both requested asylum, so they did not believe either would leave. Laura Lee had returned to her and Lambchop’s room to sleep.
“Yeah, I’m going to check in with Briana real quick too,” Roth said. “I messaged her when we got back to the marina and told her to go to sleep, but I want to be sure she’s okay.”
“You can go sack out, Crash,” Cooper said. “Unless Madison or Yvette got tired of Ruiz and hurt him, we won’t need you.” He paused and laughed. “I’ll call or text with our next steps in the morning.”
Roth nodded and then took the path towards his building. He took the stairs up and entered his room as quietly as he could. Briana had left the curtain open, and the resort lights that penetrated the room shone like a spotlight on her peacefully sleeping form on the side closest to the sliding glass door.
After he engaged the night lock, he set his weapon onto the nightstand beside hers and slipped into bed behind her. He pulled his front up flush against her back and took her into his arms.
“What time is it?” she murmured.
“Late, after three,” he said.
“All went smoothly?”
“Yeah, I’ll tell you about it in the morning. Go back to sleep,” he whispered. The truth was that the adrenaline had receded, and he was beat. All he wanted to do was sleep for the next ten hours.
Mac and the three other men took the elevator up to his room. They entered to find Ruiz tied up and not moving on the center of the bed. Both Madison and Yvette sat with their feet up at the dinette table.
Cooper nodded at Ruiz. “Is he alive?”
Yvette and Madison both snickered. “We completed taking his full statement nearly an hour ago. Smith and the Digital Team have already confirmed half of it. They’re running down the financial account info now. He provided pins, passwords and all we needed to access his funds. Smith’s already emptied a dozen accounts.
“I thought he was scrambling to access funds to pay off Solomon?” Mac said.
“He lied about that too, well, the part about not having funds available. Ruiz just didn’t want to pay him. He was here liquidating and tying up loose ends, getting ready for one last bigscore before he shut it all down. He’s in the process of cashing out,” Yvette told the men.
“The identity of the New York man?” Cooper asked.
“Not the couple from the shuttle bus,” Yvette answered. “He’s traveling in from New York tomorrow. FBI will pick him up at his house in just a few hours. Big Bear has been fully briefed and has several agencies involved.”
“The DEA plane will be back to pick us all up tomorrow just after sunset,” Madison said, standing. She walked up to Cooper and embraced him. “While you guys were out playing on the water, we wrapped everything up here.” She nodded towards the door. “Let’s go to our room and get a few hours of shut-eye.”
“Let me know if you want to be relieved of watching him at any point,” Cooper said.
“We got him,” Garcia said. “Go to bed.”
