Hard Target: Elite Ops - Book One (22 page)

She nodded. The casually dressed man glanced at the SUV’s tinted backseat windows like he knew they were discussing him before he turned back to talk with Cesar. Another guard jogged back inside and returned moments later with a black briefcase.

Cesar nodded to his driver standing by the vehicle and he opened Anna’s door. The man he assumed was Tomas stared at her for at least thirty seconds but said nothing. Finally he motioned to the bodyguard holding the briefcase and it was handed over to Cesar. Vega popped the top, glanced inside, and nodded once to his driver, who moved to open the back SUV passenger door.

“Deal’s done,” Cesar said. “Get out.”

Leland looked at him but didn’t move. Instead he reached for Anna’s hand with his cuffed ones, holding her beside him when she would have exited the car. “Seems to be done from where you sit but not for us,” he said.

Leland was prepared to stay in the SUV while things got sorted out, but Anna was moving, trying to slide out of the vehicle.

“What’s going on? Is Zach here? Will they let me see him?” she asked, letting go of Leland’s hand and sliding across the seat at the same time.

“That’s up to your new host,” said Cesar, tipping his head in deference to the middle-aged man.

So this was Tomas Rivera. He didn’t look like Leland had imagined, and Cesar wasn’t planning to stick around. That much was obvious.

“They’re trading us,” Leland clarified and gave up trying to keep her in the SUV.

Instead, he slid over to get out with her. Cesar’s man held up his hand to stop his exit from the vehicle. Realizing she was standing alone in a group of armed men, Anna reached back for him. The bodyguards all looked to Rivera. After a beat, he nodded and they let Leland climb out of the back seat with her.

“Told you I’d get you here safe and sound.” Cesar took a large knife from his pocket and cut off Leland’s zip-tie cuffs. Without another word he slipped into his vehicle.

Rivera headed back inside once his armed men surrounded Anna and Leland. She reached for Leland’s hand and held on to him with a death grip as he rubbed his aching wrists. This was what he had wanted—to get to Rivera’s compound and find Zach. Even so, circumstances weren’t playing out quite the way he’d imagined.

When Cesar’s car disappeared down the drive, the itch at Leland’s neck began to feel like hives.

Chapter Twenty-Four

G
RIPPING
L
ELAND’S HAND
and breathing through her nose, Anna stood in the drive attempting to calm her skyrocketing heart rate. Zach was here, or close by. He had to be.

She needed to see him—to know he was okay, to tell him she was here, to tell him they were going home and that everything was going to work out.

Trying to stay calm wasn’t working. She could feel herself start to hyperventilate. The only thing keeping her grounded was Leland, clasping her hand firmly in his.

“It’s gonna be okay,” he murmured. “Stay close to me.”

She watched him watch Cesar’s car drive away. She wouldn’t want him looking at her like that. The drug dealer would be a pile of ash if Leland had his wish.

The guards led them inside. Two in front and two behind. Rivera was nowhere to be seen.

Two guards peeled off while the other two men stayed with Leland and Anna, leading them through the entryway into an open-air living area that contained a massive sectional sofa and coffee table. Floor-to-ceiling sliding glass panels were open, separating the living room from a manmade tropical pool outside. Anna was stunned at the grandeur of the home. It was like something out of
Architectural Digest
. The “pool area” looked more like a rain forest. Massive rocks formed a waterfall surrounded by lush plant life.

Pink bougainvillea climbed the stucco walls surrounding the deep blue water. A steady breeze blew in. The house had obviously been built with the mountain breezes in mind. While the one blowing in now was warm, her still-damp clothes from last night were multiplying the wind chill.

A large oil painting depicting a three-masted galleon battling a stormy sea hung over the fireplace, taking up the entire wall opposite the glass panels. A spiral staircase took up another corner of the room. The older man stood at the fireplace, a guard on either side, looking like the captain of the ship in the picture above his head.

“Welcome to my home.”

“Are you Tomas Rivera?” she asked, already knowing the answer.

“Yes, I am. Sit down.”

Leland was still holding her hand. They sat on the huge sofa side by side. Was she finally going to see Zach? She could feel her anxiety ratcheting up.

“Please, where is my son? I’ll do whatever you ask but I need to see him.”

“Indeed? That’s very good to hear. All in good time,” said Rivera. “First, we have business to discuss.”

“Business? What kind of—” Leland squeezed her hand in a warning to be quiet and spoke over her.

“Cesar took the rest of our cash, but I’m assuming you don’t really need it based on the reward you gave him. What other
business
do we have to talk about?” he asked.

Rivera smiled and settled his gaze on Anna. “You’ll see. It concerns Mrs. Mercado and her son. I’ll take you to see him soon. I’d prefer we talked first, and I’m sure you’d like to get cleaned up.”

He stared pointedly at her dirty tank top and damp skirt. She didn’t give a damn about freshening up, she only wanted to see Zach. It was on the tip of her tongue to say so, and there was a long moment of silence as she contemplated the ramifications of saying exactly what she thought.

Leland squeezed her hand again, reminding her that these men were extraordinarily dangerous. Antagonizing them would be foolish. Reluctantly, she nodded and clamped her mouth shut over the angry words.

“He’s sleeping. You don’t want to disturb him now, do you?”

Well, of course not. But she knew how to check on her son while he was sleeping and not wake him. She’d only been doing it for fourteen years, but arguing wouldn’t get her any closer to seeing him.

“Is he alright?” She asked instead, biting her bottom lip.

Leland gave her hand another comforting squeeze.

Rivera nodded. “He’s fine. He’s had excellent care. We have a doctor who lives here.”

He studied Leland for a moment before turning back to Anna. “Did you know Mexico is a destination for people who want to have expensive surgeries done at a fraction of the cost?”

“No, I didn’t,” she said.

“How much does it cost to have an organ transplant in the United States?” Rivera asked.

“I’m not sure. I believe it’s somewhere between $200,000 and $400,000 depending on the type of transplant. I’m just grateful for our health insurance,” said Anna.

“Yes. In Mexico a transplant costs considerably less than it does in the US. A $400,000 surgery in the US can cost $40,000 here. That cost difference has sparked a whole new industry called “transplant tourism.” It’s becoming quite popular in South America and Asia.”

Anna had no idea where he was going with this, but she was fairly certain that she wasn’t going to like it. Max had tried to talk her into having Zach’s surgeries done here in Mexico, but she’d steadfastly refused. Perhaps it made her biased, but she didn’t want to trust her son’s care to anyone outside the doctors they knew in Dallas.

Rivera was still talking, touting the benefits of transplant surgery in Mexico and extoling the cutting edge research being done in Mexico City’s hospitals and research centers. The conversation was like listening to Max.

“The problem in any country is finding the organs, particularly for rarer blood types. It’s difficult to find the proper tissue matches, much more difficult than it is in the US. I know all this because my wife needs a bilateral lung transplant.”

Anna exhaled. “I’m sorry. I realize it’s very difficult to wait.”

Despite what the man had done to her and Zach, having someone you loved that ill was cause for sympathy.

“Yes, Mrs. Mercado. Yes, it is. Carlita has been on the list for almost fourteen months. Her blood type is AB negative.”

Anna had been focused on the floor, determined not to make eye contact no matter how tragic his story, but at those words she turned her head sharply to stare at Rivera. The chill she’d felt earlier on entering the breezy room deepened.

“Yes, I know,” he said. “That’s Zach’s blood type also.”

Anna continued to stare, feeling the blood drain from her face as understanding dawned and her world imploded.

“It’s your blood type as well.” Rivera spoke matter-of-factly, gazing a moment longer at her, then shook his head impatiently.

“I thought you would have figured this out by now,” he said. “You’re not a stupid woman, but I suppose it is unorthodox.”

Anna could say nothing. Beside her Leland was silent. He probably hadn’t figured out the implications of the conversation yet, but she had. She knew what Rivera was about to propose. It had crossed her mind as an impossible option, early on in Zach’s diagnosis.

“Last year your son was admitted to Mexico City’s Hope Medica for a series of tests,” continued Rivera.

The chill inside her grew. She was surprised her teeth weren’t chattering when she spoke. “Yes, his father wanted to consult doctors here in Mexico to see if there was anything that could be done as we waited for a donor.”

“I know.”

“How?” she asked, stricken by what she assumed was coming.

“I know Max.”

She shook her head. Given her discussion with Cesar and Leland earlier, this shouldn’t have been such unexpected news. Still, it was.

“How do you know my husband?”

“We had business together. Not very interesting business at that. What I did find fascinating was that your son also had AB negative blood and was seeking a transplant. Naturally, I was intrigued.”

“Naturally,” she echoed. Beside her, Leland was still silent.

“I’m a generous donor at Hope Medica. When I heard that young Zach was a match with my wife, the clinic ‘agreed’ to run extra tests before you left.”

“What?” Leland finally spoke up. “How could you dictate what kind of tests were run on another patient?”

“Surely you know that there’s very little money cannot buy, particularly here in Mexico. Max Mercado made some unfortunate investments and accumulated substantial debt. It was an easy thing to get his permission.”

Oh God, Max. What were you thinking?

Anna took a deep breath, but it didn’t help. Her head was spinning. She felt as if she were watching this conversation take place with someone else.

“Alas, your son’s organs have been ‘taxed’ greatly by his heart disease. His lungs are of no use to my wife. But I continued to follow his case. AB negative is so very rare. Just in case you found a donor, I wanted to know about it. Your husband kept me in the loop.”

Anna maintained a neutral face, even though inside she was screaming. Rivera was talking as if Zach were a possible organ donor for his wife and confirming that Max had been involved in all of this.

“But we didn’t find a donor. We’ve been on the list for over a year as well,” she said.

“Yes. However, you yourself are AB negative. Max let me know about that, too.”

Max, you fool. What did you
do?

Inside she grew colder and colder. “Yes, yes I am.” That idea had been in the back of her mind, ever since they’d started this whole nightmarish ordeal a year ago with waiting for a donor. She knew what Rivera was going to say before he said it.

“Well, the solution is simple. In fact, it was Max’s idea. Still, I suspect he had some ulterior motives. You’ve said you’d do anything for your son. I’m going to let you prove it.”

Oh, sweet Jesus.

The chill inside her turned arctic. Ever since the doctors had told her about the rarity of her and Zach’s blood types, she’d known there was an option that was theoretically possible but not feasible—at least not in the United States.

She’d lied to Rivera. She knew all about transplant tourism. In the darker hours of the past year she’d done quite a bit of online research as she considered looking for a doctor somewhere, anywhere who’d do what Rivera was about to suggest. Obviously, she hadn’t been looking in the right place.

“You can give your heart to Zach,” Rivera said.

Chapter Twenty-Five

L
ELAND WASN’T SURE
he’d heard the man correctly. The idea was so beyond bizarre, he couldn’t wrap his head around the idea that Anna would consider giving up her life for her son’s heart transplant. Anna, on the other hand, looked as if this was what she’d been expecting.

“Why would you care about my son receiving a heart?” she asked.

Ignoring Leland, Rivera gave her a look of mild impatience. “Oh, come now. Surely you aren’t that slow. Your lungs won’t be necessary after you donate your heart.”

“Of course,” she whispered at the same time Leland exploded, “Hell, no! You can’t ask her to do this.”

Anna’d dropped his hand during the discussion earlier, but now he reached out and grasped it again. Part of him wanted to believe that if he held on tightly enough, nothing could happen to her. The conversation was so surreal, so horrifying, he expected to hear the theme from the
Twilight Zone
at any moment.

“
Ask
her to do this?” Rivera snarled contemptuously. “Agent Hollis, I could just as easily kill you both right here in my living room. I might as well let her life count for something. Hell, I just bought her from Vega. I think it’s rather generous of me to give her this opportunity.”

“Generous?” Leland echoed, not even trying to contain his incredulity. “This is obscene.”

“I have no choice,” insisted Rivera.

Anna was frozen in place like a marble statue. Gripping her cold fingers, he knew he needed to calm down or Rivera would simply separate them. Angry as he was, Leland couldn’t give the man any reason to do that. He had to get her and Zach the hell out of here.

Rivera stared at Anna and shook his head as his eyes took on a faraway look. “No, I’ve seen obscenity. I’ve committed it against others. This is not it.”