Gangs think that all Americans are rich, that they can get money by grabbing kids and families. You have to be careful.

Jesse was almost back to his seat when his dad rushed up to him with Dominick. They both looked angry; his dad also looked scared. "Jesse! Where were you?"

"I-" He saw the gun under Dominick's jacket. "I just got pushed by the crowd, then I couldn't see you."

Why didn't he tell his dad the truth? That two men tried to kidnap him?

Was that really what they were trying to do?

Jesse really wanted to talk to his mom. She would straighten this all out, tell him the truth. And if she said she didn't send anyone for him, he'd tell his dad everything.

"You're not a little kid, Jesse," his dad said.

"You're sure that's all it was?" Dominick said.

Gabriella came up to them with Dominick's brother, Jose, "Dom, he's scared, you're scaring him more. You're okay, little man, right?"

Jesse nodded. Did she know? Had she seen what happened? "Just-I didn't know how to find you so I came back to the seats."

"Smart kid, just like his dad." Gabriella smiled at his dad. "Let's get out of here. The limo should be out front by now."

His dad put his arm around Jesse's shoulders, then kissed him on the top of the head. Normally that would embarrass him in front of people, but right now he was relieved.

His dad would never let anything happen to him.

He almost told him what happened.

Almost.

As soon as he talked to his mom.

Kane took a roundabout way back to the plane not only to ensure they hadn't been followed, but also to check the perimeter of their hiding spot. They were clear.

They set up camp without speaking. They wouldn't sleep in the plane because that would make them an easy target, but they didn't want to be too far from their ride home. Kane did another perimeter check, then they ate sandwiches, washing them down with cool beer that had been in Sean's ice chest.

"I should have pulled the plug," Kane said.

"I shouldn't have gone in the first place." Sean had been thinking about the entire fiasco. "When I was twelve, no way in hell would I go off with two strangers." He paused. "I wanted to tell him who I was, but there's no reason for him to believe me. And there's no reason for him to believe his mother sent me." Sean drained his beer. "Were the Romeros bad news when our dads were friends? Are you on the Flores cartel hit list? You shouldn't be here."

"I'm here because you need me-and Jesse is my blood." Kane pulled out two more beers, handed one to Sean. "My educated guess is that Gabriella Romero has wormed her way into the Flores cartel for the sole purpose of assassinating Samuel Flores." He paused. "Not the sole purpose. She doesn't do anything with a single goal. If she can rip him off before she kills him, that would make her even happier."

"You've already lost me."

"It's a long story, Sean."

Sean didn't say anything.

"Flores killed Gabriella's lover ten years ago."

"Ten years? That's a long time to wait for revenge."

"She's patient."

"And Flores doesn't realize she's out for revenge?"

"He doesn't even know the connection. Few people do. Gabriella is ... complex."

"Do I hear a hint of admiration?"

Kane shook his head. "Not what you're thinking, little brother."

Sean really hated when Kane did that.

"Dante and Gabriella have helped RCK operations ... and hindered RCK. They have their own agenda. Their mother died long ago, you know their father was friends with our father. Dante and Liam used to be tight, but they have their own war."

"What else don't I know?"

"A lot. Mom and Dad never wanted you to work with me-I'd already left the Marines by the time they died. They didn't like some of the choices I made, and Duke made sure you didn't follow in the same path. But you made your own choices when you grew up."

"Many of them because Duke pushed me in the opposite direction." Sean rubbed his eyes. He didn't want to think about his complex relationship with his other brother.

"What I'm saying is, I've known Dante and Gabriella for a long time. You were too young to remember them. But it hasn't always been friendly, especially after Mom and Dad died."

"And their dad?"

"Lives in Louisiana, last I heard. The key point is, I know Gabriella well. Her fiance was an Army Ranger, Doug Bonelli. He'd been part of Jack's unit when he was still serving."

"Small fucking world," Sean muttered.

"These people we deal with-it seems insurmountable, but there are only two dozen cartels and gangs who are in serious power. There are hundreds of violent gangs and groups, but they don't spread out, they're localized. The most powerful cartels' network have arms in the States and up into Canada and Europe and the Middle East and even China. They pull in gangs as they need, or hire them as protection, but the power centers are mostly controlled by families or family alliances. Sometimes the violent gangs, the rebels, the upstarts, the so-called private businessmen help them ... sometimes they hinder them."

"Just like the Romeros."

Kane smiled thinly. "You understand."

"So is Gabriella going to help us or not?"

"I don't know. She saw me tonight. She was pissed off, but she won't do anything until she talks to Dante. I'm hoping she'll help-or at least stay out of our way. Until I saw Spade with Dominick Flores, I couldn't confirm that he was working for the Flores cartel, but it's pretty fucking clear he's chummy with him. They were sitting together, heads close-that's not the sign of someone here on legitimate business."

"Dominick is the oldest brother?"

Kane nodded. "The patriarch, now that their dad is dead. But there are three others. They work as a unit. Dominick is in charge, he's the figurehead, but he won't do anything without the agreement of his brothers."

After several minutes of silence, Kane said, "When Bonelli was killed, I offered to take care of Samuel Flores myself. Gabriella said no."

There was far more to that story that Kane wasn't saying.

"She's not going to back down, and Dante isn't going to give me anything that will help. He said that Flores's compound is impenetrable. I reconned the place; he's right. Not without a large team and going in full-force, which puts the kid at risk. I have some specs on the place. Until tonight, we couldn't even confirm Jesse was there-but I'm fairly certain he is. There are no hotel reservations in Carson Spade's name, or either of his business names. Still, we need more information and help in getting inside."

"You think you can convince her?"

Kane didn't say anything.

Sean said, "I have an idea. But you might not like it."

"Shoot straight."

"I need to get Jesse a note. I'll explain everything-can you convince Gabriella to give it to him?"

"Possibly."

"I need proof that Spade is working for Flores. Seeing him with Dominick isn't going to cut it. We get proof, I can then get Madison to tell Jesse to trust me."

"She didn't even want you here. She tried to stop us, Sean."

"Because she's in denial. With proof, she won't be." He shifted on the uncomfortable ground. He doubted he'd be sleeping much tonight.

"Each cartel has their own primary area, right?" Sean continued. "They'll associate with shell corporations and lawyers that Spade associates with. I already have every corporation Spade's firm does business with."

"You've been busy."

"I sent the list to Jaye. She's going to run it against known cartel shell corporations."

"Good, but that's going to take time."

"I'm working on another angle. Pinpointing Jesse's exact location."

"Short of a GPS chip, how?"

Sean reached into his satchel and pulled out a photo that Kane's contact in Acapulco gave them. "This is Jesse-he's playing a handheld video game."

"Okay."

"It's hard to tell which device, but most of the new devices have Wi-Fi. I hacked into the resort Wi-Fi system-not difficult at all, so if you need to pay your friend Nicco for his help, I can plug the holes with a little time and access."

"Access helps us more than the bad guys," Kane said and left it at that.

Sean continued. "Based on the time stamp of this photo, I backtraced Jesse's device. The Wi-Fi system logs specific system information unique to that device, so once that device logs into the system, they don't have to log in again."

"Okay." Kane was sounding more skeptical. Kane was good with tech, though distrustful, but this was the one area where Sean was clearly superior.

"Of course, I've rigged all my devices never to divulge any information, but most people don't do that." Sean almost smiled. "There are many Internet providers, but I figure Flores will want only the best. That leaves two in this area. They are a bit trickier to navigate-the firewall is much better here than at the resort. But if Jesse used his device at all, I will know."

"Wouldn't Flores or Spade have him turn off the Wi-Fi?"

"Possibly, but most adults don't realize the capabilities of handheld video games. You can't download a lot of data from the Internet, for example, because they don't have the storage-the memory is primarily used to play the game and store game progress, but you still need a disk or chip to play. There's no Internet browsing, for example-most are not designed like that. The one Jesse has, though a new model, is primarily for game playing-including multi-player games, on a limited scale.

"But," Sean continued, "even if he turns off the Wi-Fi, he has to open the device to turn it off, which means at one point the device pinged the Wi-Fi system, and that system is serviced by a provider."

"I think I got it."

"Good-because I've already started running my program, and we should have his location in a couple of hours."

"There's a bigger issue here, Sean-getting him out. Even if we know exactly where he is-down to the room, and you can't tell me your tech can pinpoint him to a ten-by-ten spot-we have to get to him, then convince him to leave quietly."

"That's why I need to get him information. I can send him a note on his device-if he's on it."

"Do it."

"And the secondary thing is that once I get the IP address for the wireless system, I can analyze the data and see how they run their security system-whether it's dedicated or not. I suspect it's a combination of both, but even taking out part of the system will help us."

"We need a diversion. If we can get Jesse out of the compound, it would be much easier to grab him."

"Flores will have what? Fifty men or so?"

"Probably less."

Sean shook his head. He should laugh at the absurdity of Kane's matter-of-fact tone, but he was exhausted.

"I'm talking about a diversion he won't expect. Let me think on it. I have a couple of ideas, but none that I'm confident we can survive."

"I need to check on the plane, then get some sleep."

"Say hi to Lucy for me."

Lucy was familiar with death. She'd seen it close up-when she was younger, knowing her cousin and best friend Justin was in a coffin at the front of the church the day of his funeral; when she was eighteen and killed her rapist; when she worked in the morgue and saw the dead every day. And now, on the job, she saw the dead.

But this case ... it was different than others.

She'd been able to put Jane Doe out of her head when she was in the office with Zach and Noah, talking about shell corporations and property management and legal issues for possible warrants. It helped focus her on the present. But now, as she lay in bed after midnight, she only saw Jane Doe's corpse and the swollen stomach where her baby had once grown.

Jane Doe had died for no reason other than someone had wanted her baby. She could have survived if they'd taken her to the hospital, given her emergency medical care. It was the absolutely senselessness of her death that disturbed Lucy. She should have survived.

But she'd died in childbirth because of the cruelty of those who had her. Then two bullets in the head. Dismissed. Tossed in the garbage. Her son taken. Why? To be sold? To be used? Did that baby have anyone to love him? Did he have a bright future, or was it as bleak as his mother's?

Lucy wanted to believe that someone misguided but desperate for a child would raise the premature little boy who'd been born so violently; but she knew from her experience and training that there were other, darker purposes for children.

She closed her eyes and bit back a cry.

No.

She wouldn't go there, she couldn't and survive. Not now, in the middle of the night, when nightmares were par for the course, followed by insomnia and the overwhelming sense of hopelessness. She'd thought she'd gotten past all that, but after she rescued a group of foster boys who'd been brutalized and used as mules by the drug cartels, the nightmares returned about the ones she couldn't save.

She got up, desperately needing sleep, but mostly needing to clear her mind. It was midnight, but she swam in her pool, thirty hard laps, back and forth, until her muscles ached and her lungs burned. Then she turned and floated on her back, gently pushing herself along. Back and forth. Clearing her mind, focusing on the stars in the sky, the pin lights Sean had put in the trees. She loved her house, but especially the backyard, where she and Sean spent so much time sitting and relaxing. There were balconies and a covered patio outside the poolhouse. They had a small garden, trees and flowers, and of course the pool. Lucy loved swimming, and the pool was large and mostly rectangular so she could swim laps.