We carried James to the Jeep parked in a small grove of pine trees a block from the warehouse. Krueger was protecting his own ass and it was time to protect ours. James was breathing steadier as we stretched him on the backseat.
“We need to get Jackie Fuentes out of there.”
“We need to get James to a hospital.”
We looked at each other, then back at James, breathing regularly.
“Okay, all right. But if 911 gets busy, they’ll have someone here soon. We should just stay out of it.”
“Skip, James will be all right. He was awake and making sense. I doubt if there is a concussion and he’s breathing well right now.”
“How the hell do you know all this stuff?”
He motioned to me and we left the Jeep.
“What do you plan to do? My God, these people have hundreds of guns, ammunition, the CIA-”
“I was wrong.” Angel stayed close to the buildings we passed and I stayed right behind him.
“Wrong? About what?” The moon stayed behind clouds and we were probably hard to spot.
“Your CIA friend. I believe he was from the CIA.”
“So the CIA is involved in this invasion?”
We approached the warehouse. There were no guards outside the side door.
“I don’t know. Maybe three rogue agents, maybe the entire agency.”
“Three? There was a third?”
He motioned to me and we headed toward the back of the corrugated steel building. We walked past the outside forklift and the Buick was still parked. He walked me behind the building and put his finger to his lips. Whispering, he pointed to an outside metal fire escape. “There’s a door up there. I believe it opens onto a balcony that surveys the entire warehouse.”
I whispered back. “How the hell do you know?”
“I was up there earlier this evening.”
I shook my head. The guy was a regular James Bond.
He motioned to me and we quietly climbed the steps.
You’d think that international terrorists would lock their doors. But they don’t. These guys didn’t. The door opened easily and Angel stuck his head inside.
“They’re busy down there. Come here.”
He eased in, kneeling, and watching under the railing that ran along the four-foot wide balcony. I followed.
The truck was about loaded. There were four more pallets of boxes and one more canister left to lift onto the truck.
“Down there.” Angel pointed.
Jackie was standing against the wall, midway down the floor. Someone I didn’t recognize held a gun on her, and Krueger was nowhere in sight.
“You can see everything from up here, can’t you? The entire operation.” The voice behind me surprised the crap out of me. I’d been shocked so many times tonight this shouldn’t have fazed me, but it did.
“Stand up, put your hands behind your backs and walk down the stairs. It’s time we get rid of you assholes once and for all.” Rick Fuentes shoved his pistol deep into my ribs and pushed me toward the stairs. He grabbed Angel by the collar and brought him along. “I swear to Christ, Moore, I’m going to kill you myself.”