Personal Target: An Elite Ops Novel Read Online Free Page B

tired, as evidenced by the fact that he was revisiting past history and particularly that question.
    The reason she’d quit calling didn’t matter anymore.
    He took another steadying breath to pull himself back from memories that would do him no good right now. Exhaling, he smoothed his clenched fist along his jean-clad thigh. He had to file those thoughts away.
    Someplace where it wouldn’t be personal. Someplace where he could stay cold and untouchable.

 
    Chapter Three
----
    Saturday noon
    Gaylord Texan Resort
    “I AM E RNESTO Vega. I believe you knew my brother.” Two bulky-looking guards stood across the room as a distinguished-looking Hispanic man seated himself across from Nick. His eyes were disturbingly familiar.
    Nick’s gut tensed at the introduction, but he didn’t give any outward appearance that the knowledge disturbed him. That Ernesto would risk coming into the country was an indicator of how important this was.
    “Yes, I knew Cesar.” Nick gave a small nod as an exotic-looking woman handed him a bottle of mineral water from a refrigerator in the suite’s wet bar.
    “You’re surprised I’m here in the U.S., are you not?”
    Nick shrugged. “It would seem rather rash given that you’re on the most wanted list for the DEA.”
    Ernesto smiled, but the expression didn’t reach his eyes. The men stared at each other in silence.
    Nick unscrewed the top on the water. “Are you here to kill me or give me back the woman?”
    Ernesto shrugged. “I haven’t decided. Perhaps both. For now, let’s call it a mission of diplomacy.”
    Nick raised an eyebrow and looked pointedly at the bodyguards. “If you’re planning to kill me, you’re going to need a hell of a lot more men than you’ve got right now.”
    Ernesto sipped his drink. “Oh, I don’t think so. Remember, I have your sister-in-law.”
    They still didn’t realize their screw-up. Nick took a swallow of water to cover his relief. “For the time being. We’re here because you kidnapped my brother’s wife. That beats the hell out of any kind of diplomacy I’ve ever seen.”
    Ernesto swirled the liquid in his glass. “Tomas Rivera’s wife, Carlita, was my sister. She’s dead. So is my brother, Cesar. I don’t give a shit about diplomacy.”
    “I had nothing to do with your sister’s death,” said Nick.
    That was true. Ernesto’s sister, Carlita Vega Rivera, had been killed in a violent explosion in November, the day before her brother, Cesar Vega, tried to kill Nick in a back-alley Mexican vet clinic.
    But Carlita had been doomed long before the unexplained detonation that destroyed her husband’s home. Having a very rare blood type, she’d been days away from death and in desperate need of a bilateral lung transplant that wasn’t going to come in time.
    In hopes of saving Carlita, Tomas Rivera had kidnapped a boy whose mother, Anna Mercado, had the same rare blood type. Leland Hollis, the newest member of AEGIS, had gone into Mexico to get the boy. Nick had been part of the extraction team.
    Getting everyone out was where things had fallen apart.
    Ernesto waved his hand impatiently. “You left Tomas Rivera’s compound minutes before it was attacked. I refuse to believe you and your employer had nothing to do with its being destroyed.”
    “You’re certainly entitled to your opinion, but I had nothing to do with the explosion. Neither did the people I work for.” Nick was telling the truth, even if it could be interpreted to mean he was still working for the CIA as well as AEGIS. But he wasn’t about to explain. Ernesto would never believe he’d quit the CIA anyway. No one believed him when he said he’d quit.
    “So you say. But it seems suspicious to me that you were present at both blasts where my sister and brother died.”
    “Are you certain another cartel wasn’t responsible? Your brother-in-law, Tomas Rivera, is not without enemies. Not to mention your own enterprises in the area.”
    Ernesto’s smile was