Lupe knew that she must not show she was afraid. "Jorge," she said calmly. "What are you doing here? I thought you had gone to Mexico."

"I'm here on business. I'm an important man now, Lupe. There are people I work with that come to me for help. We're almost ready to go back, so I came to pick you up. My mother wants to meet you." He gripped her wrist more firmly and began pulling her toward his car. His eyes were glazed and red, and he seemed almost unaware of his surroundings; Lupe was certain he was taking drugs.

"I need to tell my dad. He expects me to be at work tomorrow –"

"We can call him later. Come on." As he pulled her toward the car Lupe quietly slipped her cellphone in her pants pocket, then dropped her purse on the ground behind them.

Thirty minutes later Raymond Hernandez, after trying to call his daughter twice, called Nathan.

"Do you know where Lupe is?"

"She told me she was going home after work. She's not with you?"

"No. She isn't answering her phone."

A pause. "Just a second. Dad, Mr. Hernandez says he can't find Lupe – " then muffled conversation as the mouthpiece was covered. After a moment Nathan was back on the phone. "We'll meet you at the store. Be there in twenty minutes."

The store was locked and empty, as Lupe's father determined in a few moments. Nathan moved into the alley and immediately called back, "Her car's still here… wait, her purse is here!"

"Wallet? Keys?" Aaron asked quickly.

"Here. Everything's here but her phone."

Aaron glanced at the back door of the store. "She locks up," he said, half to himself. "She comes out, ready to leave. And then –"

"And then what?" Raymond demanded, beside himself with worry.

"I think maybe Jorge was waiting for her." Aaron looked quickly up and down the alley. "There." He pointed to lighted windows partway up the block. "Someone may have seen something. Let me ask a few questions, and then we can call the police. What clothes is she wearing?"

"Dark pants. Black ones. And a yellow shirt."

Aaron was back in a very few minutes. "No one saw anything. One of the staff thought they might have heard a truck, but that's it. Okay, now we call the police."

The discussion with Chief Russell was brief. Raymond Hernandez agreed to go to the police station to file a missing persons report and Russell immediately tasked Officer Croft with locating Lupe's phone signal. He also promised to inform all officers to keep an eye out for any woman answering Lupe's description.

"Now what, Dad?" Nathan was pacing nervously.

"Now I make another call. Sorry, son, but I need to do this alone." Aaron dialed CTU-Washington and was put through to the chief agent, Gary Irvin. He got straight to the point:

"I've got to get in touch with Agent Zuniga. Jorge Herrera has kidnapped a girl who used to date him – she's engaged to my son now. We have reason to think he's going to take her to Mexico with him."

Irvin's response was blunt. "Sorry, Aaron, but I can't do that. We've got too much riding on this investigation."

"But if Herrera has taken this girl that blows things sky-high already. The gang will know that the police are bound to come looking for her. This makes it an international kidnapping case and the Federales will be called in."

"For all the good it'll do," Irvin snorted. "But you're right, he needs to know about this. Give me a secure meeting point and I'll call him. It may take a little time for me to reach him. I'll call you back as soon as I can."

Aaron gave him the address of the hardware store. "It's closed. He can come in the back way off the alley. My son is with me, but I'm not going to give him any information that will break your agent's cover."

"Of course. Give me a little time and I'll get back to you."

Gertrude had come to the ranch for the afternoon and both she and Martha had been present when Raymond Hernandez had called with the news that Lupe was missing. After pacing for an hour, Martha finally gave in to her anxiety and called her husband. "Any news?"

"It's Herrera all right. I've talked to the police, they're activating every officer they can spare. It looks like he's heading straight back to Mexico, but I don't want you to take any chances – he could be taking back roads. Stay indoors with Mother and I'll call you as soon as we know more."

Martha was clutching the phone so tightly her knuckles were white. "Good luck." She explained to Gertrude what was happening, then swiftly headed to the bedroom closet, opened the gun safe inside and grabbed her gun.

Zuniga slipped into the hardware store 45 minutes later. Aaron explained what they knew of Lupe's disappearance while he listened carefully. He then nodded toward Nathan. "Your son?"

"Yes. He's engaged to Lupe. I haven't told him anything except that you're investigating Herrera for reasons of your own."

"I understand this is confidential," Nathan broke in, "but I'm going to do anything I can to help find Lupe. If you need to send me out of the room for part of it, that's okay, but please don't shut me out." The desperation in his eyes told its own story.

Zuniga thought for a moment and nodded. "I understand. I'll tell you this much. I'm building a case and Jorge Herrera is part of it. I've been undercover working as his partner for months. Anything you see or hear, don't ask questions. I'm going to stay in character as much as I possibly can, do the things I would normally do if I were really his partner. I'm going to try to reach him right now. Maybe I can figure out where he's located; I may have to split off from you and figure this out on my own. Got it?"

"Yes, sir."

Taking out his phone, Zuniga dialed and almost immediately began yelling in rapid-fire Spanish. Even his body language changed as he paced back and forth, snarling at Herrera. Suddenly he pulled the phone away from his ear, stared at it for a second and cursed.

"He hung up on me. I threatened him with – with the people we work for and he paid no attention at all. He sounds off, like he's high on drugs."

"Did he say anything about Lupe?"

"Yes, she's with him. He kept mumbling that he was taking her to his mother. I kept asking where he was but he wouldn't answer me."

Nathan groaned.

"Look, don't panic. I know he moved his meth setup not long ago and I've got a good idea where it is. I'm heading out there now. No, my friend, you are not coming. This man is dangerous – "

"Yes I am."

"No you aren't, son," Aaron intervened. "I know you want to go, but no. I stretched a point just letting you stay for this meeting. Trust him. Trust me. Please. I promise you, we will get Lupe back."

Nathan glared at him. "Dad, if it were Em, would you just go home and wait?"

"No, I wouldn't. But Nathan, there's more going on here than you know about. I had to argue to get this man involved, because he has information we need. This is part of the bargain. I'm not asking you to go home and hide, but if we just go blundering out there we could cause a lot of damage. Aside from getting hurt or killed."

There was a pause of several seconds, then Nathan nodded silently. "Okay. What do you want me to do?"

"Go back to the ranch. Stay with Em and your grandmother. I'd feel better if you were there."

Nathan got into the truck and slammed his fist on the dashboard in frustration. Looking at the situation logically he couldn't argue with anything either his father or Zuniga had said. Still, it ran against every instinct he had to simply go back to the ranch.

At least I can give Lupe's father some news, he thought. Pulling the truck into a quick U-turn, he headed toward the police station.

As he walked in he was greeted by the chief. "I've got some news for you – we were able to locate Miss Hernandez's cell phone. She was smart to keep that with her. I was just about to call your dad."

"I just left him. He's working with someone who thinks he may know where Jorge Herrera is. I don't know much about him –"

"Ah, I think I know who it is. So I guess he doesn't need this?"

"I'll take the information and call him," Nathan said quickly, reaching for the paper Russell was holding. "You never know." He turned to find Lupe's father standing behind him, a questioning look on his face.

"Jorge, man, calm down. Everything's cool, nobody knows we're here."

P.G. Wilson (christened Patrick George) knew he was in trouble when his partner arrived unexpectedly, pacing and jittery and with a woman in tow. Not for the first time he wished he'd broken off their partnership after the shooting, but the ready cash had been too much for him. He turned from the tables set up in the dimly lit shed, dusted his hands and walked over to them.

"Break it down," Jorge ordered curtly, gesturing to the meth setup. "We're quitting for now. I have to leave, I'll call you when I get back in town."

"There isn't enough, man. We owe El Paso ten kilos –"

"They can wait. My girl and I, we have to go."

P.G. was tempted to argue, but he had seen Jorge in this mood before. "Okay, Jorge, we'll break it down. But how about you leave me enough stuff to finish the El Paso order? I'll hold the money for you, even wire it to you if you want. I just don't want those guys coming after me, that's all."

Jorge shrugged. "You can come with if you want."

"I know I can get into Mexico, man, but getting back here is a whole different deal. I don't have a passport."

"P.G., do it now or else." Jorge pulled his gun and aimed at his partner.

"Right, okay…" With his hands in the air, P.G. backed over to the setup, set a heated batch of chemicals aside to cool and began disassembling the equipment. "This would go faster if you'd help," he commented edgily.

"Fine," Jorge snapped. He tucked his gun into his waistband and moved over to the table, picking up equipment at random. Noticing Jorge's shaking hands, P.G. yelled at him to stop; unfortunately Jorge lost his grip on a bottle and spilled formaldehyde on the floor. His partner grabbed his arm. "Watch it, Jorge! This stuff is dangerous."

While Jorge and P.G. argued Lupe pulled out her phone and silently sent a text to Nathan:

Jorge took me

Going to MX

She slipped it back in her pocket. Meanwhile Jorge was becoming steadily more agitated.

"Hurry up. We don't have a lot of time," he snapped.

"Why don't you just go," P.G. suggested. "I'll have this done in ten minutes. Gotta clean up this spill." A mop and several rags were stacked near the entrance to the shed. Seeing P.G. heading for the door, Jorge pulled his gun and screamed, "Don't you leave! You can't get away from me!" He fired, narrowly missing the other man who ran out the door. Jorge ran after him and fired again.

"Damn it! I missed him!" He headed back inside and beckoned to Lupe. "Get back in the truck, I've got to find P.G. before he can tell the cops anything!"

"Jorge, no!" As he turned on her angrily, she put her hands out to placate him. "I'll come with you. I want to meet your mother like you said. But you don't have to shoot him."

"You don't understand. He'll get us both in big trouble if I don't." He grabbed Lupe's arm and marched her toward the truck.

Jorge was wrong: P.G. had been wounded. He felt a blow on his shoulder but adrenaline kept him running until he tripped and fell about a hundred yards from the shed. Trying to get back up, he felt pain for the first time and realized he couldn't move his left arm. He slid down into a nearby ditch, hearing a car door slam as he did so. Peering over the edge of the ditch he realized that Jorge was driving away in the opposite direction. Too high to know what he's doing, P.G. thought dimly. After waiting a minute he staggered over to his car, managed to start the engine and headed toward town. His first impulse was to go to a hospital, but almost immediately he thought better of it. Gotta find some place around here and get myself fixed up. Steadying the wheel with his almost useless left arm, he groped for the glove box and pulled out his gun. A few miles down the road he saw a driveway; the sign on the mailbox said Pierce.

"What is this, Nathan?" Hernandez asked.

"They've located Lupe's phone. If she still has it with her –" he broke off as his phone beeped. Glancing at the screen, he saw Lupe's message. "She sent me a text! He's taking her across the border!" He grabbed the older man's arm and pulled him out of the police station. "I've got to call my father about this, now."

"And then what?"

Nathan sighed in frustration. "Dad told me to go back to the ranch and stay with Em and my grandmother." Looking up, he met Raymond's gaze. After a split second they both got into the truck.

"I know these roads," Hernandez said quietly. "Let's go."

P.G. Wilson cut his headlights as soon as he pulled into the driveway. Trying to drive quietly, he saw the lights of the ranch house and behind it the silhouette of a barn. Wanting to avoid a break-in if possible, he decided to try the barn first for any supplies he could use. It took some effort to release the car door handle with his right hand, but eventually he made it into the barn.

Inside the house Oso suddenly began growling. As he moved to the back door this progressed to full bore snarling, with hair standing on end. Holding her gun, Martha opened the door and the dog shot out at full speed, heading toward the barn.

"Oso!" As she saw him disappear into the building she heard a scream, followed by a shot and more screaming. "Gertrude, stay here and lock the door. Don't open it unless you know it's me!" Martha headed for the barn and flattened herself against the wall next to the open door. She heard more snarling, then a weak "Help! Somebody help me!"

Peeking around the door, she saw a man lying on the floor with Oso holding him at bay. The sight of blood propelled her in with the gun held ready to shoot.

"Did you hurt my dog?"

"No, lady, I swear! I missed the damn dog! I was just trying to find some medical supplies – I've been shot!"

"Oso, come!" Martha ordered, and examined the dog with one hand as best she could while holding the gun on the intruder. Finding no wound, she gave a sigh of relief and for the first time noticed his shirt was soaked with blood. "You say you've been shot? I'm calling an ambulance."

"No, please. The cops are gonna take me in if you do. I just need to get a bandage or something. It's not that bad." As he rolled over and sat up, Martha noticed a strange chemical smell.

"What's your name?"

"Just call me P.G."

"Who shot you, P.G.?"

The delay in his answer raised Martha's suspicions. "Does this have to do with drugs?"

"Come on, lady. I answer your questions and then you turn around and feed it all to the cops? I'm not here to hurt anybody. Can't you just let it go?" He looked around and caught sight of his gun on the floor several feet away. As he began to move toward it, a command from Martha set Oso growling again. P.G. flinched away and Martha kicked the gun across the barn floor. The man looked even more miserable than before.

"Oh, all right. Can you get up? If you can get to the house I'll clean you up a bit and we can talk some more."

"Yeah, I think so. Thanks, lady."

"Don't thank me. I can't believe I'm doing this," she muttered.

Gertrude, calm as always, brought P.G. a glass of water and examined the wound while Oso sat next to him. Clearly terrified of the dog, the man put up no resistance. Gertrude brought him some pain medication after dressing the wound. "Why don't you talk to this young man, Martha, while I make him a sandwich," she offered.

Sandwich? Martha was about to ask, when she saw P.G.'s eyes light up. He was obviously hungry. "Fine," she managed. During the past few minutes several ideas had occurred to her and she had realized that the chemical smell she had noticed was probably related to methamphetamine. "We're a little worried right now, P.G. I need to know if you can help us. My stepson's girlfriend is missing and we think she's been kidnapped by someone she used to know. We know his name is Jorge and I've heard he sells drugs. Do you know who we're talking about? Can you help us?"

Wilson's eyes bulged. "Kidnapped?" he repeated. "He said he was taking her to – " He suddenly stopped talking.

"Where, P.G.? Where is he taking her?"

Gertrude put the sandwich in front of him. "My grandson's going to marry this girl, young man. I know she's a nice girl. Is she safe with this man?"

"No, ma'am." P.G.'s resistance crumbled with the first bite of the sandwich. He proceeded to tell the two women what had happened in the meth shed and confirmed that Lupe and Herrera were headed for Mexico, but panicked with Martha's next comment.

"I need to call my husband. He's been working with the police," she began, but stopped as P.G. began pushing his chair back from the table.

"I gotta go. Call off the dog. I told you before I can't have anything to do with the police." Martha waved Oso to her side before he could attack Wilson.

"Isn't there anything else you can tell us? Where in Mexico is he going?"

"He never told me where he was from, ma'am. All I can tell you is this guy is dangerous and I hope you catch him." He hesitated for a moment, then added, "Jorge killed that cop. Don't ask me how I know that. I'm telling you 'cause you've been good to me, but I have to leave right now."

Gertrude glanced at Martha and nodded. Martha shrugged and waved him out the door. A few moments later they heard the sound of the car's motor fading into the distance.

"Call Aaron, but try not to get that boy in trouble."

"You're too soft, Gertrude." Martha shook her head, but made the call. Aaron informed her that he'd just heard from Nathan and that the text from Lupe confirmed what P.G. had told them. "Nathan should be with you soon," he added. "I'm with the police looking for that meth lab."

But Nathan was flying down a deserted road, directed by his future father-in-law. After several minutes he saw a set of taillights in the distance and slowed his speed slightly. "Cut your headlights, Nathan. The pavement stops about a quarter mile from here. They're on dirt. We should be able to catch up to them pretty quickly," Hernandez said. Nathan followed his instructions and soon noticed that whoever was driving the truck was getting more and more erratic.

With the information supplied by P.G.'s story, Zuniga and Aaron reasoned that the meth lab could not be that far from the Pierce ranch. They were able to find it in a few minutes but a search of the premises yielded no new information. Aaron was more interested in the tire tracks and burn marks on the road surface, which indicated that a truck had recently left at high speed.

"I'll bet that's Jorge. What do you say we go after him?" he asked Zuniga, who agreed. As they pulled back onto the road Zuniga called his handler to request any GPS location they had obtained off Lupe's phone. The most recent information indicated that Lupe was southwest of town, headed in the direction of the border. Just as Zuniga ended the call, Aaron's phone rang.

"You're where? Nathan, what did I say –"A pause. "All right. Keep me updated." Aaron hung up and punched the accelerator. "Hang on," he said grimly. "Nathan picked up Lupe's father in town and it sounds like they're right behind Lupe and Jorge."

In fifteen minutes, guided by texts from Mr. Hernandez, Aaron found himself close behind Nathan's truck. Should we try to cut him off, read the next message.

No. Pull over. We'll take it from here. Obediently, Nathan slowed, stopped and watched as Aaron accelerated past him. In the distance, he gradually became aware of a low rumble.

"Sounds like a train. Does the rail line go through here?"

"Yes it does. Right up ahead…" Hernandez paused. "Right across this road!"

"Call my father, now!" Nathan pulled back onto the road, flashing his lights in warning.

Herrera had become steadily more infuriated with his failure to locate his partner. Lupe, knowing better than to try to reason with him, sat quietly in her seat. She had long since made up her mind to escape out of the truck as soon as she saw an opportunity, but Jorge's erratic driving worried her; she was certain that he would try to run her down if she could not find somewhere to hide. She saw the headlights of the approaching car at the same time as Jorge, who blindly hit the accelerator despite hearing the whistle of the approaching freight train.

"No, Jorge! Stop, there's a train coming!"

"I'm going to end this now. You're coming with me no matter what!" Herrera screamed. Muttering a prayer, Lupe threw open the door and jumped, rolling to the side of the road. Jorge looked back for a moment too long. Before he could turn his attention back to the road he was on the train tracks. One moment later the oncoming train smashed the truck, carrying it well beyond the view of the group on the road.

Aaron pulled to the side and hurried to help Lupe, assisted almost immediately by Nathan and Raymond. Zuniga sighed, pulled his cell phone out and started dialing. "Chief Russell?" he asked. "This thing is over. The girl's okay. Herrera is dead."

Two hours later a group of worried family members had converged on the hospital. Lupe had avoided concussion but had two cracked ribs and abrasions; the doctor in charge had recommended that she stay overnight for observation. Zuniga, trying to keep his cover intact, had borrowed Aaron's car, driven back to town and quietly faded out of the picture. ("I was never here, okay?" he muttered to Aaron, who had agreed to keep his presence unmentioned.) Chief Russell had stepped in to help Aaron negotiate with the railroad officials; Gertrude, Martha and Diane huddled around Lupe's hospital bed and Nathan was explaining the events of the evening to his stepfather.

"I think we can all go home now," Aaron observed as he stepped back into Lupe's room. "They'll have more questions in the morning. Nathan, you and I and Mr. Hernandez are due at the police station at eight-thirty tomorrow morning."

"I'm spending the night here, Dad. Lupe's nurse says it's okay." Nathan glanced at Lupe's father, who looked dubious for a moment but then smiled.

"I am sure you will take care of her," he responded.

Nathan flashed a grin. "Count on it." Handing Aaron the keys to his truck, he added, "Just pick me up in the morning."

Aaron patted his son on the back. "Will do, son. You did good work tonight." Herding the family out of the room, he turned to Raymond and added, "So did you. Thank you for taking care of my boy."

Hernandez chuckled. "He is a very good addition to the family. As are you." He shook hands and left with Diane and Artie, who had agreed to take him home.

As they left the hospital, Martha sighed. "I'm so glad everything turned out all right."

"So am I. You and Mother could have been seriously hurt."

"Not with Oso there. And I had my gun. As for your mother, it would take more than a two-bit drug dealer to get the better of her."

Laughing, Aaron put his arms around her. "We're quite the family, aren't we?"

Martha kissed him. "We certainly are."

THE END