The Midnight Hour - Brenda Jackson [56]
For a long moment he didn't say anything, but grimly listened. Then he said, "Yes, that's the best thing to do. And I plan to take every precaution."
Drake ended the call, then sat there staring straight ahead, the seconds stretching out until Tori wanted to scream at him to tell her what was going on.
"Are you going to tell me what Hawk said?" Tori finally asked, barely restraining from clenching her teeth.
He glanced over at her. "With the use of dental records they were able to determine the identification of the person who was driving that car."
When he didn't say anything else she arched a brow, “And?" she asked, wanting to shake him.
"He was Scott Rangel, a DEA agent."
Tori blinked and a knot suddenly caught in her throat. "A DEA agent was after me?" When Drake nodded, she shook her head, stunned. "Why? I don't get it."
Drake sighed raggedly as he checked his rearview mirror. "Neither do I, and I think that even has Hawk stumped. According to Hawk, you were never assigned to any missions having to do with the drug cartels."
Tori shook her head again, still confused. CIA agents on occasion worked alongside a DEA agent, but Hawk was right. She had never been on any of those assignments and was more than certain that her and Rangel's paths had never crossed.
She glanced over at Drake. Something he'd said caught her attention. "Drug cartel?"
"Yes. The last couple of assignments Rangel worked' were related to the drug cartels, specifically ASI." He shook his head gravely. "Whenever I hear anything about that group, it quickly brings one man to my mind. Solomon Cross."
"Solomon Cross?" Tori whispered in a low voice as pain; ripped through her body at the mention of the man responsible for all the trauma that had occurred in her life. He had been the first person she had suspected when Hawk had called and told her about the incident with the CIA database… and now this. It was too much of a coincidence.
"Solomon Cross is a sick individual, a damn psychopath, and one of the biggest drug lords out there," Drake said, his voice tightening in anger. "He's pretty much kept a low profile for the past five years and it wouldn't surprise me that he's finally decided to crawl out from whatever rock he's been hiding under."
Drake's gaze narrowed as he continued. "Seven years; ago he operated a lab in South America to develop this highly potent form of hallucinogens that would make LSD from the sixties seem harmless in comparison. His goal was to have it on every street corner in the United States within a year's time. Fortunately, he had a snitch in his group and the American government got wind of his plans. The marines sent the Recons in to close down his shop and I'm the one who headed that mission. We showed up in the dark of night and caught them unawares. Unfortunately, Cross's wife was killed during the raid and he still holds me responsible. He got away, but not before he promised that he would make me suffer the way he suffered in losing the woman he loved. 'An eye for an eye' is what he said."
Drake inhaled deeply. "Unfortunately, I didn't take him seriously and while on an assignment in Haiti a couple of years later, he made good on his threat. He arranged die kidnapping of a couple of American dignitaries knowing that I would be the one to head the team to go in and rescue them. He'd also found out that I had fallen in love with one of my fellow team members."
"Captain Sandy Carroll?" Tori asked quietly.
Drake nodded. "Yes, Sandy. It was a setup and he intentionally had Sandy killed on that mission and there was nothing I could do to save her."
Tori swallowed deeply; in her mind she suddenly relived that day. Leaning forward, she said, "But you did try to save her, Drake."
She'd said it as a statement, but he took it as a question. He met her gaze and the eyes looking back at her were filled with remembered