Declan

Chapter Twenty Six

Declan~

The team loaded their SUV and were on their way to be debriefed before they could hop a flight home. Marcus was driving as they talked through the whole raid, analyzing everything that had happened.

"It just doesn't make sense," Pierce mused from the backseat.

"If Estrada had a man on the inside at the DEA why didn't he just discredit the intel? Why let us come and take down nine of his men?"

The car was quiet for a minute as the men contemplated Pierce's question.

"You saw the body cams. He wanted to watch his nephew and his buddies kill a bunch of DEA agents. I'm telling you, Estrada is a damn monster who kills just for the hell of it," Marcus answered.

"Marcus is right. All of it was planned. He knew about the raid. He knew Wyatt wouldn't attack an empty warehouse so he left expendable shit inside as bait.  Hell, he probably knew we were there depending on how intelligent his rat is," Caleb added.

The word bait flashed hot in Declan's mind and burned a hole through his train of thought. If Estrada had been well informed about the raid, Asher had to have the same knowledge. He started to think out loud as his mind started to race from one conclusion to the next, working his way toward one terrifying possibility.

Had we been the ones to take the bait?

"What if Estrada's rat knew we'd been invited on the raid? What if we're here in El Paso because that's where Asher wanted us to be?" Declan's stomach dropped to his feet as he and Pierce came to the same conclusion.

"A diversion," Pierce said.

Ripping his phone from his bag Declan dialed Lexis number with the team looking on helplessly. Surely he hadn't missed a detail this huge, this critical. Declan prided himself on his ability to analyze and prepare for just about any situation, but how had he missed this? How had this scenario not crossed his mind? His blood lust for Asher had clouded his judgement.

The first call went straight to voicemail.

"Come on," he ground out through his gritted teeth.

He dialed again and waited.

"Shit!"

"Somebody get Kincaid on the phone!"

The trilling of the phone line filled the car until Kincaid's voice boomed through the speakers.

"What up, Hollywood?"

Declan didn't allow Pierce to respond.

"It's Dec. When was the last time you checked in on Lexi?"

"I brought her some takeout around five. It's eleven now so I'd say six hours. Why? Everything okay, Boss?"

While they had been on the phone Declan had logged into his security system remotely and started skimming footage.

"I don't know. She's not answering her phone and some shit may have gone South down here that affects her. I need you to get to my place as soon as possible."

"On my way. I can be there is less than ten minutes."

The minutes felt like hours as Declan scanned the footage from his five security cameras which now seemed useless. There was nothing here. No movement whatsoever.

With his heart hammering against his ribs, he could feel the adrenaline coursing through his veins and panic threatened to overtake him. Taking in a breath, he held it there before blowing it out in an effort to calm himself and keep a level head.