The Engineer

by Rachel Renee

  I look at Dom, whose left hand is waving in the air out the window, and the other is casually grasping the wheel. I’ve gone over my plan with him but he seems to think we should just go to the door. After the scene at the home Miguel was last seen, I think it’s a terrible idea to do that. Plus, if Dom had anything to do with his capture, his plan could be a trap for me. But why? We’ve argued our points of view but the trip has been silent for the last thirty minutes because neither one of us are willing to give in.

  The cartel will not have the upper hand. That’s what we’d be doing if we went to the door asking for our comrades. Personally, I’m still trying to decipher what Dom has at stake with this. I know what I’m risking by bringing him along. I can’t fully trust his motives, and my position could be compromised if I’m caught trying to get two people out of the cartel’s grasp. Or if Dom is turning on me.

  Initially, I was going to help Miguel because he asked me to. He and Selena have become the closest things I have to friends here. Dom was hurt he wasn’t asked. But there’s more to that than meets the eye. Or maybe Dom just wants to be in on all dealings with this case. He’s been working it longer—it’s possible he’s more invested. He’s also more connected, I know it, but just how much more?

  “I’ve got another idea. Since we can’t come to an understanding, let’s compromise. You drop me off outside the compound, I’ll go in the back way. You can go to the front door and see how far you can get. Let’s set a rendezvous point, agree on a time, and plan to be back there for evacuation. No one has to change their strategy, whoever can get the captives out, does. Win-Win.”

  “I’m telling you, there’s no way into the compound except through the front door.”

  Same argument… “You don’t know me very well, but I’m an expert at finding a way in or a way out of impenetrable places. Plus, the last time we went through the front door, I ended up having a gun pointed at me. Chances are, this time the guards will be even less friendly toward me.” Is that what Dom is hoping for? The more we argue, the more this seems like a setup. I need to be wary.

  Before this trip, it hadn’t dawned on me. Maybe this is his way to get me out of the picture. I’m certainly not deviating from my plan now.

  “They didn’t know you last time. It’ll be fine. Miguel and Selena will be in the main house, and asking for them will be the fastest and easiest way.”

  “First of all, how do you know where they’ll be held? The compound is huge. Second, if you think going to the door is the answer, why did you agree that coming in the dead of night was the best choice?”

  He’s not fooling me, he knows more than he’s admitting to.

  “Less guards, Jose will have had a few cocktails before bed, and he will be nice and relaxed.”

  “Or upset because you woke him from his sleep.”

  “He doesn’t sleep much. It’s usually dawn before he passes out.”

  “How do you know all of this? You have surveillance?”

  He looks over at me, and even through the darkness, I can see the grin on his face.

  “Why didn’t you say so?”

  “Listen, you don’t know me, and I don’t know you. I’ve been trained not to trust, through the job and based off life interactions. How was I to know if you were here for the right reasons?”

  I sit, contemplating for a moment. In that, he appears no different than me. Two agents working together in the field is such an interesting dynamic. It’s hard to know when to trust or when to keep the façade going. “You’re right,” I finally answer. “I know we don’t know each other, but as a man of my word, I’m here for all the right reasons.”

  He doesn’t reciprocate, and I’m okay with that. At least I know where we stand. “So, what else are you willing to let me in on from your surveillance of the property?”

  Dom takes some time to lay out the house for me, the grounds that surround the wall of the compound, and a few places I should avoid. Thankfully, he seems to understand I’m not going to cave on entering from a different way than him. I also need to be prepared he may be telling me all this to lead me right into a trap.

  As we get closer to the estate, my adrenaline spikes and it’s hard to sit still. About thirty minutes out, Dom pulls over so the two of us can take a leak beside the truck as we hadn’t stopped in hours and needed to relieve ourselves before the action starts.

  “I’m going to let you out up here.” Dom points to a cactus sitting alone atop a pile of sand. “Go about three-quarters of a mile east.” We’re creeping along a desert road at a pace that would be comparable to a turtle. “I think we should meet back here. With or without our friends, in two hours’ time.”

  “We agreed on one and a half.”

  “I’m trying to account for travel.”

  “It doesn’t take me that long to cover the distance.”

  “We don’t know what type of condition our friends are in. If Miguel is injured, and you’re the one to retrieve him, traversing the land in the dark may take some time.”

  Dom is thinking about all aspects of a mission, including the ones he’s not directly involved in. It also makes me curious as to why he isn’t confident he’ll be the one to get our friends out of the compound. He acted completely sure of his plan the whole way here, and now he’s preparing for the fact we may need extra time to get an injured party out the back door.

  “You remember to signal if you get to them before I do.”

  Dom’s head is rocking back and forth. “And you remember to alert me if you’ve been compromised.”

  I mimic his actions. “I hope this is as easy as you anticipated. If Miguel and Selena aren’t truly captive, they should have no reason to keep them. If they are, our mission changes drastically.”

  Dom scoffs and doesn’t respond verbally to my comments. “Good luck,” he says instead, pointing his finger at the cactus.

  After grabbing my bag, I open the door and hoist it onto my back. “Same,” I answer.

  The darkness is all-encompassing as the lights of the truck head into the distance. I turn on the compass from my phone to make sure I stay on track. I only use the light from the screen on occasion and not the actual flashlight in case someone is looking out into the distance. This stretch of land is pretty flat, so it’s safe to think that as I get closer, they could detect my little light moving in.

  It’s quiet out here, only the rustling of creatures moving across the ground keeping me company.

  When I’m less than a quarter of a mile away, I turn off the phone. The lights from the compound are brightening the night and leading the way. I’m sure there are guards keeping watch over the land surrounding the property and I don’t want to give them a means to pinpoint an intruder’s location.

  There are voices detected the nearer I get. I can’t quite understand what they’re saying yet, but at least I know for sure where people are. The concrete wall is taller than I remember. Although, I wasn’t standing directly beneath one the last time. It’s also not as sturdy as it looks from a distance. I could easily scale this thing without any of the equipment that I brought. The stones are like stairsteps in a couple of places, and rock climbing is something I enjoy.

  Slinking against the wall, I creep around the perimeter until I get to a point where there are no voices and still stones that can be used to get me over the barrier. After tightening the straps on my bag, I begin my slow climb up the thirty-foot wall.

  My mind wanders with each rung. If Miguel is to be rescued, he too will have to be taken to a safe house. He didn’t have any intention of leaving the cartel, but if he wants us to get him out, there will be no other way. They will kill him for escaping and for helping to secure Selena. At this point, she’s a piece of their property and stealing is punishable by death.

  As long as I’m not caught, they won’t know I’m involved, so I can continue to engage in my undercover disguise. Assuming this isn’t all a ploy. By Dom going through the front door, I’m not sure how he’
ll secure his position. If they let the captives go, I guess it won’t matter, and all these thoughts will be for naught.

  I reach for the ledge of the wall, stilling to listen to what’s happening on the other side. After a few minutes of silence, realizing the coast seems clear, I hoist myself the rest of the way up, pausing only long enough to check out the inside of the compound. There’s a small building a few feet away but it’s dark and silent. Thankfully, the protruding rocks from the other side now make way for foot holes on the interior of the wall.

  Once I’ve climbed down a few feet, I pause at slight movement a little way beyond the building now directly across from me. A voice follows the crunching of gravel. Right now, I’m a sitting duck, clung to a wall over twenty feet in the air. The fall will not be easy, or quiet, but I can’t be clinging here if someone comes this way. The sounds of feet on gravel get louder, which means whoever is down there is getting closer. It also means I need to move.

  I plan the noise of my body meeting earth alongside the sound of the footsteps. Letting go of the hold I had, loosening my feet and kicking off a tad away from the wall, I fall the two stories down, landing with a small thud and scuffle of the tiny rocks below.

  Wincing at the sudden pain shooting through my ankle when I stand, I’m grabbing for the area right before I hear, “What was that?”

  The men are getting closer and there’s not much time to find cover. The steps are coming from the front of the building so I move toward the back. The burning sensation radiates up my leg with each stride, but there are worse consequences if I’m caught, so I push the distraction from my mind and continue.

  Two men stand in the spot where I fell, and they’re discussing whether or not the sound came from there or if maybe it came from somewhere toward the back of the house. That’s my cue to keep moving, creeping through the shadows, traveling as quietly as I can toward the middle of the compound where the main house is located.

  It’s harder to find hiding spots the closer I get to my destination. There are lots of people up at this time of the night. Lights are shining through windows, men and women are traversing the roads, going back and forth between buildings. It seems as though they’re working on something. Packaging items and loading them into small milk crates. Their voices are muffled and I can’t understand what they are conversing about.

  My body is pressed tightly against the stucco. Moving slowly causes small ripping sounds as my shirt unstitches from the design. No one seems to notice, which obviously is the plan, so it gives me time to watch, to observe part of the drug trade in action. Two humans, dressed in surgeon attire, including hats and facial coverings, exit the building diagonal to me. If they were to look this way, they would notice my odd behavior and shortly after realize I was not one of them. I don’t make a move, though. Any change on my part could point out my location.

  The two figures never look my way, and they seem to be flirting with each other. As they approach, it’s more obvious that one is about a foot taller than the other. I observe the taller of the two reach out and take the hat off his counterpart. Long dark hair falls down, cascading over the woman’s back. She playfully slaps him and does the same gesture to his hat. Simultaneously, they remove their masks, huge grins spread over their faces, and I instantly realize this plan is a total farce.

  Selena is no more a prisoner than I am. Thiago didn’t force her to come here, hell, she looks as if she’s been involved in this scenario for far longer than a few days. The crowd of people that was just loading the milk crates is now gathered around the couple, congratulating them on another successful cook. I hear Selena’s sweet voice over all of them, even though she’s not actually any louder. Either this is her attempt at getting her cousin out by becoming one of them, or she’s a great actress. She had me believing she would never be a part of the cartel and wanted to make sure she helped her cousin escape. What will she say if I come to her and ask her to leave? Or, what if she tells Jose I’m here? It could ruin everything I’ve worked toward already.

  The others in the crowd know her name. They talk to her as if she has been here all along. My mind is a jumble of thoughts. She wanted to help people, so maybe this is her way of doing so? If she’s here, entangled in the web, she can help others get out. Change their minds on the cartel life. But, that’s not the way of these people. Getting out will not be easy, and one woman attempting the rescue—I’m not sure how this will end.

  I stand and watch as this plays out, attempting to create a way to contact Selena and find out what she’s truly doing here. Someone calls out to her then, telling her she must try the creation. She doesn’t flinch. A small line is dropped on the awaiting backside of her hand and she produces a tiny roll of some sort from the pocket of her shirt. Sniffing the powdery substance up her nose brings a contemplative smile to her face. The crowd silences momentarily, hopeful for a positive response.

  Her eyes close and open, the grin only growing wider before she yells out, “Perfecto!”

  The whole of them cheer, passing a bit of the substance around like candy, everyone sniffing up their line and continuing the celebration. The man she exited the building with locks lips with Selena. She doesn’t back down, in fact, she grabs the back of his head and pulls him closer to her.

  This has been going on for more than a couple of days. There’s no way she’s found a way to infiltrate so much this quickly. Now, more than ever, I’m feeling this whole scenario has been a setup. How many people are involved in it? Dom? Maybe that’s why he insisted going through the front door. It was the easiest way to capture me. And, was Miguel indeed apprehended, or will I find him working among the other drug distributors wearing a mask of his own? I didn’t see the destruction with my own eyes. That was stupid! I should have at least made an attempt to go to the place Miguel last pinged on my device.

  I’m a little short of breath, but I haven’t even moved in minutes. Right now, I feel like the only person who may need to be rescued is me, if I don’t get out of here. Slinking back the way I came becomes my focus. I try to ease my mind, think about what this little farce has given me. Knowledge. New information to report, a couple of suspects to add to the list so this mission hasn’t been a complete failure. The question now is, do I meet Dom back at the rendezvous point or should I find a different way home? I’m kind of feeling like I’ve been played the fool by all the people I’ve interacted with here in Mexico.

  Finding a more secure spot, I hunker down and begin a text to The Prez. I’m in the States and am positive I can find better transportation back to Chihuahua. If I don’t hear back from him within a few minutes, I’m messaging Lieutenant to send me a car and another exit strategy.

  I’m close to the wall and the voices have drifted further away, so I stand from my spot, reach my hand up, and start my ascent out. There’s no time to waste and I want to be far from here as soon as I can. I’ll come back, more prepared, and with a team of men who aren’t already involved in this operation. It would be safer. Even if Selena still needs rescued, she’s secure for the time being and this alternative measure gives the agency an opportunity to reassess and plan a more appropriate evacuation of the compound.

  About halfway up the wall, as my thoughts switch from the mission to the likelihood I’d be able to disappear for a few days to take care of some personal affairs, I hear a familiar voice from directly below me.

  “What are you doing? We haven’t rescued Selena and Miguel yet.”

  The fact that Dom is here and not at the house or driving toward the meeting point tells me all I need to know. He has to be in on this alternative plan, the one in which Liam has fallen into a trap by the people he should have steered clear of.

  “Mission fail. I’m out,” I call down to him and continue to climb the wall, a little more speed in my step.

  “You’ve got snipers ready to shoot you down at the signal.”

  Why doesn’t this surprise me?

  His words don’t slow me down, bu
t the bullet that lodged itself in the stone inches from my head does. I’m only ten feet from the top—close enough that if I took two more steps, I might be able to hoist myself the rest of the way up.

  “There’s more men waiting on the other side of the wall. You may want to consider coming down and cooperating.”

  “Why would I do that?”

  “Everything is not what it seems,” is Dom’s answer.

  “If that isn’t a loaded statement, I don’t know what is.”

  “I promise no harm will come to you if you get back down here. I can’t say the same if you keep trying to escape.”

  Another bullet whizzes by, hitting directly above me, crumbling rock raining down after impact. The stone I was about to reach for is now missing and the reach to the next best thing is just out of my grasp, even stretching as far as possible.

  “You live if you come back down. You die if you move another inch in the upward direction.”

  The goal is to come out of this alive. Something tells me I may die either way. I can’t trust a word coming out of Dom’s mouth, but I also can’t deny the gunshots nearly missing me, I’m sure on purpose. What awaits me over the wall is most likely worse, but I’m so close, I feel like it’s worth a try.

  I release my foot from the hold I had it on and I hear Dom sigh in relief, believing I’m coming back down to earth. Instead, I swing myself over, barely grabbing the rock with the tips of my fingers. The move was unexpected and I’m secured, traveling upward before they realize I’ve decided to try my luck. My hands are on the ledge, my right foot rising to meet them when the blow coming from behind me nails me square in the shoulder. If I hadn’t have moved in that exact second, it would have gone through my skull. Another bullet whizzes by the space just over the other side of the wall. Two others quickly follow suit.

  My adrenaline keeps me glued to the stone even though the pain radiating from the gunshot is excruciating. I’m at an impasse. Bullets are coming from both sides, and there’s a thirty-foot fall in either direction.