by Dana Arama
Zorro held two fingers in the air. “Two, because of the arrests, the drug lord of the new generation of Jalisco, El Mencho, has become the strongest and most dangerous man in the area. El Mencho is a businessman with the consciousness of a military man. His activity is focused on tightening his grasp on what he has and conquering what isn’t his yet. Broadening his drug supply while eliminating his opposition and anyone who stands in his way.”
“Three,” Zorro said, waved three fingers in the air, “The third fact happened about a half a year ago, in mid 2015, there was a raid in New Jersey and New York. Seventy kilograms of pure heroin, with a market value of about fifty million dollars, was captured. In this raid they found cash and firearms as well.”
She leaned back and, with a dramatic gesture, asked, “Whose information led to the arrest? Who did the drugs belong to? It was probably the Jalisco’s first shipment in the area. Whoever dealt with them lost money on the drugs and was taught a lesson. The area belongs to the Sinaloas.”
“Four,” Laura cut her short, “The fact is that at the moment there is a great shortage of drugs on the North American streets.”
“Exactly. And it is known that someone is planning on supplying this shortage. A new player has joined the team. Maybe it is the same one you are looking for? The rumors say it is. That it is someone who belongs to the Albanian mafia and is planning on trading with Sinaloa.”
“Is it Murat Lenika?” I threw the name in the air in order to see her reaction.
“It could be him. He fits the description. He arrived recently. He belongs to the Albanian mafia and is hungry to build himself an empire. Which brings us to part number five.” Zorro now waved her hand in the air, like a silent oath. She said, “The war between Sinaloa and Jalisco has been escalating in more ways than one. Starting from heightened drug production and mutual robbery of all the stages of the manufacturing and transportation. Of course, the higher the risk, the higher the prices. Today, the transporters who pass over the border will not settle for the same payment as a year or two ago. The immediate result is that the price of the drugs on the street goes up.”
The whiskey burned my throat, just as her explanation burned my conscience. In whose cruel hands was Jonathan lying. Zorro took a sip of her whiskey and continued with her explanation. “The Sinaloa are in a situation now where they are prepared to do business any which way. Rumor has it that they have transported a huge amount of drugs, more than the drugs that were captured and necessary to base their presence in the market. They agreed to do this quickly, for an upcharge, which unusual, and work opposite a new power in the area. I don’t know what the origin of the money is and if you want to find out, you would have to go through Joaquin Guzman’s successor. He’s is now being persecuted by the Jalisco and therefore in hiding.”
She looked at us both, picked up her whiskey glass, leaned back and stated dryly, “I am sure that all this information you could have found out in the United States. This is not a classified secret that Dennis Ashton, Laura Ashton’s famous uncle…” she looked at me and pointed with her almost empty glass at Laura, “is none other than the head of the Anti-Drug Authority, so obviously, you didn’t come for this.”
We both looked at Laura and waited for her to say something. I remembered she had mentioned she had an uncle in the CIA. Did she hide this one or did another uncle just pop up? After clearing her throat Laura said politely, “We suspected that he was the person we were looking for. The successor. But we have no idea who he is and how to get to him. We know that he is not from their close family because of the assassinations that happened a few years ago, and we know he is not one of the sons, because Joaquin makes sure to keep his sons far away from the borders of the country.”
Zorro burst out in a mocking laugh. “And you came here so I would tell you who he is? There is no way in hell that I would help the Anti-Drug Authority to catch who you call ‘The Successor’.”
“We are not trying to catch him, and I am not representing the Authority.”
“And you say this despite the fact that you arrived in a plane that belongs to the Anti-Drug Authority?” Her mocking eyes said, ‘There are no secrets here’.
“Because of my connections with my uncle, I could rent the plane without answering too many questions. We only need to speak with the ‘Successor’ to get information on the origin of the money in this deal, which most probably took place with the Albanian mafia. We are chasing someone else on this journey.”
I saw on Zorro’s face that she was working around this information rapidly. Maybe she was considering the pros and cons, or maybe other considerations lay before her eyes, but she eventually said: “The best thing, as far as I am concerned, as far as my business is concerned, is to send my men to warn the ‘Successor’. I will get advantage points and you will disappear as quickly as you arrived. If you hadn’t mentioned Gideoni in the beginning of the conversation, I would have suggested you go back to your room and that’s it. The rest would have been done by the trustees of the ‘Successor’. Because of Gideoni, I am warning you and suggest you go back to the United States. Today.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Laura sitting rigidly and looking my way. I made sure I was focused on Zorro. “Zorro, I have no intentions of leaving this place. Not Mexico and not my mission before me. Besides the national point of view and the threat to the Israeli embassies and a suspicion of ticking bombs on Israeli planes, I have a personal stake in the matter. This whole affair started because of the kidnapping of a young boy, my nephew. Every minute you waste considering your personal preferences, this boy, Jonathan Niava, is in grave danger. He is a good boy. He likes computers and basketball. He hasn’t even been with a girl yet. This information is our only chance of saving him and I can’t let your considerations influence that. We have no intentions of harming this ‘Successor’. We have no interest in the drug business. Our goal here is only to understand this complicated deal and to understand who is behind this, because we suspect that he has Jonathan. That’s it.”
Zorro was silent. She poured herself a bit more whisky without offering us any, and still remained silent. We could hear each other breathing, the voices of the staff behind the door, the sudden sound of a woman singing, a stream of commercials from the radio. Zorro’s facial expression changed as soon as she heard the voices of children and their rolling laughter.
She put her glass down and said, “In order to get to him and talk to him directly, you will have to go on a two-day journey into the forest. Once in the forest, you’ll be surrounded, not only by the natural enemies of the jungle and not only the small, local, armed mafia bands, but also the Jalisco snipers who stalk strangers, and the Sinaloa, who protect their successor. And today, with all due respect, one doesn’t know who’s with whom.”
“We are aware of all that,” I answered. From the corner of my eye, I could see Laura biting her lip.
“On this journey you cannot request the assistance of the police or the army. You’ll have to manage on your own. Are you willing to take that risk?”
I looked her in the eye and said without a hint of a doubt, “Yes!”
“There will be expenses. Who will fork out the money?”
“I have a budget, but I have to show the receipts.” Laura said.
“I have a budget too and I don’t need to give any receipts. We will spend whatever it costs.” Then I asked, “How long will it take us to get there?”
“About twelve hours or maybe more, and then a walk in the jungle… depends how deep into the woods you can drive in with the Jeep. There are a lot of mountain twists and turns, as well as heights which needs to be accounted for. So, it is reasonable to say a two-day drive, with a resting place like San Cristobal. Never park in the street, but in a well-protected, guarded parking lot, and never leave anything in the car.”
“And when can we make our way?”
Zorro tho
ught for a moment before she answered, “If you arrived here with a private plane, you are under surveillance. In this case, I think it will be safer first to lose your stalkers and then leave the city in order to rent a car that won’t be reported. So you could pretend to get to another place and rent a car, to supposedly drive back to Cancun, but instead of driving back you will continue in the other direction.”
“That will take too long.” I cut her off. A moment before the frustration took over, I thought of another option and asked the women, “Do you know how to parachute?”
“I have had paragliding training,” Laura answered. “But it was a long time ago.”
“I parachute regularly. There are fantastic sites nearby.” And with that, for the first time, Zorro actually gave her approval to join us on this journey.
“Could you organize a plane to fly us out there and we could parachute from there?”
Zorro nodded her head in consent, “You just need to take into consideration that it’ll take a couple of hours and it can only happen after sundown. It is used at the moment for tourists.”
“And how exactly are we going to get back?” Laura suddenly piped up, raising an interesting point. “I think it’ll be better to postpone a bit and set out by car.”
“We will need a satellite phone. The idea is to get the information and pass it on,” I reminded them. “We can organize a ride back afterwards.”
“It won’t be so easy,” Zorro stated, “To organize transport from there is hard. You are not going to a luxury hotel in the middle of a tourist area and taxis don’t pass there.”
“So, we will walk to the nearest tourist area and take a cab from there, or buy a Jeep or steal a car…” I was starting to get angry and it wasn’t helping the situation. “We need this information as soon as possible. I thought you understood that the boy is in grave danger.”
“Not only the boy,” Laura added, “We still have to find the terrorist cell who have progressing plans to kill. Not only do we have to get there fast, but also to get back fast, as well.”
“What is the general direction?” I asked
Zorro hesitated. Then she looked behind her as if to make certain the door was shut properly and that she wasn’t being eavesdropped on, and then whispered, “In the Chiapas State, somewhere near the Guatemalan border.”
Laura was shocked. ”It’s an awful area to parachute… full of rain forests, cliffs and rivers…” While Laura showed her doubt, I declared: “It’s amazing.”
Both of them looked at me in surprise, “What’s so good about it?” Zorro asked.
I smiled, “There is a special commando unit in Guatemala. They specialize in jungle warfare tactics and their unit is called ‘The Tiger Unit’…” They still had a questioning looks on their faces. I said, “The Kaibiles. I trained with them in an international training facility a few years back. I am still in contact with some of them. They are great warriors.”
“If you know the Tiger Unit, then you must know that some of them crossed over to the other side. They train the Jalisco’s private army.”
“So that news is not so good, but without a doubt only a few, most of them are okay and can help us. I only need to pick up the phone and they will come and rescue us. I’m sure of that.”
Laura put her hand on mine and said, with certainty, “If so, I am all for Guy’s plan.”
Zorro retorted, “Before you approve or reject the plan, you should look at the area.” She approached her metal cabinet and took out a laptop, opened it and uploaded the map on Google.
“We are talking about a very mountainous and woody area. It won’t be very easy to land.”
“There are also farms and fields.” I pointed out what looked like a flat area.
“Mainly marijuana fields and they are well guarded,” Laura noted. She had an excited look in her eyes. Zorro also noticed it.
“Before we request help from the Kaibiles to rescue us, there must have been some changes since Google put these pictures up. Do you think you could ask them to send us some aerial photos? So, we can decide where to land.”
“I will get onto it right now.” I said and pulled out my cell phone. I disengaged myself from Zorro and Laura and walked to the farther side of the room. “Hombre,” I said into the phone. On the other side of the line I heard cries of delight. After we exchanged a few pleasantries, I started explaining the situation. He promised to send me the updated aerial photos of the border area, taken last Thursday, directly to my email in less than half an hour. That was not typical, but then again, they were the Kaibiles, an elite unit, and that was expected from such a unit.
When I returned to the women, I heard Laura asking, “Do you want to give me an exact location of the target so we can prepare the background?”
Zorro gave her such a stare that if it had a weapon behind it, Laura would have been dead. “That information, with all due respect, and I don’t have any respect for you, I will keep to myself.”
“Are you still stuck on that same day?” Laura shook her head, “Stop. Let it go.”
“You are still full of shit and the lies you tell others. Or maybe now you tell them only to yourself?”
“To this day, I am not sure if it was a lie. I am not like that.”
“You were there just like I was, Laura.” Zorro pointed at her. “You were there and enjoyed it. You were there and came more than once.”
Laura glanced at me, embarrassed, and returned her gaze to Zorro. “I am not like that…”
For the first time, I realized that the tension between the two Olympic rivals stemmed from the past. The ping-pong stares and the tension in the air. It all had a sexual history and I found myself between them at the wrong moment.
“You don’t have to be ‘like that’ to enjoy,” Zorro whispered. “You just have to be honest with yourself.” She stared long and hard at Laura. Her face had a look of contempt when she added, “And then to go and say that you disappeared because I drugged you. One has to be so unprincipled to do something like that.”
Laura stood up quickly. The chair behind her fell backwards. “Do you want to tell me that you didn’t put anything in my drink? Absolutely nothing? Because I felt something, like I was floating.” I picked up the chair and put it behind Laura and she sat down again, and so did I.
“And you want to tell me that you didn’t do it to get me off the team?” Zorro said.
“Absolutely not!” Laura blushed and added seriously, “I wanted to beat you. The next time I would’ve won.”
There was an amused smile on Zorro’s face. “So you are just an American Puritan…” Then she became serious, leaned towards Laura and with a look that was more than just tempestuous, she answered, “I can still cause you to float… And I don’t need drugs for that.”
The way she looked and moved could cause anyone to float, but I had to intervene before the mission broke apart before my eyes. It was time to create new memories for them both, so I raised my voice to get them focused on the new joint mission, “Do you want to know what the outcome of my phone call was?”
Laura looked at me, and said, “I will be happy to hear how the call went.” I was sure she was mostly just happy to change the subject.
“The photographs of the border area should arrive shortly in my email. They were taken last Thursday.” I looked from Laura to Zorro and added, “We will need equipment for the jungle. How soon can you get it organized?”
“In principle, it shouldn’t take me long.” She leaned back and studied me. “How do you want to parachute?”
I thought about it for a moment and answered, “It depends what the aerial photos show. If we will have a good landing surface, then it will be better to fly higher, it will look like a regular commercial plane, we will parachute at a high altitude and then surf to a suitable landing.”
“And if we don’t get the a
erial photos?” Zorro and Laura asked in unison, “And what if there is no clear landing area in the photos?”
“In that case, I would prefer free-fall and then to open the parachutes when we are closer to the ground, so that we will be less conspicuous and spend less time in the open.” I had just finished the sentence when the ping of an incoming email sounded. I opened my inbox and retrieved the very clear aerial photographs of the border area.
The three of us huddled together around my cell phone and looked at the pictures. I played with the zoom, but the picture was too small. “This is my email,” Laura said and turned the computer towards me. “Pass the pictures onto me. We need to find a place where it will be clear enough at night. It can’t be green like the forest. If there are bald patches in the woods, then it should be totally empty of growth otherwise it’ll be hard to tell the difference.”
“Then we should look for a marijuana field that has been burned down or a field that has just been ploughed.” Laura suggested.
“That would work.”
“I am not certain about the ploughed fields, but I am sure there will be plenty of burned fields,” Laura said, “I know that the local police raided the area about two weeks ago and burned kilometers of marijuana fields.”
“Zorro, you haven’t told me how long it will take you to organize equipment for us.”
“My supplier is ready and waiting twenty-four-seven and we just need to get to him. What is your wish list?”
“Without planning too much,” I answered, “I think we will need parachuting equipment suitable for night parachuting: A black chute, an altitude gauge with minimal lighting, stick lights that adhere to the helmets, a bag of equipment with a fold up spade, a helmet with headphones. About the personal equipment, mottled thermal clothing… A tight-fitting top with long sleeves, a belt, comfortable walking shoes, woolen hat and tactical gloves. For survival equipment we will need a commando knife, a drinking backpack bag, fireball, chlorine tablets.”