“Really?”
“Yeah, and he’s looking for something new. He doesn’t want to be an agent, but all he’s ever known is law enforcement. This just might be perfect for him.”
Marco considered it. “You really think he’d be interested in a step down like this?”
She shrugged. “He wants to stay in San Francisco. He doesn’t want to be an agent and he’s bored with training. It might be the very thing he wants. Call him. I’ll send you his number.”
Marco didn’t see how it could hurt to ask him. Not that he expected he’d be interested in a job that paid less than he’d been making with the FBI, but it was worth a shot. “Okay.” He lowered his voice. “So, while Bambi’s out of the room, why don’t you tell me what you have planned for me when you get back? You know, when I’ll be too busy to worry about the task force.”
Peyton gave him a slow, sultry smile. “Well, first of all,” she purred.
“Yeah?” he said, raising one brow.
“The gutters on the house need to be cleaned,” she said, and they both burst out laughing.
CHAPTER 23
Federico Vega wanted one last review of the plan before they executed it. They all met in the conference room at the AFI building at 5:00AM. Rosa took a seat at the head of the table, her team spread out on either side of her. She felt tired and anxious and wanted to go home. She hoped this sting would lead to ending this case in the next few days so they could catch a flight back to the U.S.
Vega had called in a number of his fellow agents, but Rosa worried it wasn’t enough. Clearly he didn’t have the firepower she would have been able to call on in San Francisco. Bass also eyed them anxiously. He’d been pacing back and forth all morning.
Vega had obtained a map of the bottom floor of the hotel. He marked the exits with yellow highlighter. The two largest ones were in the front, which led to the street, and the back, which led to the beach. Four more were down hallways and were primarily fire exits. If anyone used them an alarm would sound.
The first order of business was to film the actual swap. They had to have proof that Trevor had given them at least one way the drugs were being distributed. Peyton and Tank would set up in the room adjoining Trevor’s. Darius had occupied it until yesterday when they removed him. They had gotten agreement from his parents to leave his stuff behind, so it looked like the room was still occupied.
Peyton and Tank would slip into the room by 7:00AM, put a do not disturb sign on the door, while Trevor went back to his own room to open the adjoining door. Peyton and Tank would set up the surveillance equipment, Trevor would plant the coin, and by 9:00AM, meet up with Bambi in the restaurant for breakfast, placing the sign on the door for maid service. That way the boy would be in full view of witnesses when the sting went down.
In the evening when Miguel moved from the parasailing hut to the front desk, Trevor would again approach him, asking to exchange money. By now, Peyton and Bambi would be positioned just off the beach door. The rest of Vega’s men would be ready to storm the hotel the minute the exchange happened. Peyton and Bambi would slap cuffs on Trevor and arrest him as the rest of the people in the hotel were subdued.
Vega’s men would enter the building and secure it, rounding up all of the employees and shutting things down for the night. Each employee would be checked and those that were obviously not involved in the drug trade would be allowed to return to work. Until there were enough employees to run the hotel, Vega’s men would stand guard. The restaurants and the nightclub would be closed until further notice and guests would be given the opportunity to move to new hotels.
During the initial raid, while Vega’s men secured the hotel and rounded up employees, Rosa’s people would man the exits and prevent anyone from leaving. Vega issued his assignments with grim resolve, his usually flirtatious nature subdued. He’d also resorted to speaking mainly in Spanish. She didn’t know if it was harder to speak English when he was nervous or if he was speaking Spanish for the benefit of his men, but she found herself trying to piece things together through pantomime. Whatever the case, Rosa got the distinct impression Vega’s men hadn’t taken down anything quite so big as a hotel before and it made her nervous.
No matter how often they went over the plan, something was bound to go wrong, and when things went wrong, people got hurt. There were a lot of civilians in the hotel, not to mention her own people, two of which wouldn’t be able to wear riot gear since they had to remain undercover until the last minute to protect Trevor. She also didn’t like using the kid as bait, but she knew they didn’t have any choice.
“Okay, let me make sure I have this right,” she said, pulling the map over to her. “Brooks and Bambi will cover the beach exit and get Trevor out of there.”
“Sí .”
“Tank and Radar will each cover one of the fire exits on the east wall.”
“Sí .”
“And Bass and I will cover the other two on the west wall.”
“Sí una vez.”
“You and your men will enter from both the front street entrance and the beach entrance as soon as Brooks gives the signal.”
“¿Esto es bueno, sí?”
Rosa looked at Radar.
“It’s good, isn’t it? The plan?” he translated.
She eyed Vega carefully. “I wish you had more manpower available.”
“This is, how you say, as good as it gets, sí?”
“Sí,” she said. “Here’s hoping they don’t have AK47’s stashed under that desk.”
Vega exchanged a look with Bass.
Bass nodded, his expression grim. “Here’s hoping like hell,” he muttered.
* * *
Peyton and Tank used the keycard from Darius to enter the hotel room by 6:30AM. The bed was made and the curtains open. Peyton went to the curtains and yanked them shut as Tank set up his equipment on the table in the corner. Going back to the door, Peyton put the do not disturb sign on the outside and as an added precaution, she threw the privacy bolt on the door. Finally, she helped Tank unpack all of his gear.
At 6:45AM, they heard a knock on the inner door to Trevor’s room. She went to the adjoining door and unlocked it, pulling it open. Trevor stood on the other side, looking absolutely terrified. Peyton pulled him into Darius’ room and pushed him down onto the bed as Tank went past her into Trevor’s room, carrying the tiny camera and microphone.
“You’ve got to get ahold of yourself,” she scolded, bending down to look in his face. “You look like you’re going to piss your pants.”
“I feel like I’m going to throw up.” His face was so pale, his beauty mark stood out starkly on his cheek.
Peyton grabbed a chair and pulled it up in front of the kid. “And you weren’t scared when you bought drugs in a foreign country or when you took that drug and you had no idea what you were taking?”
He swallowed hard, rubbing his hands on his shorts. “I didn’t think of it that way.”
“Well, you had courage enough for those things. You have courage enough to make it right again for Chad Renton and Brett Enticott, and any of the other young people who’ve died from fentanyl overdoses.”
He nodded vigorously.
“Peyton, I could use some help,” called Tank from the other room.
Peyton rose to her feet, but she fixed her hand in Trevor’s shirt and yanked him up with her, dragging him into the other room. She was a little afraid he might bolt if she didn’t. She pointed to his bed.
“Get in there and pretend like you slept there last night.”
He went over and yanked back the covers, while she helped Tank affix the camera to a painting of a palm tree that looked down on the table where Trevor would place the coin when it was time. Then he put a microphone under the table and one under the nightstand.
“Stay here,” he told them and went into the other room. He called to them a few minutes later, “When I tell you to, have Trevor say something, then you, Peyton. I want to calibrate the micropho
ne.”
Peyton studied Trevor, who lay with his back propped on the pillows, picking at his cuticles. How the hell had this kid ever gotten up the courage to buy drugs?
“Walk over to the table slowly, Peyton. I want to see how far away you are before I pick you up.”
Peyton slowly walked toward the table.
“Good,” called Tank. “Now, Trevor, say something.”
“I don’t know what to say,” he answered.
“Good,” said Tank. “Now, Peyton, you speak.”
“Tank, does the Professor truly know what a wonderful man you are?”
She heard his chuckle through the open door. “Good. And yes, she does, but I’m the lucky one.”
“Not by half,” she muttered.
“Ha! I got that too.”
Peyton smiled, giving the camera a thumb’s up, then she turned to the boy. “Take the coin out and put it on the table the way you’ve been doing it.”
He rose to his feet and pulled the coin from his pocket, then he placed it in the middle of the table. Peyton noticed his hands were shaking. She put an arm around his shoulders and guided him back into the adjoining room.
There they waited for another two hours, Tank fiddling with the equipment, Peyton trying to nap in a chair. To her surprise, Trevor curled up on the bed and went to sleep. At 8:30AM, Tank affixed a wire to Trevor, tested it, and by 9:00AM, they were ready to send the boy on his way. Peyton placed her hands on his shoulders, looking up at him.
“Just go down and have breakfast with Bambi. When it’s over, go to the beach and sit in the sand for the day. Bambi will stay with you. Then tonight, I’ll be there too. The only time you’ll be alone is right now as you walk out of the room and get in the elevator.”
“And what if I just keep walking out the front doors?” he said with a laugh, but it sounded almost hysterical.
“We’ll find you and after you’ve served a decade in a Mexican prison, you’ll serve another in an American one.” She patted his cheek. “Go have breakfast with a pretty girl and by tonight, this nightmare will be behind you.”
He nodded, swallowing hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing. Drawing a deep breath, he released it. “When this is over, can I get a hug?” he said, flashing her a smile. And there was the cheeky, privileged kid who had the balls to buy drugs in a foreign land. She was surprisingly glad to see it.
“Sure.”
He beamed.
“Tank gives great hugs.”
His smile fell. Peyton looked over her shoulder to see Tank give the kid two thumbs up and a grin. Peyton laughed and pushed him toward the door. “Don’t forget to put the maid sign on the door when you leave.”
He nodded and smoothed down his t-shirt, then he walked to the adjoining door and pulled his closed behind him. Peyton shut the other door, then went over to the computer monitor and watched him walk to the room door, pulling it open. He grabbed the sign and placed it on the knob, then he shut the door behind him.
Tank handed Peyton an ear-piece and she put it in. She could hear the bell for the elevator ding, then elevator music. Finally she heard the ding again. A few minutes later, she heard Bambi greet the kid. She and Tank both breathed a sigh of relief, then drew up chairs around the monitor, prepared to wait for the maid’s arrival.
The maid arrived at 11:00AM. She was younger than Peyton expected with a slim figure, black hair pulled up in a bun, and large dark eyes. Although she wore a maid’s uniform, it hugged her curves. She came into the room carrying towels with bathroom necessities on the top – shampoo, conditioner, soap. She disappeared into the bathroom and they could hear her moving around, but they couldn’t see her.
After a few minutes, she came out, carrying dirty towels, which she carted into the hallway, disappearing off camera again. When she came back in, she was holding sheets. Peyton held her breath, waiting for her to notice the coin in the middle of the table, but if she did, she didn’t give anything away.
She stripped the soiled sheets from the bed, dropping them in a pile, then she began putting the new sheets on. Tank and Peyton exchanged a look. If she didn’t take the coin, they were dead in the water. They had no evidence, no way to prove the method of drug distribution.
After the bed was made, she came back into the room with a vacuum cleaner and ran it over the tiled floor, then she casually picked it up and walked out. Peyton held her breath. One thing about the Excelencia, they were thorough in their cleaning, but not once had the maid made a move to take the coin.
Maybe they had the wrong maid. Maybe this one didn’t do the drug exchanges. They couldn’t hear any sound in the room, but the outer door into the hallway hadn’t closed either. Peyton tiptoed across the room and peered through the peephole in the door. She could see the maid’s cart parked in front of Darius’ door, not Trevor’s. She was fussing with something in the front of the cart, then she bent down and pulled open a metal door on the bottom of it. Peyton couldn’t see what she was doing, but a moment later, she straightened.
Grabbing a duster, she turned and went back into Trevor’s room. Peyton crept back to Tank, her attention riveted on the tiny screen. The maid went over the headboard, the nightstand, and the two arm chairs with the duster, then quicker than the eye could follow, she whisked the duster over the table and also whisked the coin into the pocket of her uniform apron.
Peyton looked up at Tank in question. He shrugged.
The maid moved toward the door and they could see just the back of her pause by the small alcove that functioned as a closet. They heard a metallic clank and then the maid was out the door. Peyton crept back to the door and watched her bundle everything onto her cart and move down to the next room.
She and Tank waited until the maid was busy in the room two doors down from them before they moved to the adjoining doors and opened them. Pulling gloves on, Peyton went to the safe in the alcove with Tank behind her, a camera in his hands.
As she reached for the safe door and pulled it open, Tank began snapping pictures. Peyton pulled the door all the way open and the two of them stood there and stared for a moment. Lying on the piece of red velvet inside the safe was a baggie containing four oblong white pills. Fentanyl.
* * *
Peyton and Bambi sat with Trevor in the lounge chairs just outside the back door of the Excelencia. They all wore resort clothes, and no one watching them would have guessed they were about to run a sting. Vega’s men had moved into position, hugging the shadows at the back of the hotel, hiding in the palm trees. Most people had left the beach by this time. It was almost 8:00PM and the clubs were just getting active.
Trevor bounced his leg, clasping his hands on both knees. He kept glancing into the darkness, trying to see the armed AFI agents ready to descend on the hotel lobby. Peyton reached over and covered his hand with her own.
“It’ll be over before you know it,” she said.
“What if they start shooting and I’m right in the middle of it?”
“I don’t think that’s going to happen.”
“You don’t think?” His voice came out a little hysterical. “You don’t think!”
“Calm down.”
“Easy for you to say. You have a gun.”
She shared an annoyed look with Bambi. “Here’s the thing, Trevor. You’re lucky you’re alive. The amount of fentanyl in those pills killed one kid this week and brain damaged another. He’s probably not going to live, so man up and knock it off. You’re the lucky one.”
“Easy for you to say,” he grumbled again, his leg continuing to bounce.
Peyton didn’t know what to do to get him calm. She’d tried being kind and she’d tried being tough. Neither one seemed to have worked.
“We’re ready to rock and roll. The fox is in the coop,” came Radar’s voice in her ear, meaning Miguel was at the desk. “The dogs are in place,” referring to Vega’s men.
“Send the kid in,” said Rosa through the com.
Peyton turned to Trevor. “I�
�m gonna go in and look at the brochures in the display case next to the front desk. Then you come in and ask Miguel for the coin.”
“What if he isn’t working tonight?”
“He is. We have visual confirmation.”
Trevor’s leg shook and he swallowed hard, his face draining of color. Shit. She should have tried to do the exchange. The kid was too terrified. Swinging around to face him, Peyton took his hand in both her own.
“You have to get control over yourself, Trevor. If you make the exchange, we’ll get you out. Then you can go home and go to college. No harm, no foul. We need to get these guys. People are dying from this stuff and you have the chance to make a huge difference in this war. Please, Trevor, please pull yourself together.”
“We’re counting on you,” added Bambi. “Without you, we don’t have a way to shut this operation down.”
He glanced over his shoulder at her. “Okay. Okay, I can do this.” He scrubbed his hands on his pants. “I can do this just like I did before.”
“Just like you did before.” Peyton rose to her feet. “Let me get in place. Wait for Bambi’s signal and go in.”
“Okay.”
“Just like you did before.”
“Just like I did before.”
Peyton gave him a final nod and walked into the lobby. Miguel was helping a customer, an older woman who wanted more towels, but he lifted his head and shot her a smile. She raised a hand to him and smiled back, then she walked to the display case and picked up a brochure for scuba diving, pretending to read it. Lifting her hand to push her hair behind her ear, she said into the com, “Send him in.”
A moment later, Trevor entered. Miguel had moved into the back room behind the front desk and he came out, carrying a handful of towels which he gave to the woman.
“Oh, gracias!” she said. “Gracias!” She was a heavy-set woman wearing a floral print muumuu and sandals. She had grey puffy hair and spoke loudly as if she might be having trouble hearing.
“De nada,” said Miguel, glancing up at Trevor.
Mayan Gods in the Yucatan (Peyton Brooks, FBI Book 5) Page 40