Three hours later, the first piece was assembled, and he took a lunch break, unwrapping a sandwich he’d bought at one of the family-operated shops by his apartment. Mexico City made the best tortas, hands down. It was one of the things he’d missed while out of the country. Argentina had brilliant beef and Italian food, but if you wanted a good old-fashioned torta with everything on it, there was only one place to go.
He absently thumbed the ridges of his abdomen, where the muscles could have been the model for photos of washboard abs. His exercise regimen included three hundred chin ups and three hundred sit ups per day, in addition to the same number of pushups, a weight training course, an hour of martial arts stretches and drills, and an hour of hard cardio. He’d been addicted to his routine since a teenager and was Spartan in his existence. Other than tortas.
Finished with his break, he studied his project, and then nodded to himself. It was perfect. Now he would need to create a foolproof cavity for the detonator to fit. He plugged a digital scale into the wall, and then set the triggering device he’d made earlier on it. Five ounces. He’d weighed the explosive earlier, and it had come in at nine ounces. He’d considered more explosive, but based on his research into the material, that would be enough to ensure a death zone of twenty feet. More than enough for what he had in mind.
Next, he set the first part of the contraption he’d built on the scale, and then set to creating a cavity for the trigger. It was slow going, but eventually he was done, and he placed it back on the scale. Five ounces eliminated, for a net addition of nine ounces once the explosive and trigger were in place. He returned to reading the specifications, and soon concluded that the new, improved device would work. He’d know soon enough.
He moved to the far end of the workbench and set about assembling the specialized electronics for the unit, which occupied much of the rest of the day. By the time he was finished, it was getting dark, and after swigging his third liter of water, he moved his work and re-packed his tools. He would be back tomorrow, and in a few more days would start experimenting. But the hard part was done. He’d built the hardest part of his president-killer.
El Rey donned his shirt and rubbed his hand over the two day stubble on his head. He’d opted for a new look and had shaved his head and facial hair to the same length. The difference was remarkable. He looked more like a Latin rap star now than a laborer, which was immaterial to him — aesthetics had never been important. It was all about the final result, which was invariably more about planning than looks. That, and execution.
He smiled to himself.
Execution, indeed.
Briones knocked twice but entered the office without waiting for a response. Cruz looked up from his computer screen, where he was going over budget and personnel requests. The task force was burning money on the El Rey hunt, but it couldn’t be helped. Just the payments to informants in the hopes of securing a meaningful lead were now up over a hundred thousand dollars — with nothing to show for it. That was a lot of petty cash in a month. Fortunately, or unfortunately, the following month they wouldn’t have that burn. The most dangerous public presidential appearances would be over. If they were successful in stopping El Rey, the money was noise. If not, Cruz wouldn’t have to worry about it. He’d be out of a job.
“Yes, Lieutenant. What can I do for you?” he asked.
“We’ve got a lead. An anonymous call came in yesterday asking about the reward — wanting to know more details about it. We’ve had our share of these, but this one seemed genuine. One of the desk guys fielded it and talked the caller into coming in to headquarters. She’ll be here in twenty minutes,” Briones reported.
Cruz looked at his watch. Twelve fifteen. “She? Who is she? What do we know about her?”
“Not much. She was guarded on the line. Wanted to understand how the payment would be paid, and whether it would be subject to tax,” Briones said.
“Tax? Interesting. That’s someone who believes she’s going to be collecting…” Cruz smiled.
“That’s what I was thinking. Which is why I’m excited.”
“What’s her name?”
“All she would give us was a first name. Gabriela,” Briones said.
“Put her in one of the interrogation rooms on the main floor when she arrives. I want to tape our discussion.”
Cruz’s building had two floors of interrogation rooms. The main floor was for friendly questioning of low priority suspects. The basement chambers were more discreet, and there were no recorders or observation rooms — only drains in the floor and electric outlets.
Briones nodded and left, a noticeable spring in his step. He’d taken the hunt for El Rey personally ever since the assassin had given them the slip on the rooftop. Truthfully, he’d been emotionally invested before that — El Rey had, after all, shot and almost killed him ten months earlier. So the lieutenant had skin in the game, as well as blood. The prospect of information leading to his capture had noticeably improved his disposition.
Half an hour later, Cruz’s phone rang. The woman, Gabriela, was waiting downstairs.
He strode to the restroom and ran cold water over his face, using some to smooth his hair, then dried himself with a paper towel. His eyes stared back at him, and he couldn’t help but notice the shadows beneath them. The hunt for the super-assassin was taking a toll on everyone but El Rey, apparently.
Briones waited outside of meeting room two, his hip holster empty. Cruz wasn’t wearing a gun — it was locked in his office. He didn’t plan on going outside.
“What have we got here?” he asked perfunctorily.
“Fifty-eight, anxious, greedy eyes. I gave her a soda and told her I couldn’t answer any questions, that the leader of the task force would be with her in a few minutes.”
Cruz smiled. Briones was learning.
“Let’s go meet our mystery woman, shall we? Gabriela, right?”
Briones nodded and opened the door. Cruz strode in with all the self-importance he could muster, Briones trailing him before closing the door. The two Federales took seats next to each other, facing the woman, who seemed nervous and fidgety. Behind them, a one-way mirror reflected the harsh fluorescent lighting.
“I’m Captain Romero Cruz, the director of the DF anti-cartel and El Rey task force. I understand you’ve come with some information for us?” Cruz asked in as official a voice as he could summon.
Gabriela seemed suitably impressed. She looked like she’d had a harsh existence and was clearly not from the wealthy side of the tracks. She was missing several teeth, and her hands were gnarled from a lifetime of manual labor.
“I’m here to find out about the money,” she announced with a voice ravaged by hardship.
“Ah, yes. The money. The reward. For information leading to the apprehension of the suspect.”
“I saw his photo on the television. It looked different, but it was him. I’m sure of it.”
“Yes? Why don’t you tell us about it?” Cruz suggested.
“How do I collect the money? Is it in cash? Will I have to pay taxes on it?” she demanded guardedly.
Cruz sat back, allowing a moment of impatience to flash across his face.
“Good questions. It will be paid by check following the successful capture of our quarry. And no, you won’t have to pay taxes. But you don’t need to worry about any of this if you don’t have information that results in us finding him,” Cruz explained.
“How long after you capture him?”
Cruz was now very interested in whatever information the woman had. She obviously already believed the money was hers. The only impediment would be logistical. You could almost see the hunger for it on her face.
“We would have the check ready within forty-eight hours. Payable to whoever you like.”
“And how do I know you won’t go back on it once you have him?” she asked, the distrust evident in her eyes, borne from years of being screwed by authority.
“We would execute a contract. You
get a copy. It would lay out the conditions clearly, and I would sign it,” Cruz said. “But again. To collect, you would need to tell us what you know. And it assumes that we catch him. The chances of which go down the longer we sit here…”
Gabriela fixed him with an intent stare and then grunted.
“Get the contract.”
Ten minutes later, Briones returned with two single-spaced pages the district attorney had prepared at their request when they’d offered the reward, which Cruz signed with a theatrical flourish in duplicate, handing both copies to her for signature. She pored over the document, obviously struggling with the reading, and then signed it with a scrawl that was almost childlike, her tongue poking out of the corner of her mouth from the effort of making her mark.
“You keep one copy. The other is for me,” Cruz said. “Now tell me everything you have so we can catch this bastard and make you rich.”
Both Gabriela and Cruz smiled at that, and her eyes twinkled for a brief moment.
She sat back in her chair and sipped her soda.
“I’m the caretaker — the custodian — of an apartment building near the main cathedral, seven blocks from the square. Anyway, there’s a new tenant, moved in a month ago, who’s your man. I’m sure of it. He looks different, with a beard…and the face is a little longer and thinner — but it’s him. The eyes are the same.” She took another swig and continued. “I’ve been like that ever since I was a child. I can remember anything. It’s like taking a picture with your brain. I can do it with calendars and phone numbers, but especially with faces. And your man now lives in my building.”
Cruz and Briones exchanged glances.
“In your building?” Cruz said quietly.
She nodded decisively. “Unit 6C.”
“How big is your building, Gabriela?”
“Forty-two units. Seven stories.”
“And when did you last see him there?” Briones asked, speaking for the first time.
“Yesterday morning. I see everyone that comes and goes from my office downstairs off the lobby, except at night. He goes out every morning at around ten, and then comes back in the evening around nine. The rest of the time he’s in.”
“But you didn’t see him today?” Cruz asked.
“That would be kind of hard since I’m here and had to take the bus to get here. I took the day off today to do this because it’s easier to call in sick for a full day than to leave early. But I saw him yesterday. That’s why I called. I figured it out after seeing the photo on the news. Took me a little while, but I’m sure.”
After a few more minutes of questioning, Cruz was sure, too. Fate had smiled on them. They had another shot at nailing El Rey, and this time they wouldn’t let him get away.
When Cruz returned to his office, he had three messages, all from Rodriguez at CISEN, asking him to call immediately. He really didn’t have time for this, but in the interests of maintaining the fragile political equilibrium between the agencies, he reluctantly dialed the number. His secretary answered, and after keeping him waiting for three minutes, his voice came on the line.
“I need you to get down here — now,” Rodriguez demanded.
Cruz held the handset away from his ear for a moment, staring at it in disbelief.
“I beg your pardon?”
“You heard me. We need to talk. Now.”
Cruz took a few deep breaths to calm himself before responding.
“As much as I enjoy eating half my day driving to and from your building, I’m afraid I can’t today. We’ve got a lead on our favorite killer, and it’s time sensitive,” Cruz explained.
There was hesitation on the other end.
“A lead?” Rodriguez couldn’t help himself. CISEN, like every other intelligence agency in the world, was mostly about knowing things. A drive to know things overruled most other concerns, and apparently this was no different.
“Yes. I can’t go into it, but we’re scrambling. Just tell me what is going on over the phone. I don’t have time to take away from this to meet with you face to face.”
Rodriguez paused again. “There’s been a leak on the matter of the top secret lead we gave you, and it had to come from your end,” Rodriguez accused.
Cruz barked out a humorless laugh. “Impossible. I haven’t told anyone, and nobody has access to the report. If there was a leak, it wasn’t from me. But tell me what happened. What’s going on?” Cruz demanded.
Rodriguez didn’t seem to know how to respond, but then cleared his throat.
“Our contact was murdered yesterday. By the Sinaloa cartel. That’s what we were able to glean.”
“So the arms dealer got snuffed by his criminal client. Why does that translate into me giving up top secret information? Do you honestly think I feed information to the largest, most dangerous criminal enterprise in the world? And to what end?” Cruz asked.
“We had listening devices in his office. We heard the execution. A high level enforcer from Aranas’ gang, called Angel Talvez, went into his office and made clear before he killed him that it was because of the information he provided about El Rey,” Rodriguez said.
“Well, that may be, but I haven’t breathed a word about it to anyone, so the leak had to come from somewhere on your side. I’d start turning over rocks internally, or from whoever the contact person was with the dealer, because it wasn’t me,” Cruz repeated with an edge to his voice. He was rapidly tiring of being accused of treason by this smug prick.
“There is no way anyone in my group gave this information to Aranas,” Rodriguez stated flatly.
“Right. So we have a mystery…like virgin birth.” Cruz collected himself. “You guys are in the spy game. I’d suggest you apply some of that craftiness and figure out who in your camp sold you out. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go stop the man who is hell bent on killing the president — much as I enjoy our little chats,” Cruz spat.
“This isn’t the las- ”
Cruz hung up, shaking his head. Who did these assholes think they were? He ran the most important police task force group in Mexico. And he wasn’t even sure what the hell Rodriguez did, or what CISEN was working on. It was all too secret to discuss.
Shaking his head, he stabbed at the keypad of the telephone and dialed a number. He needed to coordinate another all-out strike to get El Rey. That took precedence over Rodriguez’s difficulties because a lowlife gun smuggler had gotten killed — hopefully, with one of his own bullets. The line answered.
“Meeting in ten minutes with all the group heads. It’s going to be a late one.”
Chapter 24
Four dilapidated vans with tinted windows encircled the block where El Rey’s building was darkened in the two a.m. gloom. Only three apartments had faint lights on, where insomniac or partying residents burned the midnight oil. The insides of the vans were a marked contrast from their innocuous exteriors — sophisticated electronic eavesdropping equipment sat in racks in the back, feeding visual and audio to headquarters in a real-time stream. Tiny, cutting-edge military cameras were mounted among the cracked fog lights on the roof, and one had a directional microphone pointed at the assassin’s bedroom through a grimy half-lowered passenger side window.
They’d been on watch since six that evening, but hadn’t detected any sign of him. It was possible that he had spent the evening out, or slept in the interior bedroom — Gabriela had drawn a crude blueprint of the layout, and there was a study/guest bedroom that had no ventilation just off the living room. They couldn’t make out anything in the living room or kitchen. Heavy drapes over the windows rendered both permanently dark. They had asked about the curtains, and the woman had told them that they were new — the place hadn’t come with them. El Rey must have valued his privacy enough to install them himself.
Putting a female officer in with Gabriela had been discussed, but Cruz had rejected the idea. He didn’t want anything to spook or warn the assassin, and he was erring on the side of caution. Gabriela had been
instructed to go in at her usual time in the morning and to call if she saw him. She was more than willing to play along.
A block away, Cruz and Briones sat in a condo they were using as the command center for the operation. Their field techs had set up the com lines and an auxiliary feed from the vans, and the four screens flickered with an eerie light in the darkened space. Another block beyond, two tactical assault personnel transports waited patiently, the men inside accustomed to hours of wakeful inactivity before they were thrown into the fray.
As the hours ticked by, fatigue set in, and the coffee maker one of Cruz’s subordinates had thoughtfully brought for them got a workout. These sorts of stakeouts were the worst, and Cruz would ordinarily not have been on site, but given the unpredictable nature of their assignment, he and Briones had chosen to stay up and supervise. At three a.m. a soft knock sounded at the door, and two officers entered carrying folding cots; blue canvas supported by aluminum tubular frames.
Cruz had always hated the field beds, but had to admit they came in handy on all-nighters. The officers in the assault teams weren’t so lucky. He picked up a radio handset and murmured instructions into it — the men could stand down for four hours and grab some shut-eye while they could. He wanted them ready for action at seven.
Gabriela had told them that El Rey usually didn’t go anywhere before ten in the morning, but he didn’t completely trust her judgment. She started work at nine, so for all she knew he could have been out from midnight to six every night at the clubs. She routinely stayed in her little office until ten at night, so he was fairly confident she had his daily schedule down pat.
Although, right now he was seriously questioning the entire affair. He knew it was the boredom and lack of sleep that had him pessimistic, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that this was a non-starter. The discussion with CISEN had come back to nag at him. What if El Rey somehow had eyes and ears in the Federales? In his own squad? It wasn’t impossible. Nothing was impossible, including that CISEN may have been penetrated.
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