by Jon F. Merz
I cocked an eyebrow and then smiled. “It’s 2016, why don’t you ask her?”
Silvia shrugged. “Maybe I will.”
I looked back at the map. “All right, so how are we getting inside?”
“What’s wrong with the front door?”
“If they see me coming, then we’ll be dead before we even get inside.”
Silvia reached up and ran her hand through my hair. “Well, only if they think they know what you look like.”
I turned my head. “I’m not sure I like where this is going.”
“Trust me.”
“With my mane? Not a chance. It’s very precious to me. And given that I don’t have a combover, receding hairline, or some other lack of hair, I’m very happy about that.”
Silvia moved her hand through my hair some more and I’d be lying if I said it didn’t feel good. I’ve always been a sucker for scalp massages. “You need to learn to trust people more, Lawson. You might be surprised at how good it feels to let loose.”
I took her hand out of my hair. “Trust is a precious commodity. And it’s one thing I don’t give lightly.”
“I don’t blame you,” said Silvia. “But sooner or later, you’re going to have to learn to trust others.”
“I have a few select people I trust,” I said. “No offense, but you are not yet one of them.”
Silvia leaned closer to me. “I understand. Maybe there’s a way we can make that happen…?”
I took a long breath and then leaned back. “There might be.”
“Yes?”
I nodded at the map. “Get us in there so I can kill La Calavera and that would go a long way toward making me trust you all the more.”
Silvia grinned. “Fair enough.”
14
At nine o’clock that night, I emerged from my room dressed in a black suit with my hair slicked back off my forehead. I wished there’d been time to get a proper suntan, but the truth was, I was fairly non-pasty white. I could pass for European easily, which I was counting on. All I needed was to get inside the club. If Silvia could get me that far, I’d be able to take it from there.
I was willing to bet the cartel presence was minor. Silvia had mentioned that no one knew the club was a front and they probably wanted to keep it that way. So I wasn’t banking on a formidable security force. Nevertheless, it was going to be hairy. Especially going up against other vampires who had access to Fixer rounds that could easily kill me.
Beggars can’t be choosers though, so I strapped the USP Compact behind my right hip, tucked another three magazines into a holster riding down by my ankle and in the small of my back and decided that if I needed more bullets, I was going to have to fleece a weapon off a bad guy. Going in there strapped like the Michelin Man wasn’t exactly going to help bolster my low profile.
I checked my watch. Silvia was still getting ready.
“We need to get going,” I said aloud. I wasn’t sure if she could even hear me.
When the door opened a few moments later, I’m pretty sure my jaw fell open before I could regain control and close it again.
Silvia smiled. “Well, that’s pretty much what a girl likes to see on her date’s face when she comes out.”
She wore a black cocktail dress with spaghetti straps and a pair of heels that looked about six inches high. She wore them with ease and spun once so I could look at her from every angle.
Whatever impression she’d given me when I’d first arrived, she’d destroyed it by this sudden change in her appearance. She looked ten years younger, and drop dead sexy.
“Wow.”
She smiled. “It’s not for you, darling. It’s for the operation. The goal is to keep the eyes of the security on me rather than you. Do you think it will work?”
“Uh, yeah,” I said. “I don’t think you’re going to have any trouble attracting attention.”
“Wonderful,” she said with a smile. “The only problem with this dress is that it doesn’t exactly lend itself to concealing a weapon.”
“Do you have one?”
She nodded and pulled up the hem of her dress and revealed a holster riding along the inside of her right thigh. I could see the small caliber handgun hidden there.
She sighed. “Only a .380, but it should do the job.”
“Heart shots,” I said. “If these guys are my people, it’s the only way to put them down.”
“And what if they’re humans?” asked Silvia.
I shrugged. “A heart shot should still be more than enough to take them out. Just get close.”
Silvia drew herself closer to me until I could feel her breath on my neck. “Like, say this close?”
“We need to go,” I said. “Before either one of us gets too distracted.”
“Am I distracting?” she asked.
I smiled. “You know damn well you are, Silvia.” I nodded at the door. “Are you ready?”
She sighed. “I suppose so. At least promise me that you’ll dance with me when we get there.”
“I’ll do no such thing,” I said. “The mission priority is getting La Calavera. Once we’re inside, we hit the back offices as hard and as fast as we can. Get in, get out. I’ll take down La Calavera while you watch my back. I don’t want your death on my conscience, so listen to me and take your lead from what I do.”
“This isn’t my first op, Lawson.”
“Yeah, but it’s your first against my people. You might be experienced, but you’re not vampire experienced.”
“Technically, back at the valley was my first rodeo.”
“And you didn’t have anyone really shooting back at you,” I said. “Just do what I say and hopefully, we’ll come through this okay. Maybe we’ll even have that dance afterward.”
“Promise?”
“No,” I said. “Promises are a bad thing to make when you go into action. Just watch my back, get in, and then get the hell out. We’ll toast and celebrate afterward.”
“Fair enough,” said Silvia. “You’re very cute when you’re so serious like this.”
“Stop flirting with me,” I said. “This isn’t the time. You have a car?”
Silvia smiled again. “Of course. Follow me.”
We walked outside to the car port and I saw the gleaming black Jaguar with tinted windows. Silvia walked toward it and ran her hand over the body. “What do you think?”
I grinned. “Seems to fit the look we’re going for. Euro couple. Rich as hell. About to drop some serious coin at a nightclub in the city.”
Silvia nodded. “Perks of the job.”
“You got this from CISEN?”
Silvia shook her head. “Don’t be silly. I stole it from a hotel downtown while you were passed out asleep.”
“You’re not serious.”
“I am absolutely serious,” said Silvia. “Just remember to wipe your prints off afterward. We don’t want you showing up in any databases now do we?”
I sighed and opened up the driver’s door. “What about keys?”
Silvia tossed me a set. “Valets in Mexico City aren’t always the most secure places. It’s amazing how many cars go missing. You want me to drive?”
I shook my head. “You lead, I’ll drive. That way if things go south, you can shoot out of the window while I gun it.”
“That sounds like fun,” she said and slid into the passenger’s side.
I took a final breath, looked out at the night and then slid into the car.
Here we go.
15
On our approach, I eyed Silvia. She was cool and composed. Like this was just another day out in the field. Her demeanor reminded me of Talya. I’d seen the look on enough operators to know that Silvia wasn’t anything like what I thought she’d been when I first met her.
“This had better pan out,” she said then. “Otherwise, my ass is gonna be in some serious hot water.”
“You’re going out on a limb,” I said. “I appreciate that.”
She nodded. “Ther
e’s nothing I’d like better than to crash this place with the RSF and take no prisoners.”
“The Fuerza Especial de Reacción are supposed to be some impressive dudes,” I said. “I’ve never dealt with them.”
“They’re our Tier 1 guys,” said Silvia. “Like the SAS or Delta. I don’t think they’ve got any more than 150 operators, but damned they’re good. They did some impressive takedowns of cartel leaders in the past. A lot of training abroad with other Tier 1s.”
I smiled. “I wouldn’t mind going into battle with them.”
Silvia nodded. “They get shit done.” She looked at me. “But we can’t call them this time. It’s just you and me, buddy. So don’t fuck anything up.”
I cocked an eyebrow. “I think that was supposed to be my line.”
“Was it? Because from where I sit, you’re in my territory on my turf. So I think the line belongs to me.”
“How about we both promise to hold up our end of the bargain? Let’s get La Calavera and make sure she’s not able to operate any longer...in your territory...on your turf.”
Silvia smiled. “Now you’ve got it.”
We rode the rest of the way in silence. The city had come alive with the night and neon flashed everywhere. Tepico had a lot of shops and restaurants that still bustled. Silvia directed me as we made our approach.
“Drive normally. The club will have valets out front for their VIP patrons who want to stow their cars in a secure location.”
“I thought you said earlier that valets couldn’t be trusted down here.”
“Hotel valets,” said Silvia. “This is a club. And it’s controlled by a cartel so the valets will lose their lives if a car gets pinched. Don’t worry about it.”
I nodded. “You all ready for this?”
She looked at me. “Don’t patronize me, Lawson. I’m more than capable of holding my own and you know it. I saved your ass, didn’t I?”
“You did at that,” I said. “Okay, how far?”
“Half a klick,” said Silvia. “Slow down some and pretend you’re cruising in. Come in too hard and they’ll suspect us before we get close enough.”
“We don’t initiate until we have eyes-on,” I said. “I don’t want her getting wind of us and escaping. I hate hunting people down.”
“Agreed. You take point and I’ll be right behind you.”
El Fantasma loomed up ahead, its neon flashing like some garish strip club. “That it?”
“Yes. See the valet area?”
A team of men in red vests waited by the curbside. I slowed the Jaguar and let it glide into the open spot. Instantly, my door opened and so did Silvia’s. The valets greeted us in English and then French. Maybe they couldn’t make up their minds about what I was. That was fine.
I came around the car and Silvia slid her arm in mine and we walked into the club together. Through the doors, we were greeted by an impressively-built security dude who looked like he could bench press the Empire State Building. He smiled at us.
“Good evening. Welcome to El Fantasma. I am Miguel and if you need anything at all, please let me know.”
I smiled back and shook his hand. “We’d like one your best tables at the back of the club, please. With bottle service.”
“Of course. Please follow me.” Miguel turned and led us inside.
The maroon color scheme of the club gave it an instant sense of decadence. Gold statuettes of skeletons and gargoyles peered at clubgoers from on high, tucked into nooks and crannies not covered in velvet wallpaper. The main floor of the club stretched before us, already packed with sweaty bodies twisting and gyrating as the deep bass of the music thumped at a steady 120 beats per minute. In the back, a half dozen tables arced around the dancefloor, separated from the general public by a thin curtain of silky gauze that hung from the ceiling. Miguel pulled it back revealing a deep sectional with a small table in between the cushions.
“I will send the waitress over immediately,” he said.
I handed him a hundred dollar bill. “Thank you very much.”
He smiled and the bill vanished. “My pleasure, sir.”
He vanished and I helped Silvia into the booth. She nuzzled up against me, running her hand up my thigh. I stopped her there.
“All right?”
She winked. “Just playing up the image, Lawson.”
“I’ll bet.” Still, she wasn’t hard to look at now that she’d shucked the lame housewife image from way back when. In her place, a seasoned veteran of covert operations had taken over and she was much more my type.
I scanned the club. From where we sat, a staircase ran up one side to a small balcony overlooking the main dance floor where the DJ did his thing. “What do you think?”
Silvia let her eyes rove over the club. “If I had to guess, it would be up the stairs and in the back there.”
“Agreed,” I said. “Which means we’re going to exposed to fire while we make the climb.”
“Let me worry about that,” said Silvia. “I’ll keep them off you while you take the top of the balcony. But move fast and kill quick.”
“Your mouth to god’s ear,” I said.
The waitress appeared and I ordered a bottle of Bombay Sapphire and tonic with plenty of limes and two glasses. She left and I looked at Silvia. “You like gin and tonic?”
“Right now, any sort of alcohol sounds good to me. It’ll keep me primed for what we’re about to do.”
The music continued to pump and in spite of what we were facing, I let the beat get into my blood. My heart rate ticked up a notch and when the waitress reappeared with our drinks, she fixed them for us and I sipped a wad of hundreds into her hand, told her to keep the change and then leaned back in the cushions.
Silvia handed me my glass and then touched hers to the edge of mine. “Here’s to success.”
“Here’s to making it out of here alive.”
She laughed, clinked my glass again, and then took a deep pull of her drink. When she let the glass come away from her lips, they were wet and looked succulent. I drank my drink and tasted the juniper berries and lime. The gin slid down my throat and hit my stomach where it started to warm me up.
Silvia finished her drink quickly and looked at me. “You ready to do this?”
I nodded and sucked the rest of mine down. “Absolutely.”
Silvia slid her hand into mine and got up from the sectional. “Come on, lover. Let’s see how well you dance.”
Dance, indeed.
16
Silvia guided me to the dance floor and we started moving to the beat. She laughed and spun in my arms as we moved closer to the bottom of the staircase. At the base of the stairs, she turned me around so that I had my back to the steps. She threw her arms around my neck and kissed me on the lips.
I lost myself for a moment, enjoying the feel of her body in my arms, the taste of her lips and the scent of her in my nose.
“For luck,” she whispered in my ear. “Here we go.”
I spun around and we moved up the stairs, me already drawing the pistol and thumbing my safety off. Silvia stuck to my six with one of her hands on my waist. It took precious seconds before the club security even noticed us, and by that point we were already halfway up the stairs.
One guard rushed down from above and I shot him point blank, the gunshot barely registering in the confines of the club over the music. He fell and dropped down the stairs past us. I heard Silvia’s pistol bark once but I couldn’t take my eyes off the top of the stairs where two more guards appeared. I shot them both and pulled Silvia up the stairs with me, finally gaining the top of the balcony.
The DJ still didn’t take notice of us. I saw the door leading to the back of the club and we moved toward it. A gun shot ricocheted off the wall nearby and Silvia shot her gun, taking down another guard.
I reached the door and pulled Silvia in to stack outside before taking it in.
But at that moment, the door itself blasted open and I felt a huge rush of h
eat go streaming past us. Shit. Spirits.
They shot forth from the back of the club and streamed around in the air like some bizarre sort of light show within the club. The club lit up and then darkened as the spirits caused the lighting system to overheat and spark.
So much for surprising La Calavera.
More gunfire rang out and Silvia and I took aim at targets as they presented themselves.
“Changing!” I shouted, dropping a mag and shoving a fresh one into the pistol.
Silvia took her shots carefully and I had no idea where she was hiding more ammo. If we stayed in place, the guards would converge on us and slaughter us.
“We’ve gotta move!”
The DJ attacked us from the side and tried to tackle Silvia. She evaded his tackle and sent her elbow into his temple before placing the barrel of her pistol against his chest and firing point blank. He dropped like a bad friendship.
More spirits circled the club and then came screaming right at me. I could see their vacant eyes, their hunger, their desire to rob us of our souls.
We had to get to the back of the club and finish off La Calavera.
“Moving!”
I pulled SIlvia through the doors with my gun already up. Immediately I engaged one guard standing there. He took two rounds to the chest and dropped.
The door swung shut behind us and the noise level dropped instantly. Ahead of us, I saw a corridor with one door standing there. That had to be it.
Behind us, I could hear the spirits coming. Tonight wouldn’t be like last night in the valley. La Calavera was clearly strong enough to control them and they would kill both Silvia and me without thinking.
We stacked outside the door. I looked at SIlvia and she nodded.
Then we took it in, me going immediately to the left where my peripheral vision told me there were more guards. Two of them on the heavy side. I engaged, moved, engaged as their bullets whizzed past my ear. Silvia engaged on the right and we cleared to the first corner before moving further in.
Behind the desk in the center of the room, La Calavera sat in a deep purple robe with her hands on the desk top, her eyes closed and her mouth moving...chanting.