Cruz would never be able to interrogate Señor Sorreyo. He’d been the victim of a hit and run accident in Monterrey a week earlier. Then again, Cruz didn’t feel as though he needed to ask him much, or think a meeting would have even been a good idea. There was little chance Sorreyo would have told the truth, about anything.
Xavier Sorreyo had been a CIA asset.
Chapter 21
The hills around the conference center basked in the bright warm glow of the morning sun, a few lonely saguaro cactus stood like sentries, silently watching the unfolding events. The parking area and grounds were crawling with soldiers and security details, as the American Secret Service coordinated with its Mexican counterparts. Over a hundred army personnel formed a protective perimeter around the sprawling building, their M-16 rifles ready to combat any threat. Two army helicopters sat at the far end of the field, and an area nearer to the convention center had been cleared and was ringed off by police for the president’s helicopter to land. Armored military Humvees were poised like predatory jungle cats around the edges of the property as sentries patrolled from station to station.
A crowd of protestors thronged behind barricades as the soldiers stood by impassively, sweat trickling down their necks from the already ninety-four degree heat. Signs in a dozen languages berated inequality, U.S. imperialism, poverty, banking syndicates, and the general unfairness of life. The protestors were a mixed bag – everything from hippies and college students to angry retirees. It was an unruly bunch, made more so by instigators who roused them into chanting every few minutes. The Mexican forces seemed uncertain how to deal with them, and were keenly aware of the phalanx of cameras from the global media cabal capturing the event for posterity.
The commander of the crowd control team had radioed for more backup, and two army trucks filled with yet more soldiers barreled up to the staging area. Fifty men leapt down from the backs, many now armed with shotguns loaded with bean bags for non-lethal stopping power. Several carried larger tear gas launchers, and two men moved towards the crowd with a case of pepper spray. The tension was thick as fog as a confrontation loomed and, perhaps sensing that the Mexicans weren’t going to be as concerned with PR niceties as some of the prior years’ hosting countries, the demonstrators grew more timid. Nobody wanted to catch a bullet or be incarcerated in a Mexican prison for months while a worried family back home paid through the nose to lubricate their release. This wasn’t the U.S. or Europe – Mexico’s patience was thin and its tolerance for civil disturbance limited in the extreme.
Cruz stalked the area by the building with his team of Federales, looking for signs of anything suspicious. With the hundreds of men moving around – soldiers, police, marines, American and Mexican security forces, CISEN, Federales – a sense of subdued chaos reigned as the hour for the opening ceremonies drew near and the arrival of the participants drew imminent. All attendees and workers who approached the massive structure’s entry were forced to pass through metal detectors, and two airport x-ray machines had been brought in from Mexico City to scan every item that would get within a hundred yards of the opening ceremonies. Bomb-finding dogs had sniffed their way through every area twice, and the earnest pooches found nothing amiss.
American Secret Service bodyguards were salted throughout the presentation area, conspicuous due to their pale skin and the suits they wore in the simmering heat, and their protocols had been integrated into the event. The U.S. Secret Service was considered the best of the best, so there could be no more comprehensive protection for the attendees. They murmured into their palms and their eyes roved over the crowd and surroundings, clinically evaluating for possible danger. Between the Mexican special forces commando group, the regular army troops, the Federales, and the Gringo team, the delegates were safer than in their own living rooms.
Every possible security precaution had been taken, and yet Cruz was agitated. El Rey specialized in defeating the best efforts of those trying to stop him. This kind of circus was his specialty. Cruz didn’t buy for a second that any of it would prevent the assassin from moving forward with his plan, whatever it was – although he couldn’t for the life of him see how he could pull anything off, given the battalion of armed men guarding the event. And nobody could make it to or from the building alive if anything went wrong. All roads for a mile were blocked by armed soldiers, and traffic had been diverted so only the delegation vehicles would be on the road to the site.
Cruz studied the huge structure. Remarkable that they’d completed it in time. He’d been in town for a week, and right up until the final seconds, crews of frantic workers had rushed to complete final details and repair systems that were already beginning to fail. He checked his watch – the delegation would be arriving in a few minutes. The anxious buzz in his stomach increased its strident alarm, but there was nothing obvious he could do now. Everyone had the photos of the man Cruz believed to be El Rey, and the convention center was more fortified than a maximum security prison. He’d done all he could.
He lifted the binoculars to his eyes and scanned the surrounding hills, the bases of which were over six hundred yards away. The conference center was surrounded by slopes on three sides, covered almost entirely by short, brownish scrub that had been grazed to the nub by a herd of wild goats – escapees from the small petting zoo belonging to the school at the bottom of the hill. He scrutinized every cranny. There was no place for a man to hide. And the distance, even had there been, would have made a shot tricky; there was a considerable breeze, with gusts whipping at the semi-circle of flags fluttering above the facility’s entrance.
A buzz rose from the packed group of media and protestors as a line of limousines drew up the newly-paved road. The moment everyone had been waiting for had arrived. The cars pulled past the crowd and began moving to the entrance, where the opening ceremony was going to begin. A large blue and white striped marquee stood to one side, where the performers and presenters nervously awaited their turn in the spotlight.
The crowd’s eyes rose to the beating of rotor blades, as two more helicopters approached and then hovered over the field, finally coming to rest on the designated area of tarmac. The aircraft doors opened simultaneously, and a group of men in dark suits stepped briskly from them both, forming a protective barrier as the presidents of Mexico and the U.S. stepped out, waving at the crowd before moving to glad-hand each other in a staged symbol of friendly solidarity. The crowd of protestors booed and shook their handheld signs while the press corps filmed the arrival.
Cruz eyed the group of journalists nervously. All of their equipment had been searched and scanned, but he still suspected a trick. Briones stood by his side, similarly engaged by the sight of all the cameras pointed at the two great men. They exchanged glances, and Briones unconsciously fidgeted with his sidearm. A persistent fly buzzed around his head, and he swatted at it angrily before wiping his brow. On the parking lot, the heat was blazing, the sun’s energy baking the grayish-black surface, multiplying its effects as it radiated heat.
Briones’ eyes were drawn to a movement on the periphery of the protestors; something alarming he barely registered. A bearded man had drawn back his arm and was preparing to hurl a projectile. The lieutenant sprang into action, covering the twenty yards to the edge of the barricades in seconds, gun drawn, ready to fire. The soldiers froze, weapons now trained on the crowd rather than pointing at the ground, and for a brief eternity time stood still. Briones’ eyes locked on the man’s face, and he seemed to swivel his head in slow motion to watch the uniformed Federal Policeman racing at him, pistol aimed at his head. A few of the other protestors, sensing a problem, drew back, leaving him fully exposed.
He slowly lowered his arm, and Briones screamed at him to freeze; not to move. The man looked somewhat like the photo, but it was hard to tell with all the facial hair and the knit Rastafarian cap. The soldiers automatically made way for the lieutenant, who pushed the nearest barricade aside as he stalked towards the man, ready to fire. The
crowd had gone silent, and a few of the media had turned their attention from the two world leaders walking to the convention center, to the drama playing out between the menacing, pistol wielding policeman and the peacefully-convened protestors.
The soldiers stood nervously, fingers on triggers. There was a very real sense that the situation could devolve into a slaughter in seconds. All it would take was a single case of nerves and the area the crowd was gathered in would become a slaughterhouse. The throng sensed this and backed away, as a group, nobody wanting to be martyrs in a desert backwater a thousand miles from anything.
Briones reached the man, and, holding the gun to the hippy’s head, cautiously reached down and lifted the man’s hand to see what he’d been attempting to launch. He saw a flash of red. A tomato.
Briones removed his cuffs and locked them on the man’s wrists as the crowd, sensing the conflict was over, jeered at him. He pushed the man to the barricade, where two of the soldiers took charge of the dangerous vegetable assailant. Briones marched back to where he’d been standing with Cruz, followed by boos and catcalls of ‘Gestapo’ from the protestors; his face was redder than the tomato. The soldiers relaxed, the fire drill over, and returned their barrels to pointing at the ground, a few of them smiling nervously with relief. The presidents’ security details hadn’t registered the lightning-like scuffle, although Briones’ wooden features would become an infamous symbol of totalitarian abuse of power across most Western television networks that night.
An older uniformed soldier moved over to Cruz from the assembled group of military functionaries, and leaned into him, speaking softly. “You better get your attack dogs on a tight leash, Capitan. That almost turned into a bloodbath over a tomato. Get your shit together, or you’re going to be asked to leave.” General Ortega eyed Briones through eyes like slits. “I do not want any more outbursts, do you read me?”
Cruz’s eyes darted to the imposing officer’s face, and he nodded, once. Message delivered, the general turned and marched back to his position with the other military brass assembled near the stage.
“What the fuck, Briones,” Cruz started, still watching the crowd, painfully aware of the cameras documenting the incident, as well as their every move now.
“I just saw the movement and reacted. I’m…I’m sorry, sir.”
“I think maybe you should take a walk around the perimeter and verify all is in order. Try to stay as far from the cameras as possible, all right? Hopefully they’ll lose interest in a few minutes. And do not, unless El Rey is standing with a bazooka pointed at the President, draw your weapon again. Clear?” Cruz spoke softly, but the steel in his tone was unmistakable.
Briones moved to do as instructed, glad to have the scrutiny shifted back to the gathered functionaries.
The two presidents had taken seats at the front of the raised platform that would serve as the stage, erected that morning and checked and rechecked by the security forces. The gathered delegates surrounded the two men, and cameras clicked and whirred as the moment was captured for posterity. The Mexican president stood to applause from the delegation, and moved to a solitary microphone on the stage, which faced the assembled dignitaries but was also turned sufficiently so that the media were presented with his left side. He had become polished enough to gleam at these types of events over the five and a half years of his term, and he moved and spoke like a veteran statesman.
Cruz listened to the predictably-hackneyed aphorisms about global cooperation and a new era of peace and studied the gathered journalists, eyes scanning restlessly over them before continuing to the roof of the center, where several sentries watched the crowd. He rotated slowly, studying the protesters, and then moved again to the hills. He caught a movement on a far bluff and raised his binoculars, ready to warn everyone to get down.
A baby goat nosed the shoots of a struggling plant at the base of a cactus and was quickly joined by its mother, who scooted it away, back to the others on the far side of the hill.
Cruz lowered the glasses and blinked the sweat from his eyes. The blistering heat wasn’t doing anything for his already-frayed nerves, that was for sure. His only consolation was that at least he hadn’t run in a hobbled trot while brandishing his assault rifle to save the delegation from a baby chiva.
The President finished his speech, and the American president took the stage. Cruz spoke passable English from his university years and so understood most of it. A relationship forged through common goals, a new era, commitment to prosperity. About the same as his president’s. He absently wondered what would have happened if they’d switched speeches; whether anyone would have even noticed. For the first time that day, Cruz smiled.
The American’s rendition was blissfully short. He sat to polite applause. Now there would be half an hour of festivities, including the presentation of the key to the city, some dancing by the local high school girls, and a fiesta with some first graders, and the welcoming event would be over, and everyone could move into the air-conditioned comfort of the new hall.
His trepidation increased with each passing minute. The governor of Baja California Sur made a mercifully brief set of comments and then presented the key to the city to the American president. Once everyone had taken their seats again, music blared out of the speakers that had been brought with the stage, and the dancing began, the girls twirling in native garb while the gathered politicians feigned polite attention. Cruz had personally been involved with checking the speaker cabinets and associate audio gear for any booby-traps, so there was no danger there.
Things were going as planned, but he still had a tingling at the nape of his neck, a premonition of something about to go badly wrong. He tried to shake it off, but it lingered like a bad taste.
He wiped more sweat from his face and prayed it would be over soon.
El Rey watched the presentation with little interest. So far, no surprises, although the security detail did seem to be on a more heightened alert than usual. He’d studied hours of footage of speeches and rallies with both presidents, and knew their procedures cold. They were nervous, that much was clear, likely due to the ruckus the Federal Police captain had raised. No matter. He was within a hundred yards of the targets, and soon they’d be a bloody pulp, and he’d be gone during the confusion.
The girls took the stage, and he watched with a grim smile as they performed their intricate footwork for the leaders of the free world.
Soon to be ex-leaders.
He hummed along with the music, shifting his weight from one foot to the other as he held his rifle at the ready, lest anyone try to attack his president.
Inside the tent, the two teachers were having a hell of a time with the kids. Amped on soda and buzzing with anticipation, they were running around their area of the tent like hellions; even the little girls. Normally better behaved, the heat and the large crowd had sent them berserk, and it was all Monica and Letty could do to control them.
Three of the little boys were especially ill-behaved. They kept swatting at the piñata with the pole reserved for that purpose, and Letty was afraid they’d break it apart in the tent, which would spoil the whole ceremony. After hearing a particularly alarming thwack from the enormous suspended papier-mâché bull, she turned to see the little bastards smiting it with all their might, not two minutes after she’d punished them for doing so earlier. She was worried they’d knock the sorry creature’s head off and was already mentally calculating where she could get glue to re-affix it if they got away from her again and succeeded in their assault on the candy-stuffed totem.
She grabbed one of the tiny assailants by the hair to get his attention, tweaked another by the ear, and dragged them away amid noisy protests. Once she had them under control, she confiscated the heavy stick so they couldn’t do any more harm to the endangered animal. Monica moved several chairs as an improvised blockade to keep the feisty tikes from doing any more damage. She looked up at the blank bovine stare the artist had created and took a deep breat
h. It would all be over soon, and then they could return to the classroom and some semblance of order.
The bull was large for a piñata, over four feet long by three high, which was part of what made it irresistible as a target for the kids. Colorful ribbons hung from around its neck, and a chrome metal ring dangled from its nose. It weighed a good forty pounds due to all the candy inside, and Monica silently offered thanks to its fabricator for making it sturdy enough to withstand the pummeling from the toddlers’ searching blows. Little Stefan, especially, had already delivered substantial punishment to the effigy’s shoulders and head, and Monica cursed the little prick as she studied the cracks and gouges the pole had inflicted. She fished in her purse and withdrew a black felt pen, and worked furiously to mask the bulk of the abuse. As long as nobody got too close, it would pass muster. Now she just needed to keep little Satan and his friends from completely destroying it in the next ten minutes, and they were home free.
~ ~ ~
El Rey yawned as the girls finished their performance to a smattering of lackluster applause. He was glad it wasn’t him having to dance like a monkey in the sweltering sun for the amusement of a bunch of suits. An elaborate linen tarp had been suspended over the seating area to fend off the worst of the June blaze, and large fans blew ventilation across the seated dignitaries, but even so, whoever had thought it would be a good idea to do this outside had been misguided to the point of delusion.
He studied the overhead white linen billowing in the breeze and imagined what it would look like soaked in the assembled group’s blood. Now that would be something the media would remember. It was all he could do not to detonate the bull now, just to end the misery.
The piñata had cost a fortune to create – a one inch shell of a new explosive three times more powerful than plastique. He’d sourced it from Russia, a half-inch thick coating of carbon fiber etched with grooves so that when the animal blew apart hundreds of razor-sharp shards of half-inch square projectiles were created, effectively shredding everything within the blast range to bloody smithereens. And lest that wasn’t sufficiently destructive, roughly half the candy inside was in reality carbon fiber bearings milled to match the gum balls they’d loaded the creature with, which would also hurtle outward at near the speed of light. They’d even tested a sample of the new explosive with two bomb sniffing dogs from the airport in Manzanillo, and they’d passed by the bull without interest – apparently, they didn’t know what prototypical Russian explosives smelled like.
King of Swords (Assassin series #1) Page 25