by David Archer
They finished breakfast, and spent the rest of the morning in Noah's room. Neil provided him with the fake ID for Felicita, which he left with Sarah. The girl wouldn't need it until it was time to cross into the United States, so he didn't want to get caught with it.
At last, it was time to put all the plans into action. Moose was in place in Dubai, and had made contact with his backup team. Everything was set. Neil would remain at the hotel, stationed at his computer and listening to everything that went on in the bar, while Sarah would keep the car as close to Noah as she could. If anything went wrong, all Noah had to do was say, “Jumping Jehoshaphat,” and Neil would tell Sarah to get to the bar as quickly as possible. If that happened, it was likely that Noah would have to fight his way out, so he'd want his escape vehicle to be ready and waiting outside.
At ten minutes before two, Noah climbed out of the car in an alley, three blocks away from the bar. He walked the rest of the way, carefully making sure that he wasn't being followed. Once he was certain that he was clean of a tail, he made his way to the bar and walked through the door.
“It's good to see you again, my friend,” Pablo said as Noah took a seat at the table. Felicita hurriedly took the chair at his side, and slipped a piece of paper into his hand.
Noah unfolded it, and then smiled. The price that had been named for the girl was only twenty thousand dollars, and he turned to Eduardo, smiled once more, and then nodded.
He turned back to Pablo. “I've taken the liberty of arranging another little transaction, while I'm here,” he said, “and I'm sure you probably already know about it. Would it be convenient for me to simply add the additional price to the transfer I'll be making to you today?”
Pablo's smiled. “I will tell you what,” he said. “If all goes well with our business, I will pay that price for you, and you may have the young lady as my gift. Is it true that you wish to marry her?”
Noah looked at Felecita, then smiled and put an arm around her protectively. “It is,” he said. “Where I come from, it's not easy to obtain such a delightful little beauty with such exciting skills. I plan to take her home with me, and keep her barefoot and pregnant from now on. That's sort of a tradition, back home.”
Pablo laughed out loud, throwing back his head to show how great was his delight in Noah's answer. “My friend, I think that is a tradition that we should adopt here in Mexico. But, come, let us now discuss business. You have arranged for the necessary funds?”
“I have, indeed,” Noah said. “However, the Dragon is somewhat skeptical. Since you said the material is somewhere in his neighborhood, he would like to verify that it is genuine before he allows me to complete the transaction. Can you accept those terms?”
Pablo grinned. “If you had said anything else, I would probably have had you shot. While I do not know this Dragon, I suspect that I do know his employer, and I'm quite certain that she would not authorize such a payment without being certain of what she was buying. You have contact with your man?”
Noah pulled out his phone, an Iridium satellite phone that did not bother with cell towers. “With your permission?” he asked, and Pablo nodded. Noah dialed the number, and a few seconds later he heard Moose on the other end.
“Hello?” Moose said, his accent thick.
“Mr. Dragon,” Noah said, “I'm sitting here with my agent, who will tell you where to go to verify the product. I'm going to hand him the phone, now.”
He passed the phone to Pablo, and the old Mexican smiled. “Señor Dragon,” he said, “you are in Dubai? Is that correct?”
“I am,” Moose said. “To where must I be going?”
“Not very far,” Pablo said. “You are familiar with the Armani Hotel Dubai? It is on Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Boulevard.”
“But of course,” Moose said. “I am staying there myself, right now.”
“Excellent, excellent,” Pablo said. “The product you are seeking is in room 427. Knock on the door, and simply say that you have come about the insects. The men inside will allow you to examine the merchandise, so that you may tell my friend here that it is genuine.”
“Very good,” Moose said. “Of course, you know that it is quite early, here. Will they be expecting my visit?”
“Yes, Señor Dragon. I made sure they understood that someone would probably want to inspect it at this time.”
“Very good. Will you stay on the line with me? The room you speak of is only a few doors down.”
Pablo nodded into the phone. “Of course, I would be delighted.”
They heard the sounds of doors opening and closing, and then Moose's footsteps as he walked down the hall. There were other footsteps around him, and Noah knew that he would have a couple of men with him. If he had been alone, it might have raised suspicions. There came the sound of a knock, and then Moose could be heard saying, “I have come about the insects.”
A door opened, and several voices could be heard speaking at once. A moment later, things got quiet and they heard Moose say, “Give me just one moment.” There was a rustling sound, and then a sound like static from an old radio.
“The product is genuine,” Moose said. “I will wait here while you conclude your business.”
Pablo smiled and handed the phone back to Noah. “Señor Dragon would like to confirm to you that the product is indeed what you seek.”
Noah smiled, took the phone and said, “Mr. Dragon?”
“My client will be very pleased with this product. Please conclude the transaction so that I may take possession immediately.”
“Yes, sir, I sure will, and I'll call you back as soon as it's done.” Noah ended the call and smiled at Pablo. “Looks like we've got us a deal,” he said. “Have you got transfer instructions for me?”
Pablo reached into a pocket and withdrew a sheet of paper, which he unfolded and laid in front of Noah on the table. There was a string of numbers on it, and Noah recognized them as SWIFT codes and foreign bank account information. He dialed another number, and when Neil answered in a very practiced French accent, he said, “Henri? This is John. We're ready to make the transfer I discussed with you last night. Use this information.” He read off the codes and numbers from the paper in front of him, and Neil read them back to confirm them. A moment later, Noah looked at Pablo and smiled. “Check your bank,” he said.
Pablo looked at Henrique, who was punching buttons on a smart phone. A moment later, he passed the phone to Pablo, who broke into a huge smile.
“Well, my friend,” Pablo said, “it appears that our transaction has been quite successful.” He looked at Felicita, and flicked his eyes to Noah. “This girl is now yours, as my gift. I hope she comes to realize just how fortunate she is.”
“Oh, Señor, I do know,” she said. She looked at Noah, her eyes filled with love and leaking tears. “Señor John, I will make you the most happy of men.”
Noah leaned over and kissed her, then looked up at Pablo with a smile. “Well, this has been a good day all around,” he said. “Will you allow me to buy us a celebratory drink? I've noticed a bottle of Tres Cuatro Y Cinco up high over the bar. I'd be happy to purchase it for you, if you'll share a drink with me from it.”
Pablo laughed. “How could I refuse? Eduardo, fetch it down.”
Noah laughed as well, then got up and went to the bar. “Eduardo,” he said, “two double shots!”
Eduardo climbed up onto a stool and got the bottle, then poured the drinks. Noah reached for the cup full of swizzle sticks that was sitting on the bar, and snagged the two gold ones he had slipped into it the day before. No one in this bar used swizzle sticks, so he had been fairly sure they would be safe there. He dropped one into each glass, and carried them back to the table. He extended his right hand toward Pablo, but wasn't surprised when Pablo reached for the glass in his left.
They each swirled the amber liquid once with the swizzle stick, then took them out and laid them on the table. They clinked their glasses together, and together they tossed them
back. No one noticed that Noah dipped his thumb into his glass while he was stirring it.
He sat there with Pablo for another thirty minutes, and then looked at Felicita. “Are you ready, sweetheart? We've got a lot of paperwork to get done, so I can take you back home with me. We might as well get started today.” He turned to Pablo. “Excuse me, Señor, I should ask your permission to leave.”
Pablo looked over at Henrique, who was once again punching buttons on the smart phone. When Henrique smiled and showed Pablo that his bank account still showed the presence of the money, Pablo smiled at Noah.
“Señor John,” he said, “may you and your lovely young lady find great happiness, just as you have given it to me this day. Vaya con Dios, Señor.”
Noah rose from the table, holding the girl's hand as he did so. A moment later, after she had grabbed a small bag from behind the bar, they were out the door and walking swiftly toward the corner. Alerted by Neil that the deal was done and Noah was out and on the street, Sarah pulled up in front of them as they arrived, and he hurried the girl into the backseat of the car, then slid in beside her.
“Felicita, meet Sarah,” he said. “Sarah, Felicita. You got that little present for her?”
Without a word, Sarah picked up the Texas driver's license that had Felicita's name and picture on it and passed it back to him. He showed it to the girl, and she looked confused.
“Señor John? What is this?”
“This, Felicita, is your ticket to a new life. We're going to take you into the states, and if anyone asks you, you were born in Odessa, Texas, exactly nineteen years ago today. I'm your boyfriend, and I brought you to Ciudad Juárez for your birthday. Do you understand?”
She looked at the driver’s license, and then up at his face. “And then you will marry me?”
Noah smiled. “You bet, baby, just as soon as we get settled in back home.”
He glanced up, then, and Sarah's eyes caught his in the rearview mirror. She said nothing, but the look she gave him called him a heartless bastard.
It took them an hour to make it across the bridge, but then they were in Texas, and Felicita began to cry. Noah held her, letting her weep on his shoulder as Sarah drove directly to the Western District of Texas office of the Department of Justice. She had called ahead as they came off the bridge, and a pair of agents were standing in the parking lot when they pulled in.
Noah looked at the frightened Mexican girl. “Felicita,” he said, “there is something you need to understand. I am not the man you think I am.”
She looked up at him, confused. “You are not Señor John?”
He shook his head. “No, I'm afraid not. My real name doesn't matter, but it isn't John. And, Felicita, I'm afraid that I'm not going to be able to marry you, after all.”
Felicita began to cry again. “But, but you said—please, please do not send me back there, I cannot go back there…”
“Shh, calm down, you're not going back. Listen to me, Felicita, I am a special agent of the United States, and I was sent there to do a job. It's done now, but I liked you, so I wanted to get you out of that life. Now, these people,” and he indicated the man and woman who were standing outside the car, watching them, “they're going to take you and help you start a whole new life. If you want to go to school, they'll help you do that, or if you just want to go and get a job, they'll help you with that, too. But I can't stay with you, and I won't be able to see you again.”
He opened the door and pulled her out of the car, then introduced her to the agents who were waiting for her. The woman took Felicita and put an arm around her, then walked her into the building, even as the girl kept looking over her shoulder at Noah. The man stood beside Noah until they were out of earshot, then grinned at him.
“So, I understand she was a big help to you on whatever your mission was?”
Noah nodded. “Yep,” he said. “She provided exactly the diversions I needed, just when I needed them, and she didn't even know what she was doing. You guys make sure she stays safe, okay? I'd hate to think I brought her out of one bad life into another one.” He rolled his eyes to the agent's face. “I might have to come back and find out what happened.”
He turned and got into the front passenger seat beside Sarah, then pointed straight ahead. She put the car in gear and drove out of the parking lot, leaving Felicita behind.
“You know you broke her heart, right?” Sarah asked as she drove.
Noah shrugged. “Yeah, well, I figured it was better it be broken by a false promise than by a drug, a knife or a bullet. One of those would've gotten her, sooner or later.”
Sarah looked at him, and the expression he saw from the corner of his eye might have been a sneer, or could have been a grin. “And you claim you don't ever feel anything.”
Noah leaned his head back against the headrest and closed his eyes. “You don't have to feel something emotionally to know the difference between right and wrong, Sarah. Just because I don't have a conscience doesn't mean I don't know what compassion is.”
The blonde girl shook her head. “Yeah, okay, whatever.”
TWENTY-SEVEN
The big Hummer pulled into the farmhouse driveway at just before noon the next day, and all four of them followed Noah into his house.
“Oh, I think the drive here was longer than the flight,” Sarah said. “At least this big monstrosity of yours is comfortable.”
Neil grinned at her. “Monstrosity? That gives me an idea. I've been trying to come up with a name for it. I'll call it Hummer-stein.”
“That's cute,” the girl replied. “I'm just glad we're out of it.”
“Me, too,” Moose said. “No offense, Neil, but your driving scares me to death.” Moose had met them at the Denver airport that morning. His flight from Dubai had arrived only a half hour before their flight from El Paso.
“Hey, it scares me to death, too,” Neil said. “Why do you think I insist on driving the biggest thing on the road?”
“Okay,” Noah said, “anybody who wants a fast lunch is looking at microwavable burritos or peanut butter and jelly. Who wants what?”
“PB&J,” Sarah called out, and the other two guys echoed her. Noah got out a loaf of bread and began smearing peanut butter and jelly onto different slices, and then slamming them together. He put two sandwiches onto each of four paper plates, and carried them to the table. Sarah got up from where she’d been sitting and got bottles of root beer out of the refrigerator for everyone.
“It's good to be home,” Sarah said, and then she looked at Noah. “Well, I'm not home yet, I just meant it's good to be back here.”
Noah shrugged. “You stay here enough,” he said. “You can move in if you want to.”
She looked at him for a moment, then smiled. “Let me think about it, okay?”
“Okay. You all remember we got debriefing in the morning, right? Nine AM at the admin building.”
Everyone agreed that they knew, and it wasn't long after they finished their sandwiches that they all decided it was time to truly go home. Neil started up the Hummer to drive the three hundred yards to his trailer, while Moose and Sarah got into their own cars and headed back to their own apartments. Noah watched them drive away, then went back inside and cleaned up after lunch. When he was finished, he went to the library, selected a book and sat down in one of the big, overstuffed chairs to read for a while.
Jefferson had met with them the night before, after Noah and Sarah had dropped Felicita off at the DOJ and made it back to the Holiday Inn. He collected all their fake IDs and phones, gave them back their own, and gathered up the weapons and other equipment. While they would be flying back, Jefferson would have to drive in his big van. It had special government plates that prohibited it from being stopped or searched, which was how the organization could move equipment around the country so easily.
“Good work on nabbing the nuclear material,” he said to Noah. “How did the rest of the mission go?”
“It went slambang,” N
eil said. “Pablo Ortiz collapsed five minutes ago in the bar, and Valdes is administering CPR. Eduardo the bartender called an ambulance, but God knows how long it will take one to get there. From the way everyone is panicking, I'd say they already know he's gone.”
Jefferson nodded. “Excellent. Is anyone making any comments about Mr. Baker? Is there any suspicion?”
Neil shook his head in the negative. “None that I can see,” he said. “Eduardo called someone, a woman, and he's been telling her that Uncle Pablo dropped dead, just like everyone had been warning him he was going to one of these days. It actually sounds like everyone is happy about it.”
“I got the impression that maybe old Uncle Pablo was the money behind the bar, and probably took a lot of money out of it,” Noah said. “If I'm right, then maybe Eduardo gets to keep the place all to himself now.”
“Valdes is probably happy, too,” Jefferson said. “He's probably going to step right into Pablo's shoes.”
Noah nodded. “Yeah, about that,” he said. “He's got Pablo's bank account info, so if he takes over, all that money becomes his, right? What happens when it all disappears in a few days? If we're planning on keeping him as an asset, we need to be thinking about that.”
Jefferson grinned. “Other people are way ahead of you,” he said. “Allison talked to somebody at the NSA, and they decided to make the payment for the nuclear material a real one. That way, the actual suppliers get paid, and Valdes doesn't come out looking like a bad guy. Well, no worse a bad guy than usual, anyway. NSA gets to keep him as an intelligence asset, and the sudden disappearance of millions of dollars doesn't make people start wondering what really happened to Pablo Ortiz.”
“Okay, good. So what's next?”
“I got you all on a flight back to Denver in the morning,” Jefferson said. “You should be back home around noon, and you can rest up tomorrow, but you go for debriefing at nine the next day. The conference room at Allison's office. Which reminds me, Noah, she wants you to call her. Now.”