by Lou Dobbs
On the bright side, someone had dealt with Pablo Piña in Juárez. He’d find a better man to replace the thug. Pablo was also his biggest tie to TARC. Herrera had tossed the phone he’d used to contact Haben and Hector, and he was secluded as well as secure in his mountain retreat. The Mexican Army couldn’t root him out of here. But it wouldn’t come to that.
Herrera looked up as his assistant came out onto the balcony. The attractive young man was holding one of the hacienda’s portable phones and said, “You have a call, sir.”
“Who is it?”
The young man looked nervous when he said, “It’s the president of Mexico.”
* * *
More than a week after the awkward arrest of Mike Zara at the Border Security Task Force office, Tom Eriksen found himself once again at the Cattleman’s Steakhouse, this time having dinner with Ted Dempsey and Senator Elizabeth Ramos. The three of them sat comfortably around a table in the corner of the popular restaurant as he filled them in on the details of the case. There were still some things he couldn’t talk about until they became public record, but both of his dinner companions were smart enough to fill in the blanks.
Eriksen said, “I know you saw on the news that my former supervisor at the FBI had been arrested. He really didn’t say much once he had an attorney. But we had just enough to make an arrest over at TARC. We went right to the top and grabbed a guy named Rich Haben.”
Dempsey cut in and said, “That jerk. You should hear some of the things he said to me. Is he the one who paid for the hit?”
“He’s associated with the person who made the call, but we still don’t know who that is. Haben is too terrified to say anything yet.”
Dempsey seemed to process the information.
“You definitely got his attention, and, according to the border talk, TARC was the centerpiece of a criminal empire. It looks like Haben was behind a lot of things. He directly supervised the two men involved in the different shootings around town who were found dead at Carol DiMetti’s house. But even he has a boss.”
“You guys working on him?”
“Trying to, but they want to prosecute Mike Zara, too. That’s always one of the FBI’s priorities. They can’t ever risk having even a hint of corruption. That’s why the employment process takes so long.”
The senator said, “How was a criminal able to get to a supervisor like that?”
“No one knows yet. It could’ve been money or something else. The FBI is looking hard into it.”
The senator said, “Do you have any ideas how we might combat that in the future? Is it a pay issue?”
“No, ma’am, I think it’s just one guy who fell through the cracks. I’ve never had any reason to doubt the integrity of another FBI agent. In fact, it was my own institutional bias that kept me from ever even considering Zara as the possible leak. I just assumed it was the task force supervisor from HSI, Andre.” He let out a short laugh and said, “I had to explain the whole thing to him and apologize at the same time.”
Dempsey was smiling when he said, “How’d he take it?”
“He thinks I’m just a typical dick FBI agent now, but he appreciates that I solved the case that involved the murder of our mutual friend, John Houghton.”
Dempsey said, “What about the two witnesses? The brother and sister.”
“Carol and Eric are now under the protection of the U.S. Marshals in Witness Security. This may turn out to be one of the biggest cases ever worked in the Southwest, and when you look at the number of people who died, the Marshals want to make sure nothing happens to their star witnesses.”
Dempsey nodded and said, “You’ve done a remarkable job. I’m glad everything worked out, and I’m proud we’re friends.”
Eriksen was touched by the sincerity of Dempsey’s words.
The senator said, “I’ve heard all I need to. That antiterror job in Washington is all yours.”
Eriksen wanted to jump out of the seat and kiss her, he was so excited. It was the culmination of his dreams and exactly what he wanted to be doing with his career. It also put him much closer to his family, whom he’d missed more the longer he was away.
He was able to remain composed and said, “Thank you very much, Senator.”
She gave him a politician’s smile and said, “My only caveat would be that you keep me in the loop on all of your big investigations.”
“Excuse me?”
“I think being a U.S. senator makes me trustworthy enough to confide in.”
“Yes, ma’am, I’m sure it does. But we have rules and policy that dictate who I report to. And reporting to a senator is way above my pay grade.”
Now the senator became a little cooler and said, “I make the pay grades.”
“I understand. But I still couldn’t ethically accept a job like this if the condition went counter to my training and oath of office.”
Now the senator let out a manufactured laugh, patted him playfully on the arm, and said, “Luckily you’ll be in Washington, D.C., where none of that will matter to anyone.”
“It will matter to me.”
“Are you saying you no longer want the job?”
It was tough. He was embarrassed that he had to hesitate before he answered. But finally, reluctantly, he said, “I appreciate the offer, but I’m afraid I’m saying exactly that.”
* * *
The next afternoon, Kat Gleason met him in front of his apartment. She greeted him with a warm hug and a kiss on the lips, something she was careful to avoid doing around any of their coworkers.
Eriksen said, “What was that for?”
“I’m just glad you’re not under any dark cloud and that you made it through the case without being killed.”
“I have to say I’m glad about all of that, too.”
“I’m also glad you’re not moving back to the East Coast.” She gave him another kiss.
He tried to act casual when he said, “I’m not sure I was ever considering it too strongly.”
They both had to laugh at that.
Just as Kat and Eriksen were about to get into his personal car, Marty, the oldest son from the family in the front house, raced down the driveway toward them. Immediately Eriksen recognized the hefty forms of Curtis Lopez and his two brothers behind Marty.
Marty panted, “Please, Tom, can you help me?”
All three of the Lopez brothers skidded to a stop when they saw Tom Eriksen. Curtis Lopez held up his hands and said, “We don’t want no trouble. But you said this jerk-off would pay us, and we still don’t got no money.”
Eriksen gave Marty a hard look.
The young man said, “I’ve tried everything. I offered to put a free pool in at their house. They’re just being unreasonable.”
Eriksen said, “Pay them. You promised me you would, and I promised them you would come through.”
Curtis looked surprised by the show of support. Marty said, “I don’t have that kind of money.”
Eriksen said, “I bet you have fifteen grand in equity in that new Camaro of yours. There’s your money right there.”
Marty said, “I’m not gonna sell my new car. I love it.”
Eriksen smiled and said, “Way to stick to your guns, Marty. Good luck with these three. My girlfriend and I are going out to dinner.” Before he slammed the door of his car he heard Marty meeting his obligations.
Eriksen was glad he’d decided to stay in El Paso.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Lou Dobbs is the host of Fox Business Network’s Lou Dobbs Tonight. A legendary broadcaster, Dobbs is the winner of four Emmy Awards, a bestselling author, and one of the most respected and insightful voices on politics, economics, society, and business. For three decades, Dobbs has brought an unwavering American perspective to the most important issues of our day, whether national security, sustainable economic growth and prosperity, global business, finance and trade, or education and public investment.
James O. Born is an award-winning author of seven n
ovels. He is a former U.S. drug agent and special agent with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE). He has been involved in investigations in such areas as organized crime, serial crimes, economic crimes, drug cartels, and public corruption.
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the authors’ imaginations or are used fictitiously.
BORDER WAR
Copyright © 2014 by Lou Dobbs and James O. Born
All rights reserved.
Cover photographs by Arcangel Images
A Forge Book
Published by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC
175 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10010
www.tor-forge.com
Forge® is a registered trademark of Tom Doherty Associates, LLC.
The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:
Dobbs, Lou.
Border war / Lou Dobbs and James O. Born. — First Edition.
p. cm.
“A Tom Doherty Associates Book.”
ISBN 978-0-7653-2771-0 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-4299-8669-4 (e-book)
1. Government investigators—Fiction. 2. Murder—Investigation—Fiction. 3. Suspense fiction. I. Born, James O. II. Title.
PS3604.O2264B67 2014
813'.6—dc23
2013029608
e-ISBN 9781429986694
First Edition: May 2014