“I don’t know if I can. When can we see her?”
“Don’t know, bro. Sit and calm yourself down.”
Time stopped. Ted looked at this watch, then the wall clock every hour or so, but they only showed that a few minutes had passed.
The door to the hospital opened and a man in scrubs came out. Ted jumped to his feet. The man helped an old lady in a walker exit the hospital, then disappeared back into the bowels of the building.
More time passed.
“You wanna water?” Ted asked Chris.
“Uh . . . yeah.” Chris looked like he’d spent the night being interrogated by the Mosad.
“I’ll be right back.”
Ted walked to the pharmacy next door and bought two inordinately expensive bottles of water.
They sat and finished their water. Still nothing.
Ted figured it must be somewhere around dinner time when the doctor came through the door. Ted glanced up at the wall clock. Ten a.m. That clock had to be broken.
“Señor Higuera?” the doctor called.
Ted jumped up, and followed by Chris, rushed to the man in scrubs. “I’m Higuera.”
“I’m happy to say your sister is still with us.”
Ted breathed a sigh of relief and tears ran down Chris’s cheeks.
“How is she? What happened?”
The doctor passed his keycard across the reader and the light turned to green. He pulled the door open.
“It was very bad. We thought we were going to lose her. She had three bullet wounds. Both lungs were pierced and her liver. It is very lucky they got her here so fast.”
The doctor led them down a hallway, past a nurses’ station and through another hallway.
“How did it happen?” Chris asked.
“I don’t know. You will have to ask the police. She is in here.” The doctor held open a door.
Hope was sleeping in a hospital bed with a myriad of tubes running into and out of her body.
Chris rushed to take her in his arms, then stopped. “Can I touch her? Hug her?”
“I think it better if you do not,” the doctor answered.
“Cat?” Ted’s head swirled looking around the room. “Was there another woman with her? A tall blonde lady?”
The doctor put his hand on Ted’s shoulder. “I do not know anything about that. I only know that señorita Higuera came in last evening.”
A cold hand grabbed Ted’s gut. He took his sister’s hand. “Hope, Chicky legs, this is Ted, your hermano. Can you hear me?”
Hope didn’t stir.
“What’s going to happen now?” Ted asked.
“That is up to her. She has a tremendous will to live. Not many people would have survived what she went through. She will need time to heal. I am hoping that she will make a full recovery.”
“Mama!” Ted suddenly realized that Mama didn’t know. He had to call her.
“Can we take her home? When can she travel?”
“She is stable now. If you fly her on a Mercy Flight plane with medical professionals attending her, you can take her home now.”
“Should we go with her?” Chris asked. “I want to be there when she wakes up.”
“That is up to you, my friends.”
It took a couple of hours for Ted to arrange for a Mercy Flight jet that evening.
Ted and Chris were sitting on concrete garden benches by the potted plants surrounding the hospital.
He called the police station only to find that the chief had been killed in the attack and Catrina hadn’t been heard from since. No one knew who the perpetrators were.
“Like hell they don’t know. It was El Pozolero,” Ted spat. “And no sign of Cat. What could have happened to her?”
Chris put his hand on Ted’s shoulder. “I don’t know. I’m just happy that your sister is alive.”
“We have to find Cat. I got her down here. I’m responsible for her.”
“I want to go with Hope, but I can’t leave you here alone to look for Cat.”
“No. I’ll be okay. You go with her, Chris.”
Chris stared into the fiery sunset. “I’m staying. I think Cat’s in trouble and we have to help her. I signed up to help you find Maria and I’m not leaving until we’re done here.”
****
It was late in the evening by the time Ted and Chris returned from the airport. They stopped and picked up a kilo of carne asada at their favorite roadside stand on the way home.
Ted unlocked the condo door and they dragged themselves inside. Chris went to the kitchen, found plates and silverware and set them on the breakfast bar.
“Let’s grab a bite and go to bed.” Chris grabbed a couple of Tecates from the fridge. “I’m bushed.”
“Me too.” Ted sat in one of the stools at the bar, shaking.
Chris opened the Styrofoam container and put the tortillas on the lid. He unwrapped the roasted onion from aluminum foil. Ted opened the plastic baggies of various salsas.
“Wait!” Chris grabbed Ted’s hand. “Do you hear that?”
Ted froze and listened. “It’s coming from the next unit. Cat’s unit.”
“It sounds like someone’s going through her room. Come on.” Chris dashed into his room and grabbed his Glock 17.
Ted met him at the door with a pistol in one hand and keys in the other.
“Let’s go, but be quiet. They’re probably armed and we don’t want them opening fire.”
The two men tiptoed to the next door. Ted inserted the key as quietly as he could and gently turned the door knob.
Chris stood behind him with his gun in shooting position.
Ted slowly opened the door. The living room was empty. Clothes, both men’s and women’s, were strewn around the floor.
Heavy breathing and lots of noise came from the bedroom.
Ted held his finger to his lips then pointed towards the bedroom. They crept forward. Ted opened the door and Chris blew by him, gun up.
Ted jumped through the door and stopped, utterly astounded by what he saw.
Catrina was totally naked, riding astride a young Mexican man.
“What the hell . . .?” Ted shouted.
“Cat!” Chris shouted.
Catrina slowly turned her head. “Ted, Chish. What are you doin’ here?” She grabbed for the sheets to cover herself.
Ted grabbed her shoulder. “Get the hell off of him. Where have you been?”
Catrina had a flicker of recognition. “Ted, thesh is Panchito.”
The slight Mexican man was even younger than Ted and Chris.
“Get up!” Chris shouted as he grabbed the man’s arm. “Get dressed and get the fuck out of here.”
“I don’ thenk he unerstood you, he doesn’ speak mush Englesh.”
“My God, Cat. You’re soused.” Ted dragged her from the bed.
In her bare feet, she was still taller than Ted.
“Make some coffee,” he said to Chris, then marched Catrina towards the bathroom.
“What have you done, Cat?” He couldn’t decide if he was more concerned or angry.
“I’m shulightly anebriated.”
“You’ve fallen off the Goddamned wagon.”
“It wash jush one teeny Martooni.” She giggled.
He turned on the shower and shoved Catrina in.
“Hey, ish cold.” She tried to come back out.
Ted shoved her back in and stepped in with her. He held her under the cold water, grabbed her hair and pushed her face into the stream.
“We’re going to get you sobered up.”
“I wash havin’ a gud time.”
“Good time, my ass. What are you? A drunken slut?”
Ted was shivering before he let her out of the shower. He grabbed a towel and wiped her dry. Tears streaked down her cheeks.
“Ted, oh Ted.” She threw her arms around him and clung on like her life depended on it. “I got her killed. I got the chief killed. Can you ever forgive me?”
Ted wrapped a towel around her
head.
“Let’s get you dressed, then we can talk. Let’s see if Chris has coffee yet.”
They emerged into the bedroom and Ted sat her down on the bed.
Chris entered the room with a steaming cup.
“Here, drink this.”
She sat on the bed, like a zombie and sipped from the cup.
Ted stood unable to believe his eyes. He better get her dressed.
He went to the chest of drawers and found some underwear. He tossed them to her.
“Here get dressed.”
He found a T-shirt and a pair of Bermuda shorts in another drawer.
“Come on, Cat. Cover yourself up.”
Cat sat on the bed and stared into infinity, tears rolling down her cheeks.
Ted sighed, took the panties and slipped them over her feet.
It only took a few minutes to get her decent.
Cat didn’t make a sound during the process. It was like dressing a mannequin.
“Cat?” Ted slapped her cheeks lightly. “Come out of there. We have to talk.”
The coffee cup slipped out of her hands and spilled all over the bed.
“Chris, help me get her up. Let’s walk her around.”
They took her by the arms and lifted her to her feet. They put their arms around her and walked her about the room.
On the third circuit, Catrina started to come out of her trance.
“Ted, Chris. Oh God. I’m so sorry . . .”
“What happened?” Chris asked.
Catrina broke down in tears, her knees buckled and it was all the men could do to hold her up.
“She’s . . . dead . . . Ted. I killed your . . . sister.”
Ted and Chris exchanged glances. She didn’t know.
“She’s not dead, Cat.” Ted eased her into a chair. “We just put her on a plane home.”
“No. I saw her. She didn’t have a pulse. It can’t be.”
“She was shot up pretty badly,” Chris said. “But the doctors worked a miracle. They put her back together. We just put her on a Mercy Flight jet to Seattle.”
“Mama will meet her there with an ambulance. They’ll take her to Virginia Mason. The doctor was very optimistic that she’d recover.”
“Oh God, oh God.” Catrina buried her face in her hands. “Thank God. But how . . . ?”
Chris dropped to his knees so he was eye level with her. “The doctor said there was an aid car right there when it happened. If they hadn’t been there right away . . . “
She reached for Ted’s hand. “Oh, Ted. Can you ever forgive me?”
“Don’t worry about that now. We have to get you back on your feet again.” He pulled her hands away from her face and looked deep into her eyes. “I need you here, Cat. I can’t do this without you.”
“Huh?”
Chris looked up at Ted. “I think we need to get some food in her. Something to absorb the alcohol.”
“Right.” Ted remembered way too many nights after a party when he had to sober a team mate up before bed call. “See what you can find in the kitchen.”
Cat turned her wet eyes to Ted.
“You’re really lucky, Cat,” Ted said. “If this had turned out differently, I’d probably have killed you with my bare hands.” His rage seethed just below the surface.
“Ted, I never meant for this to happen. We were in the police station, for God’s sake.”
“I know.” He put his arms around her and pulled her into a hug. “I know. We’ll get through this.”
Chris reappeared at the bedroom door. “Grub’s on. Can you make it to our dining room?”
Chris lifted Catrina up and they stumbled to the dining room in Maria’s condo together.
The table was spread with a platter of pancakes, a plate full of bacon and another of eggs. Sliced cantaloupe and watermelon filled a brightly painted bowl.
“Let’s get something in you.” Chris lowered her into a chair.
Chapter 37
“Jefe, I have a tip for you,” Ted said into his cell phone.
“Sí, what do you know?” General Lazaro’s voice was more rumble than speech.
“The Baja Cartel has a shipment crossing the border tonight in Tijuana.” Ted sat at the breakfast bar in Maria’s condo. “They are using a sophisticated tunnel. I can give you the location on your side. I’m not sure where it comes out on the American’s side.”
“That is no problem. I’ll call my contact at the DEA. They’ll have drones in the air all over the border. They’ll see them coming out.”
“I think the shipment will cross the border around midnight, but I’m not positive. You might want to stake it out an hour or two earlier to make sure you get there first.”
“No problem. We will be ready.”
Chris plopped a cerveza down in front of Ted, then handed a glass of iced tea to Catrina.
Ted could hear the anxiousness in Lazaro’s voice. He was like a kid on Christmas Eve.
“Okay, you ready to write down the location?”
Ted gave him the location and said goodbye. Rudi was exceptionally useful in finding out when and where El Pozolero’s drugs were being shipped. Already Ted, Chris and Catrina had intercepted three shipments and passed four more on to Lazaro and the DEA. They had to be hurting El Pozolero. Bad.
He turned to his friends. “Well, that’s that.”
Catrina took a sip out of her glass. A look of incredible sadness crossed her face. She wiped away a tear. “You sure he’s going to take them out?”
“He hasn’t failed yet.” Ted pulled on his long neck. “The guy is incorruptible. If you held a gun to his daughter’s head, he wouldn’t flinch.”
“What are we going to do about the transfer at El Triunfo tonight?” Chris asked.
“That’s a bit of a problem,” Catrina said. “Since we’ve been intercepting his shipments, he’s increased his guard. I don’t think the three of us are going to be enough anymore.”
“How many more men will we need?” Ted asked.
“I’m thinking about six. I want snipers in the hills and at least two more men on the ground.”
Ted walked onto the deck and stared out to the bay for a minute. “I don’t think that will be an issue. I’ll call Flaco. I’m sure he will loan us the men.”
“Better make sure they know what they’re doing. The Cartel are no pushovers.”
Ted pulled the phone from his hip pocket.
“Hola, Flaco? Soy Ted.” Flaco didn’t speak a word of English. “I need some help.”
“¿Sí? What do you need?”
Ted walked back into the condo’s living room. “I need six men. Good shots. Men who can handle themselves in a fight. We’re going to hit one of El Pozolero’s shipments tonight.”
Flaco spit. “El Pozolero? Bah. I hope we put him in his grave. I have six men.”
“Can they take care of themselves?”
“Do not worry, my friend. They are all ex-special forces. They could shoot the eyes out of a flea at a hundred paces.”
“Great. Meet us at eight tonight at the Piano Museum in El Triunfo.”
Ted gave a few further instructions and hung up.
“All arranged.”
“You sure about this?” Chris asked.
“Flaco hates El Pozolero worse than we do. They’ll be there and they’ll be good men.”
****
Roberto Lazaro sat in the passenger seat of a two-ton Army truck. In the back, under a canvas cover a dozen Marines in full combat attire waited for his signal.
What was taking them so long? Lazaro and his crew had been waiting for over two hours.
Was Higuera’s information bad? He had been one hundred percent so far. No one could keep up that average for very long.
On the other side of the border, DEA Agent in Charge Robert Gray sat in the concrete bunker looking over the shoulders of the men operating the drones. Gray was not a patient man. This wait was driving him crazy.
He picked up his cell pho
ne and speed dialed. “Roberto. Anything yet?”
“Bob? No. Nothing here. I’m beginning to think that it is not happening tonight.”
“Shit.” Gray pulled a pack of cigarettes from his jacket pocket. “This CI’s been accurate before?”
“This is the first time he’s given us bad intel . . . wait a minute.” Lazaro pulled down his night vision goggles. “I see movement. I’ll get back to you.”
He hung up and talked into the microphone suspended from his ear. “Everybody. Alert. I see something.”
An SUV with two men in it pulled up to the old warehouse building. They got out and surveyed the surroundings. When they didn’t find anything out of the ordinary, they entered the rundown warehouse.
Lazaro waited. What was taking so long?
A bread delivery truck pulled into the otherwise empty parking lot. It backed up to the loading dock. Two men with automatic rifles jumped out of the truck and took up defensive positions.
The rolling door on the loading dock came open and two men with assault weapons stepped out.
They surveyed the scene. All seemed safe enough.
Several boys emerged from the back of the truck carrying bundles.
“Hold your positions,” Lazaro said into his microphone.
He picked up his cell and called the DEA agent. “Bob? They’re here. They’re unloading the truck.”
“Hot damn. We’ve been looking for this tunnel for two years. Tonight we’re going to take down the biggest smuggling route into the U.S.A.”
Lazaro sat and watched the boys unload the truck.
Finally, all was done. The men on the loading dock pulled down the door and hopped down to the parking lot. The men from the truck climbed back in and started the truck.
“NOW!” Lazaro shouted.
The Army truck roared down and sealed off the only road leading out of the parking lot. A dozen Marines concealed in the brush opened fire.
The narcos never had a chance. None of them even had time to raise a weapon.
Lazaro walked among the bodies stretched out on the pavement. “Manuel Ortiz,” he said as he kicked at one. “He will give us no more trouble.”
Gray waited at the monitors, watching for the boys to emerge. A delivery van came bumping down the dirt road that ran along the border fence.
The Cartel Strikes Back: The Ted Higuera Series, Book 5 Page 23