by David Nees
“No you don’t,” he said as he grabbed her, knocking the gun out of her hand.
“Let me go,” Miranda shouted. “Rodrigo will kill you!”
“No he won’t.”
Carlos had one arm around her waist and the other fending off her wild swings at his face. He lifted her up and started down the hall. He’d throw her in the trunk when he got to the car.
Rodrigo saw Carlos’s car as he drove down the street. A cold chill surged through him. Why would he be here? Carlos knew Rodrigo didn’t want him around Miranda. He was up to no good. He pulled up behind the car and jumped out with his .45 in his hand. He noticed the broken gate as he entered the yard.
Just then Carlos came out of the front door. He had Miranda in a choke hold and his gun pointed at her head.
“Put down your gun or she will die,” he shouted to Rodrigo.
“Let her go and I’ll let you live,” Rodrigo replied, trying to remain calm.
Carlos laughed. “You don’t have any bargaining to do. Miranda’s coming with me. If you want her back you’ll tell Don Hector that you don’t want to take over and that you’re happy to have me lead here in Chihuahua.”
“Never. You don’t know what you’re doing.”
“But I have Miranda. So I know you’ll do what I say.”
They stood tense for a moment as both men assessed their situation.
Carlos continued, “When you turn over power to me, you can have your sister back.”
While the standoff was going on in Rodrigo’s front yard, Dan turned down the street. He saw the two cars parked in front of the house. He stopped the pickup and looked carefully. He could see Rodrigo with his gun drawn. He was staring at someone or something, Dan couldn’t see clearly. It didn’t look good.
Dan backed up and headed uphill to the next block. He turned left and then left again, going down the side street with the garage. Dan pulled in and ran over to the stash of weapons. He pulled out his Barrett sniper rifle and checked the magazine. He stepped outside of the garage and looked around. Across the street was another partly completed house. The first floor was finished. If it had a roof, Dan would be high enough to be able to look down on the front yard and see what was going on.
He ran across the street and into the house. The first floor was enclosed; there was a roof. He ran up the stairs. When he reached the top, he crawled across the flat roof to the edge which was slightly built up as a parapet. He found a broken section of the parapet and peaked through the gap. Below and across the street he could see Rodrigo and another man. The man had an arm around Miranda’s neck and his pistol was pressed up against the side of her head. There was talking back and forth. Dan couldn’t hear what was said but it looked like a standoff. Neither man was giving way. Dan slipped his rifle through the gap and centered his sights on the gunman’s head.
It was a dangerous shot. Shooting someone in that position could trigger a reactive jerk in their body causing them to pull the trigger even as they were dying. The result could be Miranda’s death. Dan knew if he could hit the base of the gunman’s skull at the brain stem, that one shot would cut off all activity at once. No secondary reaction, no reflexive response. It was lights out instantly and the body would just collapse without the pistol firing.
He steadied his breathing. The target was about sixty yards, not a long shot, but he had to be perfect, dead center on the spot. There was no margin for error and that made it hard. He adjusted the scope for the close shot; then braced the rifle against the opening and let it settle on the target. The reticle centered on the spot at the base of the skull. Miranda was a full head shorter than the man holding her so he could get a clear look at his head. The shot would enter around jaw level and hit the spot on exit. Slowly Dan’s world collapsed into that familiar tunnel. This was what he had trained years for. This was what he was good at. He could see the thread stretching from the muzzle of the Barrett to the target. The shooter and target were locked in that deadly connection.
The standoff could not last. Rodrigo was going to have to give in and allow Miranda to be taken. There was no reason to wait. Dan’s target lock was complete, his breathing and heart rate slowed. As he exhaled half of his breath, he paused and in between his heart beats, Dan gently squeezed the trigger. The gun gave a solid whomp with the suppressor. In that same instant the gunman’s head snapped back, his arms dropped and his body collapsed to the ground. The pistol went off as it hit the ground. The shot slammed into the concrete wall.
Rodrigo spun around, looking up the side street. Dan slowly rose from his position and waved at him. Then he disappeared as he dropped down the stairs. Miranda stood stunned for a moment, then ran to Rodrigo and hugged him.
“What happened? Was there a shot?” she asked.
“It was Steve,” Rodrigo replied. “From up there.” He pointed to the house across the side street.
“You came just in time. He was going to kidnap me. Why would he risk doing that?” Miranda asked.
“You heard him. He wanted to use you as leverage against me. He figured that Don Hector would support me in the end.”
Miranda looked back at Carlos’s body. The .338 Lapua round had destroyed his face. It smashed into the jaw and there was a large, bloody, open hole at the back of his skull.
Just then Dan came through the gate. Rodrigo turned to him with his arm still around Miranda.
“You took a big chance. Miranda could have been killed by Carlos’s reflex.”
“Not as big as risk as you think. If you know where to shoot there’s no reflex reaction.”
“Thank you,” Miranda said.
“You’re welcome. It didn’t look like Rodrigo was going to negotiate any good result from where I was watching. Rodrigo wouldn’t dare shoot for your sake. You would have wound up being taken by this man.” Dan turned to the corpse for the first time. “Who is this anyway?”
“A rival for control over the Chihuahua gang. Don Hector will probably put me in charge which makes helping you even more troublesome.”
“And what’s your future there? How many more years will you have before you get killed? And what becomes of Miranda and Solana?”
Rodrigo shrugged.
“I predict a short career.” Dan gestured towards Carlos. “What do we do with him?”
Rodrigo shook his head. As if coming back to the reality of the moment, “We take him to the dump and burn him and his car.”
“We better do it quickly.”
Rodrigo dug the keys out of Carlos’s pocket and the two men carried the body and dropped it in the trunk.
“I’ll follow you in the pickup, Dan said.
“Take the Nissan. It’s right here.”
Rodrigo grabbed a gas can out of the garage. They drove to an isolated spot at the dump. After pulling the body out of the trunk, they stuffed it in the back seat and splashed the interior with gasoline. Rodrigo lit a rag and threw it through the window.
“A fitting end for a bad man.” He turned to Dan, “Let’s go.”
When they got back, they sat down in the kitchen with Miranda. Solana was in her room occupied by the internet while supposedly doing homework.
“I guess I owe you my life,” Miranda said softly.
Dan was silent for a moment. “Maybe you do. I know Rodrigo does. And that was under Tlayolotl’s orders.”
“So what are you going to do now?” Miranda asked her brother.
“I will tell the men what happened. Only I’ll leave out Steve’s part. It will make me more powerful and make anyone from Carlos’s side think twice before challenging me.”
Chapter 35
___________________________________
H ector had finished meeting with the aides to the president. He had met them in Jorge’s mansion in Mexico City. The government was concerned about the unrest; a lot of civilians could get killed if the gangs started warring against each other.
“We thought Mendoza had this all under control. We supported him so that things would
remain calm,” one of the aides said.
“That is what we were doing. Then someone assassinated Don Jorge. They also killed two other cartel leaders and now the others don’t know who to trust.”
“Look, we supported you in order to keep things peaceful. We’ll continue to support you, but you must not let this break out into a civil war among the cartels.”
“You keep pressure on Los Zetas and Tijuana. They lost their bosses and are looking for revenge,” Hector replied.
“Can you handle this?” another aide asked.
“Be careful how you talk,” answered Hector. “Remember where all your money comes from. I can handle this. We’re sitting here, in Don Jorge’s mansion, are we not? I am assuming power and control. Everyone will see.”
“I hope you do.”
Hector pointed his finger at the aide. “Can you find who shot Don Jorge and the others? No one seems to be able to solve this killing.”
“The highest level of investigation is going on. We have both the Federal police and the military working on it.”
Hector stood up. It was useless to waste more of his time on these men. They would not find the shooter, not if he couldn’t. They might be more successful in keeping pressure on the other two cartels so they couldn’t strike back at him.
“Go do what you can with Los Zetas and Tijuana.” With that Hector strode out of the room leaving his men to escort the government officials out of the mansion.
He had to get back to Chihuahua soon and get those terrorists out of his hair and over the border. He would continue importing drugs from Tariq, but he was not interested in more terrorists; not unless it became much more lucrative.
He had not been able to convince Jorge that the terrorist side of the business was not worth pursuing. Jorge was always looking to diversify. Hector did have to admit, though. that his decision to move into meth was insightful. It was easier to smuggle and aggressively more addictive. It promised even greater profits. The Sinaloa cartel was taking in three billion dollars a year and Hector didn’t see how smuggling terrorists could create a huge increase in that income. Still Jorge had been right before, so Hector didn’t dismiss the idea completely. Yes, it was time to get back to Chihuahua finish this project. As much as he disliked him, he would still keep a channel open to Tariq. After he got the control over the situation here in Mexico, he could consider what other moves he should make.
He had lost Ramón and the rest of the pursuit crew and he wanted answers about what happened. Control over Chihuahua also needed to be solidified. Rodrigo was lost along with Ramón and Carlos had taken charge. Hector knew him only a little and was not impressed by what he saw.
Before Rodrigo left to meet with the other gang members, he and Dan went over the plan. They had walked up to the garage to ensure privacy. “Are you going to do this tonight?”
“I must. You said Hector might be coming back tomorrow or the next day. It’s best if all this is completed before he gets here.”
“What about Tariq? He’s the one in charge of the terrorists.”
“If he’s caught in the explosions, so be it. I’m not worried about him, only the men who are going to try to enter the U.S.”
They were sitting on some boxes in a corner. Dan had the phones out.
“The cell phones are ready. Five of them get attached to the trucks and wired into the igniters. I’ve got zip ties to attach everything. The five sending phones are programmed. Each with one of the trigger phone’s number. When I press the five green ‘connect’ buttons…boom, boom, boom. Five times.”
“It sounds too easy,” Rodrigo said.
“It’s never as easy as it sounds. But the hardest thing will be attaching the C-4 and phones. The rest should go easier.”
“What do Miranda and I do after that? Hector will be coming. He will not be happy.”
“I thought he didn’t care about the terrorists.”
“He doesn’t but he cares about things going properly. And the terrorists getting blown up, that’s a fuck up. He’ll be after my ass.”
“Maybe you and Miranda and the kid should disappear after tonight.”
“I thought you were going to help us.”
“I will. But you have to decide if you want to go to the U.S. You and Miranda need to make that decision now because things are going to happen fast after tonight.”
Rodrigo turned to leave the garage, “I’ll talk with Miranda.”
After Rodrigo left, Dan took two extra burner phones he had purchased and went across the street to sit on the roof of the unfinished house.
He punched in Jane’s cell number.
“Who is this?” Jane asked when she answered the phone.
“Your favorite employee,” Dan replied.
There was a pause for a moment. “Where are you? Why aren’t you using the satellite phone?”
“I’ve got cell reception where I am and I don’t want to be tracked.”
“No one’s tracking you.”
“Maybe, but something’s not right. There’s a leak somewhere. The pickup team was neutralized, probably dead and some gang members substituted. They almost got me.”
“There can’t be a leak.”
“Don’t give me that,” Dan said. “How did the gang know where to meet me and how did they get the phone I was calling?” A tone of accusation filled his voice.
Jane was silent. Finally she replied, “I don’t know.”
“It’s a leak, straight to the cartel. I don’t know who to trust.”
“You can trust me.”
“Can I? I almost got killed and now I’m still stuck here in Mexico.”
“Where are you? I can send someone to come and extract you.”
“No. We’re not playing that game all over again. Besides I have more to do.”
“You’ve done enough. Hell, you’ve got the State Department and the Mexican government all in a lather over the multiple killings. Things have blown up in our face here and Henry’s boss is looking for an explanation. This may go all the way up to the DDO.”
“All the more reason for me to remain unfound.”
“Why couldn’t you just do the job I sent you to do? Why improvise?”
“That’s what you wanted when you hired me, someone who could and would improvise. It was a target rich environment and I decided to act on it. When it all settles down, there’ll be more confusion and disruption. That was the goal, so don’t complain.”
“I’m not complaining, but it makes things hard on my end.”
“That’s your job; you have to deal with it. I’m doing my job.”
“I just didn’t expect the State Department to get all riled up. It complicated things.” She paused. “So why did you call?”
“You have to do something for me.”
“Besides keep your ass out of hot water and keep this program alive?”
“Yeah. I need you to get three people into the states. I need them to go into the witness protection program.”
There was silence on the other end. Finally Jane asked, “Who is it?”
“The guy is a local or regional lieutenant in the Sinaloa cartel. It’s him, his sister and her twelve-year-old daughter. He’s going to help me and he has a lot of information. But if he helps me, his future here is tenuous at best. All three will probably be killed—”
“I don’t know.”
“He helps me, we take out more bad guys and you get some good intel.”
“The program is run by the Feds, the FBI. I can’t promise anything. I’d need to know who it is. They’ll want to know who it is.”
“No time for that. I need you to trust me. You can stash them somewhere and then negotiate with the Feds.”
“Give me something to work with, something for Henry at least.”
Dan thought for a moment. “I’ll call you back.” He hung up the phone and grabbed the other one from his pocket. Jane may not be tracking him, but others would be.
Jane picked up on
the first ring. “Changed phones?”
“Just listen. I’ll say this quick and then I need a quick answer…from you, not Henry. I don’t have time for you to consult with him.”
“I’m listening.”
“Your worry about the cartels smuggling terrorists into the U.S.? It’s real. There’s sixty waiting to head across the border any day. Jorge was a step further along than you expected. I can eliminate them. I’ve got it planned, but I have to act right away, even tonight. Once my contact helps me do this, he’s got no future here. Next, what you don’t realize is that Jorge’s second-in-command, Hector Ortega, has already taken over. He’s moved into Jorge’s mansion and is contacting the other cartels. He’s going to tamp down what you hoped to start, so all this work won’t make any difference. But I can take him out before I exfiltrate and there’s no one ready at the next level to take over. That will really sow seeds of confusion.”
There was no response from Jane’s end.
“So? Can you get my guy and his family out? I can’t do this without his help.”
“I’m thinking. I can’t imagine you can get to Ortega at this point. He’s going to be well guarded.”
“If I can find him, I can take him out. It’s worth a try anyway…as long as I’m down here.”
“I don’t know. I don’t want you to get killed. You’ve already done so much.”
“Damn it Jane,” Dan said. He squeezed the phone in frustration. “You told me to improvise, you said you were a fighter and you wanted a warrior to take the fight to the bad guys. Well that’s what I’m doing. Don’t shy away from it. There’s no sense in having me out in the field if you won’t support me. Hell, there’s no sense in having this program if we don’t take risks and try to maximize our effect.” Dan paused. “Isn’t this is what I’m here for, disruption? Are you in? Or was all that talk in Brooklyn just that, talk?”
Jane sighed. “I’m in. I’ll tell Henry after we’re done. I just don’t want you to die trying to do too much. It all seems like it’s out of control.”
“Good. I’ll have my guy go into hiding and I’ll get back in touch with how you’ll get him out. Try to keep things more secret than before. Check your staff. If there aren’t any leaks from you or them, better check your office and phones for bugs. And don’t worry, I’m used to chaos.