“Sounds good,” Jose said, typing on the station’s keyboard.
HoseA: No need to take out the trash yet. Keep a close eye on new faces. Expect more visitors. Will pay extra $$$$ plus unlimited tunnel access to keep our secret.
“We’re not blowing the tunnel?”
“They can have it,” said Jose. “Without access to our drone feeds, California Border Division will shut his ass down within the week. He has to know there’s more to the crossings than meets the eye. He’s greedy, not stupid. He won’t sell us out unless the Russians get to him. I’m just hoping to buy a buffer until tomorrow morning.”
Spydr520: Consider it done. Anyone who talks is a dead man.
“A lot of good that does us,” said Baker. “We need them dead before they talk.”
Jose nodded.
HoseA: Much appreciated. Keeping these gringos away keeps business and $$$$ flowing. Keep me posted.
Spydr520: I’m on it.
“I bet he is,” Baker said. “I’ll brief the external security team again, and triple our offer to the few independent contacts we have floating around the city.”
“Keep an eye and ear on our guests. Their true long-term intentions will determine how we proceed.”
CHAPTER 15
Keira tensed when the doorknob clicked, looking instinctively for a weapon. She had the choice between a foldable aluminum shovel taken from her rucksack and a foldable serrated knife she had carried in her back pocket since they’d fled her house in San Diego. She could barely open the knife without cutting herself, so she grabbed the shovel off the dirt floor. It extended her reach and felt heavy enough to hurt badly if smashed down on someone’s skull.
Even as she gripped the hollow metal handle, she couldn’t believe her thought process had defaulted to cracking someone’s head open with shovel. “Welcome to your new life,” she muttered to herself as she lifted it high behind her and squared off against the wall beside the door.
When Nathan stepped through it, she lowered the shovel and tried to conceal it behind her leg, but his eyes had already widened.
“Planning on digging your way out?” he said, quickly shutting the door behind him.
“Funny,” she said, dropping the shovel.
“Dad!” yelled Owen, shooting past her to hug Nathan.
“Hey, buddy, you’re awake!”
“We’ve been feasting on MREs,” Keira said. “I’m developing an unusual fondness for chili mac.”
“I thought you liked the brisket?” Nathan said over Owen’s head.
“I’m addicted to the jalapeño cheese in the chili mac.”
Nathan pulled her into a group hug, holding them tight. After several seconds, he eased up and asked Owen how he was feeling.
“Tired.”
“Me, too,” said Nathan. “I feel like I’ve been run over.”
“A Javelin missile will do that to you,” said his son, eliciting a brief round of laughter.
Keira wasn’t sure why she laughed. Probably because their situation defied any sort of logic she could muster—and because she’d never heard of a Javelin missile before one hit them.
“So?” she said. “What’s the plan?”
“We’re leaving after dark. Sounds like Jose will arrange a way to get out of Mexicali.”
“Then what?”
“We head for Nogales. Cross into Arizona and make our way north.”
“Alone?” she said, cocking her head.
“No. David’s coming along.”
“That’s not what I meant. Are they going to provide us with an escort?”
“David didn’t seem too keen on dragging the CLM along with us. He said we might attract too much attention from Border Patrol drones.”
“What does that mean?”
“I’m not totally sure, but he made it sound like the drones might fire on a group of vehicles inside Mexico. Probably drug war related.”
“I guess,” she said, shaking her head. “Do you think we’ll be safe on our own?”
“Jose seemed to think so. He said our biggest problem would be Tucson.”
“Tucson? I know it’s hit rough times, but how bad can it be?”
“I wish I knew. I haven’t talked to anyone there for a few years.”
“Everyone we knew left,” she said. “Well, at least we know our way around that area. We can avoid the trouble spots.”
“Jose made it sound like the whole place was trouble.”
“We should try to get in touch with the Marines in Yuma,” said Owen. “I bet they’d take care of us.”
“I wish we could, Owen,” said Nathan, “but the situation is too complicated right now. Our best bet is to disappear until everything gets sorted out.”
“Is Mr. Quinn ever going back to the Marines?” said Owen.
“I imagine he will, but for now he’s going with us. We’re headed north to find Grandma and Grandpa. David’s dad is probably with them already. Everybody is hiding for now.”
“He doesn’t have a mom?”
“If I remember correctly, she passed away a few years ago.”
“And now Miss Alison,” said Owen, lowering his head.
Keira held her son close, pressing his head into her shoulder. “We’re all very sad about what happened,” she whispered, squeezing him tighter. “Nothing is going to happen to either of us. We’re going to do exactly like your dad said—hide somewhere far away until it’s safe. Somewhere with swimming pools.”
“Really?” said Owen, pulling his head back a few inches.
“Do you even remember what a swimming pool is like?”
“Not really. Like the ocean?”
“A lot warmer,” she said.
“And cleaner,” added Nathan. “No trash washing up everywhere.”
They hadn’t been to the beach for so long, she’d almost forgotten about the continuous flow of plastic refuse assaulting the West Coast. Twice the size of Texas, the Great Pacific Garbage Patch floating between Hawaii and California provided a ceaseless barrage against California’s shores, literally covering the beaches after a strong easterly wind or an offshore weather system. Even on a good day, floating debris was visible in small patches beyond the breaking waves of the surf zone, keeping a small army of volunteer beachcombers busy from dawn to dusk.
“Even better,” she said. “We’ll take you to a lake.”
“Have I been to a lake before?” said Owen.
“You have. In Idaho—at Grandma and Grandpa’s. You were really little.”
“I think I remember that.”
She hugged him again, not sure what to say, or if she could say anything without her voice cracking. Her eyes moistened, but they needed to keep Owen as calm and self-confident in this situation as possible. Seeing your parents break down in front of you was not a confidence booster. Nathan looked the same way, rubbing his eyes while Owen’s back was to him. The feeling passed a few moments later, and she let her son go.
“So,” she said. “What do we do between now and then? We have close to three hours to kill.”
“I don’t know about you,” said Nathan, “but I could eat another MRE and take a nap.”
“He’s not serious,” said Keira to their son.
“He looks serious,” he replied.
Nathan had started riffling through the pile of sealed meals, holding one up. “Chili mac. I’m judging by its frequent appearance that it’s not a big hit.”
Keira snatched the MRE away from him. “Hands off my jalapeño cheese.”
A knock on the door froze them all in place. Her eye went to the shovel next to the mattress.
“Come in,” said Nathan.
The door opened, revealing the woman she’d seen standing guard the night before and a man she didn’t recognize. The woman nodded at them without smiling.
“We brought your weapons and gear, plus some general supplies. Fill your hydration bladders from the water jugs we gave you earlier. I set a few more jugs outside the do
or if you need them. Stuff any remaining MREs in your backpacks, though I highly suggest you finish those off here. You’ll be hungry again in an hour or two, and there’s no sense carrying extra weight around town. You have a walk ahead of you tonight.”
“How far?” said Keira.
“I don’t know yet. You’ll be taken to one of our vehicle stashes and escorted to the edge of the town. My guess is they’ll take you out Route 2 until you hit the Route 20 interchange. We rarely have trouble out there.”
“Is that because you have an arrangement with the cartels or because it’s a safer area?” said Nathan.
“Both,” she said, neglecting to elaborate.
“How much longer will that arrangement remain in place?” he asked. “You know, with your permanent departure imminent.”
What was he talking about?
“Long enough to get everyone out of here,” said the woman, unslinging a suppressed rifle from her shoulder and holding it out to Nathan.
It looked like the same rifle he’d used in the desert, except it had been fitted with a suppressor. He accepted the weapon, checking the safety before sliding it over his shoulder. A compact MP-20 submachine gun appeared next, which Keira took out of the woman’s hands. It felt unnervingly familiar in her hands after all the time she’d spent with it over the past three days. Another thing she could add to her never-in-a-million-years checklist. She verified that the safety was engaged before placing it on the mattress.
She saw Owen’s eyes follow the weapon to its resting place. “Don’t touch that,” she said to him.
“I need to be able to shoot, too,” said Owen.
“Just—don’t touch the guns. Please.”
She wasn’t ready for her son to learn how to handle firearms, though she suspected it was inevitable given their circumstances. In all truth, he probably knew more about guns than she and Nathan combined. He’d acquired quite an education playing video games outside the house. Still, she didn’t want him carrying a gun.
“I know how to use one,” he pressed. “It’s not exactly complicated.”
“Listen to your mother, Owen,” said Nathan. “And trust me on something. It’s far more complicated than you think.”
She glanced at her husband and mouthed, “Thank you,” receiving a quick wink in return before an unzipped brown duffel bag slid a few feet into the room. Nathan knelt and started digging through the contents.
“You’ll find spare mags for your weapons in the bag, along with your helmets. We replaced Ms. Fisher’s helmet with one of our own, since we don’t have the capability to repair the integrated night-vision system. You’ll have to make do with a slightly older-school rig. Still turns night into day, so you’ll be fine. We’ve thrown in some medical kit items and other gear to round out your backpacks. Food and water for your road trip north is already pre-staged in the vehicle. If you can think of anything else, don’t hesitate to ask.”
“Thank you,” said Keira, getting a curt nod from the woman.
“We arrived with an encrypted satphone?” said Nathan.
Keira had almost forgotten about that.
“Captain Quinn’s satphone will be returned outside town,” said the woman.
“All right,” said Nathan. “Thank you. We really appreciate the help. Were you given an exact time for our departure?”
“Nine. Jose would like all of you geared up and waiting in the operations center at eight fifteen, to go over the route and procedures.”
“We’ll be there,” said Nathan.
When the door shut, Keira turned to her husband. “Are they abandoning this place permanently?”
“I need to bring you up to speed on something. Jose sent most of his people north a few days ago.”
“How does that make sense?” she said.
When Nathan finished recounting the details of his recent meeting with Jose and David, Keira had a sinking feeling in a stomach that she hadn’t thought could go any lower. Jose had gone rogue? This changed everything.
“I think we need to be as far away from Jose and his plan as possible.”
“I didn’t make any promises,” he said. “Our plan is still intact. Meet up with my parents and hide. Whatever David has planned is his own business. If I can think of anything that might help Jose’s crew—”
“You can’t afford to get involved with him. Our situation is precarious enough, and I don’t see that changing for a long time.”
“I know. I know. But if I can help from a distance—”
“With all of the technology out there, distance is irrelevant. We have Cerberus hunting us, not to mention every cop in the country looking for you. There’s no margin for error. One slipup, electronically, and they could find us,” she said, putting a hand on Owen’s shoulder.
“Why are the cops looking for Dad?” said Owen.
Keira wasn’t sure what to say. A few hours before leaving Camp Pendleton in David’s convoy, they’d learned Nathan was a suspect in two murders that he couldn’t possibly have committed. They’d decided to keep this from Owen, since he was dealing with enough stress at the time. Things had moved along pretty much nonstop since then. She gave Nathan a nearly imperceptible nod. It was time Owen truly understood what they were up against.
“I don’t have all of the details, buddy, but it looks like this Cerberus group framed me for two murders that took place while we were packing to leave. We have to be very careful wherever we go, until I can clear my name.”
“Why would they do that?” Owen said. “Why do they hate you so much?”
“I saw something they didn’t want anyone to see.”
“Like somebody getting killed?” said Owen.
“No. I saw two military stealth boats pull divers out of the ocean close to Del Mar nuclear triad plant about a half hour before something at the plant went wrong. I think the plant was sabotaged by the divers—they snuck into it and purposefully fouled it up—and Cerberus, the people after us, don’t want me telling anyone what I saw. Framing me for murder ruins my credibility and puts every cop in the country on the lookout for me.”
“Why can’t you just promise you won’t tell anyone?”
“I wish it was that easy,” said Nathan. “I’d gladly make that promise to keep us safe. I just don’t think these are the kind of people who make deals like that.”
Keira wasn’t sure where her husband would take this conversation, or how much her son could process.
“Why can’t we go to the police and tell them what happened?” Owen asked. “We can tell them you couldn’t have killed anyone. Mr. Quinn could do that, too.”
“We can’t afford to show our faces anywhere for now. The police would separate us and throw me in jail. They can’t protect us from these people.”
Keira needed to redirect the conversation. “Owen, honey, we just need to hide from everyone until the authorities can sort it out on their own.”
“What if they never sort it out?”
“These things get sorted out, eventually,” she said, giving Nathan a quick glance.
Their son looked sadly doubtful. “It might take a little while, buddy, but we’ll figure it out. We have some connections through Grandpa that should help speed it along. For now, we’re going off the grid, with people we trust. Family.”
“We can always have them meet us somewhere south of here,” said Keira.
“I don’t see any way for my parents to make that trip without drawing the wrong kind of attention. Same for us. David made a good point about Americans not being very welcome in Mexico or Central America. Outside the established tourist areas, we’d come under scrutiny. Possibly be harassed.”
“I know. I just like the idea of a little separation from this,” she said. “I don’t get the impression Jose is going to leave us alone anytime soon. He obviously thinks you’re the key to his plan.”
“I don’t see why,” said Nathan. “He knows everything I know.”
“That doesn’t matter. If he
thinks you’re important, he’s not going to let you slip away. You need to keep that in mind until we’re safe.”
CHAPTER 16
Leeds created a visor with his hand, squinting through his sunglasses at the horizon beyond the runway. A white speck hovered in the distance, just above the shimmering desert horizon. The asphalt runway apron radiated heat in undulating waves, baking his face. He couldn’t wait to get back into the air-conditioned vehicles waiting behind them.
“Why are we cooking to death out here?” said Ray Olmos, standing to his immediate left.
“I did a little digging. These guys are hard-core. Jumping out of an air-conditioned SUV at the last minute won’t make a good impression.”
Leeds watched Olmos take a sip from the hydration pack attached to his vest, shifting the weight off his injured leg. He’d bounced back quickly enough from the mess created by the failed kidnapping attempt outside Nathan Fisher’s house, but he was visibly uncomfortable. Leeds had expressed his concerns about bringing him down to Mexicali, but Flagg had insisted, given the complexities of dealing with the Sinaloa cartel.
Olmos had spent twelve years with SEAL Team Four, his entire career focused on operations within Central and South America. He spoke the core Spanish language fluently and was passably familiar with many of the regional colloquialisms and dialect differences among the regions. On top of that, he looked the part. Even Leeds had a hard time arguing with Flagg’s logic. Most importantly, Olmos’s expertise would allow Leeds to focus on the Russians—arguably the more difficult task.
“Who gives a shit what these mercs think?” said Olmos.
“I do. These mercs give zero fucks about anything but money, and Petrov is paying them a fortune for this job. We’re just a means to an end for them. We need to give them the distinct impression that we’ll take a few of them with us if they decide we’re no longer important.”
Rogue State (Fractured State Series Book 2) Page 9