As boarding time approached, Eva ordered one more while Len chased his down with a whiskey. By the time they were on the plane and in their seats, they were ready to sleep.
They’d checked in within ten minutes of each other so as to appear to be traveling alone. It meant they were sitting apart, too, but as they didn’t plan to discuss the mission in front of nosy passengers, it was no big deal.
Once the doors were shut and the plane began to taxi, Eva put the complimentary sleeping mask on and closed her eyes. Sleep came almost instantly, and the next thing she knew she was being gently shaken awake by the flight attendant.
“Miss, we’ll be landing soon. You need to put your seatbelt on.”
Eva left her seat and went to the bathroom to freshen up. Her short hair didn’t need much attention, but she availed herself of the free toothbrush and toothpaste provided.
Once on the ground, Eva made her way to immigration. Before flying, she’d told Len to meet her in the arrivals hall. By the time she got through, he was already waiting, looking suitably refreshed.
“You say this is your first time in Mexico?” she asked him.
“Yeah. Always wanted to come but never got around to it.”
“Shame. You’d love it. Unfortunately, we won’t be seeing much of it. At least, not the good parts. Let’s go rent a car.”
It was a short walk to the street where several rental agencies were fighting for trade. She picked a budget place and paid cash for a gray Ford sedan, then drove around the corner and made a phone call. She spoke in Spanish, then hung up after a minute.
“Is that your arms dealer?” Len asked.
“Sort of. More a gangbanger, though. He lives in Ciudad Neza, and as it’s dark, I’ll drop you off at the hotel first. It’s not the kind of place a gringo wants to be sitting in a car alone so early in the morning.”
Eva drove into the city and stopped outside the hotel where they’d all arranged to meet.
“I should be back well before the others arrive. If I’m not here by then, go on without me.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to wait for the others?” Len asked as he got out. “It might be safer if we all went together.”
“Trust me, if I don’t go there alone, it’ll all kick off, as you guys like to say.”
Smart gave an approving nod. “You know best.”
Eva doubled back past the airport and into one of the roughest neighborhoods in Mexico City. She reached the place she wanted, and saw it hadn’t changed much since her last visit.
It was predominately a residential area, but multicolored buildings lined both sides of the main streets, most with awnings advertising everything from phone repairs to local delicacies. At this time of the morning, many of the local undesirables were already out and about.
Eva took a side street to cut across to the next main boulevard. As in the rest of the neighborhood, this street’s buildings all had iron bars over their windows to give the occupants the illusion of safety. At the next intersection she crossed into an area even rougher than the rest. In an abandoned parking lot, she saw a dozen gang members leaning and sitting on cars, and their eyes followed her as she passed by.
She stopped two blocks away, outside a building that had been white in its heyday but even in the faint glow of the street light she could see it was now a faded gray after years of neglect and pollution. Two bangers stood outside the door to what claimed to be an engine repair shop. She got out of the car to admiring looks and whistles, but ignored them as she walked past the two punks.
Inside, it was clear that no legitimate business had been conducted here for years. The concrete floor was covered in dust and old plaster, and the walls were bare.
“Hola, Minx!”
Eva turned to see Alejandro López emerging from a doorway. She walked over with a smile and embraced him, doing her best to hide her revulsion.
López was one of the up-and-coming figures in Mexico’s underworld. He specialized in drugs and guns, two commodities that were always in high demand in the poverty-stricken country. He distributed for the Familia Michoacana cartel; in addition to paying him well, the cartel also acted as a deterrent in case anyone tried to encroach on his territory.
“How long are you staying? Please tell me you have time for that dinner date you keep promising me.”
“I’m afraid I’m just passing through. But I’ll be coming back this way . . .”
She let the promise hang, and it seemed to satisfy him.
“Come. I’ll show you what we have.”
López led her through the doorway and into a room with piles of boxes covering makeshift tables. He flipped the lid on the first one. It contained three suppressed HK416 CQB rifles, and they looked brand new. She picked one up and checked the mechanism.
“Nice, eh?”
She nodded and smiled, moving on to the next box, which held the upgraded M4A1s she’d requested. Again, they looked to be in factory condition. There was no point asking where they’d come from, though she had a pretty good idea.
“How many rounds did you manage to get?” she asked.
“Two thousand, just as you asked. I also have the night-vision glasses and eighteen grenades for the M203s. Everything your heart desires.”
Lopez’s smile reminded her of a reptile, but she returned it with one of her most seductive offerings.
“That’s perfect. How much?”
“Fifty grand.”
It was daylight robbery, but she was in a pinch and didn’t have time to shop around. “If you give me an account number, I’ll transfer the money immediately.”
Lopez threw his arms wide open. “Minx, you know I only deal in paper money. It hurts me that you would suggest such a thing.”
“I’m afraid I had to get here in a hurry and wasn’t able to arrange a cash payment. Maybe I could pay you on my way back, eh? For old times’ sake? I’ll even add another five grand for your trouble.”
The smile disappeared. “It’s not my trouble, it’s yours. Cash on delivery, that’s how I operate. What if you take these and get killed? How do I get my money then?”
“You know me, Alejandro, I’m untouchable. I’ll have your money in three days at the most.”
“Then you’ll have your weapons in three days. At the most.”
Eva hadn’t been expecting him to be so obstinate. She’d dealt with him twice before, and on both occasions, he’d been reasonable. Perhaps his meteoric rise had changed him for the worse.
She had ten grand in cash but would need that for later. “Look, I’ve got a brand-new rental outside. I can give you that as a down payment.”
The reptilian smile returned, and his hand brushed the front of his pants. “I have a better idea.”
CHAPTER 28
López whipped out his pistol, a Desert Eagle that held .50 Action Express rounds. The half-inch-diameter bullet was big enough to punch a nickel-sized hole in her front and a fist-sized one out the back.
Eva had seconds to decide what she was going to do. If she wanted to take the weapons and walk away friends, she’d have to put out. Was that a price worth paying to get to Langton? What about to save the two children Langton was holding? If she walked out empty-handed, any chance of rescuing them would be gone.
López stood before her, his legs slightly apart, pistol hanging loosely by his side.
She had no option.
Eva took off her jacket and dropped it on the floor. Underneath, she wore a black T-shirt that hugged her athletic figure. She walked toward him, letting her hips sway subtly.
“You drive a hard bargain,” she said. She put her hands on his chest and moved them over his pecs, making all the right noises.
López leaned to the side and put the Desert Eagle on the table, and Eva struck.
She brought up her knee and heard a howl of pain as it connected with his groin. As López doubled over, she pushed him backward and kicked him in the face. While he was still falling to the ground, she pic
ked up the pistol and swung around to face his bodyguards.
She’d counted eight in all; now she could only hope that he’d bothered to fill his magazine.
She dropped the first two closest to her before they could react. The others had been quicker to the draw, and one got off a loose round that missed by a couple of yards. She hit him in the chest with a blast from the hand cannon, then dived behind a table and put two rounds into the legs of another. He fell, screaming, and with her last round she polished him off with a head shot before snatching a Glock from one of the dead. She dived back behind the table and pushed it over.
There were four left, including the two watching the door. The gunfire had brought them running, and she picked them off before they could find cover.
Bullets smashed into the table, sending wood splinters flying. One stabbed her in the cheek, but she didn’t have time to do anything about it. One of López’s men tried to flank her, but when he broke cover, she put him on the ground with two shots, then fired two more over the top of the table in the direction of the last thug. Her volley was immediately answered, and she pressed herself to the filthy floor until the shooting stopped and she heard the familiar sound of a spent clip clunking to the ground.
Eva rose and centered the sights on the man’s chest as he frantically tried to pull a fresh magazine from his waistband. He saw her as she pulled the trigger, dropping to the floor in time to send the bullet skimming off his shoulder.
Her own slide showed the Glock was empty.
Eva hurdled the table and ran at him. He was on one knee, and she saw him push a new mag into the grip and flick the slide forward. She threw Lopez’s pistol at his head. It bounced off his back as he ducked, but it gave her all the time she needed. She covered the remaining few yards in a second and launched a flying kick that caught him square on the jaw. He tumbled backward, his pistol falling away, and Eva followed through by landing on his chest with her knee. Before he could buck her off, she had his pistol in hand and gave him one of the rounds in the head.
She heard a groan coming from behind her, and she turned to see López staggering to his feet.
“You should have played nice,” she said, and put a bullet through his heart.
She had no time to lose now. Gunshots in this part of town were a nightly occurrence, and it would be a while before the police deemed it serious enough to stick their noses in, but she didn’t want to hang around in case López had other men in the area.
She took the three HKs out of their box and put them with the M4A1s, then dragged the box to the door. She checked outside for movement, but apart from a couple of curious bangers, no one was about to rush the place. She went back in and threw on her jacket, then put the rest of the gear into one box and took that with her. She checked again, and a crowd of about ten people had gathered, with a couple of kids in gang colors walking toward the doorway.
Eva dragged the heavier box to the rear of the car and popped the trunk, one eye on the approaching bangers. When they got to within a few yards she leveled the gun at the first one.
“Back off!” she shouted in Spanish.
He stopped in his tracks and put his hands halfway in the air, then looked around at the rest of the onlookers. Eva heard them taunting him, and he looked like he was about to respond to the urgings, so she put a round in his shin.
He dropped, screaming and holding his shattered leg, and the crowd scattered.
Eva knew it wouldn’t be long before news reached criminals itching for a fight, so she moved the rifles into the trunk and went back for the rest. Once the car was loaded up, she got in and drove around the stricken punk.
Priority one was getting out of the area. She reached a main street and kept the speed up until she’d put a few miles between her and López’s corpse. Distance aside, she knew it wasn’t a good idea to hang around the capital. One of the punks might have seen her plates and told the police—which was unlikely—or the cartel. If either were looking for her, it could compromise the mission.
After another mile of checking that she wasn’t being chased, she found a gas station and filled the tank, then composed a message to Len, telling him to contact the others and instruct them to rent two cars. She added that she’d contact them again with a meeting place, then sent the message.
She drove south. To meet up with the chartered Citation, they’d have to drive toward Acapulco, then east to Puerto Escondido International Airport. She thought it better to wait outside the city limits than venture back into DF—or Distrito Federal, as Mexico City was known to the locals.
After twenty minutes, she came to a shopping mall and pulled into the parking lot. She sent Len another message and included her location, then went to get something to eat.
It was three hours before Carl, Len, and Rees arrived; Gray and Sonny were forty minutes behind them due to a delayed flight. Eva allowed them a few minutes to stock up on food for the journey, then led them out of the parking lot. They would have to drive hard and break the speed limit if they were to get back on track. Twenty-nine hours had expired since the original message from Langton. They had another seven or eight hours to drive to the airport, and they still had to stop and pick up the Zodiac and DPVs. That left only about thirty-four hours. They’d figured ten hours to fly to Hiva Oa and twenty-one to get within ten miles of Langton’s island, then another three in the water.
It was going to be close.
CHAPTER 29
Emilio Hernández watched the short-haired woman pull into the mall and park among the other cars. He stopped his vehicle across the road and waited for her next move.
Ten minutes passed before she got out and went into the mall. He started his car, then drove over to within a few spaces of where she’d parked.
Hernández got out and looked over at the mall. There was no sign of the woman, so he walked to her car and knelt down near the front tire. He took a transmitter from his pocket and placed the magnetic side under the chassis. He stood and checked for anyone watching, but he was clear.
It was a textbook maneuver, one he’d done a number of times since leaving the Mexican special forces and becoming a private detective. He had many friends who’d left the military and gone on to do wet work for the cartels, but he much preferred a chance of living past forty.
He’d known too many who hadn’t. They’d opted for easy money and a lifestyle built around death, and most had already paid the price.
Not Hernández. He’d gone into business for himself, and while the money wasn’t as much as his counterparts made, his was a relatively trouble-free life. In the beginning, most of his jobs had involved tracking wives or husbands, looking for proof of infidelity. Occasionally he’d picked up more lucrative work performing rigorous background checks on employees, but his big break had come when the stranger who’d identified himself as Gómez had walked into his office a year earlier. He’d asked Hernández to look into a missing persons case, and he’d found the woman two days later. That had led to a fifty-thousand-dollar retainer and the promise of more paydays to come.
Today was one such day.
His assignment was simple: follow the woman and report back on her activities every two hours.
Hernández walked back to his car and placed a call. He told Gómez about her visit to the warehouse owned by Alejandro López and the subsequent gunfight.
“Is she unharmed?”
“It seems so,” Hernández said. “She took two boxes from the warehouse and drove to a mall. She’s inside now.”
“Okay. Keep us posted.”
It had been a strange op so far. Normally he’d be given details about the subject, and what, in particular, he should be looking for. Not this time. He’d been given a photograph and told to wait at the airport arrivals hall in case she turned up. If she did, he was to follow her and observe.
For five hundred dollars an hour, he wasn’t complaining.
He started his car and moved it to another part of the lot, where he
could still see her rental. On his next check-in he had nothing new to report, but two hours later, minutes after eleven in the morning, he was on the move again.
He’d seen her meet up with the occupants of two other cars and had taken a few shots with his phone camera before calling it in. Again, he was told to watch where they went.
Hernández plugged his tablet into the car’s charger as the other vehicles departed, giving them a three-minute head start. When the moving red dot on the tablet’s screen showed her car to be a mile away, he left the parking lot and set off after them. He had no need to keep her in view thanks to the tracker, but he did find himself struggling to keep within range of the transmitter.
Wherever the woman was going, she was in a hurry.
CHAPTER 30
Melissa Gray had never been so scared in all her life.
Her daddy had told her that monsters weren’t real. The only monsters are people, he’d said, and I’ll protect you from them.
Only he hadn’t. He’d left her with Auntie Sarah, and now she was locked in a dark cupboard, her face crusted with old tears and snot.
She couldn’t understand why Linda was being mean to her. She hadn’t done anything to upset her, but Linda had turned really horrible on the plane. She wouldn’t even talk to her anymore. When Melissa had been let out of the little room after the plane landed, she’d asked Linda where her daddy was. But Linda hadn’t answered. Instead, a man had taken her roughly by the hand and dragged her down the steps of the plane and on to the runway. Another woman had brought Alana down the stairs, and Melissa remembered her screaming like she’d never heard a baby scream before.
After being forced to pose for a photograph, they’d been put in a car and driven up to a huge house. Inside had been like a fairy-princess palace from her DVDs, but she hadn’t been given a four-poster bed and silk sheets. Instead, they’d thrown her in a bare cupboard and given her an old blanket to sleep on.
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