“Disable the Centipede virus, Tanya. Give me the account numbers of where you sent the money. Once I confirm it’s there, we end this. I can transfer later. You gave us valuable information. Hundreds will go to jail! Now, we want our money.”
“Give me the keyboard. I will do it.”
Tanya felt her heart sink. She cherished her breath and the beating of her pulse. She looked around the barn and realized this was the last stuff she was going to look at. Her last breath was moments away.
“Try anything, sweetheart, and I will turn you over to the boys. They look good and drunk!”
“I have to stop the virus first.” Tanya coughed and then began typing on the keyboard. She stared at numbers and websites and asked herself one important question, the last one she might ever contemplate: “Do I want to die quickly or slowly?”
Suddenly, the feeling came back to her feet, and a warm burn began to rise from her toes to her legs, stomach, chest, and then head. Tanya paused for a second and recognized the emotion. Anger. She could feel again, and she was angry. She stuffed the emotion until she needed it. Tanya began to look around the table.
“Crap!”
“What, dear, what?” Reo suddenly looked concerned.
“My thumb drive!”
“Your what?”
“Thumb drive.”
“Your team said nothing about a thumb drive!”
“That’s because I don’t trust them. I am a hacker, Reo. I hate people!”
He nodded and did not challenge the statement. “OK, why do you need it?”
“You will see. It is like a remote for the virus. Any attempt to touch Mario’s money or alter his accounts, or the accounts I set up, will erase everything. And…” She paused. “And unleash the virus into destroy mode. It could go global, technically, freezing everything. You and Nathan, of course, will be implicated. Whomever the hell you guys work for will be out of business—even worse if you have sent them.” Tanya paused and stared at the screen.
“What? What, Tanya?”
“Have you or Nathan sent any e-mails to anyone?” She let out a laugh.
“Why?”
“This virus is like a cyber nuclear bomb, Reo! It goes everywhere, eats everything. Loves data. Yum!”
Reo paused and narrowed his eyes. He reminded her of a shrew or a mole, but she had him.
“You conniving little bitch!”
“You hired me ’cause I am the best. The Americans used a similar virus to cause a near-meltdown to Iran’s nuclear facility. They got the concept from me! It can cause a financial meltdown to a banking system or a power grid. Bye-bye, money!”
“Then we renegotiate.” Reo looked worried now. She had his attention.
“I get two bullets?”
“You get freedom. You go with me and one of the boys to get the thumb drive. Where is it?”
“In my hotel room.”
“Bullshit! We searched the room!”
Tanya laughed sarcastically, as best she could with a bruised rib.
“Men searched! Every female knows that men can’t find shit even when it’s right in front of them!”
Reo bit his lip and glared at her. “Get yourself cleaned up. We leave in ten minutes!”
Mexico City, 1500 Hours
Yuri, a.k.a. the Russian, put eye drops in his eyes, drank a swig from his Monster energy drink, and placed his drink on the large oak office table. He looked squarely into the eyes of the terrified office workers.
“Look, let me explain myself. We come from different worlds. I live out there.” He pointed out of the large window to the city beyond. The office building was nestled in the Santa Fe district of Mexico City and overlooked the odd building that looked like a standing pair of pants.
“The real world. I don’t cross over into your world very often if I can avoid it. Understand?”
The Russian looked at the office workers—Mario’s CPAs, MBAs, lawyers, and secretaries.
“I am tired. I just flew in from the coast. I am sunburned and hungry, and I need a shower. Now, I am only gonna ask one time.”
The Russian reached in his pants and pulled out a large black hunting knife. He laid it flatly next to his energy drink. He loved scaring these people, having some fun.
“Where is Tanya? The short little computer girl? She’s a cute, sassy little thing.”
Yuri looked at each of the six people—three men and three attractive women who looked more terrified than the men.
“She w-w-was here this morning, sir.”
Yuri smiled. “Good. Any idea where she went?”
“Sir.” A young woman in a dress several sizes too small spoke up, very official sounding. She had beautiful brown eyes and jet-black hair.
Yuri shook his head.
“Sir, they spoke of going shopping and having lunch over there at the shopping center. The one you call Tanya, the others were plotting something against her. I heard them whispering, so I listened.”
Yuri rubbed his jaw and looked thoughtfully at the young girl. “Yes?”
“They had a surprise for her in a room. I think they were staying in the hotel in the same building. One of them had a handbag from the mall. They really disliked her.”
“OK. Good.” Yuri reached in his pocket and pulled out a roll of one-hundred-dollar bills. “OK, I have a business proposition.”
The girl started to cry.
“Sumasshedshiy devushka!” Yuri spoke in Russian and laughed. He corrected himself. “Crazy girl, listen, I am not going to hurt you. I will pay you to help me find Tanya. She works for Mario. I need to save her. She may be in danger, OK?” Yuri stood up and moved toward the girl. He handed her a one-hundred-dollar bill. “Come. What is your name?”
“Maria.”
Yuri smiled and admired the contortions it must have taken to squeeze a full figure into her dress.
“Of course it is, Maria. I won’t hurt you. Your looks and my money will make a great team. One hour, that’s all I need.”
“Maria, no!” One of the older women stood up.
The men said nothing.
“It’s OK. It’s OK. We will stay in public,” Yuri said soothingly as if he were talking to a child.
Maria sounded shaky and began to cry. She put her hands over her face.
“Stop this! This will not work. No crying. I will give you money not to cry!” Yuri cursed and peeled off more bills and pressed them into Maria’s hands.
CHAPTER 26
The Cuban Cowboy Way
Airport Parking Garage, Mexico City, 1500 Hours
Evan and Roger dropped their heavy duffel bags at their feet and crossed their arms. The weather was cooler up in Mexico City, and the air felt a little dryer. The parking garage was thinning out, and there were no cameras visible. The two men watched the black Toyota Land Cruiser park. The vehicle creaked as a solid, round man stepped from the vehicle. Mr. Rosa’s brother Victor, the detective, emerged from the vehicle and approached the two men.
Roger stared straight ahead and spoke quickly to Evan, who was packing a dip in his mouth. “Still can’t believe you didn’t just come out and tell me that the lass had been kidnapped, you prick! I would have come. I am worried about her now. This whole mission could go down the tubes. Hope the lass is OK!”
“I know. I know you would come. The difference is you would have shown a level head and called a meeting and a committee and then assembled a team blah, blah.” Evan spat on the ground and focused on Victor.
“And what’s wrong with that, lad?”
“Too freaking long, Roger. Gotta keep this quiet. Do this the cowboy way.”
“Aye, General Custard was a freaking cowboy, eh?” Roger replied and stuck his hand out to meet Victor, still never looking at Evan.
“Roger, you look as though you have aged. Evan, well you always looked bad from what I hear. I have news for you two.”
“How is your brother?” Roger grumbled.
“Fine. They are in Spain.”
<
br /> “Good.”
“There have been some strange goings-on. I had to do some digging, but, you know, that is what I do.”
“Aye.”
“First of all, you should be at the coast.”
Evan shrugged. “Sí.”
Roger began, “It’s a long story. We need to find Tanya or call off a massive mission.” Roger raised his eyebrows. “Tanya, his girl.”
“She ain’t my girl! She ain’t my type!”
Victor Rosa laughed out loud like a walrus.
“Ha! The last four women who I said were not my type, I married! Ha-ha-ha!”
“OK, you two, when you’re done, we can get down to business,” Evan said quickly and nudged his duffel bag with his foot.
“Aye, Evan sent you the text. Any leads?”
“Yes, this is what I do. Get in!”
Roger and Evan piled into the Toyota Land Cruiser and buckled their seat belts. Victor drove fast, very fast, and used turn signals as an afterthought, usually after he cut someone off.
“OK, listen, and listen good, amigos!” Victor began speaking rapidly.
The tires of the Toyota Land Cruiser squealed as they rounded the slow curves in the garage. Victor gunned the engine when he could. He spoke slowly as if he were on a Sunday drive at a racetrack.
“Nathan turned over a gold mine worth of data midmorning and then vanished. His whole administrative group, including Reo, all gone!”
“That must be the SD chip,” Evan said.
“What kind of material?” Roger asked.
“Miles of names, facts, figures but, more importantly, politicians and cops. The fax machines are working overtime. We have about one hundred arrest warrants printed so far. After your operation tomorrow, they start getting served! We are not telling the DEA anything yet. They will want to make a miniseries about this.”
Victor paid the gate guard and ran the stop sign that he was supposed to use to ease into traffic. Tires squealed and horns honked.
“My God, people cannot drive in this city! Couldn’t they see I was coming? Look, listen. I got suspicious. Why would Nathan give us a treasure trove and then leave? He has a mission and men to lead.”
“And?” Roger asked.
Evan closed his eyes as they almost hit a man on a bike who had the right-of-way. Victor plowed on, oblivious.
“Carletta,” Victor said as if everyone knew her.
“Who?” Roger asked. He shook his head.
Victor continued. “The last person Nathan saw was Carletta, the head of Mexico’s version of the CIA. She extorted him, and not out of a few million pesos. He sent us evidence before vanishing!”
“Wow, wait, slow down. She extorted him?” Evan asked.
Victor nodded and looked in the rearview mirror as he spoke.
“Sort of, if you can call taking money from a thief extortion. Nathan left the evidence trail framing her, but he made it clear that she was to be taught a lesson.”
“You’re kidding. What are we talking?” Evan asked.
Evan gripped the side of the seat as they ran a stoplight and swerved around a car that was changing lanes.
Roger just shook his head.
Victor continued speaking.
“A few billion. She threatened to blow the cover off Dark Cloud unless he revealed where Mario’s cash stores were. Intelligence operatives have been looking for it for decades, and here comes this foreigner and does it! Boy, he pissed off the intel community. I just learned about all this hours ago, by the way. Your call and his behavior set my wheels to spinning.”
“So Nathan decided to give her a cut, save face, and bail on us. Did he compromise us?” Evan asked, clearly worried now that he would die in a traffic accident instead of by a bullet.
“I don’t think so. He went to great lengths on a recording to say, ‘Oh, my men deserve the money. I need my honor, blah, blah…’ He is gone. He had taken the money secretly months ago, I suspect. Only she did not know that. No one did! Guess he was going to bail after the operation.” Victor kept glancing in the rearview as he spoke.
“Wanker!” Roger punched the passenger seat in front of him.
Evan laughed. “Dark Cloud was a joke—the whole time we were being vetted for a suicide mission. He just wanted the money. No wonder he kept us so busy.” Evan reached in his pocket for a can of Skoal.
“My friends, we were all duped, but I look at the bright side: I am going to arrest a lot of people. Tomorrow, God willing, Mario will be dead, and one cartel will be weakened!” Victor said and shrugged as if the whole thing was no big deal.
“Two more will pop up,” Evan said flatly.
Victor came to a jeering stop at a green light to let a beautiful, dark-haired woman pushing a stroller cross the street. Evan and Roger looked at each other.
She smiled, and for a second all three men were silent. Cars jammed on their brakes and horns honked. The light was green.
“Yes, my friends, that is what I call job security! Ha!” Victor said and then stomped on the accelerator once the female was safely on the sidewalk.
Evan almost swallowed his dip and spat quickly out the window. “Did you find Carletta? Reo? Any evidence of Tanya?”
“Oh, we found Carletta. No clue where Tanya is.”
“And what did Carletta say?” Evan leaned forward as they entered the Santa Fe district in Mexico City.
“Not much, my friend. Throat cut in a warehouse on the outskirts of town, wads of hundred-dollar bills crammed down her throat and shoved in her clothes. Her bodyguards, all dead.”
“And?” Roger asked, shaking his head.
“Sorry, that’s it. Nothing to see,” Victor said.
Evan let his jaw drop for a long second and stared out the window into the city. He was in a far wealthier part of town.
“Um, then why the hell are you driving around Mexico City if there is nothing to see?”
Victor hit his brakes, sending everyone lurching forward. Evan banged his head on the seat in front of him and bounced back when the seat belt caught hold. Victor smiled in the rear-view mirror.
“I did not mean there was nothing to see, my friends. We get something to eat, and then I take you to Tanya’s last-known whereabouts.”
“Any leads?” Evan asked. He nudged Roger, who just shrugged.
“We found her friends. All dead, in a Dumpster. One of them had Tanya’s room key in her pocket—her wallet, cash, and jewelry!” Victor sounded excited. He clearly loved police work.
“What the hell is going on?”
Victor pulled into another parking garage. This time he flashed his badge, and the gate went up. “Tell everyone after me that this garage is closed! You only open the gate for me, understand?”
“Sí!”
Victor pulled into a parking space and scraped a brand-new Corvette with his bumper. He was unaware, and Evan said nothing.
Victor’s phone rang, and he answered it. “Hold on. Sí? Sí? Muy buena!”
He hung up and turned around in his seat. “I am fat. You are young.” Victor stared for a long moment at Roger and Evan until the full impact of his words sank in.
Roger was the first to speak. “Aye, Victor, you stay here.”
“Good idea. I am going to get you two the best steaks you have ever had, guacamole so good that—”
“Stop, stop. Get it to go. Meet us back here,” Roger said as he quickly got out of the vehicle.
Roger and Evan went to the trunk and retrieved their duffel bags.
Victor got out of the Land Cruiser and inspected the brand-new Corvette next to him. “Dios mio! What a shame. Some asshole scraped this poor man’s car and had not even the decency to leave a note. People today. Mi mama is right: the world is collapsing!”
Evan stared for a second at Victor, with his duffel over his shoulder.
Roger grabbed Evan by the elbow and guided him away.
“Wait, wait! Take the room key! Tenth floor. I have an officer waiting up there for
you. I call him, tell him you coming. I am waiting on a call, a sighting of men putting a body in a trunk not far from here. Then I get our food,” Victor said, waving them off. He had other matters to attend to.
Evan and Roger waved bye and walked through the garage with their duffel bags. Neither man said a word as they entered the building and walked through the lobby to an elevator.
Roger reached out to hit the button, and Evan stopped him. “I need to use a bathroom. That drive…”
Roger nodded.
Tanya had never even considered smoking cigarettes until this moment so near the end of her life. Reo had let her sit in the passenger seat on the short drive into the city. No one spoke.
Tanya had done her best to clean herself up. She wore a baseball hat, sunglasses, and an oversized jacket with the collar up. She still looked as if she had been in a car crash. Her head hurt, and her anger still kept her warm. Reo parked on the street and looked sideways at her.
Two teenage punks sat in the backseat texting. A red Audi Q7 with three more teenagers followed close behind. She knew that they all carried weapons, and she had little hope of escape. When Reo figured out there was no thumb drive, she would die.
“You! Stop texting. Stay fifteen feet behind us at all times. If we get in trouble, start shooting. Not her. I need the thumb drive,” Reo barked.
The kids nodded and put their iPhones away.
“Get out, Tanya. Don’t be stupid.”
“I have a twisted ankle, busted teeth, and a broken rib. I could not outrun you or a bullet if I tried. I just want this day over with!” Tanya pleaded. She was not above pretending it was worse than it was.
“Perform well, and you live,” Reo snapped.
“We have to stop at the front desk, get a new room key—one of those card things.”
“Yes, I know, honey. I have stayed in a hotel before!” he said.
Tanya, Reo, and the teenagers walked into the street entrance of the office building. Reo looked as if he belonged in the mall. The rest of them, including Tanya, looked as if they belonged in a homeless shelter. She had no expectations of surviving this day, but she still had hope.
Silver Lead and Dead (Evan Hernandez series Book 1) Page 25
