by Lou Dobbs
She had scoured the third floor but found no sign of Tom. She didn’t want to ask anyone where he might be or arouse suspicion about the contact between the two of them. His car was out back, and he wasn’t answering his cell phone. That meant he had to be in the building.
FORTY-SIX
Tom Eriksen couldn’t understand why Lila had interrupted his interview. She usually was very careful about letting other people do their jobs as best they could. It didn’t seem like she had anything to add except that she didn’t want Eric talking about Pablo Piña anymore.
As Eriksen was considering asking her to step outside the small interview room so he could discover the reason for the interruption, there was a deliberate knock on the door.
They exchanged glances, and Lila turned and opened the door.
Kat Gleason was there, anxiously fidgeting, and said, “I need to talk to you for a second.”
Eriksen hid any irritation as he said, “Can it wait?” He wondered for a moment if this was a personal issue. Had he said or done something to upset Kat so much that she would interrupt an interview like this?
Kat shook her head no as she stepped into the room, virtually ignoring Lila and Eric, grasped Eriksen by the arm, and pulled him into the hallway.
Eriksen waited until Lila shut the interview room door again and said, “What’s so important?”
Kat started slowly. “Anything I tell you in the next minute is unofficial, just between you and me, and you can never say officially that you heard this information. Understood?”
Something told Eriksen this was not personal as he nodded his head.
“I’ve been monitoring two phone lines in Mexico where someone’s talking about killing ‘a big mouth.’ The calls are very specific, and I think it has to do with your concerns about Senator Ramos.”
Eriksen absorbed the information as he stared at Kat’s beautiful face. Then he said, “When did you know about this?”
“I’ve been following the intercept a couple of weeks, but I didn’t make the connection until you said something at dinner last night. Tom, you have to understand the limitations I work under. I was specifically told not to let anyone at the task force know what our intercept capabilities were.”
“This is the verification we need. We can get all kinds of security on the senator now, and she’ll have to accept it.”
Kat focused her beautiful blue eyes on him and said, “There’s more.”
Eriksen just stared at her, knowing a bomb was about to drop.
“I just went through the most recent intercepts on the phone line, and yesterday afternoon there was a very specific comment about the target being at the Cattleman’s Steakhouse for dinner. The conversation was hours before we all went to the restaurant.”
The news smacked Eriksen in the face like a cold hand. “Damn, Andre is the leak.” Eriksen’s head began to spin, but he realized he needed to take action. He stepped back into the room for a moment and snatched the sheet of paper with the phone numbers Eric had provided. He handed the sheet of paper to Kat and said, “Can you do anything with these phone numbers quickly?”
Kat nodded her head as she reached up and accepted the paper. She mumbled, “This is exactly what my supervisor said would happen, but I’ll get you the information as soon as possible.” She twisted her head in every direction quickly to make sure they were alone, then stood on her tiptoes and gave him a kiss. She whispered into his ear as she started to leave, “Please be careful.”
* * *
As Hector ran the thousand little errands he needed to complete before crossing the border later in the evening, he recognized a black Chevy Tahoe rumble to a stop in front of a store where he was buying a leather notebook to help cover his pistol when he walked into the lobby of the Marriott in El Paso.
Pablo Piña stepped out of the rear door of the Tahoe and waved off the two bodyguards who wanted to follow him into the store.
Hector had been avoiding Piña until after he completed his assignment. He had no intention of taking the job with Piña’s organization, but he didn’t need the distraction before he completed his hit in El Paso.
Hector met him at the front door of the shop as a way to assess the two security men in case there was a problem.
Piña gave him a big smile and wrapped an arm around his shoulders, then walked him back into the store.
The shopkeeper saw who had come back inside with Hector and immediately scurried into the back room to give them privacy.
Piña said, “Few people ignore me, and when they do it’s usually someone I’m trying to kill.” Piña gave him a laugh, but Hector answered with a weak smile.
Hector said, “I’m sorry, Mr. Piña, but I have a job I’ve been trying to complete. It has taken all of my attention.”
Piña shook his head and said, “You mean killing Senator Ramos?”
Hector thought it was an odd choice to pull out of the air. It took a moment for him to make the connections in his head. Then he stared at Piña and said, “Why did you think I had a contract for Senator Ramos?”
Then everything suddenly started to make sense to Hector.
Piña stared at him but didn’t answer.
Hector slipped his hand behind his back and pulled his hidden knife, flicking it open as he pulled his hand from behind his back and placed the blade against Piña’s windpipe. He pressed just hard enough to break the skin and let Piña feel a trickle of blood run down his neck.
Hector said, “You told someone in the U.S. about my assignment, didn’t you? That’s why the FBI man has been there every time I tried to complete the contract. He’s following the senator for protection. I’ve seen him a number of times.”
Piña was barely able to croak out, “What? Hector, this is madness.”
“You’re a snitch for the FBI.”
“No, no, I swear I’m not a snitch for the FBI.”
Hector read the man’s face and listened to the tone of his voice. He had always been very good at picking out lies. “You know I don’t make idle threats.” He moved the knife a fraction of a centimeter, causing more blood to spill out onto the terrified man’s throat.
Piña didn’t say anything else, and Hector started to believe him. Then he thought of the key question.
“Then who did you tell in the United States that I had a contract on Senator Ramos? An FBI agent almost stumbled into me last week when I tried to complete the hit, and he was there again last night in front of a restaurant. He was there protecting Senator Ramos because you told someone I had a contract on her.”
Piña, now shaking almost uncontrollably, said, “It was harmless, I swear. I have a contact at the CIA. I trade a few tips for information about what the DEA has on me. It’s a very fair arrangement and necessary for business.”
“Except I almost got killed. The FBI agent stopped me from getting at my target.”
“I’m sorry, Hector. I’m truly sorry. I had no idea. And I meant no harm to you.”
“No one ever does.” Then Hector drew the knife across the drug lord’s exposed throat. He heard the rush of wind as Piña tried to take a deep breath but found no way of getting it to his lungs. Blood poured down his expensive shirt as he tumbled into a display of purses and then twitched on the wooden floor of the shop for a few seconds.
Hector took a moment to calm down and drew his pistol from under her shirt. He couldn’t leave the security men alive without worrying about retribution.
Now he really would move away with the proceeds from this assignment, but his honor had been satisfied. If he thought Ciudad Juárez was a violent place with Pablo Piña in charge, he could hardly imagine the carnage that would ensue when every thug in the city tried to fill the vacuum left by the Dark Lord of the Desert’s death.
* * *
Kat Gleason was cautious when she approached Larry, one of the Three Wise Nerds in the NSA office, with the phone number Tom Eriksen had given her to find out about. Once again she didn’t have a case number,
and considering what was going on around the task force, she didn’t want too many people to know what they were up to. She knew Larry had a little crush on her and hated to exploit it. But these could be desperate times.
She said, “Larry, do you think you could do me another favor?” She handed him the torn sheet of paper with the phone number. “We really are hoping to know what numbers were called from this phone, and what numbers made calls to it. We know it’s a drop phone, so we probably won’t get any subscriber information.”
Larry took the sheet of paper but hesitated. Finally he said, “I guess I’ll go through the same little dance we did before and ask if you have a case number or a reference number.”
Kat gave him a smile as she shook her head.
Larry said, “Is this one good for lunch or just an occasional smile from you?”
Kat turned the smile into a glare. “No games, no dates, no bargains. We need this information and we need it fast. Can you help us or not?”
“Who is us?”
“Us, as in law enforcement.”
“Not your FBI boyfriend?”
“He is a cop.” She paused and then leveled another look at him. “Larry, I’m not kidding when I say this information could be vital. There’s a lot going on you don’t know about, and if you need me to explain it to you later, I’ll be happy to. But right now I need you to shut the hell up, hide petty jealousy, and give me the information immediately. Do you understand?”
Larry nodded his head and scurried off with the paper in his hand. Kat tried to hide her smile.
FORTY-SEVEN
After they had made arrangements to hold Eric Sidle, Tom Eriksen and Lila Tellis jumped into his car and headed out to Canutillo, where Eric Sidle’s sister owned a house. Eriksen was hoping Carol DiMetti could piece together some of the information. He also wanted to assess her credibility as a witness since they intended to put together a case against TARC immediately.
He appreciated how the whole task force seemed to be working together even if they weren’t telling Andre what they were doing. Kat was getting the information on the telephones, Lila had made sure the IG at the Department of Justice knew exactly what was going on, and Eriksen was trying to contain his burning desire to clear this up as quickly as possible. This was exactly the sort of case that could make a difference in people’s lives. This was what his father would encourage him to do.
Eriksen couldn’t help but lean on the gas. He couldn’t wait to hear if she knew anything about her husband’s death. The whole thing had seemed unusual to him from the beginning. He was also desperate to know if she had any information on John Houghton’s death.
Eriksen was looking forward to talking about Andre’s role in all of this. Hopefully the IG would be able to turn the case over to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. He was looking forward to explaining the whole case to Mike Zara, too. Eriksen was pretty sure his supervisor would find something in the complex investigation to complain about and somehow blame Eriksen for letting it get this far.
He pushed the Taurus through traffic and saw the exit on the highway. He didn’t think it would take too much longer to find Carol DiMetti’s house.
* * *
Cash was finishing his sandwich on the couch, watching Carol straighten up around the house. It was the kind of domestic scene he dreamed about but had never experienced. As he reached for his bottle of water, the front door opened. Cash jumped but immediately decided it was probably Carol’s elusive brother he had never met.
It took a moment for him to realize the stout figure in the door was Ari. Before Cash could say anything, the little Israeli said, “What the hell are you doing here? Did Mr. Haben call you about this?”
Just then Carol stepped back into the living room and froze.
Cash said, “Call me about what?” Now he noticed the small .380 pistol in Ari’s hand. “Talk to me, Ari. What’s going on?”
A smile spread across Ari’s face. “You really don’t know what’s going on, do you?”
Cash didn’t like where this conversation was going and was thinking how he could stall Ari until he could pull his own pistol from his waistband. But he knew from experience it was tough to beat someone who already had a pistol in his hand. Even if it was only slightly bigger than a peashooter.
Ari said, “You’ve been banging this broad?”
Cash looked over at Carol and saw she was too frightened to move.
Now Ari looked across the room at her. “Do you want to tell him or should Ari?”
Cash said, “Tell me what?”
“This whole blackmail idea came from her. Eric Sidle is her brother.”
Cash felt a cold ball grow in his stomach that kept him from drawing his pistol.
* * *
Tom Eriksen tried not to push the government-issued Taurus too hard. Although he was excited about the information he’d learned from Eric Sidle and how things were falling into place, there was no reason to race to Carol DiMetti’s house.
He muttered out loud, “What does it all mean?”
Lila Tellis, staring out the passenger window, said, “Probably means you didn’t hit DiMetti that night on the border, which reaffirms my faith in FBI marksmanship.”
“But TARC is such an ambitious target. It’s gonna take a whole team to bring down that monster.”
“What would you call the task force? You got Kat Gleason running information through NSA, me going through the Defense Department, and we’ve got half a dozen guys back at the office that would jump at the chance to work on this. We just have to make sure we can trust our leadership.” After a moment she turned to look at Eriksen and said, “What do you care anyway? You’ll be leaving the team to move on to your counterterror job in Washington.”
Eriksen could sense the resentment in her voice. “I never said I was moving on.”
“Whatever. I didn’t see you tripping over yourself to tell the senator you weren’t interested.”
Eriksen just let the awkward silence hang in the car.
Lila finally said, “I think we need to scoop up as many witnesses as possible, because once this case gets rolling some are going to be hard to find and TARC will be able to get to the others. You got your work cut out for you.”
Eriksen said, “What do you mean, me? I thought we were working as a team.”
“You know how the U.S. attorney will view it. You’re the one with the jurisdiction. You’re an FBI agent. I’m technically not even supposed to be working inside U.S. borders, and even my cover as a DEA agent is limited to narcotics. You said you wanted to make a difference in people’s lives. Now’s your chance.”
* * *
Cash resisted every urge to turn and stare at Carol, who was standing in the doorway between the living room and the kitchen. Ari had made no move, but he wasn’t shy about staring at the beautiful widow of his former partner, Vinnie.
Ari gave Cash one of his shit-eating grins and said again, “She really took you in completely.”
Cash had to consider that comment as he slowly turned his head to Carol, looking for some denial. Any twitch or movement, even one of her adorable pouts, was all he needed to draw his pistol and put a few rounds in Ari before he knew what happened.
But Carol gave him nothing. She was scared, as anyone would be in this situation, but she was still thinking. He could see the wheels turning behind those beautiful dark eyes as she figured the odds.
He forced himself to finally say, “Is it true?”
Her hesitation said all that needed to be said. Then she shrugged her shoulders and said, “Come on, Joe. You know how the corporation is. It was our only chance to get what was coming to us. And it’s not too late. You can come in on the deal with Eric and me.”
Suddenly all the clues made sense to Cash. The men’s clothes in the extra bedroom with the Northwestern logo, Carol being from the Chicago area, and the fact that Vinnie DiMetti wasn’t smart enough to write a postcard told Cash it was all true and Carol had been t
he mastermind behind this whole mess. Now he had his hand resting comfortably on the grip of his Beretta 9 mm. He even thought about jerking it free and pointing it at Carol to show her how much she had hurt him. It would be a race between him and Ari to see who could pump more lead into that beautiful, curvy body.
Then Carol looked at him and said, “I didn’t lie to you, Joe. I didn’t want you mixed up in this. When I said you made me feel safe, I meant every word of it.”
He studied her face. Every nuance of her expression held a clue. He wanted it to be true. More than anything he had ever wanted.
Cash took his time. Let Ari stand there and stew. He took one more look at Carol and decided she was telling the truth. He made a decision and went with it, pulling his gun from beneath his shirt and bringing it on target. As he looked over the front sight, the flash from Ari’s .380 blinded him, and he felt a burning sensation in his neck where the round ripped through tendons and muscle.
He pulled the trigger three times but knew he was off balance from that first shot. He had a sense that the rounds went high and slammed into the upper wall and ceiling. Then he saw another flash. His ears were already closed from the first round fired inside the small living room. This time the round hit him lower in the throat, slicing through his windpipe and robbing him of any oxygen. It was like he had lost all his energy in a heartbeat.
Cash tried to keep the gun up, but his arm relaxed and the gun tumbled onto the thin throw rug, making a hollow thud. He flopped back on the couch and tried to cover the hole in his throat with the palm of his left hand.
Carol had scurried away from the doorway, and now Ari was marching toward the kitchen with his pistol held out in front of him.
Cash was aware of some conversation between them, shouted and screamed. He might’ve heard a strangled cry from Carol and felt regret that he couldn’t protect her the way he’d thought he could.
Then Cash, who was so used to the name he’d almost forgotten his mom calling him Joey, closed his eyes and tried to think of all the decent things he had done in his life. He had no doubt he was going to have to explain a few things carefully. But he was hoping, on balance, God would understand.
