by Gary Ponzo
Victor shook his head in mock disgust. “You use the same numbers for every password, Jefe. How many times do I tell you to change them?”
Garza smiled. “I know. I have too many things to remember already. I guess I am getting lazy.”
Victor tossed the shot of mescal down his throat and said in a raspy voice, “When do we go?”
Garza closed the safe and turned. “There are two FBI agents in Denton, this Bracco and his partner.”
Victor nodded tersely. “They want revenge for killing their fellow agents.”
“Yes,” Garza said. “But they are alone and desperate. They went into the Grill and shot up a bunch of customers, including the deputy.”
“How?”
“Like I say, they are desperate. They are alone and trying to lure me into their country.”
“Where are they now?”
“In a motel room waiting to die,” Garza said, filling the two shot glasses with mescal. “As soon as they are dead, we move.”
Victor held up his glass to toast his boss, but Garza hesitated and stared at Victor with a serious thought running through his mind.
“Listen,” Garza said, holding up his glass, but not ready to toast. “Anything ever happens to me, you promised you would take care of Julio.”
Victor smiled. “Of course, Jefe. He will always be well taken care of.”
The two men toasted their drinks and tossed them down. A sense of relief came over Garza as he picked up the remote and switched it to a Dodger baseball game. They were playing the Arizona Diamondbacks.
“Come,” Garza said, sitting in one of the two recliners. “Let us enjoy a few minutes of baseball before we earn our money.” Then he gestured at the bomb sitting next to them. “And make America a little more dangerous than it was yesterday.”
* * *
“He needs help,” Ken Morris said. “He’s trapped with a bunch of Garza’s men and needs a way out.”
Walt was behind his desk, watching the Mexican presidential debate on CNN when Ken called to give him the news. They’d finally had contact with the CIA operative below the border.
“But he’s still in Mexico?” Walt asked, turning down the volume on the wall TV.
“Yes, but if he gets even a slight opening, he’s going to take it.”
“So how can we help?” Walt asked.
“Where is Nick?”
“He’s close,” Walt said, watching prior footage of Sam Fisk shaking hands with Francisco Rodriguez like they were college roommates. “He has until midnight before we send in the troops.”
“Why are we waiting?” Ken asked, a level of frustration in his voice. “Let’s get down there and confiscate this device.”
“Because the device hasn’t crossed over the border yet,” Walt said. “And if we go barging in there, they’ll see us coming.”
“So?”
“So, Nick has a plan.”
There was silence for a few moments before the CIA Director said, “Walt, does this plan include a bit of revenge for what Garza did to Ricky and Jim?”
Walt jumped to his feet. The names of his slain team members bristled the hair on his neck. “This is my turf, Ken, and I run this operation the way I see fit. That area is walled off. No one gets in or out. This is still a nuclear device and we have to treat it with respect. We have to allow for the possibility this could be a suicide mission. If Nick tells me he needs another three and a half hours to get this done, then he gets it. No one is going to force me to make a bad decision and put more men and woman at risk.”
There was a short sigh on the other end of the line. “Okay,” Ken said. “It’s your game. Just do me a favor, Walt.”
“What’s that?” Walt asked, clenching his fist.
“If this device goes off on US soil, just remember who told you about it.”
Walt hung up the phone before he could respond to that. He stood there gripping his cell with enough strength to crush a walnut. Ken was wrong about the intel on the device, but that was getting at the heart of the matter. The FBI and CIA had budgets to consider and if one appeared weak or incompetent, then the budget committee would scrutinize the amount of funds they earmarked. Survival of the fittest.
Walt looked at the time, then stared at his phone, willing it to blink with a message from Denton. Was he giving Nick too much leeway?
“C’mon, you guys” he muttered. “Don’t get greedy. Just find the damn thing and get out.” But he knew they were trolling for sharks with chum around their necks. He also knew he was dealing with two alpha males who weren’t likely to forget what happened to their fellow agents.
Especially Jennifer Steele.
* * *
Carlos Grider slowed the Ford pickup as they approached the Denton Motel. The neon sign was missing a couple of letters, but it was still the only light coming from the building. The only other glow came from behind the curtains in room number eight. He had two friends in the cab and five in the back, waiting for his signal.
There was virtually no moon out, so Grider coasted in the dark, looking for anything suspicious. The office was already closed and the only car in the parking lot was the white BMW which belonged to the FBI agents. Mr. Chizek gave them direct instructions. Either kill the agents or die trying. There was no returning without succeeding with their chore.
He rolled the truck into the gravel parking lot, checking his rearview mirror to see Edgar Santos already with the rocket propelled grenade up on his shoulder. Before the clerk left for the day, he’d confirmed the two agents entered their room and now Carlos could see their outlines on curtains inside the room. One of them seemingly animated over something the other was saying.
Carlos slowed the truck until it was just twenty yards from the room. The agents’ shadows were clearer from this close and he was positive they were both there. Carlos stopped the truck, but kept idling. He checked up and down the road and saw nothing for miles, then waved his arm, signaling Edgar to take the shot.
The rest of the guys had their guns out all ready for a gunfight. They’d known about the one agent’s skill with a pistol, but there were eight of them now and they were all motivated to take the guy down.
Carlos waited, but he was impatient. “Let’s go,” he whispered, wondering what was taking Edgar so long to pull the trigger. The shadows were still there, but Carlos imagined them opening the door any minute. He heard voices from the room. The two agents were having a heated discussion.
Carlos was watching the argument when he heard the whistle and felt the heat of the rocket as it launched into the window and detonated. The explosion was instant and powerful, causing the entire wing of the motel to burst outward, sending flying shards of debris at the truck. Carlos covered his face with his arm and ducked as he was pounded by bits of glass and stucco. Some of the men in the back were screaming from excitement. In just a few seconds five of the motel rooms had completely disintegrated, like the remnant of a Midwest tornado strike.
As the debris still rained down, Carlos stepped on the gas pedal and jerked away from the site, his tires spitting gravel as it spun out of the parking lot, the guys in the back whooping and hollering as they hit the road.
Carlos took one last glance back at the decimated motel and knew even a cockroach wasn’t going to survive that blast. He pushed a button on his phone and smiled.
“Yeah,” answered a man with a beefy voice.
“They are dead, Mr. Chizek,” Carlos said.
“Are you sure?”
“Oh, yeah,” Carlos said, looking into his rearview mirror and seeing smoke drifting over the opening where a building once stood. “I’m sure.”
Chapter 27
President Merrick sat in the dark, his tie loose, his feet on the coffee table. He leaned back on the couch in the comfort of his private office and placed his hands behind his head. With the barrage of digital communications assaulting him twenty-four hours a day, he needed to shut down for a few minutes each night. He turned off
his computer and his cell phone and attempted deep breathing exercises. Normally, he would take out a book and read for a few minutes before going to bed. But tonight would be different.
As he sat in the dark, his office door opened.
“Knock, knock,” a man’s voice said.
“I’ve been waiting for you.”
“What are you doing?” Sam Fisk asked.
“Rebooting.”
Fisk dropped in a chair opposite the couch with a heavy sigh.
“I saw your routine,” Merrick said. “Very convincing.”
“Somehow, I feel dirty,” Fisk said, just a silhouette in the dark.
“How was Salcido?”
“He took it well. I think he knows I’m up to something.”
Merrick grinned. “You’re always up to something, Sam. That’s why I like you.”
“How are things on the border?”
Merrick rested his head back even further and shut his eyes. “There’s a big dispute over how to proceed. Ken wants to send in the military and create a war zone. Walt wants Nick and Matt to do everything by themselves.”
“Since it’s on US soil, I take it you’re waiting for a phone call from Walt.”
Merrick thought about his daughter sleeping in the safest building in the country and wondered what kind of world she would inherit once the White House was no longer her residence.
“You know, Sam,” Merrick said. “Remember when all we had to worry about were the Russians?”
“Are you lamenting about the old days when you had to hide under your desk at school for bomb drills? Is that what you’re yearning for?”
“Killjoy.”
“I’m just a realist, Dad. Everything seems prettier once Father Time’s had a chance to shine it up.”
“Yeah, well, this Rodriguez is a bad man. If he wins the election down there, we might be wishing for Russian missiles.
“He won’t.”
“You haven’t seen the latest polls. He killed at the debate tonight. He’s almost ten points ahead.”
“Shit,” Fisk murmured.
“Exactly.”
They were quiet for a while. Two old friends comfortable with the silence between them. After a few minutes, Merrick couldn’t stay disengaged any longer. He turned on his cell phone and checked his messages. Nothing from Walt. He looked at the time.
“Less than three hours before Ken gets his wish and they swarm that little town with black helicopters and a few hundred soldiers.”
“Mind if I stay?”
“I wish you would.”
“Got anything to eat?”
“There’s pizza in the fridge.”
Fisk got up and carefully maneuvered around the furniture until he reached the small refrigerator next to Merrick’s desk. The door opened and the light broke through the dark. Fisk fished around until he found what he wanted.
“You want a water?” Fisk asked.
“I’m good.”
Fisk shut the refrigerator and managed to return to his chair in the shadows.
“You know, Sam,” Merrick said. “When this is over, we’ve got to find a way to make these agencies play nice together. Instead, they distribute intelligence like it’s a competitive sport.”
“That’s because it is.”
“Well it has to change. People are dead because the CIA won’t give out specific information about this imbedded agent.”
“Technically he’s a contracted employee.”
“It doesn’t matter. We needed that information.”
“I don’t think they have the info to give. I think they’re in the dark as well.”
Merrick could hear Fisk chewing his pizza.
“Tell me something, Sam. Now that you’ve met the guy, if Rodriguez wins, what are our chances of negotiating with him?”
Fisk choked on a piece of pizza. He drank some water and rasped out, “He’s an egomaniac with his hands in everyone’s pockets. You’d need to threaten him with something fierce or he’ll just continue to fortify the cartels’ power.”
Merrick looked down at his phone. Nothing. “Well, let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.”
“Amen, brother. Amen.”
* * *
“They are dead,” Sonny Chizek told Garza over the phone.
Garza let out a long breath and briefly smiled. “Good. We will be there within the hour.” He clicked off the Dodger game and gestured to Victor on the recliner across from him. “Go get our guest.”
Victor left and Garza’s stomach tightened as he glanced over at the bomb and once again considered its potency. He went over to the bar and slid a panel from the base of the structure which exposed a hidden keypad. He entered a series of numbers and a giant section of the basement wall began to recess into a false back. From behind the slab, a hydraulic arm hummed as it slid open the huge chunk of concrete, exposing a seven feet high by ten feet wide tunnel. The basement wall was creatively made with the concrete seams every ten feet to emulate a standard construction break.
The tunnel had taken forty men over a year to install. It had halogen lighting, ventilation, wood floors and an electric rail system used to roll the shipments the three hundred yards to its American destination.
Just inside the tunnel was the Zutons’ pallet of cocaine. Five of Garza’s men were already loading the packets of cocaine onto the flatbed cart for transport.
The basement door opened and a pair of footsteps creaked down the stairs. Garza poured another shot and downed the mescal while pointing Victor toward the tunnel entrance. Victor led Sadeem by the arm, as the blindfolded man felt the air ahead of him with his fingertips. Garza followed them into the tunnel pulling the dirty bomb inside, then pressed a button on the wall and watched the hydraulic arm move the slab back into place.
Once the wall was shut, Garza motioned Victor to remove the blindfold. The man stood with his shoulders tall, a look of irritation on his face.
“Is that how you treat your business associates?” Sadeem said. “Drive around the country in circles, then drop them into a tunnel?”
“Is that what you are?” Garza asked. “A business associate?”
Sadeem glanced around the tunnel, finding the bomb, then seeing the electric rails and the cart being loaded. He nodded to himself.
“This is impressive,” Sadeem said.
“I am so happy you approve,” Garza said, pushing Sadeem down onto a wooden bench against the wall.
Sadeem jumped back up and pumped out his chest. “Don’t,” he said. “I am not one of your lackeys you can push around.”
Garza felt the blood rushing to his head and wanted to slap this guy for making him so tense. He removed his knife from his belt holder, held it up, and slowly pressed the tip down Sadeem’s chest.
Garza looked the man in the eyes. “I want the address of your drop.”
Sadeem’s face held resolve which surprised Garza. The man was by himself in a tunnel with a knife against his chest, yet his expression didn’t waiver.
“There is no address, you fool,” Sadeem said. “This is a one way mission. I take the bomb and detonate it myself. You have the car waiting for me, correct?”
This was Garza’s main concern. A suicide bomber has no fear of dying and a man with no fear of dying is dangerous to anyone around him.
“Have you ever worked for the CIA?” Garza asked, just to see the man’s reaction.
Nothing.
“You imagine I am an American spy?”
“Only when I think about it,” Garza said.
“Do not get any funny ideas, Mr. Garza. Just because we paid you the money up front, does not mean you can go unsuccessful. My people are not with the American government, so we do not have any concerns of crossing the border to get to you. If I do not leave with the package tonight, there will be a team sent out by morning.”
The man was either telling the truth or the bravest spy Garza had ever seen. He lowered his knife and replaced it on his belt, then tapped
his pants pocket. “I will keep your cell phone until we are on the other side,” Garza said.
“Very well,” Sadeem said, but with his first sense of hesitation. His eyes seemed to be judging something. Maybe the number of men around him. Maybe the amount of weapons.
Garza looked down at the bomb sitting there, waiting to cause havoc. He thought about Julio upstairs and how close he was to the device. Had he not been given the money first he probably wouldn’t have gone as far as he did. Between the nuclear device, the five million dollars and the FBI hunting him, he was feeling a pressure he’d never experienced before. The hum of the ventilation system added to his edginess.
On the floor next to Garza sat a stack of thick blankets. He picked one up and placed it into a second transport cart, then pointed to the bomb. “You can put it in the cart,” he said to Sadeem and watched the man lift the device with both arms and place it into the cart like he was carrying an infant. The man was surprisingly strong for his wiry body.
Once both carts were loaded, Garza pressed a button and the first cart began rolling on the rails. With a practiced routine, his men walked beside the cart with their assault rifles on their shoulders. Garza then rolled the second cart a few feet until it was on the live portion of the railing and it began to slowly roll down the tracks at the same walking pace. Garza gave Sadeem a slight push to get him going. The man turned with an angry glare, but didn’t resist the order to move with the cart.
Garza and Victor walked next to the rails behind Sadeem who seemed to be taking in the landscape with extreme interest. They didn’t have many guests inside the tunnel so it was the first time a visitor had seen the construction. As Sadeem seemed to examine the ventilation system, he glanced back at the two men and it caused Garza to remove his gun. Victor must have sensed the anxiety because he had his pistol at the ready as well.
“Where do you plan on taking the bomb?” Garza asked.
“You will have to read about it in the paper,” Sadeem said, casually.
A thought suddenly crossed Garza’s mind. “Just how do you plan on detonating the device?”
