by Mark Gimenez
Bode pulled the six-shooter from his waistband.
"Colt Walker. 44-caliber six-shooter. It'll blow a hole the size of a bowling ball through a full-grown man."
Eddie blinked.
"A six-shooter?"
The doctor held his six-shooter out.
"I have one, too."
"Anything else?"
Bode pulled his right sleeve up to reveal the small pistol rubber-banded to his wrist.
"A Derringer?"
"Forty-one-caliber double-barreled."
Eddie shook his head. "How 'bout you, Doc, you bring anything?"
"This."
The doctor reached into his pocket and came out holding a scalpel.
"A scalpel? What else you got in there, a catheter?"
Bode was getting a little annoyed.
"So what'd you bring?"
"Just these."
Eddie pulled a gun.
"Nine millimeter Glock. Fifteen-round clip." He screwed a long tube onto the barrel. "With a silencer."
Eddie opened his ratty jacket to reveal a sawed-off shotgun slung under one arm and a small weapon under the other.
"Uzi," he said.
He lifted his pants leg to reveal a long knife with a serrated blade in a leg sheath. Taped to his other leg was an ice pick.
"You bring a can of Mace, too."
Eddie chuckled.
"You came prepared."
"This is what I do, Governor."
"I thought you were a gopher?"
"I am. I get what I go for."
Could the governor's wife love him if he killed the governor? Some women might be offended by such an act. But she had been working in the colonias for five months, perhaps she had left the governor, as the rumors on cable suggested. And he had cheated on her; she could not feel that strongly about him. If Enrique had cheated on Liliana, she would have killed him herself. With the governor out of the picture, certainly Enrique would be the front-runner for her affection. Who else would be in the race? There were no eligible men for her in the colonias… except Dr. Rincon. Yes, he was also educated and quite handsome. But he was quite poor. A woman such as the governor's wife was accustomed to certain things in life, things that only a man such as Enrique de la Garza could provide. Perhaps it was the wine he had with dinner or the brandy he had after dinner-or perhaps it was his lack of sleep-but he actually entertained the thought that one day the governor's wife might be his wife.
The federales and cartels had set up competing roadblocks throughout the city manned by heavily armed men.
"And they wonder why tourists don't come no more," Eddie said.
They evaded the roadblocks by backtracking and taking a longer route around, cutting through alleys, and even maneuvering through a side street of small motels manned by women dressed in lingerie. Shortly before 3:00 A.M., they arrived at the street on which the white compound was located. They ducked into a dark alley between two buildings. Bode accidentally kicked a beer can; it sounded like a siren as it careened down the concrete. Eddie put a finger to his lips.
"Shh."
At each end of the street stood a man with a rifle slung over his shoulder.
" Halcones," Eddie said. "Lookouts. The far one is policia, on El Diablo's payroll." He pulled out the Glock with the silencer. "Wait here."
He disappeared into the darkness. Bode and the doctor stood there, only their breathing breaking the silence.
"I miss him already," the doctor said.
They peeked around the edge of the building and observed the halcones. First one, then the other, dropped to the ground. Eddie pulled the bodies out of sight.
"He is very good," the doctor said.
"?No mueva! "
They didn't move. They turned slowly to the voice behind them. A policia held a gun on them. Bode hoped Eddie returned soon. He didn't. But a large brick suddenly slammed against the cop's head; he collapsed to the ground.
"Hidi, Governor."
Ranger Roy, sounding like a kid come to play.
"Roy-what the hell are you doing here?"
He wasn't wearing his Ranger uniform, but still, a six-foot-six Anglo in a T-shirt, jeans, and sneakers without a tan in the can stood out like a capitalist in Cuba.
"Mr. Burnet told me where you'd gone, so I drove down right after you left."
"Why?"
"Because I'm responsible for her. Mrs. Bonner, she's like my mother."
The boy's voice cracked.
"How'd you find us?"
He pulled a GPS unit out of his back pocket.
"Tracking your cell phone."
" Roy? "
Eddie had returned.
"Hi, Eddie."
Eddie turned his palms up.
"Anyone else coming?"
"Uh, no, I think this is it."
Eddie shook his head.
"Let's get closer."
They stayed in the shadows until they found another dark recess located directly across the narrow street from the front entrance to the compound. Standing outside tall iron gates were four massive hombres.
"I cased the place in daylight," Eddie said. "They've got sensors strung all the way around on top of the wall, so even if we could get over, we'd be dead before we hit the ground on the other side."
"So how are we going to get in?"
"The front door."
"The front door?"
"Who would be stupid enough to try that?"
"Good point."
Eddie pulled out the Glock with the silencer again.
"Once we get in, we'll have to split up to find your wife."
"No, we won't."
Bode retrieved the GPS unit and activated it again. The signal came on.
"I'm tracking her cell phone."
"No way he let her keep her phone."
"She hid it."
"Where could she…?" Eddie smiled. "Your wife's a tough broad, Governor."
They looked at each other for a long solemn moment.
"Well, let's go get her," Bode said.
Eddie pulled his knit cap down low and the collar to his ratty jacket up high. He dug into his pack and pulled out a small sealed foil container of cottage cheese that smelled sour. He poured the stuff into his mouth, but he didn't swallow. He kept his right hand free under the jacket to hold the weapon. He stepped out onto the sidewalk and began walking as if he were drunk. He stumbled back and forth then into the road, mumbling incoherently. As he approached the entrance gates, the guards started laughing. Eddie then dropped to his knees and puked the cottage cheese into the street. The guards laughed and stepped closer; Eddie rose up, leveled his gun at them, and shot all four men. They fell to the pavement. Not a dog barked.
"He's got skills," Ranger Roy said.
They ran over and helped Eddie pull the bodies out of sight.
"I don't figure we got much time till we have company. Where's she at?"
Bode checked the GPS.
"East side."
They slipped through the open gates and headed east along the perimeter wall. The base of the structure looked like a bunker half-built into the ground. Three floors extended above ground level. The entire structure was constructed of steel and concrete.
"Place looks like a fuckin' fort," Eddie whispered.
The grounds were lush with palm trees and bushes that provided cover. At the east doors, Eddie took out two more men with the silenced gun. They entered the residence but encountered no more guards. They continued down a long corridor until they came to an intersecting corridor. Bode checked the GPS.
"Down here."
"Governor, you boys go for your wife," Eddie said. "I'm going for El Diablo."
"Why?"
"Because this is what I do… and I do it better alone."
Bode, Doc, and Roy watched Eddie Jones disappear around the corner. Bode could hear their breathing in the silence of the corridor.
"I miss him again," the doctor said.
"Let's find Mrs. Bonn
er," Roy said. "And get her out of here."
Lindsay woke to Enrique's gentle touch on her shoulder. She jumped.
"Enrique-no!"
"Come. The governor, he has already arrived."
They followed the GPS directions around more corners and down more corridors. They darted across a courtyard with a pool and continued down a dim hallway until they arrived at a steel door. They stopped. The signal came from inside that room. Bode put the GPS unit in his pocket. He drew the big Colt six-shooter with his left hand. Roy wielded a nine-millimeter pistol. Doc removed his six-shooter from his waistband. Bode slowly turned the door handle with his right hand. It was unlocked. He pushed the door slightly open. The room appeared dimly lit. He saw no one. He swung the door fully open and saw that the room had no windows and was empty-except for the cell phone sitting on the floor under a bright spot light.
"She is very clever, your wife."
Bode felt a gun barrel on the back of his head and heard a man's voice behind them. The knit cap was yanked from his head.
"Please, step inside."
The three Americans stepped inside.
"Put your guns on the floor."
They put their guns on the floor.
"And the rifle."
Bode dropped the rifle to the floor.
"My, that is a big rifle. You must be a very bad hombre."
It wasn't a compliment.
"Now kick them away."
He did.
"Turn around."
They did. Standing before them was a bald Mexican man dressed in a black military outfit.
"I found the phone myself," the man said. "Your wife, she is very beautiful. And feisty. She told me I would have to fuck a dead woman, then she kicked me in my cojones. But before I kill her, I will have her. What do you think about that, Governor?"
"I think I'm gonna kill you."
The man smiled.
"Against the wall."
The three men backed up to the wall. The man pointed the gun at them.
"So, we have the governor of Texas… Dr. Rincon from Colonia Angeles — I came with el jefe the day we brought the medicine and supplies-and…" He looked Ranger Roy up and down. "My, you are a big hombre. And who are you?"
Roy stood tall. "I'm a Texas Ranger."
"Are you now?"
The man shot Roy in his heart. He fell to the floor, dead.
"Goddamnit!" Bode shouted. "Why'd you kill him?"
"I hate Rangers." He grinned. "So, to finish the introductions, I am Hector Garcia. I had your head in my cross hairs, Governor, but your girlfriend stepped in the way. You are a very lucky man. Not so much her."
Bode wanted to kill this man standing before him.
"Where's my wife?"
"Why?"
"I came to get her."
"But, Governor, how do you propose to get out of this room?"
"Did you not just hear me? I told you I'm gonna kill you. So after I kill you, where do I find my wife?"
"She is upstairs, with Enrique."
Hector now had an amused expression on his face.
"Your wife, she said you would kill me first."
"I've disappointed her many times-but not tonight."
Bode swung his right arm up, and just as he did, the doctor dove for their guns on the floor. Hector turned toward the doctor and fired his gun. With his left hand, Bode grabbed the Derringer riding on his right wrist and ripped it free of the rubber band. He pointed the Derringer at Hector, whose gun hand was now swinging back toward Bode. But Bode shot first. The. 41-caliber bullet from the Derringer struck Hector in his forehead. He fell backwards. But the doctor now lay on the floor. Bleeding.
"Doc!"
Bode dropped next to him. He found the wound in his upper leg.
"Why'd you do that?"
"A diversion."
"Damnit!"
"Save her."
The doctor passed out. Bode needed to find his wife and save her, fast, so she could save the doctor. He searched the doctor's pockets and found a handkerchief-and something else that might be useful. He stuffed the handkerchief into the open wound to slow the bleeding then took the doctor's belt and made a tourniquet. He put the Derringer in his pocket and grabbed a six-shooter and stuck it in his waistband then lifted the doctor and slung him over his shoulder. He had to find Lindsay and kill El Diablo.
Unless Eddie already had.
Eddie Jones had not confronted any more guards inside the residence. El Diablo apparently kept his soldados outside. Eddie now put his back to the wall and climbed the stairs to the fourth floor. Slowly. Listening for any sound. Any movement. He arrived at the fourth-floor landing. To the side that was visible from the stairs he could see an open door with a light on inside. But what was to his blind side? He stuck his head out beyond the wall and saw a flash of black.
"Damn."
Bode had his gun drawn. He had carried the doctor down the corridor and up three flights of stairs. He had arrived at the fourth-floor landing and spotted Eddie.
His head.
His body lay on the other side of the landing; blood had oozed out onto the colorful Mexican tile floor. Neither Ranger Roy nor Eddie Jones would make it back across the river. Bode Bonner might not. But it didn't matter. What mattered-all that mattered now-was getting his wife and the doctor back across the river. Their lives were worth saving. Their lives had meaning. His did not. He was just a politician.
" Bienvenido, Governor! Welcome to Nuevo Laredo! Please, come in!"
The voice came from inside a room just off the landing. Bode carried the doctor over to the door and into a spacious office with a plate glass wall facing the lights of Laredo.
"Ah, the man who would be president."
At the far end, a handsome Mexican man with a goatee stood against a desk holding an AK-47 pointed at Bode. A bloody machete stood against the desk. The governor's wife stood next to him. Wearing a short black dress.
"Oh, my God-is that Jesse?" she cried. "Is he alive?"
"He's unconscious. Some hombre named Hector shot him in the leg. You El Diablo?"
" Gringos call me that. I am Enrique de la Garza. And where is Hector now?"
"Dead." Bode turned to his wife. "So is Roy."
" My Ranger Roy?" Lindsay said. "He came for me?"
"It seems that many men came for you," El Diablo said. "I did not expect you so soon, Governor. I took your wife, what, not twenty-four hours ago? You came quickly, and you have already killed Hector Garcia. I am impressed."
"In a few minutes, you'll be dead."
"Hmm. Well, perhaps you should drop your gun."
Bode dropped the gun.
"Please kick it to me."
He kicked the gun away then laid the doctor on the couch. He faced his wife.
"Why are you wearing a party dress?"
"Why do you have a tan?"
"Don't you think that dress is a little short for a woman your age?"
"A woman my age? Enrique thinks I have beautiful legs. Don't you?"
El Diablo seemed confused. Lindsay put her hands on her hips.
"You said I had beautiful legs. Do I or don't I?"
She pulled the dress up enough to expose her black panties. El Diablo couldn't help but look, and when he did the barrel of the AK-47 dropped slightly, which gave Bode the opening he needed. He pulled the Derringer from his pocket, pointed it at El Diablo, and squeezed the trigger.
Click.
El Diablo smiled.
"That must be disappointing, Governor."
"A bit."
He must have shot both barrels at Hector. He dropped the Derringer on the floor.
"But that was a clever try. Your wife does have beautiful legs."
"I need to help Jesse," Lindsay said.
"Yes. Of course."
She went to the doctor and dropped to her knees next to him.
"I need to cut his pants leg."
El Diablo tossed scissors from his desk to her. She cut the
doctor's trouser leg.
"Will he live?" Bode said.
"He's in shock. I need blankets."
"In the closet outside."
Lindsay stood and went outside. She gagged at the sight of a decapitated man. But she went closer and picked up a gun with a long tube on the barrel lying nearby. She then opened the closet and removed several blankets. She placed the blankets over the gun. She went back inside and covered Jesse with a blanket.
But she held the gun.
"I did not want that," Enrique said to her husband. "This is not about the doctor. This is about you."
"You wanted me here. I'm here. Let them go. Let her save the doctor. Shoot me if you want, but let them go."
"Yes, okay."
Enrique raised the AK-47 and shot Bode.
"Bode!"
The force knocked him to the floor. Lindsay released the gun under the blanket and went to her husband. She knelt over him and checked his wound. The bullet had struck him in his right shoulder.
A hot, sharp pain burned through Bode's shoulder. He didn't think it was a fatal wound, but his right arm was useless. He reached into his coat pocket with his left hand.
"I love you, Lindsay. I'm sorry I hurt you. I'm sorry I didn't come here and beg you to come back to me. But I'm gonna get you and the doc back across the border. After I kill this son of a bitch."
El Diablo snorted. "You Texans, always with the cowboy talk."
He again pointed the AK-47 at Bode, but then seemed to think otherwise. He placed the gun on the desk then picked up the machete.
"You killed my son, Governor, now I must kill you. But I will not kill you like a coward, as you killed my son. I will kill you as a man
… mano a mano."
He stepped closer with the machete. Bode pushed Lindsay away.
"I killed your son because he was gonna kill a young girl."
"No! Jesus would never have hurt a child! He would never violate the code!"
"He beat her, and he raped her! A twelve-year-old girl!"
"No! I do not believe you!"
"You don't want to believe it, but you know it's the truth. The girl said he did. The other kids witnessed it. Your son was a sick fucking bastard just like his daddy!"
El Diablo glared at the governor of Texas.
"I will kill you now."
"Bring it, you crazy-ass bastard! I'm not afraid to die!"
"Good-because you are about to."
He raised his machete, but Lindsay threw her body over Bode.
