He replied, “Calderon pre-marked a location near a pipe. Apparently the money will be delivered to him and he will take it to Mexico. He has talked to someone on the phone, only in Spanish. Whoever it is, he’s updating him every step of the way. He may have a boss in Mexico.”
A short silence followed. Then the supervisor said, “Ok, keep your head low when the shooting starts. You think Calderon suspects you or anyone else there as an agent?”
“I don’t think so. All the men were tested when he called out two of the mercenaries he said he did not trust. He killed both men in front of us. Gruesome really. But fear and the large amount of money they think they are getting for the job has them all in good spirits. How’s it looking on your end?”
“Meetings have taken place, everyone has a stake in the case, and the big bosses seem supportive still,” replied the supervisor. The supervisor knew not everything he just told his undercover agent was the truth, but he did not want the agent to be more stressed than he already was. The assignment he was in could cost the agent his life at any moment; however it was the torture that would ensue prior to his death that scared the hell out of them both. The supervisor knew it all too well after his own escape from being tortured in Mexico City twenty years prior. The nightmares never go away, he thought.
“Okay, sounds good. This is scheduled to go down tomorrow night, I’ll text you the time we start to roll out. And let your people know some of the guys working for Calderon are cold blooded killers. We’ll be heavily armed. Remind them this is not training. This is life or death. If people lose focus, they’ll die.”
The supervisor was proud of his agent’s ability to assess the situation and remain calm. The two murders that occurred right in front of him would have forced most people to blow their cover and compromise the mission. But not this agent, he was as cool as the other side of a pillow. The supervisor had known him for almost twelve years and he was close friends with the agent’s father. If anything happened to him, the supervisor would have a tough pill to swallow and an even more difficult time advising the kid’s father. It’s not going to happen on this mission, the supervisor tried to convince himself.
“Copy that. I’ll advise the teams. If you get into a tight spot hit the emergency button and the troops will come ASAP. Make no mistake about it, if Calderon figures you out, the torture will be unbearable.”
“That’s what the little cyanide pill is for.” The undercover agent tried to sound confident but absolutely dreaded the fact that he may actually have to use it. The things I do for my country, he thought.
Chapter 36
* * *
Once again Kovach found himself in a precarious position. He was talking to his wife on the cell phone trying to convince her to pack their bags for a surprise visit to see her sister in Minnesota. She wasn’t buying it and she wanted to know what was wrong. He obviously couldn’t tell her anything. He finally settled her and told her he’d see her in a few hours to talk in person.
As he hung up with his wife, Kovach finally found the access to the tunnels beneath the city. He could have asked the city manager or a city public works person, but he didn’t want anyone to know what he was doing. He found himself anxiously looking for the subtle mark left by Calderon according to the undercover officer. He anticipated running into some of Calderon’s men in the tunnels at some point, but he was not sure when or where.
Kovach slowly came up to a spot in the tunnels that only went left or right, a place cops called a “T” intersection. Since he was by himself, he would have to poke his head out on one side, see what he could see, then repeat the process for the other side.
He was wearing city maintenance attire in an effort to buy him time should he come across some of Calderon’s men. The ruse seemed like a good idea at first, but now he retrieved his weapon from the small of his back and placed it in the tool bag he was carrying for quicker access. The hair on his neck stood up as he made the first peek down the tunnels to his right.
He went flat on the floor as he noticed two men, both with MP5 sub-machine guns slung across their chests, standing no more than thirty feet from him. He cursed under his breath. Now what the hell is the game plan?
Kovach thought about continuing with the city worker ruse, but decided against it. Based on the men being armed, he believed they had one job-kill anyone in their way. What was another body to Calderon?
He considered how close he was to the two men, and whether their presence meant the mark left by Calderon was near. He was silent and still on the ground speculating on what to do next when he heard several voices and what sounded like squeaking wheels coming from his left.
He slowly looked where the sound came from and saw three men pushing a cart. He could not see what was on the cart. It was heavy because it required all three men to push it.
The two men with sub-machine guns heard the same noise and turned to investigate. Crap. He scanned the area looking for a small spot to hide. His pulse raced as he realized he needed to find the mark quickly, otherwise the gig would be up and he stood no chance against five suspects. The tunnels had dim light making it more difficult to find a place to hide. He looked for enclaves or shadows and finally found a small enclave to his right just short of the T-intersection. He scooted backwards on his stomach making sure he did not make a sound. The voices were getting louder, which meant they were close. He quickly but quietly stood up in the enclave and pushed his back as deep as he could into the wall trying desperately to save his own life. Something stuck him, but he didn’t yell out loud because he would have surely died then.
The men met near his hiding location. He realized he wasn’t breathing and tried to slowly gather air. His hand was on his weapon and he slowly retrieved the flash bang grenade from his pocket. If he was discovered, he’d throw the flash bang, fire rounds in the direction of the men, and run like hell.
Kovach saw a portion of the cart and noticed large pieces of drilling equipment. Son of a bitch, he thought, they’re going to drill right up to the warehouse floor. He tried to hear everything the men were saying, but they were speaking Spanish and facing away from him. Giving up his location was not an option. Knowing what they were saying was not worth his life. It sounded like the conversation was ending and Kovach realized he was holding his breath again making him light headed. He exhaled quietly. A cold shiver ran down his back as his neck pressed against the concrete causing him to shake. The metal from his tool bag clanked against a pipe in the enclave making a loud sound. Oh shit, he thought.
The voices immediately stopped and Kovach was already pulling the pin from the flash bang grenade and preparing to throw it.
One of the men with the cart said something to the men with the weapons. As a whole, the two groups began walking right toward Kovach. He could see the men with the equipment cart were also armed now. He panicked and said a little prayer. He slowly inhaled one last large breath and hoped for the best.
However, they walked right past without noticing him. He waited a few minutes until he could no longer hear them or the cart and allowed himself to step out from his hiding spot. He shook his head and wanted to scream. He continued his search for Calderon’s mark. He was sweating profusely and his adrenaline was spiked.
Kovach was sure the men with the drilling equipment had created a way for the money in the warehouse to make it to the tunnels. He figured it would pass where he hid and make its way further through the tunnels. Therefore, he slowly and meticulously combed the tunnels looking for the mark indicating Calderon’s escape route.
Thirty minutes later, Kovach finally located a small white mark on a pipe in an area where the tunnels split again, two to the right and two to the left. He studied exactly what the mark looked like, where it was, and took a picture of it with his cell phone.
Among the many tools in his bag was a small can of paint remover. He retrieved a small rag, sprayed some paint remover on it, and began erasing the mark. When he was done, he retrieved a
small can of white spray paint. He practiced several times on a piece of cardboard making the exact same line as the one he’d discovered. However, each time he did it, the paint would drip or run and it looked nothing like the mark he had found on the pipe. He eventually got a little better at making a replica mark, but it was obvious his work would be slightly different. He hoped the person searching for the mark he made would be in a hurry and not figure out they were heading for a trap.
He steadied himself and finally chose the pipe where he wanted to put his own mark. If the person with the money or Calderon located the mark and continued down the tunnel where he’d placed the new mark, they would end up coming up right into the hands of Dix and the team. He sprayed the paint on the pipe, but just like when he did it on the cardboard, it dripped. He wiped off his mark and tried again. The mark he made the second time looked much closer to the one he had found and he was satisfied with it. It’s going to have to do in a pinch.
Kovach checked his watch and noticed it was almost midnight. He knew the lighting in the tunnels would shut down in a few minutes. As quickly as he could, without being too loud, he made his way back to where he originally entered. Without incident he made it to the exit point to the city streets and back to his car. He drove home wondering what crazy story he would have to tell his wife to explain where he had been all night, and why he wanted the whole family to head to Minnesota as soon as possible.
Chapter 37
* * *
Smith knew hanging up on Calderon wouldn’t go over too well, but he didn’t care. His own safety meant more to him than entertaining Calderon’s need to be in charge. Smith moved the rental car three blocks from the Sheriff’s Office warehouse, parked, popped the trunk, and got out. He scanned the area for any witnesses while he fished around a plastic tub in the back of the car for a brown UPS shirt and matching pants. Once he found them he quickly put them on. He grabbed a sealed UPS envelope and affixed an address label and dialed the number he found for the warehouse.
A woman answered and said, “This is Sherry, how can I help you.”
Smith paused and said, “Hello Sherry, this is Lee Smith with UPS. We’re sending a driver your way, but we can’t read the name on the envelope. The first name is Sherry, but the last name looks like Carlino.”
The secretary replied, “Well my name is Sherry, but my last name is Lawton.”
“Well the more I look at the envelope it could be Lawton. My eyes have gotten worse over the years. My driver will be there in a few minutes and hopefully we can work this out for you guys,” replied Smith.
“Ok. Hopefully it’s for me since it should be my check,” replied the secretary.
“Sounds good, have a great day,” said Smith.
Smith hung up and scribbled the name Sherry Lawton as the addressee for the envelope. He started walking toward the warehouse but had to go back to the rental car to grab the UPS signature tablet. Within a few minutes, he was entering the warehouse and scanning everything beyond the front desk. His head was on a swivel as he walked right up to the front desk like he owned the place.
The secretary was smiling at him and said, “Hello, I hear you have something for one of us.”
Smith returned the smile and replied, “I sure do. Looks like this envelope is addressed to a Sherry Lawton. You have any idea who that may be?” He flirted with the woman with his eyes and poured on the charm.
He noticed she was not wearing a wedding band and there were two security cameras covering the front door and small lobby area. He’d been very successful with ruses, especially when it involved women, because he could read them better than men.
The secretary blushed a little and said, “Why yes, that’s me.”
“Well then this envelope is yours,” he said as he handed her the fake envelope. While the woman was preoccupied with the envelope Smith used the signing tablet to scan the area to allow the camera inside the tablet to record the layout of the warehouse. The built in camera also picked up infrared signals, and with the up and down arrows on the tablet he could tilt the lens to cover the warehouse floor to the ceiling. He was looking around the warehouse and almost missed the fact that the secretary was beginning to open the envelope. He needed to distract her long enough for him to leave.
“Well Ms. Lawton, have a terrific day,” he handed her the signing tablet and said, “Can you give me a quick signature before you tear into that envelope.” He made sure to causally brush her hand as he handed her the tablet and catch her eyes to flirt a little more.
She put the envelope down and signed the tablet. She felt something stir inside herself that she hadn’t felt in a long time. She turned red and suddenly felt flush with excitement.
She handed the tablet back to Smith. “Have a wonderful day and make sure to come back real soon.”
He tried to blush as he retrieved the tablet and said, “You bet, I’m pretty sure I’ll be back real soon. Maybe we could grab a cup of coffee sometime.” Smith winked at the secretary and exited the warehouse with a little pep in his step. He was hopeful the secretary would not be around when he and the other men came to collect Calderon’s money. It would be a shame for a nice woman like that to get hurt, he thought.
He changed back into his regular street clothes and jumped into the rental car. He noticed he had little time to get to Calderon’s house and no matter what he did, we was going to be late. The information he obtained from entering the building while doing the UPS ruse was invaluable; however, he went back and forth in his head on how much of it he would share with Calderon.
He was certain he’d need to share some of what he gathered with Calderon to pacify him since he was going to be late to their meeting. At every stop light on the way to Calderon’s mansion Smith edited the video. As he pulled into the large driveway at Calderon’s home he finished the final touches. He noticed Calderon’s men slowly come out of the shadows as he exited his vehicle.
Smith saw Calderon standing on a balcony overlooking the front of his property and said, “Sorry about being late.”
“You will be even sorrier if you don’t have a damn good reason why, especially since you demanded this.”
“Trust me; you won’t be so mad when you see what I’ve got.” Smith counted seven men around him and detected two escape routes. He had a gun tucked in his back and one on his ankle. This could get hairy, he thought as he went inside to meet with a very angry Jose Calderon.
Chapter 38
* * *
Before trying to go to bed Dix called home. That turned out to be a mistake. He got into a little argument with his wife because she demanded he come home and he just couldn’t do that. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to be home. He was knee deep in a case and needed to stop more killings from happening.
He told his wife, “Babe I love you and I’ll be home soon.”
She replied, “You have three days. I’m gone on the fourth.” Dix knew, of course, it was a bluff. She knew her husband was not a quitter when she married him, but it was time for him to come home. She recognized whatever he had gotten himself into must be extremely important.
Dix had learned over the years how to balance work with family life, but this time he was going to have to spend some alone time with his wife to fix this one. He had plenty of “comp time” on the books and since he was one of two sergeants in the task force, he was pretty sure he could pencil in his own time off.
“Okay babe. I promise to be home in two days. Thanks for understanding.” She felt a little better after that because he always followed through on his promises. They ended the conversation in a standoff and it bothered him. He tired to sleep it off, but he tossed and turned all night.
He struggled because he was not feeling good about the trap for Jose Calderon. Too many people and too many variables. He also had some concerns about Doug Kovach and Agent Romero. Some of the things they said and did seemed a little off. He realized he’d not seen Kovach in many years and he certainly could have change
d. Something wasn’t right. He thought about asking Kovach what was going on with him, but he was sure he wouldn’t tell him the truth.
Over the last three days, Dix had also detected a rift between Kovach and Romero which also concerned him. He felt like they were keeping extra close tabs on each other, like they did not trust each other. The only people on his team that seemed to be behaving normally were Petersen and Sullivan.
Dix picked up the phone to call Petersen, but put it down. No sense screwing up his sleep too, he thought.
The schematics for the warehouse and all the notes from the planning meeting were scattered on a coffee table in Dix’s hotel room. He walked over and started looking over them again. This was the sixth time he had done so and the lines and notes were beginning to get blurry.
Thumbing through the blueprints for the warehouse, Dix found he was fascinated by the simplicity of the layout and basic lack of security. Over the years, he’d been in numerous law enforcement warehouses around the country. He had never seen one so inadequate to protect evidence and other law enforcement property. He assumed the warehouse must have been an after-thought or a new acquisition that the Sheriff’s Office had not properly updated yet.
He checked the blueprints for various access points to the warehouse. He created another list to make sure he did not miss any possible way for Calderon’s men to enter and leave. He mulled the game plan over and over in his head until he started to get a headache. While doing so, he caught himself biting his nails and tried to stop. He felt himself getting drowsy and started to get up to go to his bed when he heard a knock on his door.
Dix grabbed his weapon and carefully looked out the blinds to see Petersen standing there.
He opened the door, “Let me guess, you can’t sleep either.”
“Well, I couldn’t so I went for a walk. You won’t believe who I saw and what he was doing.”
The Cartel Enforcers (The Bill Dix Detective Series Book 2) Page 15
