The Rules of Silence

by David Lindsey

  “Let me get that, ”Titus said. “That's my phone. This guy's kidnapped me… .”

  “No, ”Macias said, his eyes walled as he rolled them at the man holding him. Then he spoke to him in Spanish, and the man cut his eyes again at Titus.

  “I don't know what he's saying, ”Titus said, suddenly terrified at Macias's ploy, “but he and Luquín had been extorting money from me, and they've killed my friends… . Wait … wait. I know, you work for García Burden, don't you?”

  At the mention of Burden's name, he saw recognition in the demon's eyes. And there was no mistaking the recognition in Macias's eyes, either. Though Titus was actually out of his field of vision, Macias's eyes were rolled in his direction, wide with stunned discovery, as if those two words dazzled with revelation in the shadowy room, like the visionary writing on Belshazzar's wall.

  “I hired García to get me out of this thing with Luquín and Macias. Maybe he hired you—”

  This wasn't working fast enough, wasn't advancing his argument fast enough.

  “These pictures, ”he said quickly, “I know about those pictures. Just a few days ago, in San Miguel, García told me. She's the daughter of a guy García knows. García was explaining to me what kind of a man Luquín was, wanted me to know what I was up against.”

  Everything froze. No sound. No one spoke. This information had done something to the demon that nearly sucked the air out of the room.

  And then Titus heard a single, faint snick.

  The little pistol had misfired.

  Macias and the man both realized what had happened a millisecond before Titus did, and in a flash Macias's right fist drove one, two, three times into the man's upper thigh near his naked groin as Macias charged in a powerful burst of energy, carrying the man backward, both of them falling over the coffee table and onto the floor. Macias dropped the small switchblade as he scrambled for his gun and came up with the gun before the man could recover and just as Titus hurled the laptop across the sofa, catching Macias flat in the chest, knocking him into a backward stagger. He fell back against the giant television screen but kept his balance and came up with the automatic leveled at Titus, who had barreled across the room to within a few feet of him.

  Again everything stopped. Everybody was breathing hard, wired, adrenaline pumping.

  “Okay, ”Macias said. “Pick up the laptop. ”He only had to move the automatic inches to cover both men. “Try to throw it again, and I'll kill you. I've got nothing to lose now. ”To the naked man: “Is Luquín dead?”

  “Almost. ”He was holding his thigh, blood all over the sofa.

  Macias motioned to Titus to move toward the front door. “We're leaving, ”Macias said to the man. “You finish what you came here to do. Don't leave that son of a bitch alive.”

  Clutching his wounds, the man watched them as they made their way through the entry hall to the front door. Before Titus opened the door, with Macias's automatic again jammed into his kidneys, he glanced back. The pale light from the television flickered on the bloody sofa. The man was gone.

  Chapter 55

  Suddenly, after an agonizingly long silence, Titus's signal moved out of the house.

  “Unbelievable. ”Norlin was on the edge of his chair, his neck craning toward the screen.

  “The bodyguard's signal's not moving, ”a technician said.

  “You think they killed him? ”asked the other one.

  Burden gazed at the screens, ignoring their questions.

  “You think Cain is alone? ”Norlin asked.

  Burden punched the send call on his cell and waited. No answer. He shook his head. “No, he's not alone.”

  The blip made its way through the neighborhood and then turned left at Highway 2222 and headed west.

  “Coming our way, ”said a technician.

  “We've got a choice, ”Burden said to no one in particular, thinking out loud. “Macias has an escape plan. Always. Just for him. Whatever it is, he's headed for it now. He assumes the car's tagged, so he'll be dumping it. He's going to think he has to keep Cain as insurance. If it goes on like this, it could end in a confrontation. We don't know what happened back at Luquín's, maybe a shoot-out. Don't know if Artemio's dead. Don't know if Luquín's dead. Police may be on the way. And that means discovery. If there's a shoot-out trying to get Cain back, that means discovery. If Cain is killed, even without a shoot-out, that means discovery. If Macias kidnaps him, that means discovery and possibly Cain's death, too.”

  “You want to let him go, then?”

  “If we can guarantee Cain's life, yes, ”Burden said. “If we can guarantee silence for this operation, yes. We have to. Even though it means that someone's going to have to deal with the son of a bitch again sometime down the road.”

  “Calò's in behind them again, ”a technician said.

  “One more thing, ”Burden said. “Now the gun in the seat is in play again. If it hasn't already been found and dealt with.”

  “Man, that is such a risk, ”Norlin said. “That is such a risk. He'll get killed if he tries to use that thing. Hell, we don't know if he can use it. Why the hell did Calò do that?”

  “I don't know that it was the wrong thing to do. It might save his life.”

  “Shit, it's going to get him killed.”

  “I don't know, I might've done the same thing. There was opportunity, and not a lot of time to think. It was a choice.”

  Burden's phone rang, and he snapped it up and answered.

  “García Burden, ”Macias said. It was just a statement. “Hello, Jorge.”

  “This explains a lot, ”Macias said. “I couldn't figure out why so much careful planning was falling apart so fast.” “Is he still alive?” “Who?” “Cain.” “Yes.” “Let me speak to him.”

  Macias held the phone beside Titus's head. “Tell him you're alive.”

  “I'm okay, ”Titus said.

  “You hear that? ”Macias asked.

  “We need to talk about where we stand, Jorge.”

  “Go ahead. I can't wait to hear this.”

  “Is Luquín dead?”

  “He probably is by now.”

  “What's the situation there?”

  “Call your fucking crazy man and ask him.”

  “I've been trying to.”

  “Well, he looked like he was very busy.”

  Silence.

  “You've been wiped out, ”Burden said. “That's where you stand.”

  “Keep going.”

  “We want to make a deal. We'll stop right here, and you can walk away. But Cain walks away, too. Very simple. On the other hand, ”Burden added, “if he dies, you die. Guaranteed.”

  “Maybe I'll just take him with me, ”Macias said.

  “That's not an option.”

  Macias already knew that Burden would say that. But maybe they disagreed about what Macias's options were. He wasn't going to tell Burden, but Macias thought that there was some room to be flexible here. Burden would not be bargaining if Macias didn't have a good shot at doing what he wanted to do here.

  “How do you propose to do this? ”Having to ask the question galled him. It was like asking permission, admitting that Burden had the upper hand. For the moment, at least. But his humiliation was nothing compared to the raw rush of fear that gripped him. He had come so close to being killed, and now he had this one last opportunity to save his ass. He couldn't make any mistakes.

  “The car's bugged, ”Burden said, “and so is Cain. So we know where he is at every moment. He swallowed it, Jorge, so don't worry about taking all of his clothes off and shit like that. I know you have an escape plan. I know you're planning on dumping the car, so go ahead and do that. But leave Cain with it. Alive. If you do that, you live. Anything else, you don't.”

  “Yes, I know. You've already made that point. ”Macias's mind was racing. Shit. Shit. The one thing that sounded too neat here was Cain swallowing a bug. Why would Burden tell him that? It seemed to Macias that if it was true, it was the
sort of thing you'd want to keep secret. Why else would he swallow it? So why would Burden say that? Because once Macias dumped the car and Burden's people lost visual contact with Macias, then Burden wouldn't have any idea where Cain was. Burden was trying to make Macias believe that he had no choice except to leave Cain with the Navigator. But Macias wasn't buying it. Not that part of the deal, anyway.

  Other than that, how the hell was he going to make sure they would let him go if he did what Burden wanted?

  “This is a delicate moment, García. Do something to make me believe you will do what you say.”

  “I need to talk to Cain to make it work.”

  Macias froze.

  “Just hand him the phone, ”Burden said, sensing Macias's instant suspicion. “I need to calm him down, Jorge. You don't understand, yet, what you're dealing with there.”

  Macias tried to sort it out, his mind stumbling over itself. He was losing the thread here, getting confused, trying to anticipate all the traps, and afraid he wasn't seeing even the obvious ones.

  “Hand him the phone, Jorge. He'll hand it right back to you.”

  This was a fucking mistake, Macias thought, but he had to make a decision fast. The car was flying down the highway. Soon they were going to have to turn off.

  “If you don't do this, ”Burden said, “it's not going to work. It's all over.”

  Macias had every reason in the world not to believe this.

  “He wants to talk to you, ”Macias said, handing the phone over the seat to Titus.

  Sweating, his nerves fraying, Titus reached out, touching Macias's hand as he fumbled for the phone being handed over his shoulder, repulsed at the feel of the other man's flesh.

  “Yes.”

  “Titus, ”Burden said, “in just a second you're going to hand the phone back to Macias, so I'm going to talk fast. Do you know about the gun?”

  “Yes.”

  “Okay, while I'm talking right now take the mole off your arm and put it on the gun without letting him see. Then let him have the gun when he asks for it. I told him you'd swallowed a bug, and that we know where you are at all times. He needs to believe that. I'm going to try to get him to leave you with the Navigator in exchange for letting him go. Quickly, what did he go back to Luquín's for?”

  “Laptop.”

  Macias snatched the phone from Titus with a slap to the side of the head that was so hard, it caused him to swerve off the highway and plow along a hundred yards of the median before he regained control and got back on the pavement.

  “You're a goddamned idiot! ”Macias screamed into the phone. He was rattled and furious.

  “Listen, Jorge, ”Burden said slowly. “We want to be very careful here, okay? Remember, he lives, you live. Anybody dies, everybody dies. ”He was stretching it out, giving Titus time to switch the mole. “When my men brought you the car at La Terrazza, they jammed an automatic down in between the seats by Cain's right side. He's already found it. It's ready to fire, safety off. I told him to let you have it when you reached over the seat to get it.”

  “I'll blow his head off, García, ”Macias yelled, “I've got it to his head right now. I'll fucking shoot him!”

  “Damn it, it's no trick, Jorge.”

  Macias kept the phone to his ear and spoke to Titus.

  “What did he tell you?”

  During Macias's exchange with Burden, Titus had carefully peeled the mole from his right arm with his left hand and was now pressing it into the scored handle of the pistol. He was still shaken from the blow against the side of his head, but he managed to move his hand slowly away from the gun to the bottom of the steering wheel as he answered.

  “He said not to use the gun that's in the seat here. He said to let you have it.”

  Macias calculated the time they'd spent on the phone. Burden really couldn't have said much more than that. He screwed the muzzle of the automatic into the base of Titus's skull and slowly reached over the seat. He found the handle of the gun, jammed between the seats, and slowly brought it out. There was a suppressor on it.

  “Now what? ”Macias said into the phone.

  “Okay, you see how this is going? ”Burden asked.

  “Yeah, I see.”

  “We just want to bring this to an end, Jorge. If we get Cain back safely and in one piece, then you get a free pass. You're lucky this time. Very, very lucky.”

  Macias knew that Burden was speaking the truth, about this one thing, anyway. He had this little opportunity solo por suerte. Every moment counted now. He'd kept glancing out the rear window. He hadn't seen headlights at a consistent distance, which meant that they probably were locked on to them with a tag, like they said. They didn't need somebody up close. If that was the case, then, that distance between him and whoever was back there—he wasn't stupid, he knew there was somebody back there—that distance was his opening. His only opening. And his next move had to be done in that space, and in absolute privacy.

  “What about it, Jorge? Have we got a deal? ”Burden asked him.

  “Yeah, we've got a deal.”

  “Okay, now it's your turn to make us believe you, ”Burden concluded. “When you drop him with the Navigator, you've got to put him on the phone so we know he's alive when you leave. We'll keep talking to him until we get to him. When we've got him, you're in the open.”

  “¡Hecho! ” Macias said, and punched off the phone.

  He hesitated a second, calculating, going through the mental paces of what lay before him to make sure he didn't miss a step that would throw off his timing. Then he punched in a code on his cell phone and immediately pushed the time elapse feature on his watch, setting it for forty-five minutes.

  Free pass. Yeah. Did Burden think he was so scared that he'd lost his mind? No fucking way was he going to give up Titus Cain until he was safely out of this mess … and maybe not even then. He'd have to see how it went. But in the meantime, maybe the lie would buy him a little time.

  Chapter 56

  “Jesus, ”Norlin said.

  Burden could feel him looking at him. They were close in the van, their eyes jittering over the screens.

  “That, ”Norlin said, “was a ballsy call.”

  “You mean heartless, don't you, ”Burden said without looking at Norlin. “You could've said heartless.”

  “No, I mean ballsy. If you're wrong … then it was heartless. You've almost got everything you wanted, García. More than you expected you'd get. You could've let it go.”

  “And I probably would have—if he hadn't gone back for that laptop. But if he risked his life for it, then I want it.”

  “Even if it cost Cain his life?”

  “Cain is one life. God knows how many lives that laptop could save.”

  “What if it can't? What if it can't even save one?”

  “You're acting like Cain's already dead. Look, if Macias believes that Cain's swallowed a bug, then he'll leave Cain with the car because he's got to isolate himself. If he does that, I want Calò to be able to get to him.”

  “That's a damned big if.”

  Burden said nothing, ignoring Norlin, his eyes fixed on the monitors.

  “And if Macias doesn't buy that story? ”Norlin persisted.

  Burden turned to him. “Think about it, Gil. We wiped out this entire operation. Hell, I can hardly believe that myself. That's got to scare the hell out of him. I've got to guess that at this point Jorge Macias is entirely focused on saving his ass.”

  “But what if he doesn't buy the lie about the swallowed bug?”

  “Then he'll take Cain with him. And even if he does that, he'll have to be thinking, in the back of his mind, that maybe he's guessed wrong. That maybe I'm watching this monitor, and I can see Cain's bug leaving with Macias and not staying with the Navigator like we'd agreed. He'll remember that I said that if he did anything other than what we agreed on, then he's a dead man. The second he deviates from our agreement— if he does—he's going to be sweating blood. People who sweat blood
make mistakes. ”He looked at the monitor. “Calò's still on him.”

  “Yeah, way back, ”the technician said. “More than a mile.”

  The van was on the move again, too, just about a mile behind Calò.

  Burden kept his eyes on the LorGuides. Up until now everything had worked far better than he'd had any reason to expect it would, but now he had no men to spare, and what happened next was largely out of his hands. All he could do was listen to it happening.

  “There's another way to look at his thinking, ”Burden said. “He knows damn well that his security is tied to Cain. He may hang on to him like a drowning man hangs on to a piece of driftwood. There's that possibility. If that's the way it goes, and if he tosses that gun for any reason at all, or loses it, or forgets it in the panic, Calò will go straight to it, and we're screwed.”

  “Cain's screwed, ”Norlin corrected him.

  “They've turned off onto South Loop One, ”a technician said.

  “Pull up the maps in the southwest part of the city, ”Burden said.

  “If Macias continues on his course”—Norlin leaned across and pointed to the map on the largest of four screens—“he'll go into Oak Hill. He's headed for an intersection where he'll have to make a choice between two highways. One, a state highway, goes toward the lakes and on to Llano; the other one, a U.S. highway, better condition, can take you to Fredericksburg or south to San Antonio. All of them go through ranch country.”

  Burden stared at the map. Macias was headed into his escape plan. For it to work, he was going to have to drop off the LorGuides somehow. He had to disappear.

  Titus's hands were shaking on the steering wheel from the rush of adrenaline that just didn't stop coming. They drove south on Loop 360, where the city had effused into the rolling hills with up-market developments that overflowed into the wooded valleys and crawled along the crowns of the ridges, their lights spreading like a sparkling mildew into the rolling landscape. They stayed with the Loop as it turned back east on the southern side of the city, and when it intersected Loop 1, Macias told him to turn right and head south.

  Macias wasn't talking, and Titus found it particularly unnerving that he didn't ease off with the automatic, which he kept screwed into the base of Titus's skull. He could actually feel the roundness of the barrel, and it felt like a coffin to him.