“Nothing’s been this way recently other than a couple of mules,” Luke said, after returning from looking up and down the road nearby. “I’m sure there’s a few campesinos scattered here about, considering there’s water here, but if they’re not driving, they’re probably not associated with the cartels.”
“So, what do you think? We know there’s nothing back there in the direction of the pass. Shall we follow the road on down? It’s bound to lead to something, especially with that river running beside it.”
Luke agreed of course, as it was really the only option, and so the three of them set out, with Luke taking point on ahead where he could also keep lookout for sign that Eric and Carmen might miss. In this relatively high-elevation area of Mexico, the landscape was similar to the mountainous Southwest Eric had seen so much of recently. The only differences to remind him he was in more southern latitudes were the occasional odd plants and birds they saw here and there along the river—species like towering yuccas and prickly pear cactus plants that looked more like trees than the low-growing clumps he was accustomed to. The vegetation in some areas directly along the watercourse was dense and green, while just a short distance away in the higher surrounding hills, it resembled the semi-scrub forest of pine and juniper he’d been seeing for days in New Mexico.
As they followed the river downstream, they came across scattered herds of scrawny, free-range cattle, and more evidence of people using the land in the form of fences and crude corrals, as well as more mule and horse hoof prints. Due to the increasing likelihood of running into someone, Luke suggested they wait out of sight for a little while and then continue on after dark. It was already late afternoon, after all, so Eric agreed it was a good plan and they left the road to find a riverside sandbar well-hidden by trees to pass the remaining hours of daylight. Eric and Luke had rations for two or three days in their packs just in case they had to walk that far, but he certainly hoped they wouldn’t need them. Luke gave Carmen her first MRE and showed her how to prepare it, and though she seemed to think it was both weird and funny, she smiled as she ate and didn’t complain. Watching her brought Megan to mind again, and thinking about his daughter, Eric couldn’t stop his thoughts from returning to his ex-wife as well, as he sat there waiting on the light to fade. Was Shauna still thinking of him too, or had what happened simply been a natural response to the relief of her stress and her happiness at knowing Megan was safe? Eric knew he’d be better off to assume that was the case, and that she was happy to be back with her husband, the man she’d chosen to marry when she finally gave up on him.
They were on the move again as soon as the twilight began to fade, and once they were out in the open on the road, there was more than enough starlight in the clear mountain atmosphere to see where they were going. Eric knew their movements too, could be spotted if someone were close enough and watching the road, but that didn’t seem likely enough to let it deter them, as they could accomplish nothing without pushing on. Besides, they were moving quietly, so they would hear the sounds of men or machines from a distance, and in the darkness, Eric knew they would see the lights of any vehicles or dwellings before the occupants could see them. And as it turned out, they had only been walking a little over an hour when a bright glow on the horizon ahead of them indicated they were coming up on a town.
“Let’s get off the road here and up on that ridge,” Luke said, pointing to the higher ground that paralleled the road and the river canyon on the north side. “Maybe we can get an idea of the size of the place before we get too close.”
From that vantage point, it was obvious that the settlement in the distance was much more than just a little village. To Eric, it looked like a good-sized town, and there had to be better roads leading into it from the other side, connecting it to other cities and towns of the region, including Monterrey.
“This one is surely under Los Nuevos control,” Carmen asserted, when Luke put the question to her. “There are no towns that size in this part of Mexico that are not. The other place we stopped was different only because of how far it is from everything and how little is there. The Fronteras Cartel got away with taking it, but they cannot take a town this size.”
What she said stood to reason, and Eric and Luke discussed how best to proceed now that they had likely arrived someplace where they could find those they sought. Despite Carmen’s assurance though, none of them, including Carmen, thought it would be a good idea to simply walk into those streets in her company asking around for Los Nuevos associates, because even if they ran this place, they couldn’t be trusted. Anyone who saw an opportunity to cash in on Carmen’s return would do what it took to seize it.
“I’ll go alone,” Eric said. “I’ll ask around until I find someone that can speak a little English. It shouldn’t be too hard.”
“It would make more sense for me to go,” Luke said. “I speak the language and I’m more likely to pass for a local. No one’s going to look twice at an Indian man wandering into town at night here. But they can tell you’re a gringo from a mile away. You’ll stand out too much.”
“There’s Americans all over Mexico. You know that, Luke. Probably more now than ever. Texans and others figuring things may be safer here than at home.”
“Maybe so, but there’s also probably more of them than ever that are down here because of what they’re involved in. You go walking down the wrong street here at night where they don’t know you, and you may not get far enough to question anyone.”
“Even so, the fact that you speak perfect Spanish and look like a local is all the more reason for you to stay out here with Carmen. If you go in there and don’t come out, I won’t be able to do much for her on this end. If I’m the one that turns up missing though, you two can blend in. You can get her to someplace she can stay and then be on your way. Besides, coming here was my idea, not yours, so I should take the risk.”
“But…”
“But nothing, Luke! This is settled. Explain to Carmen what I am going to do and ask her if she has any tips or suggestions… maybe some other names I can toss around besides just her father’s… anything that may help. But beyond that, I want you to promise me that you will get her out of here if I’m not back sometime tomorrow, because if I can’t leave for some reason, chances are there’s nothing you can do to help me anyway at that point.”
Eight
ERIC PICKED HIS WAY through the scrub brush as he neared the edge of the town, knowing there would be dwellings beside the road on the outskirts and that it would be better not to raise suspicion before he was close enough to get a feel for the place. He wanted his first contact there to be directly with Los Nuevos associates, if at all possible, even though they were likely the most dangerous people living there. Eric was comfortable confronting dangerous men on foreign turf, but he would be doing things a little differently tonight. For one, he’d left all his weapons behind, save for the small Gang Unit fixed blade knife he wore concealed in his waistband behind his belt buckle. Carmen had told him that any Los Nuevos men he approached would certainly check him for weapons before they gave him a chance to talk and while they might find the knife, it wouldn’t raise the kind of suspicions a concealed handgun would.
Although it was hard to hide the fact that he was a gringo here, Eric looked more like someone who’d been living outdoors for months than a misplaced tourist. His clothing could pass for camp or work attire, even if his pants were the old olive drab BDUs he’d been given by Lieutenant Holton. There was no military insignia or anything official-looking about anything he wore, and his thick beard and hair that were both in need of a trim didn’t fit most people’s mental image of a soldier, even though Eric had worked with that look for years as a special operations guy and private contractor. He didn’t want to approach these Mexicans on their home turf looking like he’d come hunting a fight, but on the other hand, Eric knew he couldn’t come across as weak or easily intimidated either. He knew enough about the culture to know that this was
still a land of machismo, and that toughness was expected by men who came asking questions for which they wanted answers.
Eric let the sound of blaring music guide him to a large building with dozens of cars and trucks parked haphazardly around it. The atmosphere emanating from inside was that of a party, and he knew the place was a bar or cantina where people were out to drink and meet and have some fun. It was worth checking out, because situated as it was on the outer edges of the town, Eric thought he might have the opportunity to find those he sought before other residents noticed him. And his hunch was correct. As he crept closer through the scattered yuccas behind the unlit backside of the parking lot, Eric noticed three men clustered between a couple of cars, smoking what he assumed was a joint from the way they were passing it back and forth between them. It wasn’t the cigar-sized doobie that attracted his attention however, but rather, the pistols that all three men wore openly on their belts. But aside from the marijuana smoking, there was nothing about these men that made Eric think they might be cops, probably not even off-duty cops. What they were though, he was quite certain, were security men or enforcers of some kind, and their presence out there in the parking lot suggested there might be someone of importance inside the bar, who they were assigned to protect.
Eric hung back in the shadows to watch for a bit, biding his time until he felt sure that making his presence known was a good idea. He couldn’t afford to get it wrong, because he only had one chance to make a first impression here. He already knew from what had happened at the airstrip that afternoon that things could take a sharp turn for better or worse the moment he mentioned Carmen’s father by name. But Carmen had insisted this place was under control of Los Nuevos, because it was inconceivable that a town of this size in this part of Mexico wouldn’t be. That was how extensive the influence of the cartel was, despite the anomaly of the little pueblo with the airport where they’d encountered a band of rivals.
If there was someone worth guarding inside the noisy bar, it appeared they weren’t coming out anytime soon. Eric saw only one laughing, intoxicated couple and one single guy leave while he was watching, and the three men he studied barely gave any of them a glance as they got in their cars and drove away. Eric decided it was time to act, and so he backtracked a bit and then made a wide circle in the darkness until he came around to the road out front, where he could walk up to the bar like someone who’d simply strolled there from the streets of the town. His approach was casual, as if he were a regular there, and he pretended not to notice the three guards even though he was well aware that he had already attracted their attention, and that they were watching him closely now.
Eric waited until he was within a few yards of the steps leading up the deck before glancing over casually at them, as if seeing them for the first time. Then, pretending to be pleasantly surprised, he turned and walked over to greet them in the best Spanish he could manage. Of course, Luke was right when he said Eric’s understanding of the language was insufficient for the kind of complex conversations he would have to engage in to get what he came here for, but Eric was counting on not having to. Surely there was someone here who could speak passable English, but if any of these three could, they didn’t let on at first. The one that responded came back at him with a fast flurry of words that ran together so fast Eric couldn’t pick up any of it. When he countered with Habla Ingles? the man just shook his head and rattled off more Spanish. Eric resorted to a combination of hand gestures and bits and pieces of the words he knew the Spanish for, mixed with English for the ones he didn’t. As he did his best to convey the message that he was looking to speak to someone in the Nuevo Día Cartel, one of the other two men in the group, who hadn’t spoken yet at all, suddenly stood upright from where he’d been leaning casually against the door of a car and took two steps towards Eric. When he addressed him, it was in perfect English: “Who are you, and what is your business with Los Nuevos?”
“I am no one to anybody here. My name is Eric, but that doesn’t matter. What matters is that I have an important message for a man who I understand is very high in the ranks of Los Nuevos; indeed, he is one of the founding members and is the head of Nuevo Día Cartel in Nuevo Leon. His name is Don Carlos.”
The man stared hard at him without changing his facial expression, but Eric could sense that the name made an impression on him and his two companions, even if they tried to hide that fact momentarily. Eric went into this knowing he would be in a compromised position and at the mercy of these thugs for the moment; there was simply no other way to get to someone like Don Carlos in a place like this. What happened next was not unexpected.
“How do you know of Don Carlos?” The man demanded, shoving Eric back with a hard palm to the center of this chest as he drew a pistol from his waist with the other. “And why is a gringo like you looking for him?”
Eric pretended to stumble for his balance, but he’d been prepared for the push and was fully in control of his steps as he watched the muzzle of a .45 come into line with his face. He knew the man wouldn’t shoot though, at least not before he got an answer, and Eric maintained an outward calm as he chose his words carefully.
“I know of him because his daughter, Carmen, told me about her father,” Eric said, noting with satisfaction the recognition of her name as well in the eyes of the man questioning him. Eric raised a hand to signal he had more to say: “I am here to find him because she wants to go home.”
“You know of Carmen? And you know where she is? Then tell me at once, or I will kill you right here, cabrón!”
“You will kill me if I do tell you, right amigo? Carmen said that her father would surely offer a very large reward for information on her whereabouts, so I won’t talk to anyone but Don Carlos himself, because that is what she advised me to do. I had nothing to do with her disappearance, but I am the one responsible for bringing her back. In exchange, I need a favor from Don Carlos, and Carmen assured me that he would be willing to give it to me.”
“No, it is not how we do things here. You will give me the information, or you will die right now!”
Eric didn’t flinch when the enraged gunman suddenly diverted his aim down to the ground near his feet and fired three rounds in rapid succession, the bullets ricocheting off the concrete from where they struck it just inches from Eric’s boots. And when he raised the barrel again and leveled it on his chest, Eric was still confident he wouldn’t pull the trigger, because it was obvious he wanted to claim that reward.
“Now where is the jefe’s daughter?”
“I will tell him where she is when I talk to him myself!” Eric repeated. “She is perfectly safe for now.”
Before the man could respond, Eric heard a commotion behind him and saw all three of the men turn their gaze to the door. The shooting apparently drew the attention of those inside, and now several more men rushed out, some of them with guns in hand. A flurry of excited yelling back and forth ensued as the three men he’d been talking with urged Eric in the direction of the door, where he found himself confronting not just three, but now half a dozen amped up and intoxicated Los Nuevos gunmen. The commotion died down just as quickly, however, when an older gentleman came out behind them—clearly the important one that Eric had assumed was inside based on his observation of the three guards. This man was a jefe of some kind for sure. That was obvious. But Eric soon learned that he was not Don Carlos, and that his English was as good as that of the other man who’d threatened to shoot him.
“He says he knows where Don Carlos’ daughter is,” that one explained when the older man’s attention turned to Eric. “I only wanted him to talk. He must be involved with Antonio if he knows where she is.”
“Is this true?” The older man asked Eric. “You are here because you are trying to claim a ransom from Don Carlos? Did Antonio Ramon put you up to this? Do you know the price that Don Carlos has put on Antonio’s head? And the price he has put on the heads of anyone else associated with Antonio Ramon or in any way connected
to Carmen’s kidnapping?”
“Antonio Ramon is dead!” Eric said. “And so is the pilot of the airplane that brought the three of them across the border into New Mexico. But Carmen is just fine, and no, I am not seeking money for her return!”
“New Mexico? The United States?”
“Yes. They landed there in a small Cessna, at a compound set up by the Sinaloa Cartel. The compound was destroyed in an attack by American forces, but then the plane carrying Carmen landed soon after the raid.”
“And you know all of this how? I can see that you are an American, but what is your connection to any of this? How do you know Antonio is dead and that Carmen is safe?”
“Because I took part in that raid. We killed all of the Sinaloa men manning that compound, and later when the plane landed, my partner and I killed the pilot and the man named Antonio, because it was obvious that they were connected with the others operating there. We did not know there was a woman inside the plane at the time, but when we found her there, we used the plane to bring her back here to Nuevo Leon, to return her to her father in Monterrey.”
The older man began to laugh at this, causing the rest of those gathered around to laugh as well, even though most probably didn’t understand the exchange that had taken place in English. “So, you are telling me that you are an American soldier who took part in a raid on a Sinaloa outpost in New Mexico, and then upon finding Don Carlos’ daughter, you came all the way here with her and your partner in the airplane she arrived on, just to bring her back home? Do American soldiers not have better things to do with their time right now, considering that your nation is in her final days? Or did she promise you that her father would reward you fabulously for her safe return?”
Feral Nation - Sabotage (Feral Nation Series Book 7) Page 8
