Serrano stabbed his fork into the piece of meat and pointed at Oscar with it. “I’ll tell you this, Oscar. That chief of police in Toluca is a brave man; a true Mexican with very large huevos, but he is another fool. Why can’t he see which way things are going in this country and go with them? Because I tell you this, my friend, sooner or later, those stupid gringos in the North are going to see there is no way to win this useless war. Then marijuana will become legal, and all of this” —he waved his free hand at the estancia—“all of this money, it goes away. This kind of business cannot last forever. So why doesn’t this policeman in Toluca accept Ruvalcaba’s offer now to secure himself a future? Why does he throw his life away so uselessly? I will tell you why: it is because he is a fool. A brave fool, but a fool.”
He poked the meat into his mouth and chewed as he spoke. “We all want a stronger Mexico. Me more than anyone. I am a true patriot; a man of my country. But this strength cannot come without money. And am I not generous with my money? Do I not give back to the people? This idiot policeman could do the same”—Serrano stabbed a finger against the side of his head in frustration—“but he is too stubborn to listen! No, this brave man, he is going to rebuild the country all by himself, like Pancho Villa reborn. Well, Pancho Villa was gunned down in the dirt like a dog, my friend, and this Toluca man is no better than him.”
“Lazaro!” the young woman called from the pool. “When are you coming to swim, my love?”
He smiled and held out his hands. “Later, mi amor!” He turned to look at Oscar. “Do you see? I am not even finished eating, and she wants me to go in swimming already. Like I have no other responsibilities besides swimming with a dog that pisses in my pool.” He shook his head and went back to cutting his steak. “Fools, Oscar. I am surrounded by fools.”
10
Gil was still asleep in bed when he heard a knock at the door. He sat up and took a Parkerized subcompact Springfield .45 pistol from the nightstand drawer, glancing at the clock. Lena hadn’t left until well after six in the morning.
He slipped naked from the bed and went to have a look through the peephole. Seeing Lena, he unlocked the door. She came into the room with an orange backpack slung over one shoulder. The gun in his hand didn’t seem to frighten her at all.
“Did you get some sleep?” she asked, kissing his cheek and crossing the room to toss the backpack onto a love seat.
“Yeah, look,” he said, scratching his head. “I’m not exactly who you think—”
“Of course you’re not,” she interrupted. “If you were, I wouldn’t have just canceled a wedding that was supposed to take place ten days from now.”
He set the pistol down on the table. “Lena, I’m not sure—”
“You don’t need to be. I’m sure.”
“But I’m not lookin’ to—”
“Neither am I,” she said with a laugh. “You still love your wife. That’s obvious. What I want is adventure. I’d almost forgotten what that was, being with Sabastian. You reminded me last night. I’m not really sure what I was thinking when I agreed to marry him.”
He grabbed his pants and stepped into them. “First of all, I can’t give you the kind of adventure you’re looking for. I don’t have that kind of money.”
“I’ve got my own money, Conner.”
“Conner’s not my even my name,” he said with a sigh.
She took his pack of cigarettes from the nightstand. “Then what is it?”
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I can’t tell you. I can’t even tell you what I’m doing in Liechtenstein.”
She lit the cigarette with a chuckle, dropping the lighter onto the nightstand. “And you say you can’t give me adventure.”
“Look, this isn’t a game.”
“All life is a game.”
He shook his head, regretting his weakness the night before. “People get killed in the games I play.”
She sat down on the bed. “People get killed jumping out of airplanes — yet that’s my favorite sport.” She gestured at the gun. “And I assume that’s yours?”
He picked up his shirt from the floor. “Where’s Sabastian?”
“Headed for the airport.”
“He’s pissed? Heartbroken?”
She looked thoughtful for a moment. “I’d say he’s offended. Men like Sabastian don’t get their hearts broken. He’ll have another woman like me by the end of the week — maybe not one as wealthy.”
“Last night you said I’d make an enemy.”
“And you have — but I gave you fair warning in that regard. Do you want to spend more time with me or not? Because now I’m beginning to get offended.”
He grinned. “Well, we wouldn’t want that.”
They agreed to meet in the lounge after Gil had showered and made some calls. In the meantime, Lena would schedule a flight for the two of them to Switzerland.
Gil got Pope on the phone and told him the truth about what had happened between him and Lena
“All right,” Pope said. “These things happen. You can finish the job in Switzerland. I’ll figure out a way for it to look like a Mossad hit. Blickensderfer is on their list, too.” The Mossad was Israel’s version of the CIA.
“Bob, no. I’ve blown this op. I can’t sleep with a guy’s girl and then kill him.”
There was a long silence at the other end of the phone.
“You there?”
“Yeah,” Pope replied. “I’m trying to understand what you just said. You’re telling me you can’t kill a man if you’ve slept with his woman. What does one have to do with the other?”
“I guess it’s personal now.” Gil didn’t know how else to explain it.
“I’ve got news for you,” Pope replied somewhat coldly. “If Blickensderfer ever finds out who you are, this will become a great deal more personal.”
“I’ve blown this one, Bob. I’m sorry. It won’t ever happen again, but I can’t move on Blickensderfer now. I’ve crossed a line. I’ve told you before I wasn’t trained for this James Bond shit.”
“Well, if you can’t do it, you can’t do it,” Pope said, warmer suddenly. “You’re entitled to a mistake. You’re also entitled to a vacation. You’ve been operational for almost two years without a break. We’ll discuss things after you’ve had a couple months off. How’s that?”
“Okay,” Gil said. He’d known Pope long enough to understand that the director likely wasn’t happy with this outcome, but hopefully he wouldn’t hold it over his head for too long.
“Sounds good. Have you checked on Crosswhite and Paolina?”
Pope was silent again.
“Did I lose you?”
“No, I’m here,” Pope said. “They’re both fine, but Crosswhite’s operational. A US diplomatic convoy was just ambushed in Mexico City. It was a cartel hit, and all of our diplomats were wiped out — most of the DSS team as well.”
“You know Paolina’s pregnant.”
“I do, but I need him — and he owes me.”
Gil didn’t entirely agree with that, but this was not the time to argue the point. “How deep does he have to get involved?”
“That remains to be seen,” Pope said. “There’s an ex — US Army sniper doing hits for the cartels, and it looks like he’s the one who pulled the trigger on our people. He used a fifty cal.”
Gil was immediately pissed that one of his own had turned bad. “Do you have a name?”
“Not yet.”
“Get me a name and a face to go with it. Then get me in-country so I can punch the fucker’s ticket.”