“You’re right,” Nathan said. “It won’t. We’re not killing Raven if he’s out of the fight and in our custody. And we aren’t looking the other way while Estefan does it. There will be no summary executions on our watch.”
“So where does this leave us?”
“We need to talk about that. We can’t exactly march Raven down to the nearest NNP station and say, ‘Here he is.’ And we obviously can’t leave him in the care of anyone in Santavilla.”
“Cantrell?”
“No way. She’d never agree to it, and I’d never ask.”
“Then what?”
“Hell, I don’t know. I really don’t feel confident about him being convicted for murder here. Unless there’s indisputable proof he killed Estefan’s father and the others — and even if there is — he might very likely walk.”
“That sucks.”
“On the other hand, if we nail him in a fair fight, I’m okay with it too.”
“I hate to say this, but any other outcome is going to cause considerable problems. If we have Raven in custody and Estefan’s hell-bent on killing him, what do we do?”
“We walk,” Nathan said. “I’m not going to disarm or fight Estefan over it. We’ll do our best to dissuade him from killing Raven in cold blood, but if he ignores us, we’re outta here without looking back. I’m really hoping he won’t do that. I think I know Estefan. I’m fairly certain he won’t execute a helpless prisoner, even if it’s Raven.”
“He seems pretty pissed about his wife and torched house.”
“He won’t pull the trigger on a helpless man.”
“Let’s hope you’re right.”
Nathan didn’t say anything for a few seconds. “There’s one other scenario we need to reinforce.”
“Yeah?”
“We can’t let Estefan be taken prisoner.”
“Are we prepared to kill Raven and his men to prevent it?”
“Yes.”
“I’m okay with that. If Estefan falls into Macanas’s hands, he’ll die badly and probably give us up. We could end up looking over our shoulders for the rest of our lives.”
“More than we already do?” Nathan said dryly.
“You know what I mean.”
“Sorry, Harv. I didn’t mean to sound flippant.”
“We’re good, partner. Estefan isn’t the only one stressing tonight.”
“Amen to that.”
“I guess we should’ve had this discussion with Estefan when we first decided to help him.”
“Things happened quickly. Let’s not worry too much about Estefan. He’s a pro. Instinctively, he knows everything we just talked about. There’s only one eventual outcome: Raven or us.”
“Yep.” Harv nodded. “And I choose Raven.”
CHAPTER 24
“You okay, Nate?”
Harv’s tone brought Nathan back to full alertness. Even after stretching and taking a break from scope duty, he was finding it hard to focus on his surveillance for extended periods. A sign of fatigue setting in, and it would only get worse. Not a good thing. He rubbed his chin, feeling the stubble that marked their time in-country.
“If you were Raven, would you want Estefan alive?”
Harv thought for a moment. “It’s hard to say. I’m not sure he’d believe Estefan’s motivation is anything other than to avenge his father’s death. I mean, why think otherwise? We talked about this. I don’t see any value in taking Estefan alive other than to find out who, if anyone, he’s talked to.”
“Us.”
“Afraid so.”
“Then let’s proceed on the assumption that his men will have orders to capture Estefan alive if possible.”
“Meaning…”
“Unless something changes, we shoot to kill.”
“Copy that,” Harv said.
“Picture Estefan strapped to a chair while Raven tortures the shit out of him. We’ll never let that happen.”
“Agreed.”
“What’s the fastest Raven can get up here if he flies?”
“I’m not sure… He’d have to round up some men, drive to the airport, preflight the ship, and take off. It’s an hour of flying time, so I’d conservatively say… at least ninety minutes at a minimum. It might take longer if he keeps it in a hangar — he’d have to tractor it out to the flight line.”
Nathan was silent for a moment. “Maybe I should be the one at risk down there.”
“No way. We need you up here behind that M40.”
As much as Nathan wanted to disagree, he couldn’t.
“I’m through,” said Estefan. “I put the screen back and left the window open. If anyone looks inside, they won’t be able to see the bed. The narrow hall leading to the bathroom blocks its line of sight. Where’s the girl?”
“She’s still behind the gas pumps,” Nathan said. “The general store is screening you from her view right now. Stay put and be ready to relocate to the north wall of the store. We still think she’s going to report your room number to Raven. Can you see her house from there?”
Partially, the Conex boxes are blocking my view.
“If we see any of Raven’s men emerge from the lumber mill or the ore-processing plant, we’ll move you over to the boxes. You’ll have better cover and a clear line of sight from there. You copy?”
“Affirm.”
Nathan kept his scope on the area surrounding the gas pumps. “After Antonia makes the call, things might happen fast. Everything hinges on Raven’s men believing you’re in the motel room. They’ll either try to ambush you and kill you outright or take you prisoner.”
“Not a nice thought.”
“Don’t worry. We won’t let you get taken prisoner.”
“Well, that’s comforting. I suppose you’d be doing me a favor.”
“We would.”
“Let’s ah… make that a last resort.”
Nathan spoke slowly. He didn’t want Estefan to feel any doubt about his resolve. “Estefan, if things get heavy, you will be in a shoot-to-kill situation. Center mass or head shots. I doubt they’ll be wearing armor. Anyone who approaches your motel room is fair game, whether you see a weapon or not. Clear?”
“Clear. Shooting to kill.”
“What’s the distance from the gas pumps over to the motel?”
“Around twenty-five yards.”
“What’s your laser’s zero?”
“Fifteen yards.”
“That works. You doing okay down there?”
“I’m still worried about Martina, but it won’t be a problem. I’m okay. My head’s in the game. If you’re thinking about that truck wreck I caused, I know I acted stupidly. It won’t happen again.”
“Already forgotten. We’re going to end this tonight. You’ll be visiting Martina later this morning.”
“I’ll hold you to it.”
“Antonia’s on the move. You should see her walk past the south wall of the motel any second.”
“I’ve got her.”
“Hold position… Something’s wrong. She’s not walking toward the phone.”
“I can relocate to the store’s southeast corner without her seeing me. She might want a look around before making the call.”
“It’s possible, but it’s really dark down there. Without NV, she’d never see you.”
“She got the upper hand on me down at the river.”
“We all underestimated her.”
“I don’t like the feel of this,” Harv said.
“Me either. She should be updating Raven. Could someone else have eyes on Estefan?”
“It’s possible, but we haven’t seen anyone.”