Deadly Journey (22 page)

‘I saw it. Try and compose yourself.’

‘But it could be you next.’ She sobbed with
abandon.

I held her head, drew it to my chest, and
placed an arm around her waist, my fingers trembling. ‘Shush. There now. I have
a new plan I want you to think about tonight. I’m definitely going tomorrow.’

Chapter 36

Surprise Ally

There’s justice
through the criminal-judicial system and then there’s doing the right thing.
Perez was nothing more than a murderous psychopath. But did that give me the
right to take his life? It would sure get all of us out of trouble. After
tossing and turning until daylight arrived, I still didn’t have the answer.
There again, maybe I did have the solution and my moral compass was trying to
deceive me.

One part of me kept saying it was not in my
power to be judge, jury, and executioner. The reality was, besides his cartel
being responsible for thousands of murders, I had personally witnessed Perez
committing mass murder and ordering the killing of others. Then there was the
guard whose brains Perez had blown out simply for taking fruit from a tree. El
Presidente deserved death by execution. I just didn’t think I could be the one
to end his life, without him having a gun in his hand and my life in immediate
danger. I had to ask myself, what would that make me, if I executed him?

I guessed that if I were an ordinary John
Doe, kidnapped, with even only inferences and veiled threats against me and my
family’s lives, or a soldier with rules of engagement to kill the enemy, I
wouldn’t have to think twice. However, I was a United States law enforcement
officer. How would that look in any inquiry leading to a trial if I killed
someone other than in self-defence? I could tell a lie I suppose, but in
homicides, lies have a way of catching you out. There were mitigating
circumstances, sure, but try to get that through the thick skull of some
upstart prosecuting lawyer wanting to make a name for himself. Add to that, a ‘what-if’
that the scenario happened in a Mexican court, with some judge and a bunch of
jurors pissed at not getting their monthly backhanders and they would likely
throw away the key.

My ears prickled at the sound of Leandra’s
door opening, closing, and then hearing her exchanging words with the guard
outside my door. Without a television, I could only guess at the time. Leandra’s
heels clicking down the marble steps and fading gave me the idea it must be
around 9:00 a.m.

With an hour to go before my planned exit
from the villa, my nerves took hold. Going over the plans in my head, I tried
to blot out anything going wrong and concentrated on how it should unfold.
Easier said than done; everything that could go awry played out like a damn
horror movie.

Throwing the bedcovers to one side, I eased
my legs over the side of the bed and stood. My head pounded, and my legs hardly
had the strength to stand. Taking a deep breath, I walked to the French doors.
The breeze gave me an instant rush of soothing cold air. When I looked out to
the maze, it seemed further away than the twenty paces I had measured. Doubts
about my plan took root. Needing to keep my mind occupied, I stepped back
inside, and I started my daily exercises.

I was just about to start another round of
push-ups when the door opened and I jumped to my feet. Leandra wheeled in the
breakfast cart and closed the door.

‘What time is it?’ I asked.

‘Just after nine-thirty.’

Her face flushed and her hands trembled.

‘Did the guard outside or the guy in the
CCTV room remark about you being early?’

‘No, but they noticed my hands shaking. I
said the first thing that came into my head. Told them I was having my period.
They laughed and seemed to accept the explanation.’

‘Let’s hope the powder from the sleeping
pills works on time,’ I said.

‘It should work, all right. I put two doses
in each of their coffees. One dose is enough to put me to sleep inside twenty
minutes. Incidentally, Perez is in the dining room with Carlos.’

I raised an eyebrow. ‘What’s Carlos doing
there?’

‘It sounded like he was asking for a sick
pass.’

‘Damn it, I hope he goes before ten. You
sure you’re up for this?’

Her lips twitched into a nervous smile.

‘It’s too late to change my mind now.’

‘Good, go back to the kitchen, like we
planned, so you don’t get caught up in anything if something goes wrong.’

‘Kurt?’

‘What?’

‘Come here out of sight of the camera.’ I
walked over to her. She gave me a hug, kissed me on the cheek, and whispered, ‘Good
luck.’

Returning her squeeze, I kissed the top of
her head and said, ‘Good luck to you, too. Better go
–
quickly.’

As soon as she was out the door, I stepped
back to the balcony at the sound of a vehicle braking and the tyres crunching
to a halt on the gravel. When I peered out, I saw a four-by-four sitting
alongside the villa entrance. On cue, the driver and a guard exited the vehicle
and sat on a low wall, facing away from me. The engine was left idling as
usual. I moved over to the camera’s blind spot and removed my bandage. Taking
hold of the key to my ankle tracker, I slipped it into my pyjama-top pocket.

My head jerked to the door at the sound of
something crashing on the ceramics outside. I pressed my ear to the door. A
cold shiver ran down my body and my heart rate rose to alarming levels. The
minute I listened seemed like an eternity, but I heard no other movement.

It was then, or never. I opened the closet
door to obscure the camera, then moved outside and dragged the guard into the
bedroom, gagged him and bound him with strips torn from the pillow. Grabbing
the bedside chair, I jammed it against the door handle. The last thing I wanted
was an unwelcome guest. Then I hurried to the closet holding my stash and
pulled out the guard’s uniform.

As quickly as I could, I fumbled out of my pyjamas
and into the uniform, almost tripping in panic. Fully dressed, I jammed the
Glock in the waistband of my pants and took the tracker key from my pyjamas,
slipping it into my pants pocket. Reaching into the closet, I ripped sheets
from the shelf and tied two of them together. I then quickly moved to the
balcony.

When I looked across at the villa entrance,
the guards still sat with their backs facing the balcony. I pulled the key from
my pocket, but the damn thing dropped to the floor. Wishing I hadn’t trimmed my
nails the night before, I struggled with thumb and finger, and finally managed
to pick up the key. The moment I placed it in the lock, the bracelet sprung
open. I closed it again and the LED started to flash. I was thankful for the
doctor’s check up, because if my heart had raced any faster I would have
expected it to explode.

In the stance of a baseball pitcher, I
glanced toward the villa entrance to make sure the guards were still in
position. With all the strength I could muster, I launched the tracker in the
direction of the maze. Happy it was on a trajectory for somewhere inside the
maze, I turned my attention to the sheets and grabbed them from the bed. A look
at the guards told me the tracker landing hadn’t caught their attention.

Tying one end of a sheet to the metal
balustrade, I lowered the rest, all the while keeping an eye on the guards.

Then I had to pause and take a deep breath.
Adrenaline was flowing so fast, I was losing control of body and mind. More
deep breaths and a degree of composure returned. Realizing I had not picked up
the roll of duct tape, I reached up on the closet shelf, picked it up, and
stuffed it into a pocket. One final suck of air to fill my lungs and I took
hold of the chair jamming the door handle. Trying not to make a sound, I
removed the chair and opened the door slightly. Taking a hold of my pistol in
one hand, I gradually opened the door. The hallway outside was clear. I turned
and took the remote detonator for the tracker from around the guard’s neck and
slipped the strap from his assault rifle from his shoulders.

I slipped through the door, careful not to
walk on the broken shards from the coffee cup. Along the corridor, I crept on
past the CCTV monitoring room. The door was slightly ajar and the guard was
slumped with his head on the desk. Arriving at the dumbwaiter, I opened the
door, climbed inside, and pressed the button to descend to the kitchen.

On the way down, the rest of the plan
whirred around in my brain. As the ride stopped with a jolt, I pictured the
door opening onto my living room at home. Dreaming aside, my escape hadn’t even
reached first base. The door opened to reveal Leandra, out of her head with
panic. She grabbed my arm and helped me out of the dumbwaiter.

Leandra whispered, ‘Carlos is still in
there with Perez.’

I heard the faint buzz of the crop duster.
There was no time to wait for Carlos to leave the dining room.

‘Crap! We still have to make our move.’

I moved silently behind Leandra to the
connecting door leading into the dining room, clutching the assault rifle, the
stock firmly resting on my shoulder. Leandra rapped the door with her knuckles
and entered. She moved quickly to one side. The heads of Carlos and Perez
snapped in my direction.

‘If either of you move or make a sound,
you’re both dead. Hands on the table, now.’ I kept my aim on Carlos, fearing
him the most. ‘Stand, hands in the air, Carlos.’

Carlos stood. I took his assault rifle and
removed his knife, dropping each in turn on the floor and kicked them down the
length of the room. Taking two steps back, I alternated my aim between the two
of them.

‘You won’t get away with this,’ said Perez.

‘Maybe, but I’ll make a damned good try.’
Reaching into my pocket, I tossed the duct tape at Carlos. ‘Gag him and tie his
hands behind his back.’

Carlos did as ordered and limped behind
him. Perez’s complexion turned scarlet with rage, and he muttered curses from
underneath the tape over his mouth. Standing behind Perez, Carlos gave me a wry
smile and looked directly into my eyes.

‘What now?’ he asked.

‘That’s up to you. There are three canvas
bags full of money on the table. If I’m not mistaken, that’s a sick-note pass
on the table to get you through any roadblock. That stack of cash ought to buy
you a nice farm in Brazil.’

Carlos glanced at the bags and sucked on
his bottom lip.

‘We’re going with or without you, but it
would help if you drove the vehicle to the crop duster. It should be refuelled
by the time we get there.’

‘What about Perez?’

‘He’s going with me.’

‘And the guards at the entrance?’

With one hand, I took hold of the detonator
and held it aloft. ‘Distraction. Their vehicle is running and waiting. Leandra,
grab the laptop, the knife, and the rifle.’

When I pressed the button, an explosive
thud cut the silence. I prayed the sound wouldn’t carry to the barracks. Carlos
grabbed the sick-note pass, stuffed it in his pocket, and took hold of the
straps of the bags.

‘Let’s go,’ he said.

I took hold of Perez by the scruff of his
neck and we exited the room. Opening the villa’s front door, we were just in
time to see the leg of one of the guards disappear into the maze.

Carlos loaded the bags into the front seat
of the vehicle, while I manoeuvred Perez onto the back passenger seat between
Leandra and me. Reaching over, I took the pen drive from Perez’s top pocket.

‘Are you sure you can drive with your leg
injured?’ I asked.

‘Too late to think about that now, but I
think I’ll manage.’

The vehicle set off like a bucking bronco,
but he soon tamed it and sped toward the airfield.

When we approached the crop duster, the
pilot was dragging the refuelling tank under cover of the trees.

‘Do you want Leandra to come with me?’
Carlos asked.

‘No, we have business to attend to.’

‘What if the pilot won’t fly?’

‘We don’t need the pilot. I can fly. He has
a flight plan on a clipboard.’

‘What if he alerts the others?’

‘We’ll tie him up with duct tape.
Hopefully, we’ll be long gone before they realize anything’s happening.’

His question unnerved me.

Carlos said, ‘I’ll take care of the pilot.
You concentrate on getting the crop duster off the ground.’

We stopped alongside the aircraft.

‘Duct tape and knife,’ said Carlos. He
turned and held out his hand.

I passed him the tape, but hesitated at
giving him the knife. For a moment, our eyes met.

I needed time to think. While I thought I
could read Carlos’s psyche, I couldn’t be sure if I could trust him not to
reverse the situation.

‘Let me get Perez out and onto the crop
duster first.’

He must have read my mind. ‘Forget the
knife, I’ll manage,’ he said. ‘The pilot knows my face.’

Carlos climbed out and limped toward the
woods where we had seen the pilot. Perez fought like some demented lunatic not
to get out of the vehicle. By the time I had dragged Perez over to the crop
duster, Carlos had returned and he tossed the duct tape to me.

‘All set. He won’t cause you any trouble.’

I didn’t ask what he meant, but the roll of
tape didn’t look any smaller. Carlos helped me bundle Perez on board the
aircraft. Carlos shook my hand and then Leandra’s.