The Cartel Enforcers (The Bill Dix Detective Series Book 2) (6 page)

could feel herself beginning to get emotional, not because of the magnitude of the event, but because she was previously romantically involved with one of the deceased agents. She struggled to fight back shakiness in her voice.

She continued, “I assumed the assailants were already in Mr. Munguia’s room based on my discovery. As I alerted the standby SWAT Team and my superior of the situation over the radio, Mr. Munguia suffered some sort of medical problem. In addition, the radios were not working well due to all the steel in the structure of the hospital. Medical staff responded to Mr. Munguia’s room, as did the two individuals we think killed SA Burnett and SA Carlino.” The frustration and anger on the faces of the men in the room bore down on her. She felt her face burning and knew she was turning bright red. Nevertheless, she plowed through the debrief hoping to earn herself a spot at the table for the entirety of this case.

“Once medical staff was confident Mr. Munguia was fine, they exited his room. The two suspects stayed behind. One of the suspects told the last nurse leaving the room they needed time to talk to Mr. Munguia in private. One suspect then shut the door.” At this point SA Sullivan wondered to herself why the medical staff wasn’t suspicious of the two suspects when they closed the door, but before she could explain the situation further, San Diego County Sheriff Libal interjected.

“Cut the formalities Sullivan. I want to know exactly how this happened. Then I want to know how the hell we’re going to stop it from happening again,” asked Sheriff Libal.

SA Sullivan was about to answer the question when her boss, GS Doug Kovach made eye contact with her, shook his head, and stood up.

Kovach said, “Sheriff, let SA Sullivan finish the debrief. We’ll roundtable this right afterward.”

Sheriff Libal wanted answers, but he begrudgingly conceded the floor.

She continued, “A report of two suspicious men on the second floor came out simultaneously with Mr. Munguia’s medical issue. A bomb threat was called into dispatch for the hospital lobby. Special Agents investigated the reports and the medical staff had no idea the suspects in Mr. Munguia’s room were not real agents because there were a number of new faces in the hospital lately. Within minutes, the SWAT Team was going one way and the remaining special agents headed in another. SWAT Commander Elzey made a swift decision to attack Mr. Munguia’s room from two points. SWAT Team A deployed flash bangs through the window while SWAT Team B made entry through the door to room #301. The SWAT teams were successful and both suspects were killed and Mr. Munguia was found alive but tortured and experiencing a medical complication.” By now SA Sullivan was calm and felt more comfortable. Her mouth was still dry and she grabbed her glass of water for another sip.

Murmuring and small discussions began to break out while she drank. Discussions between special agents and sheriff’s deputies grew louder and the tension in the room grew by the second. Dix and Petersen looked at each other while Kovach attempted to feign confidence.

SA Sullivan made an effort to ease the friction in the room. She interrupted, “The two suspects have been positively identified as Mexican nationals with strong cartel ties. I’m just as upset about our two agents being killed as the rest of you. But we have to move forward. Whatever Mr. Munguia has gotten himself into is big and has international connections. We need to create a thorough game plan and we need to do it now with level heads.”

Dix raised his eyebrow after he listened to the compelling speech made by SA Sullivan. The situation had gone from bad to worse and she was right. The people hunting Pedro were counting on the chaos to weaken law enforcement defenses. This was textbook cartel tactics, and Dix felt the situation was grim.

Petersen had heard very little of what SA Sullivan had said because he was shocked at how pretty she was. It literally caught him off guard and he spent the entire time she was talking gawking at her. Her eyes were electric blue and inviting. It had been two years since he’d been with a woman and for some reason, she struck some type of feelings inside him the moment he saw her. Dix observed Petersen staring at her and snapped his fingers. This caused him to look at Dix and see that the wheels were spinning in his head and he had a disapproving look.

Dix stood up and walked to the podium at the front of the room. Conversations terminated and the room became silent. SA Sullivan opened her mouth to speak but the look she got from Dix caused her to stop quickly.

Dix cut in, “We lost two great agents today. We need to bury them properly, as heroes, and catch the bastards behind all this in honor of their memories. But make no mistake, we’re dealing with an entirely different animal here. This isn’t just a dope case. This is a large well-organized, well-funded sleeper cell of a Mexican cartel that has been operating under your noses for years. The only way we put the people away responsible for the murders of Special Agent Burnett and Special Agent Carlino is to pool our resources and work together.”

The tension in the room immediately eased up as it was obvious Dix was correct. The remainder of the debrief was concluded, and the administration staff ordered everyone to keep quiet about the facts. Under no circumstance was anyone allowed to speak to the media.

Kovach, Dix, Petersen, and Romero stayed behind to have a discussion while the others cleared the room...accept

SA Sullivan. Dix could see that she was gathering her papers slowly and wanted to be invited to the discussion. He motioned toward her with his head so that Kovach could see. He looked at Dix with a puzzled look then realized he was inquiring as to whether or not SA Sullivan could be a part of the discussion. He thought briefly then nodded.

Dix looked over at her. “That was pretty good special agent. You want in on this case?” She’d heard several stories about Bill Dix, most of them about him being a real hard ass. But near as she could tell, he was more matter of fact than a hard ass.

She tried to contain her excitement but she couldn’t. She smiled and nervously said, “You bet I do!”

Dix motioned for her to come over to the large table where they were seated. She quickly grabbed her stuff and obliged. As she did this, Petersen noticed Romero roll his eyes and shake his head in disgust.

Petersen wasn’t entirely fond of Romero, although he wasn’t entirely sure why, but jumped at the opportunity to put him on the spot. “Hey Romero, what’s with the rolling of the eyes? You got a problem with Dix? Or is it with Sullivan?”

Romero was caught off guard by the question, particularly in how it was posed to him. He turned red in the face and shot a glance at Kovach like he expected him to bail him out as he had bailed out Sullivan earlier. Kovach said nothing and looked at Romero, as did Sullivan, Dix, and Petersen. Romero figured,
to hell with it,
and decided to speak freely.

“This case is extremely sophisticated and mushrooming out of control. I’ve worked with Sullivan. She can’t handle this.”

Without allowing anyone to reply, Sullivan spoke up. “With all due respect Romero, it’s not my fault I shoot better than you, write better than you, have put more people in jail than you, and got positions you wanted.” She was feeling righteous and was preparing for a full on verbal argument with him. His response stunned her.

“You know what, you’re right. Welcome to the team. I was way out of line, my bad.” The fact he fell on his sword in front of several of his peers shocked Sullivan.

Dix jumped in, “Okay, now that is settled. Let’s go get some lunch and figure out how to keep Pedro alive and manage to put someone in jail for all this.” He sensed there was more to the beef between Romero and Sullivan. He hoped that whatever it was wouldn’t impact the case.
Only time will tell
, he thought.

Chapter 13

Jose Calderon had become too comfortable in the United States in the eyes of his boss, “El Hefe.” Now, he was waiting for Calderon in Tijuana to tell him just that. The report he had received from his sources was not good. His money, thirty-million dollars in fact, was still missing, and his right-hand-man was focusing too much attention on killing someone he believed was a traitor. More importantly, Calderon’s behavior was bringing attention to the cartel. Near as El Hefe could figure, no less than six local, state, and federal agencies were playing cat and mouse with him. He chuckled as he reflected on how well Calderon’s cover was, and because of it, they had time to plot for the retrieval of his money. He believed Calderon would never talk about the cartel and once they secured his money, they’d have to shut down for a while. He’d simply switch gears and focus on another aspect of his criminal enterprise while the heat was on.

El Hefe enjoyed fine scotch in the company of a beautiful local woman. The restaurant had been cleared by his men before his arrival. The girl was searched then allowed to sit with him. She knew not to speak unless spoken to first. The local Tijuana officers were paid to stay at least three miles away from the area, although they had no idea why.

The federal government was looking for him many hours away in Juarez based on a planned false tip. He had a look alike sitting out front of the trendy restaurant in Juarez while he was safe in Tijuana. His escape route was pre-determined. Twelve cartel soldiers with automatic weapons set two perimeters around the restaurant he was in. Two American trained killers were in the room with him. He believed one could
never be too careful these days. He sipped the scotch and began groping the woman. She shivered from his touch, but not in a good way. She’d be paid, but her dignity would be lost. If she pulled away from the monster, she’d be killed.

Before she was forced to have sex with him, she noticed some of his men stirring. She wondered if today was the day the beast sliding his hand up her thigh would die.

One of the men told him the visitor had arrived. He considered telling his men to tell Calderon to wait while he had his way with his new lady friend, but business always took precedence over pleasure.

El Hefe’s men stopped escorting Calderon as he made entry into the area where he was seated. They posted at the doorway. Both men took the safeties off their MP5 automatic sub-machine guns and focused on Calderon.

Calderon noticed their actions and smirked. He then looked over to his boss and said in English, “Boss, we have a problem.” Calderon was careful not to smirk at El Hefe because the last person to do that was chopped into pieces and placed in a barrel of acid.

El Hefe smoothly replied, “No, you have a problem and you are taking entirely too long to fix it. I’m not paying you to hold grudges, I’m paying you to locate and retrieve my money.”

“I need Pedro to make it happen. He’s been working for the police and I’m sure he knows the location of the money.”

El Hefe took a sip of drink and calmly swirled the single ice cube in the glass around and around then stopped. The silence in the room was deafening to Calderon.

Finally El Hefe spoke. “I’ve solved part of your problem, and I am telling you now leave Pedro alone. Your actions have brought many people looking for us. The money was with Pedro in his vehicle, but I’m sure he didn’t know it was there.”

Calderon felt excitement and anger stirring within.
Why the
hell is he protecting pendejo Pedro
, he wondered.

“The locals have my thirty million dollars at a fairly secure warehouse. In three days, heavily armed guards will transport the money to the First National Bank downtown. I would suggest you get my money prior to it being deposited,” he declared emphatically.

Again Calderon was stunned. He was pissed off and wanted to say something but stopped short. After taking a shot of tequila Calderon asked, “How do you know Pedro wasn’t involved and how do you know where the money is?”

El Hefe chuckled and snapped his fingers. Two men walked over to their table with a large silver platter in their hands and set it on the table. He reached over and pulled the lid off exposing the head of another member of their cartel.

“You see, my men caught Juan trying to leave his home with his wife and children and a lot of money. They brought them to me. I simply told Juan to tell me the truth and I would spare his children. Juan hesitated so I killed his wife in front of him with a machete. After Juan told me how he set up Pedro and how Juan’s cousin knew the police seized thirty million dollars after they found him, I took his head off.”

Calderon was no stranger to gruesome violence. It was a way of life for him since he was six. They prayed to Santa Muerte and believed killing was their rite of passage to Heaven. However, the fact that El Hefe had done the killings personally was a direct message to Calderon and everyone else associated to the cartel. Calderon was being told never go against what El Hefe said.

He was about to respond when El Hefe continued, “I left his eyes open because I want you to look at him Jose. Look through his eyes and see what he has become. I believe you know what must be done. You must make this happen. All the resources of the cartel are available to you. I can absorb a thirty-million dollar loss, but this is personal. I want my money back. Once that’s done, anyone not loyal to the cause will be hunted down and killed.”

Calderon tossed back another tequila shot. He had not anticipated any of this new information. He was still convinced Pedro was somehow involved and needed to die. Nevertheless, he was smart enough to know he should not mention killing Pedro to El Hefe.