The Watchman of Ephraim (Book Club Edition) (19 page)

“
No, Les. That’s just it; all we would be showing them is information. They could simply dismiss it and say that we fabricated it.”

Pastak’s nervousness reemerged.

“
But—“

“
Les, there is nothing to worry about. The transponder number will just allow us to locate Mr. Garcia so that we can take photos of him. Those photos will be enough to corroborate the info you gave me. Your name will never even be brought up and no harm will come to Agent Garcia.”

Pastak hesitated.

“
Les, you really must live up to your end, you really must!”

Pastak exhaled audibly then took his phone back from Fard and typed into it for a few moments. When Garcia’s transponder number appeared on the screen, he handed his phone back to Fard who wrote it down. As soon as he did, he escorted Pastak to the door.

“
Thank you Les, you’ve held up your end.”

Pastak stopped just outside the door and looked down the hall to make sure no one was there.

“
What do I do now?” Should I hand in my resignation?”

“
No-no, not yet, just continue about your business there. You don’t want to bring any suspicion onto yourself. Once this business is over with, you can hand in your resignation.”

That seemed to make sense to Pastak, so he nodded in agreement.

“
Oh and Les, try not to use your new savings just yet. Again, we don’t want you to do anything that might bring undo suspicion onto you.”

Pastak’s look of disappointment was evident.

“
Understood …”

Chapter 17

Av. Nafta 69

Parque Industrial STIVA Aeropuerto

66600 Apodaca, Nuevo León, México

11:45p.m., Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Agent Jesus Garcia sat in a rental car parked across from the company’s Monterrey distribution center. Because of its proximity to the United States border, Monterrey acts as a vital operations host to an array of domestic and international companies. That allowed Garcia to easily blend into the crowded business center using the cover of a Tex-Mex interested in setting up manufacturing operations there. He spent his days being shown available factory space for rent and made sure to lunch each day close to the suspected drug lord’s warehouse. That allowed him to “chew the fat” with a number of truck drivers who picked up and delivered from the facility. Garcia was experienced enough to know what to ask and what not to ask. It was much safer to pay for a few bottles of cerveza and let the beer inspire the drivers to tell him what he wanted to know.

It took him a week to establish his cover and talk to the right driver. He received his first piece of real intel at lunch, when a driver named Pedro asked him if he’d be around that night. Pedro told him he had instructions to make a late-night delivery and would be free afterwards to show him a few of the local clubs. Garcia wasn’t able to find out much more about the load he was delivering at lunch, but figured he could get Pedro to tell him about it once he bought a few rounds for him at the club.

Garcia’s car was the only one parked on the dark street just outside the front gate of the well-lit facility. There was a manned guardhouse protecting the entrance to the large parking lot. Garcia used the time he had to wait, entering notes into Big Brother, via his iPhone. He logged off as soon as he saw Pedro’s truck pulling up next to his car. Pedro rolled down his window.

(In Spanish) “It’s good to see you, my friend. Hey, follow me. I’ll tell the security guard that you’re my ride home and he’ll let you in. Then I can give you a quick look at what I’m hauling before I take you to the hottest club in town!”

Garcia was careful not to show emotion
. That would be perfect, but experience has taught me to always look a gift horse in the mouth. Could this be a set up? But how, I didn’t come close to blowing my cover?

The smile on Pedro’s face grew wider. This time he spoke in broken English.

“
I thought you were interested in what I was hauling. To tell you the truth amigo, I’m curious too. We can take a quick peak. This time of night no one’s around near the loading dock until I call for them, so it’ll be safe. I tell you what, whatever it is, there were a lot of
gallitos
¹²
about when they loaded me. Who knows what’s back there!”

Garcia still didn’t reply.
I gotta make up my mind and quickly. The only way this could be a set up is if my cover is blown, but I’m sure I didn’t blow it … and I’ve never been wrong about that before.

The driver got impatient.

(In Spanish) “Jesus, you gonna come or not? If not, just wait for me here. It’ll take me about twenty minutes to get unloaded then I’ll come out to you.”

Garcia made up his mind and replied, in English.

“
Lead on amigo. I don’t want to keep the women waiting any longer than necessary.”

Pedro’s smile returned, this time wide enough for Garcia to see all of his gold teeth. Pedro pulled up to the guard shack and after a moment Garcia saw the guard waving him through.
Maybe this’ll be okay. They don’t all have to be difficult.

Garcia followed the driver’s truck past a dozen closed doors, then pulled up next to the truck as it backed up to the first dock with its door opened. Just as Pedro said, Garcia didn’t see a soul around, inside or outside. Pedro jumped out of his cab and waved Garcia over to join him at the back of the truck. As soon as Pedro opened the back of his truck, he jumped up into the trailer and then he helped Garcia up into it.

“
It’s a little dark back here, but I don’t want to chance turning the spot light on. Let’s just take a quick peek into this big one right here.”

Pedro handed Garcia a crowbar.

“
Here, you pry the nails up and I’ll hold the flashlight.”

Garcia looked at the wooden crate. It was wide and long enough to put a king-sized mattress inside of it and about two feet tall. He started prying the nails up
. I know they hide drugs in virtually everything, I wonder what’s inside this.

As soon as he pried the last nail up, he turned to Pedro. He could hear him speaking but he couldn’t see him, blinded by the flashlight.

“
Go ahead, lift the top off. I’ll keep an eye out and let you know if anyone’s coming.”

Garcia’s heart started racing.
Something’s not right about this—.

“
Hurry up amigo before someone comes!”

Garcia said a silent prayer as he lifted the top off. He was shocked to see just a large, thick plastic tarp inside,
it’s a setup!

Reaching his hand in his jacket for his pistol, Garcia turned quickly, but he was completely blinded by Pedro’s flashlight. He tried to take aim in the direction of the light but it was too late. Agent Garcia only remained alive long enough to hear the first of two silenced bullets fired at his forehead. He fell backwards, lifeless into the crate he had just opened.

Pedro wasted no time wrapping Garcia’s body in the plastic and tying it tightly around the dead man, with rope already attached to grommets along one end of the tarp. Then he quickly replaced the crate’s lid and used the crowbar to hammer the nails back down. When he was finished he barked orders in Spanish to someone standing inside the loading dock, apparently there the whole time.

“
Follow me out in his car, he left it running. I’m gonna tell the guard, they loaded me with the wrong load and I have to return it. Keep your face as concealed as you can as you pass the guard shack. Then drive the car downtown and park it where I told you to and lose the keys. Make sure you don’t touch anything with your hands. Keep your gloves on the whole time. Understood?”

The man in the loading dock jumped down and did just what he was told to. The guard didn’t even look his way as he past the guard shack. Once outside the gate, Pedro turned right and the man in Garcia’s car turned left. He drove the car to La Colonia Independencia, just south of the river from the Macroplaza. The area was considered one of the most dangerous areas in Monterrey. As instructed, the man parked the car, got out and walked to the river where he tossed the car keys into the deep. Then he hit a number on his speed dial, connecting him with Pedro.

“
It’s done.”

Pedro replied with no emotion.

“
Good. Now go home.”

As soon as that call disconnected, Pedro hit an autodial on his phone.

“
Tuco, it’s done. I’m heading for my next stop … no problems … I’ll take care of it when I get there.”

Pedro put his phone away as he turned onto the “Nacional” aka the National Highway. He headed south with Agent Jesus Garcia’s body lying in his crate coffin. His destination was property owned by the cartel in the south of Mexico, where they grew illegal drugs. Garcia’s body would join the dozens of other bodies, all murdered by members of the cartel. The cartels’ thugs thought it was humorously ironic that pot would grow from the remains of drug enforcement agents. Inside Agent Garcia’s pocket though was his iPhone … and it was beeping.

Chapter 18

The Watchman Agency

Office of the President

Arlington, Virginia

3:00p.m., Thursday, July 14, 2011

Michelle Wang was getting nervous and that wasn’t something she was accustomed to feeling. Throughout her years in the CIA, she was known for her coolness in tense situations. She always attributed that to a manic work ethic and attention to detail, so when she moved forward, she did so with total confidence.

She also always felt she erred to the side of caution when it came to sending people into the field. She used a very simple rule, one she knew she had in common with Christians … she did unto others as she would have them do unto her – in other words, she never sent an agent into a situation that she wouldn’t enter into herself. That included the intelligence-gathering missions on which she just sent Agents Majed Ahmed Aziz al Saud and Jesus Garcia. She did the diligence, chose the right individuals for the job and weighed the risks. In the end though, she knew there was always an element of time and chance. In all her years of sending agents into the field, she had never lost one. She was wondering now, sitting in Captain Ricci’s office, if that perfect record made her careless. Ricci watched her for a few moments, staring at her laptop screen with blood-shot eyes.

“
Garcia’s last communication was a log entry Tuesday night. He reported that he was following up on a lead he received, from a driver who delivered to the warehouse in Monterrey. He thought he might get a chance to peek at the driver’s freight. His last log entry was time-stamped just before midnight on Tuesday. He should have followed up yesterday! Captain, I’m sorry, I should have brought this to your attention sooner … I just don’t know what could have happened. I mean, I’ve worked with Jesus many times in the past. He was always so careful and he always let me know when he thought the situation was risky. In this case, he just didn’t give me any indication—“

“
Michelle, you’re not to blame. When did you sleep last?” Ricci interrupted her as he hit the intercom button on his phone.

“
Debbie, I want to see all executive staff in conference room alpha in five.”

Ricci got up from his desk, but Wang remained seated, deep in thought. Ricci put his hand to her shoulder.

“
Listen to me. We both know stuff happens out there. Our job now is to find out what happened. This isn’t about blame. There is no blame. To me there is only success or failure and reasons for both. Now we have an agent out there that hasn’t reported in … we need to find him and that’s all there is to it! And Michelle, you have to get some sleep. I know how it is. You want to sit by your phone and laptop all night, but that doesn’t help Garcia or anyone else. Find a way to sleep and that’s an order!”

Wang nodded then followed her boss out the door.