On The Border

Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen

      In yet another Starbucks, Smith and Hunter sat across from each other once again. Smith sipped his coffee and said, "You're doing well, you two. I'm sure the Cardozas are going nuts trying to figure out what's going on here."

      Hunter shrugged. "We've been lucky, and we've gotten good intel. The second is from you, the first will wear off eventually. Then we'll see how good we are. Now since I doubt you set this up to say 'good job,' what's going on?"

     Smith said, "I'm working on a few things. There's a big gun shipment coming down this way from North Dakota that the cartel arranged for through a few straw buyers. I think it's too big for you two, but I put what I had on it together for you." He slid across a small thumb drive, which Hunter picked up. "I also have a name for you." Hunter waited, patiently. "We picked someone up on a drug running case last week. He was all set to keep his mouth shut and take the years for the cartel, until we told him the cartel is suspected of helping smuggle a few terrorists across the border. So we were going to give him to Homeland Security, which meant no rules, no lawyers, and no buying off the guards since the cartel wouldn't know where he was. And neither would anyone else. He started spilling almost faster than we could record. He was in on the team that took out our friend's group a few months ago. He had two names for us. All this is in files on there, too," he pointed at the drive, "but it was put together by some fixer for the Cardozas named Amaya, and the man running the crew that did the shooting is called Cavendish. We'll let you know when we have more on them."

     "Thanks. I know he'll appreciate it." Hunter finished his coffee and left. Smith waited, sipping slowly, seeing if anyone took any undue interest in Hunter or himself. Likely a waste of time, but careful was good when going against people who had a habit of killing anyone they didn't like. And they certainly didn't like Reid or Hunter, and wouldn't like him if they managed to find out who he was.

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     If things had gone differently, Isabella would likely have taken a lot longer to mull over the odd offer from the Ranger and his friends. But everything changed because of a low-life idiot named Gabriel Santos. Santos was a braggart, and a druggie, and convinced he could get away with anything because he was big, tough, and (he thought) clever. His attitude ended up going badly for him when he managed to get into a serious argument with Vincento Piedras, a minor member of the Cardoza cartel. They had words, which escalated, and the end result was Santos killed Piedras. Piedras reported to a man called Xavier Verde. Verde wasn't about to let a slight to his own, and the cartel's, honor pass by, especially not from, as he termed it, "street trash" like Santos. Verde put out the word that he wanted Santos' location, and would pay well for it, and waited. It wasn't long before a street girl who went by "Rabbit," was happily counting her reward money. Verde and a few of his men went to the bar Rabbit had indicated, and one of them went in for a beer. He came back out a few minutes later and nodded.

     Most of those in the bar picked up on what was happening by that unspoken telegraph that comes into play at times. They drifted away from the front of the place, and gradually left a large space around Santos. Santos finished his drink, far from the first of the night, and staggered out the door after dropping some money on the bar. He got four steps outside before Verde and his group opened fire. The coroner would later say that Santos was struck by some forty bullets.

     This sort of thing happened in the age of the cartels. Nothing else might have happened were it not for Victor Panza. Victor led a quiet life, waited tables at a local restaurant, and spent much of the rest of his time either at his church or endlessly reading his Bible. Panza was a simple, but moral, man. He was up late, as happened more and more as he got older, and happened to be looking out his window when Verde and his band executed Santos. Panza called the local police (almost unheard of), and fortunately for him, got Isabella Amaya.