The cartel boss turned slowly, his shooters much faster, whirling around with M16s at the ready to confront the strangers.
Eleven of them, Tavez counted. Well-armed, pointing weapons at him and his men.
‘We call this a Mexican standoff,’ he grinned, turning on the charm.
The leader, a bearded man with fierce eyes, didn’t smile. He sized up the gang boss with an impenetrable expression on his face.
‘Who are you?’
‘I should ask that question,’ Tavez replied. ‘You are in my territory. Pointing guns at me.’
‘Where did the man and the girl go?’
‘You heard? You know them?’ the Mexican’s gaze sharpened.
‘I have business with them.’
‘What kind?’
‘I have business with them. Not you.’
Tavez clenched his teeth. He was outnumbered. This wasn’t the place to start a gunfight.
‘I have business with them, too.’
‘Your men know this forest? We can hunt them together, if they do.’
‘Who are you, and why should I trust you? You are not American.’
‘Neither are you,’ the stranger said, smiling crookedly. ‘I know that smell. I know your accent. I can guess what kind of man you are.’
‘So can I.’
‘They are getting away as we talk. Are you in? Or shall we start shooting?’
Joachim Tavez was the most feared man in Mexico, his name one of the best-known in the world.
Those who knew him knew he wasn’t a man to be crossed. And yet, this stranger stood here challenging him, uncaring that he would be one of the first to die if bullets started to fly.
The Mexican felt a grudging respect for the man.
There was the fact, for starters, that the stranger and his ten men had somehow slipped past his security cordon. Someone would die for that.
But for now, the newcomer was right.
The unknown man and the girl were slipping away. But still, there was the matter of trust.
‘Who are you?’
‘Why does it matter? We could have opened fire on you without warning.’
‘You would have died.’
‘So would you.’
Tavez didn’t believe in hunches. He never trusted people.
He did something he never had in his life.
He signaled his men to lower their weapons.
And that’s how his sniper team of Gomes, Hector and Enrico joined Namir, who pushed them hard through the forest, not bothering with concealment or stealth.
Because finding Sara Ashland and whoever was with her was more important.
For both the Lebanese gang and the Mexicans.
Soon they had a stroke of luck, when Enrico noticed a filament hanging off a branch — from the hoodie the girl wore.
That confirmed they were on the right track, and half an hour later, they thought they heard the girl talking.
Then Gomes caught sight of the man and the girl. Gomes, the best cartel sniper in Mexico, who then fell flat on his belly.
Brought his scope to his eye.
Breathed in and out, while Namir halted everyone else.
And Gomes fired the shot, just as the man was crossing the ridge.