The next morning, Tyler looked at his phone. A text from Lexi came in after he went to sleep. Mom reached out to me because she’s going after your pension. Don’t worry, I’m all over it. “Hell,” he muttered, rubbing his face in an effort to wake up. He’d long suspected Rachel of being salty because she couldn’t stake a claim to his money. Her own poor choices led to it, of course, but people rarely blamed themselves for their own mistakes.
Tyler sent a reply. I’m in Texas. Be careful. Your mom may be in jail, but she could call her brother. Your uncle is a grifter who probably knows some people. Love you.
He showered and dressed. The plan was to meet Rollins and Aguilar for breakfast at a nearby diner at 0730. They would all arrive and leave separately. It all seemed a bit silly to Tyler—they’d be sitting together, after all—but he shrugged and went along with it. Leaving the hotel, Tyler walked a circuitous route. No one followed him, and he pushed the diner door open at 0729.
Rollins sat at a round table in the back. Customers crowded the counter, but not many people gathered around a proper table to eat. Rollins’ spot was near the hallway leading to the restrooms. It dead-ended with no emergency exit. Tyler joined him, sliding onto a chair which would afford him full view of the entrance. The kitchen to his left would lead to another way out, and he could keep both in sight.
Aguilar walked in a moment later and sat to Tyler’s right. A middle-aged waitress with a huge hair bun poured them coffee without asking. Tyler liked this place already. He ordered sausage, eggs, and toast when she came around again. Aguilar chose some fancy-sounding omelet, and Rollins opted for oatmeal. After the waitress walked away, Aguilar leaned in. “It’s coming tonight. I got confirmation a short while ago.”
Tyler nodded. “Do we know when?”
“Touchdown is at twenty-one hundred hours. With time for processing and handling, we should expect them about a half-hour later.”
“Processing and handling?” Tyler grinned. “Now, I feel like I need to pay fourteen-ninety-five.”
“All contributions are welcome,” Aguilar said.
“We’ll call C.T. once we’re back at the hotel,” Rollins said.
The waitress dropped off their breakfasts and refreshed their coffees. The three ate in silence, paid their tabs separately, and left a couple minutes apart. Tyler took a random route back to the hotel. Rollins and Aguilar waited in the hallway when he stepped off the elevator, and they all filed into his small room. Floor space was at a premium, but the bed and desk chair offered spots to sit. Rollins bounced a quarter off the mattress, smiled, and sat.
“Did I pass?” Tyler asked.
“Barely.” Rollins slid his coin back into his pocket. “You’re rusty.”
Tyler positioned himself on the opposite corner of the bed. “Let’s call your friend.”
Rollins took out his phone and called C.T. on speaker. “It’s going down tonight,” he said following an initial exchange of pleasantries.
“I’ll be ready. Let me know when.”
“Have you done this before?” Tyler said.
“Gone after this specific facility?” C.T. said. “No. Have I taken out other alarms before? Yes.”
“What makes you think you can do it?”
“Probably the same thing which makes you think you can storm a secure building, shoot a bunch of drug dealers, and drive away.”
Tyler spread his hands. “All right.”
“You got everything you need?” Rollins asked.
“I could get technical on you,” C.T. said. “My guess is you don’t want to hear about things like code review and Linux command aliases. Let’s just say I’m good to go.”
“Thanks. We’ll be in touch later.” Rollins ended the call.
“All right,” Tyler said. “We have some time before we roll out tonight. Let’s make sure we’re all well-rested and fed. We could be in for a long evening.”
“Let’s take these bastards down,” Aguilar added. He and Rollins adjourned to their own rooms. Tyler thought about the plan. They’d seen a Google Earth view of the Iron Tower. He and his fellow soldiers raided similar compounds in Afghanistan. He’d be doing it with a smaller force tonight, but they’d also be facing less opposition. Aguilar would snipe at first and then join the raid once they’d neutralized all outside sentries.
Tyler figured he’d run into Orlan again. Considering the recent losses in his organization, Héctor may have sent his trusted colossus to ensure this shipment went off without a hitch. Tyler baiting the man by mentioning Houston probably helped. If so, mission accomplished. The huge enforcer got the better of him twice now. Tyler thought about how their next meeting might go. He wanted to stay close to Orlan and take away his advantages in strength and reach. He practiced short punches and elbow strikes as he kept reviewing the attack plan in his mind.
An hour after dusk settled, Tyler, Rollins, and Aguilar headed to the Iron Tower. The SUV was unbothered by rough terrain, so Rollins drove it off the road. He left it behind the hill across from the facility. The three men got out, geared up, and conducted a final weapons and comms check.
A few minutes later, four Suburbans rolled up to the gate. They drove inside, and the foreboding iron barrier slid shut behind the last vehicle. They drove a narrow, poorly-lit path to the main doors. Tyler watched them through night-vision binoculars. Three men exited each SUV, including Orlan from the one in the front. "Looks like the cartel sent a few guys to help them process everything," Tyler said.
"They might stick around," Aguilar said. "Not a lot of chatter about violence in Mexico right now."
"We'll make up for it. There'll be plenty of it here."
Two of the men removed M16s from the rearmost Suburban and stood watch over the operation. Orlan directed everyone else. One by one, they each carried bricks of drugs inside. The whole thing took about fifteen minutes. Tyler wondered how many kilos there were and what kind of street value it would translate to. It must have been tens of millions. "We're not going to get all this out of here," he said. With all the product inside, the two sentries walked the perimeter of the building.
Aguilar shrugged. "Siphon gas from their SUVs and burn the rest."
Tyler nodded. "I like the way you think." He glanced at Rollins. "Call your friend."
Rollins did. "We're in position."
"All right," C.T. said, and his voice came through their earpieces. "I've discovered something about maintenance mode on the system, by the way."
"What is it?"
"The cameras still record unless they're disabled locally. It's a good fail-safe. Probably designed as a countermeasure against this very weakness."
"What are we going to do about it?" Tyler asked.
“We are going to sample five minutes of footage," C.T. said. "I can feed it back to the central video controller. They might catch on if someone watches it all, but I doubt it would happen until you're out of there."
"Do it," Rollins said. "We can spend a few minutes checking everything out, anyway."
"All right. I'm going to put it in maintenance mode in a few seconds. You'll have two hours less five minutes to storm the castle."
"Understood. Text me when we can go." Rollins hung up.
Tyler used a pair of night-vision binoculars to check out the Iron Tower. The dearth of exterior lighting made things easier. The compound only provided enough illumination for two men to walk the perimeter. Even then, Tyler guessed half their steps were in what remained of the natural light. "Looks like it takes one guy about four minutes to make it around."
Aguilar set up a tripod and his suppressed M4 carbine. "I'll be ready. The way they're staggering the patrol, you'll have two minutes until the second asshole sees the body. I think you should be in position at the gate when I drop the first one."
"We will," Tyler said.
Rollins' phone buzzed. "We're on," he said after reading the message. "He also sent me the admin codes for the gate and the front door."
"One-stop shopping," Aguilar said as he took his position. "You guys go."
Tyler slid his Sig out of its holster. "All right. Radio silence unless we need to talk. Good luck, guys. And . . . thanks."
Rollins clapped him on the shoulder, and the two moved in a crouch. They dashed across the road and approached the gate. From Tyler’s right, a sentry walked around the far corner and moved toward the front of the building. Before he could worry about the man spotting them in another fifty yards, a muffled report sounded from behind them, and the guard fell over dead. Rollins entered the code he got from his friend, and the gate slid back. It made more noise than Tyler would have liked. No one inside would hear it, though, and the other guy on patrol would be in the back of the building. They ran through as soon as it was open wide enough.
Rollins went first up the narrow road. Behind them, the black barrier slid shut. A large column stood on either side of the front door. Rollins hid behind one, and Tyler took up position behind the other. A minute later, the second man walked past them, oblivious to their presence. Tyler leaned out to watch him. He stopped a few feet later—probably when he spotted his partner’s body. Before he could raise an alarm, however, another quiet report came from across the way, and a single shot to the head dropped the fellow where he stood.
The gate slid open and closed again as Aguilar joined them. Rollins entered a code into the keypad. The lock disengaged with a click. He pulled the door open, and the three men slipped inside the Iron Tower.