ALFONSO DEL RAYO HAD SPENT HIS CHRISTMAS HOLIDAY IN THE HOSPITAL. The top of his head and forehead were still pockmarked with angry red gashes from the muzzles of AK-47s and AR-15s. The doctor said he’d need reconstructive surgery to remove the circular scars. His left pinky and ring finger had also been broken and were swollen. And his whole body was bruised and aching.
He and his wife, Carolina, were still trying to piece together what had happened when del Rayo received a strange phone call three days before the New Year. It was José Guillermo Herrera, the secretary of commerce for Fidel Herrera, the powerful governor of Veracruz. During the kidnapping, Carolina had reached out to the governor’s son, Fidel Jr., an old friend from school, after other friends in their circle had refused to get involved. Fidel Jr. had immediately contacted his father to ask for help on her behalf. The governor sent to del Rayo’s home his chief of state investigations, Arturo Bermudez, and another man who was an expert in kidnap negotiations.
Del Rayo had become acquainted with Fidel Herrera in the late 1990s when he was head of the PRI state committee in Veracruz. Herrera had come from a poor family. But through ruthlessness and cunning he’d become the most powerful politician in the state. He’d served as a senator and a congressman, and in 2004 he’d been elected governor.
Initially, Carolina had been relieved to receive the help from the governor, but later she had become alarmed. He insisted that she send her two children with an aunt to Mexico City, and then he moved her into a safe house with security cameras and concertina wire ringing the walls. She was instructed not to tell anyone where she was, not even her own family. Alone in the house for several days with Herrera, Bermudez, and the kidnapping expert, she had started to feel like she’d been kidnapped too. Herrera sent his people to follow del Rayo’s business partners and ex-wife. The governor’s security team hacked phone calls and Herrera listened in. Among Veracruz’s political elite, everyone knew that nothing happened in the state without Herrera knowing about it. Carolina began to think he was taking a macabre delight in her family’s misfortune.
He’d only permitted Carolina to leave the safe house after del Rayo had been home for several hours. The night of his release, the governor had phoned their house and Carolina had answered. When she heard the unmistakable rasp of Herrera’s voice, she started to shake uncontrollably and couldn’t speak. Del Rayo had had to take the phone from her hand.
Now the governor’s secretary of commerce, José Guillermo Herrera, was calling del Rayo and asking for a meeting at his home. “I have someone you need to talk to about your kidnapping,” Herrera said. Del Rayo had known José Guillermo for some years as he’d climbed the ladder within the governor’s office. It was often assumed that he was a relative of the governor’s because they had the same last name, but there were no blood ties between them, just a mutual fetish for power.
“When?” del Rayo stammered, caught off guard.
“In two or three days,” Herrera said. He said he’d be in touch as soon as he knew more.
Del Rayo hung up the phone. He couldn’t refuse the meeting. He’d been released without paying a ransom. And he was still alive. Most people who were kidnapped were never returned, not even after their families had paid the ransom. Deep down he’d known his release couldn’t have come without a price.
Two days later, José Guillermo Herrera arrived at del Rayo’s home accompanied by a well-dressed man in his twenties with dark, slicked-back hair. The man shook del Rayo’s hand with gusto and introduced himself as Carlos Nayen. He complimented del Rayo on his beautiful home, then got down to the business at hand.
“You were saved by my boss,” Nayen said. “As payback we need you to go to Oklahoma City on January 13 to buy a horse.”
“What?” del Rayo said, confused. “But I don’t know anything about horses. Besides, I’ve got my surgery scheduled that day.” A plastic surgeon was going to remove the circular dents left by the gun muzzles from his forehead. A doctor also had to break his fingers again so they could be reset in a cast.
“Just make sure you’re there,” Nayen warned. “If you don’t, you and your family are going to have problems.”
Nayen didn’t need to elaborate. Del Rayo had no idea who Nayen’s boss might be, but he knew it was someone powerful, because he was still alive. He assured them that he would be there. During his nine days in the safe house it had become clear that the Zetas had eyes and ears in the highest levels of the police and government in Veracruz. The kidnapping had changed him. He didn’t trust anyone anymore, not even his closest friends. Here was Herrera, an adviser of the governor—someone he had known casually for years—sitting in his living room and negotiating the ransom for his kidnapping. He was starting to realize that narcotrafficking and politics were like a snake devouring its own tail. There was no way to tell anymore where one began and the other ended.
LAWSON WAS SITTING AT his desk, making a list of the horses he’d identified so far as being part of José’s operation, when he got a call from Graham. “Something’s up with José,” Graham said.
Lawson sat up in his chair. “What’s going on?”
“He’s selling a horse called Blues Ferrari at the next auction at Heritage Place. It’s the first time he’s sold a horse at auction.”
“What do you think he’s up to?” Lawson asked.
“I don’t have a damn idea,” said Graham. “But he’s asked me to get it ready for sale.”
Graham said the auction would be held on January 15 and gave him the hip number of the horse. Lawson still had his knee in a brace and would be on crutches for two more weeks. He would have to convince Hodge to go in his place, which would be tough, because Hodge always came up with a good reason not to go. It was starting to get to him whenever anyone in the office referred to the investigation as Hodge’s, especially since Hodge refused to do any of the travel. But this time he wouldn’t have a choice. His name was on the case file too.