chapter thirty-five
It was eleven o’clock when Jack arrived back at the Armadillo Motel and saw Slater’s pickup truck parked in front of a unit. Seconds later, Slater let him into his room.
“When did you get in?” asked Jack, flopping down into a chair.
“About ten minutes ago. I’ve been on the road since four o’clock this morning.”
“You poor guy,” said Jack, somewhat sarcastically.
“Yeah, I’m pooped. I was about to call my contact and let him know I’m here. Have you met any of the guys yet?”
“Last night. They took me out on the town. I met the uncle.”
“Everything okay?” Slater asked.
“Couldn’t be better. You may as well hold off on contacting them. They’re picking me up within the hour to show me some of their operation.”
“Will I be coming with you?”
“Definitely not,” Jack intoned.
“Good, then depending on what they want me to do with the money, I might be able to get some sleep.”
Promptly at twelve o’clock, Berto and Eduardo arrived in El Pero’s white SUV. After a brief conversation, it was decided Jack would travel with Berto in the SUV and Eduardo would ride with Slater in his pickup truck to show him where to deliver the money.
“The place where we are taking Señor Slater is also where we are meeting Big Al and El Pero, explained Berto. “Señor Slater will stay there while the rest of us continue on. Once you have seen Casa Blanca, El Pero, Eduardo and me will take you back to El Paso. We can maybe have a few drinks, go out for dinner and then go to The Old Warehouse tonight.”
“Sounds great. Too bad Big Al couldn’t join us.”
“Yes, that is unfortunate. Now, I am sorry but I must —”
Jack turned away and leaned spread-eagled against the wall. Neither Berto or Eduardo had their shirts tucked in and by the telltale bulges, Jack knew they were both armed. Too bad they wouldn’t accommodate me, too …
Fifty minutes later, the four men pulled up to an auto body shop in Juarez. Berto parked out front while Slater was told to park inside the shop. Jack was then directed to Big Al’s silver SUV, which was parked farther down the street.
As Jack walked over, Big Al and El Pero got out to greet him. He and Big Al then sat in the back while El Pero got in the front. Sanchez stared at Jack from where he was sitting behind the wheel and Jack smiled at him. The smile was not returned.
Jack had not seen any telltale signs to indicate if Big Al or El Pero were armed, but there was no doubt in his mind Sanchez was.
Eduardo left Slater at the body shop and rejoined Berto, who then pulled up behind them in the white SUV. Jack felt slightly relieved. Not only were the vehicles known to Adams, but two SUVs travelling down a highway would be easy to spot. The windows were too tinted for anyone to see for sure which one he was in, but it didn’t matter as long as both SUVs stayed together.
“Now I must do this,” smiled Big Al apologetically as he held up a black cloth bag with a drawstring.
“It’s okay. I need some sleep, anyway. Nudge me if I snore.”
Big Al smiled as he placed the bag over Jack’s head and tied it shut.
Jack purposely avoided conversation as they drove. He tried to keep track of turns, stops, and any noises, but with the air conditioner running, along with the radio on and idle conversation, he quickly lost track. He also had the distinct feeling they had driven in circles a couple of times to make sure they weren’t being followed.
Adams and Rubalcava were sitting parked in Adams’s car at a gas station on the outskirts of Juarez when they saw the silver SUV drive past, followed by the white.
“Bingo.” Adams smiled and pulled out to follow them. It was a paved road, but traffic was light, with only about one or two vehicles every minute. Adams stayed far back and tried to keep two cars between him and the SUVs.
After driving for about ten minutes, Rubalcava said, “We are getting close.”
“How do you know?” asked Adams, concentrating on the vehicles in front of him.
“We passed an old farmhouse on the right. There were two tan coloured SUVs parked under a shed. A poor farmer could never afford vehicles that nice.”
Adams glanced in his rear-view mirror and nodded.
Half a mile further, the two SUVs slowed and turned right on to a dirt road.
“The road we are on basically faces west in the direction we are going,” said Rubalcava. “Where they turned, if they keep going north, they are only about four miles from the border.”
As they drove past, they saw that both SUVs had stopped to check in with someone parked in a crew-cab truck behind an empty fruit stand. Adams continued driving and watched in the rear-view mirror as the dust billowed up when the two cars continued north. Moments later, they disappeared from sight.
“Now what?” asked Adams, checking his watch. “From the times we were given, Jack should be on his way back out within thirty minutes.”
“Look, you can see the top of the tower from here,” said Rubalcava, pointing to the left. “It might be the closest vantage point we can find, unless these guys are also using it. The turnoff to it must be just up ahead.”
Adams glanced at the tower. “In this heat, a guy wouldn’t last long up there. My guess is anybody out here on security will be sticking close to the air conditioners. If someone is there, I’ll get out and make it look like I pulled off the highway to take a piss and then leave.”
A few minutes later, Adams parked beside the radio tower and was relieved to see no other vehicles present. At the base, scrub brush and a small cement building blocked their view of the main road from the sandy trail they had come in on. The facility itself was surrounded with a chain-link fence, topped with two strands of rusty barbed wire.
Adams parked the car beside the fence and went to the trunk and retrieved an old set of gloves, which he intended more for climbing the tower than getting over the fence. Touching metal exposed to the hot sun would be like putting your hand on a stove element.
Adams then hung a set of binoculars around his neck and used the hood of the car to help him climb over the fence. There was a ladder on the tower, but it faced the road and he was afraid to use it in case he was spotted. Instead, he climbed up the back of the tower where natural rungs in the girders accommodated his hands and feet. The mass of girders also gave him some cover. A couple of minutes later he climbed high enough to get a view.
“See anything?” asked Rubalcava from the where he stood beside the car.
Adams adjusted his binoculars and said, “I got an eyeball on the fruit stand that the truck is parked behind. Also the farmhouse we passed with the two tan coloured SUVs. The dust trail made by the two SUVs we were following disappears over a couple of hills in the distance. I should see them coming when they return to the main road.”
“I think we are in the best spot to watch then.”
“Jack is going to owe me a cold beer for this,” muttered Adams. Although he was fairly well-concealed, he was still cognizant of the truck behind the fruit stand. He knew the power of a sniper’s scope and tried to remain motionless as he clung to the tower, sweat trickling into his eyes, down his armpits, and soaking into his shirt.
He remained on his perch for fifteen minutes when he heard the sound of gunfire coming from the direction of where he was looking. His muscles automatically tensed, ready to spring into action and his mouth gaped open as he strained to listen. Two shots …
“You hear something?” asked Rubalcava.
“Gunshots!” replied Adams. The sound of two more shots was heard, then a flicker of movement caught his eye and he adjusted his binoculars. “There’s another tan-coloured SUV hidden amongst some bushes on top of a sand dune about a half-mile northwest of the fruit stand,” he said quickly. “I hadn’t spotted it until now. Two guys are getting out of it … one guy with binoculars … and the other guy just laid a sniper rifle laid over the hood,” he yelled excitedly.
“I don’t understand! Is it the sniper that is shooting?”
“Not yet! I think the sniper is sighting in on where the gunshots came from,” yelled Adams.
A fifth shot was heard in the distance, followed almost immediately by a louder explosive clap from the sniper’s rifle. Adams watched in horror as the man with the rifle received a high-five slap of congratulations from the second man.