Degüello Page 7

  Hunter got out of her truck, too excited to sit. She rolled the window down so she could hear the scanner, and stood by the driver’s door, looking beyond the dilapidated shed toward the brush and cane, knowing things were happening there that she couldn’t see.

  Norma and the other Agents watched Paco and the two men carrying one child each as they hurried to the van. Paco found the keys on the right front tire and opened it so they could put down the children.

  They worked in silence and soon hurried to the river and their boat of children. They finished in three trips, with the larger man carrying two limp children, their heads on his shoulders during the last walk.

  As soon as the last child was loaded in the van, the larger man said in English, “I’m taking the boat back, good luck.”

  Paco and the other man nodded and watched him disappear into the cane.

  The young man opened the van door and slid into the passenger seat as Paco climbed into the driver’s seat. The younger man asked, “How long they gonna be out?”

  “Long enough.”

  “What if one of them wakes up?”

  “I’ll take care of it.” Paco put in the key, turned the ignition – and heard silence.

  He looked out the windshield and saw the Agents coming toward them. His stomach lurched in fear.

  The young man reached into his pants and pulled a pocket knife, opening it with his thumb in one quick movement. He twisted in the seat and stabbed the plastic gas can. Gasoline gurgled out as he stabbed it twice more, and Paco said with alarm, “What are you…what?”

  The young man grabbed a flare and struck it as he leaped from the van. Paco scrambled out the driver’s side in a panic.

  The young man tossed the sputtering, burning flare toward the leaking gas, and said, “Run!” as he pulled his pistol and fired into the brush until the pistol was empty before turning and darting from the area.

  Hunter heard the shots and moved to the front of her pickup to watch the brush line. She wore her pistol, the compact .45 Glock, but wasn’t going toward the gunfire, at least not yet.

  The van flared hot and fast, the flames spreading with the gasoline. It would blow, Norma was sure. She ran toward the van and the unconscious children, and so did the other Agents, ignoring Paco and the young man as they fled.

  No one was hit by the gunfire, so the Agents concentrated on saving the children. They also heard Sam fighting with one down by the river.

  Mike said, “Get the kids out, get the kids out!” as he opened the side panel door and pulled two limp children to him, then carried them ten yards up the road before putting them down on the sand. He raced to the van as Norma passed him, lugging one of the larger children over her shoulder in a fireman’s carry.

  Sam emerged from the cane with the larger man and walked him to the safe area. “Sit, and don’t move. I mean it.” He nodded, his head bowed in surrender, his wrists handcuffed behind his back.

  The Agents worked quickly and had all the children safe and away from the van as flames consumed it, sending a boiling cloud of black smoke into the air.

  It blew with a muffled whump, and flames spread out of the windows and underneath the vehicle where gas from the tanks leaked. Glass tinkled, breaking from the heat.

  Hunter could barely contain herself when she saw the smoke. She called Norma on her phone, but her friend didn’t answer, which made her more nervous. “Don’t go charging down there,” she said to herself, “They know what they’re doing.” She said it, but that didn’t help.

  Sam looked at the prisoners and said, “Where’s Paco and the other one? I thought you all had them.”

  Mike said, “They started the fire, then the young guy there shot at us and both ran in opposite directions. We focused on getting the kids out of there.”

  Norma said, “Paco went north, not south towards the river. The young one probably swam across by now, but we might still get Paco.”

  “Unless he gets picked up. The highway’s only a half mile away.”

  “I radioed in, we have help coming,” Norma said.

  As they watched the flames consume the van, Sam said, “He was gonna kill all those kids, burn them alive?”

  Mike said, “The young one lit the gas, but I think that’s what the sonofabitches planned to do.”

  Hunter started to call Norma again, but stopped when she caught a glimpse of movement in the brush. At first, she thought it might be a deer. It wasn’t, as Paco came out onto the road a hundred yards from her, talking on his phone.

  Paco hung up as he rounded a cluster of tall soap yuccas in an area so close to the highway he saw glimpses of vehicles speeding east and west on it. He also glimpsed Hunter Kincaid moving behind an old dilapidated wooden shed at the edge of the road. He made another quick call.

  Hunter slid behind the shed, not sure if he’d seen her or not. Paco continued walking, almost trotting towards her, and all her focus was on him. She suddenly heard a vehicle approaching from behind, and turned to see a black Suburban coming her way, and at a fast speed for such a bad road.

  It wasn’t the Border Patrol, or any other law enforcement agency she recognized, but when the windows came down and rifles appeared, she knew to get out of there.

  Hunter raced around the shed to put it between her and the Suburban. She glanced at Paco and saw him on his phone gesturing toward her.

  The Suburban turned off the road, coming hard through the low brush toward her location. Sage and cactus flattened with the sounds of breaking limbs as it drove over them, and pale dust boiled around it.

  Hunter sprinted west, straight into heavier brush, and made it just as the black vehicle roared into view. She found a small draw that descended between two low rises, and she hurried down it.

  The Suburban stopped pursuing and turned to pick up Paco. As soon as he was inside, the vehicle sped to the highway and disappeared toward Del Rio.

  Hunter returned to her pickup and called Norma again. This time she got an answer.

  Norma said, “We’re all right. We got one and all the kids. What was all that noise up by you?”

  “Paco came this way, and called in some armed buddys.”

  “Damn! We thought he might have help coming. We hoped our backup would get here first.”

  “A black Suburban got him, and it had plenty of firepower.”

  “You didn’t try anything, did you?” There was worry in Norma’s voice.

  “I’m not crazy, I ran and hid.”

  “You get the license plates?”

  “Nope. When rifles started coming out of every window, I kept my head down. I saw Paco load up, though. And they went towards town.”

  Norma relayed the information to the units approaching from Del Rio, and said to Hunter, “We are gonna stay here near the fire until the fire department gets here. Are you okay where you are?”

  “Yeah, I’m back at my truck.”

  “Okay. You may have to give a witness statement on this, since he shot at us.”

  “Can do.”

  “You can do it at home, if you want. Get comfortable while you do it. I’ll be around after my shift ends, and all the paperwork’s finished.”

  “Ten-four on that. I’ll have something to eat for you when you get there.”

  “And drink?”

  “You know it.”

  ~**~

  Paco sat in the far back seat of the Suburban, with two men each in the front two seats. He didn’t recognize any of them. The driver made calls on his phone and did far more listening than talking, finally ending the conversation with, “Bueno.”

  He pulled into a large storage yard of boat sheds, drove down to the end of one line of them, then waited until the passenger opened the shed door before pulling inside. The passenger closed the doors behind them and flipped a switch on the wall to turn on a series of lights. Inside the shed was a cement mixer, tools, shovels, a refrigerator, a long table, and sacks of cement and sand against the back wall. A small section of the
floor, seven feet by three, was poured concrete, while the remainder was caliche.

  The driver said to Paco, “We wait here until someone comes, then we get a different ride so we can go back across.”

  “I understand.”

  The men exited the vehicle and stood in a circle to talk.

  “Did you dispose of the children?”

  “The young one tried.”

  The man nodded, silent. “Did he succeed?”

  “I do not know, I ran. I didn’t see the end.”

  “Ah.”

  “They may have died, the fire was gasoline, and hot.”

  “If they didn’t, it means you failed.”

  “Yes, it would, and I am sorry.” To show his worth to these unsmiling strangers, Paco said, “I have proven myself often in the past.”

  One of the men, the bearded one, went to the refrigerator and took out bottles of water, handing them out when he returned to the group. Paco guzzled his down, then wished he had another but didn’t want to ask the unsmiling men. He also wondered what was under the grave-sized section of recently poured concrete. Some of those thoughts made him sweat.

  Less than an hour later, someone tapped on the shed door. The bearded man opened it a crack as another man spoke to him while he handed a set of car keys through the slim opening. Paco stood separately as the others got together and talked of their plan.

  One of the men left, returning five minutes later in an old pickup. He parked in front with the engine running. The men with weapons put the rifles in a locker near the front wall. The driver said, “We’re ready, load up outside.” Paco and the others climbed into a ten-year old, dual cab Chevrolet pickup, locked the shed, and left to follow Highway 90 into Del Rio and across the International Bridge into Acuña.

  The men stopped near Paco’s home and, without a word, left him out on the street before driving away.

  Paco walked the short distance to his home and went straight to the bathroom where he threw up. When he returned to his small living room, Sofia waited near the door.

  “What happened,” Sofia asked.

  “La Patrulla, the Border Patrol. They were waiting for us.”

  “And they have all the children?”

  “Yes.”

  She kicked a chair across the room and into the wall, knocking a framed photo loose from the nail so that the glass shattered when it hit the floor. “This was an important load, worth much money. Especially since we lost the little one with violet eyes. Our jefe is furious about that.”

  “It wasn’t my fault.” He thought a moment and said, “It must have been the woman, because I saw her again when I ran.”

  “The woman we saw near your house?”

  “Yes, the same.”

  Sofia nodded, “She is a Border Patrol Agent.”

  “She wasn’t wearing the uniform and badge.”

  “She is friends with another one here. She is from the Presidio area, across from Ojinaga.”

  “How long will she be here?”

  “Long enough to cause more trouble.”

  “What should we do about her?”

  “I will decide that. In the meantime, we have a plan to make up for this disaster of yours. Be ready to go at a moment’s notice.”

  “People?”

  “One, a very special one, and very soon.”

  “I will be ready.”

  “Paco, if you fail me on this….”

  Paco gulped and nodded, his throat too constricted with fear to speak. He knew she meant it.

  She leaned close and told Paco of the plan. When she finished, she saw his face grow pale. “You will do this, do you understand?”

  “Yes.” He licked his lower lip as his eyes darted around the room, avoiding Sofia’s.

  She said, “When it is delivered to you, get it across the river and drive to the usual location. We are putting decoy groups to cross downriver, and that will take the Border Patrol out of the picture. Your way will be safe.” She held his chin, “Let no one stop you.”

  “Yes. I will be well armed.”

  “You cross this one by yourself, so there is less chance of word getting out. I will have help for you on the other side. And remember, go fast when you receive the child. The law will be looking.”

  “I will.”

  Sofia looked doubtful, but nodded. “Get ready and be in place. You have less than two hours. Once you have this child, wait ten minutes before crossing.”

  Paco started to ask why wait ten minutes, but thought better of it, “I will not fail you, Senora.”

  “See that you don’t.” She left his home and drove down the street. Paco watched through the screen door for a minute, then hurried to the bathroom and threw up again.

  Chapter 7

  Hunter was shocked when a sobbing Ramona Chapa called her, “They took Anita again. Can you meet me, Hunter?”

  Hunter stood up at the news and said, “Where?”

  “In the City Park.”

  “In Acuña?”

  “Yes.”

  “I’m on my way.”

  She arrived to see a paramedic finishing with a head bandage on Ramona. Her right arm rested in a sling. She moved it and grimaced.

  Hunter said, “Where’s Ike, where’s your husband?”

  Ike is coming. He was in Piedras Negras doing work for Solomon.”

  “And Solomon?”

  “I’m not sure. I called him right after it happened.”

  “What exactly did happen?”

  “A friend called me and asked that I meet her here, in the plaza. As soon as I arrived and left my vehicle, two women attacked me. I was holding Anita in one arm, and the big one grabbed my wrist and pulled it, hard. Anita fell to the ground, and the other woman came up behind me and hit me in the head with something, I think a pipe, and staggered me, but I didn’t fall. I fought to get to Anita, but the woman picked her up from the ground and ran. The big woman twisted my arm hard, and I felt something give. Then she hit me in the head with her fist. I don’t remember the next few seconds very well, other than seeing them drive away with my baby.” She cried again, but stopped almost immediately.

  Hunter let Ramona compose herself, then asked, “Did you tell the police?”

  “Yes, they are hunting for them.”

  Hunter paced as she talked, “Did you recognize the women?”

  “I think, maybe the big one. I’ve seen her somewhere.”

  Okay. Which direction did they go when they left?’

  “West. They took the road that goes along the river.”

  Hunter said, “I’m going to check out something. Do you have someone coming to take you home?”

  “Ike and Solomon are both coming.”

  Hunter nodded, “I’ll call you later.”

  “Thank you. Please find my Anita. Please.” Her voice sounded of panic barely controlled.

  Hunter patted her on the shoulder and left after helping Ramona sit on a bench. Five minutes later, Ike arrived, driving fast. He exited his pickup almost before it stopped. “Are you all right?”

  “I will be, but they took Anita. Hunter Kincaid, I called her, and she came here. She is searching for her.”

  Ike knew that Solomon told Hunter to stay out of Acuña, and that worried him. He said, “Good.”

  A black suburban parked near Ike’s Ford 250, and Solomon and his two bodyguards exited, coming straight toward Ramona and Ike. Solomon checked her over, then straightened and told her, “Get in the Suburban. I’ll take you home.”

  She started to argue, but instead walked to the black vehicle as one of the bodyguards went with her. Once she was inside, Solomon turned to Ike. “This is your fault. You were supposed to be watching her.”

  “You sent me fifty miles downriver to Piedras Negras, remember. Otherwise I would have been here.”

  “You always have excuses. And I will have you punished for this neglect.”

  Ike’s eyes flattened, “My ass you will.”

  Solomon
looked surprised, “What did you say to me?” The bodyguard slid his hand under his coat, but Ike said to him, “David, I’ll drop you if you come out with anything other than five fingers.”

  David froze, looking at Ike. He slowly removed his hand. Ike nodded, then said to Solomon, “I said, my ass you will. And I’ll add, I quit.”

  Solomon’s face darkened, “You do not quit me. I won’t allow it.”

  “Sit back and watch.”

  Ike walked away as Solomon said to his guard, “Have someone follow him. I want to know where he goes, what he does.”

  ~**~

  Hunter drove the familiar road to where the boatman crossed loads. She spotted the boat, but it was already on the United States side. She felt a sense of urgency, making a fast turnaround and driving for the International Bridge, hoping to get there before Paco left the area. Hunter felt sure she was right, and that the boatman had Anita.

  Her phone rang while she re-crossed the International Bridge. She said, “Hello?”

  Ike said, “Where are you?”

  “Going into Del Rio on the bridge.”

  “We need to meet up.”

  “I can’t right now.”

  “Is this about Anita’s kidnapping?”

  “Yes, and I’m trying to intercept the guy I think did it.”

  “Tell me where you’re going and I’ll come that way, give you some backup.”

  She told him, and said, “Hurry.” Having Ike with her would be good, she thought. She parked behind the same half-fallen down shed she had done before, and waited.

  Ike arrived beside her two minutes later. He exited his pickup and stood by Hunter behind the shed. She said, “What did you do, fly?”

  “Hey,” he held out his arms in a what are you gonna do pose.

  Hunter smiled, “Good.”

  Ike said, “What are we looking for?”

  “A vehicle to come up out of the vega down there, out of the cane.”

  “Who’s in it?”

  “I’m hoping it’s the boatman, Paco, and that Anita’s with him.”

  “He’s the kidnapper? Ramona said it was two or three women. One was a big one.”

  “I know, but this guy is the boatman, so I’m thinking he’s bringing her.”

  “Okay.”

  “His name is Paco, you know him?”