Blood of the Assassin

CHAPTER 31





“What? How?” Cruz sputtered, clearly flummoxed by El Rey’s revelation.

“I did some checking yesterday. Spent most of my evening on it. I know exactly where he’ll be in about” – he looked at his watch – “six hours, more or less.”

Cruz’s mind raced at the news. It could change everything.

“But you have an ethical dilemma to face. I could tell you where, and you could send in the storm troopers, and hope that he didn’t die fighting, and then further hope that he would tell you what he knew about your wife’s whereabouts – which I think given your track record, you would agree is a long shot. Or, I could not tell you, handle the questioning myself, and show up tomorrow morning, or even late tonight, with your wife’s location.”

A subtle smirk tugged at his lips.

“Welcome to your first moral quandary. Do you do this by the book, the legal way, or do I handle it...effectively? Which we both know won’t be anything close to legal.”

“Hypothetically, what would ‘effectively’ entail?”

“You don’t want to know. Or maybe you can imagine. Pretend you don’t have the job you do, and that you would do anything required to get the information you needed, regardless of the consequences.”

“I...maybe you’re right. I don’t want to know.”

“But you do need to make the decision. What’s it going to be?”

“What are the odds he knows anything?” Cruz asked, stalling for time.

“The ranking boss here? What do you think?”

“Stupid question, I guess. But here’s a better one. Why would you do this? Why not just give me the address?”

El Rey rubbed a hand across his lower face, tiring of the exchange. “Because you’ll blow it. And then when she shows up in pieces, you’ll be useless. So any favor you owe me will be uncollectable. Worthless. So decide. I’m running short of patience.”

Cruz paced, his mind searching for a way out. “I don’t want to know the details. You think you can get what we need?” he asked, defeat in his voice. And more. Hunger. Eagerness. For results. For El Rey to go do what he did better than anyone else. A thing that Cruz would have hunted him to the ends of the earth for if it hadn’t been to save Dinah.

Funny how the moral certitude folded when you had skin in the game, he thought. His convictions suddenly took a back seat to expediency. And now he and the most dangerous assassin in Latin America, if not the world, were discussing logistics, exactly the same way any of the cartel bosses had discussed them with him before a high-profile execution.

“I wouldn’t have offered if I couldn’t,” El Rey said simply.

Cruz’s compulsive walking came to a halt a few paces from the assassin’s chair. “Do whatever you need to do.”

“You’re sure?”

“As sure as I’ve been about anything in my life.”

El Rey stood, and tossed his empty water bottle into the trash. “Then we have a deal. Leave your phone on. And try not to sleep too deeply.”

Cruz watched as El Rey exited his office and moved across the floor with that oddly balletic stride of his – not a hint of wasted motion, easy and effortless – and then sat heavily in his seat, pondering what he had just put into motion. He had unleashed a force of nature to do what he couldn’t, and in doing so had violated every oath he’d taken, as well as the principles he held dear. He despised the assassin for what he was; and yet now, when he was at risk of losing Dinah, he didn’t hesitate to turn him loose, and damn the consequences.

How could he hold his head up? Look at himself in the mirror? In trying to save her, had he lost himself?

Briones’ return terminated his wallow in doubt.

“I sent you the document. I hate to say it, but he makes a lot of sense in it, and definitely caught a number of holes in the security planning that could have been disastrous if the German is on his game.”

“And we have to assume that he is. I don’t get the impression that he’s a man who does things in half measures.”

“Nor does our captive assassin.”

Briones waited for Cruz to tell him whatever he would need to know.

Cruz made a few notes on the yellow legal pad on his desk and then regarded Briones with a strained expression.

“He’s going to help find Dinah. Says he should have some information by tomorrow, at the latest. Possibly as early as tonight,” Cruz said without preamble.

Briones started in surprise. “Well, that’s great! I’ll be damned. Do you mind me asking how, sir?”

“It’s probably best if you don’t know the details. But the reason I’m telling you is so that you can be ready when we get the word.”

“I’ll assemble an assault team. Only the best men.”

Cruz shook his head. “No. We don’t know who we can trust. That’s been the problem all along. If we start preparing for an incursion, it’s possible that word will leak, and then Dinah...”

He didn’t have to finish the thought.

“Then how do you want to handle it?”

“We need to be flexible. Our new friend will call when he has the information, and we’ll decide then what we’ll do. It’ll probably depend on what we’re walking into. But for now, this has to be confined to you and me. Nobody else.”

Briones nodded. “I understand. What about ordnance?”

Cruz scribbled a terse missive on a piece of his stationery and signed it with a flourish. “Here. This will enable you to get whatever you need. I’d say a couple of ARX 160s with night vision scopes, a couple of UMP 9s, extra magazines, body armor, and night vision gear for both of us. And two silenced Berettas. We’ll have to go in hard, so we’ll need all the firepower we can carry. I want to be ready for anything.”

“Are you sure you don’t want me to involve a few of my most loyal officers?”

“I’d say make up a short list of five that you trust with your life, but don’t call anyone until I give the go-ahead. This might have to happen fast, and I want all the options I can get. Maybe it’s just the two of us, maybe it’s more. But for now, it’s only us.” Cruz studied him. “Are you up for this?”

“Absolutely, sir. If he can deliver the goods it’s a major break. I’m honored you would choose me,” Briones said with quiet fervor.

“You might not be so thrilled once the bullets start flying.”

“Sir, I mean it when I say that I’ll make you proud.”

“I’ll settle for not getting shot, and getting my wife out intact.”

“Yes, sir. I’ll go down to headquarters and hit the armory, then be back in a few hours. Is there anything else?” Briones asked, suddenly anxious to get going.

“No. Wait. Yes. There is. Thank you. This is way above the call of duty.”

“I’m absolutely sure you would do the same for me, sir,” Briones said, and then spun and left, leaving Cruz to his thoughts.

A soft groan escaped Cruz’s lips after the door had closed, and for a moment, his resolve wavered as he watched Briones crossing the command center floor on the way to the elevators. The lieutenant was all about honor, loyalty, and pride, and had proved his mettle more than most of the other officers on the force. He was steadfast, and his trust in Cruz was absolute. But was that trust misplaced?

Briones might have been sure, but was Cruz? Would he have done the same thing if it had been Briones being held instead of Dinah? Made a bargain with the closest thing to Satan he’d ever encountered?

He mentally shook himself. After all the rhetoric, all the sentiment faded, his career had cost him everything. He had fought the good fight, and his reward had been a dead wife and daughter, and a command chain that was willing to take everything away from him that he’d earned in order to get its selfish needs met. Cruz might not have been sure of many things, but one was crystal clear to him: He wasn’t going to lose Dinah to the same monster that had claimed his family. Unlike that time, the assassin had presented a unique option, and as much as he felt like he had embarked on a road from which there was no turning back, he was equally sure that he had to do everything in his power to save his wife’s life.

When all was said and done, and the flags stopped waving and the speeches were over, that’s all that mattered, and all he cared about.

Getting Dinah back alive.