When it got close to lunchtime, the bartender announced that he had tacos and burritos, so they bought lunch from him and continued to discuss the many different variables. There was no way to predict, for instance, how many customers might be in the place at any particular time. It was known that Ortiz had a tendency to draw customers, common street criminals who just wanted to rub shoulders with such a powerful man. That could create a serious risk for Noah, because it could prevent his escape, or even cause him to miss his target.
Killing Ortiz with a bullet would, as Jefferson had said, point the finger back at the United States.
“Would it be better,” Noah asked Jefferson, “if I can make his death look like an accident? Or natural causes?”
Jefferson seemed to think it over. “It might be, especially if you could convince people it was something natural. An accident? People like Ortiz don’t have accidents, so that would look suspicious, anyway. No one would believe that he died in an auto accident, for instance, because his drivers are too well trained and his vehicles are designed to make sure he survives. Same problem with poisons: they’ll turn up in toxicology, so somebody will know he was assassinated. That word gets out, and suddenly we’ve got an international incident, even if they can’t prove we were behind it.”
Shortly after lunchtime, a man walked through the front door and carefully looked at the place over. He bore such a striking resemblance to the real Henrique Valdes that Noah was certain this was the actor playing that part. The man looked carefully at the table full of gringos, then to the bartender, who nodded. He turned and walked back out the door, to return a moment later with six other men. One of them was obviously in charge, and Noah was sure he must be the one playing Ortiz.
Noah examined the situation from every angle he could think of, and saw almost no opportunity to eliminate Ortiz without taking out Valdes, as well. Valdes had five goons, all of them obviously armed and dangerous. If Noah could get into the right position, he could probably manage to take them all down, but then there was the danger of the bartender and other customers. People who frequented a place like this were likely to be part of the criminal element, themselves, so when one of their own was attacked, there was a good chance they would get involved in the fight. Noah would likely end up stuck right between a number of different killers, and even he wasn’t optimistic enough to expect to survive.
Taking advantage of his limited ability to do so, Noah asked the men playing Valdes and Ortiz a number of questions about the way they did things. Assuming the intelligence they had studied was correct, he learned a great deal about the two men, and developed a healthy respect for the technique that was being employed, that of having actors portray the target and answer questions about themselves. He could have read all of the information he learned out of a dossier, but it would not be as alive to him as it became on hearing it out of the subject’s mouth.
Noah got up and walked around the bar, looking at every aspect of it. At one point, he turned to Jefferson. “How accurate are the little details in this place?”
“We had a man in there a few days ago with a micro video camera, and he got shots of everything. He’s a local, so we get updated footage every few days. As soon as we see a difference, we’ll match it here, so it’s pretty accurate.”
Noah nodded, and continued his exploration. At two o’clock, he told Jefferson that he had his plan laid out.
Jefferson looked surprised. “Already? Most team leaders take at least two or three days, trying different scenarios out to see what is most likely to succeed. Sure you don’t want to give it a little more time?”
Noah shook his head. “I don’t need to. I know how I want to take Ortiz out, and it will look like nothing but natural causes. There won’t be anything to suggest assassination, or any connection to an outside influence.” He looked around the bar, then back at Jefferson. “This setup has been helpful, believe me. I couldn’t have worked out a plan nearly as well without seeing this, but knowing that it’s bound to be an almost perfect replica of the real tavern tells me I can pull this off the way I want to. All I got to do is find a way to do a little business with Mr. Ortiz, and I’m sure that won’t be too difficult. I understand he used to run drugs, so I’m confident he still knows where to get them.”
Jefferson stared at Noah for a moment, then looked around at his teammates. “Your team leader says he’s ready to go. Any of you have any objection to that?”
Moose, Neil and Sarah all looked at each other,, and each of them shook their heads. “If the boss says we’re good to go, then we’re good to go,” Moose said. Neil rolled his eyes, and said, “I’m still stuck on that part about how I won’t actually have to be in the bar, so I’m good. I’m good.”
Sarah glanced at Noah, then turned to Jefferson. “I’d like to spend a little time driving around here, get a feel for what the real city will be like. Can I do that on my own, or does the whole team have to be here?”