Jefferson picked up another box, and opened it. Inside were four cell phones, the latest models of smartphones. He passed one to each of them, glancing at each before deciding whom to give it to. “These are your phones,” he said. “You will leave your regular phones with me for now, and use these exclusively. Each of these has the numbers for the others programmed into it already, under the names they’re using for the mission. You’ve also got numbers for me, under Jim Thorpe, and for the administrator, under the name Barbara Davis, and you’ll see a lot of other numbers programmed in. If anyone gets hold of your phone and calls those numbers, we have people who will answer and act like they’re old friends of yours.”
The four of them took a few moments to familiarize themselves with the phones, and then Jefferson produced another box. “Noah, this is the special shopping list you gave me. I got everything you asked for, it’s all there.”
Noah opened the box, glanced inside and then smiled grimly. “That’s perfect,” he said. “Ortiz literally won’t know what hit him.” He closed the box and set it aside.
There was one box left, and Jefferson picked it up gingerly. He handed it to Neil, who suddenly began to smile. “Neil, that’s the special shopping list that you gave me, and let me tell you some of that stuff is very hard to come by. If you hadn’t been able to get me part numbers, I might not have found some of it.”
Noah looked at Neil, and indicated the box with a flip of his chin. “What kind of goodies you got there, Neil?”
Neil opened the box, and began rummaging through its contents. “Some absolutely amazing things,” he said. He pulled out what looked like a sheet of paper covered with blue dots. “See this? Each of those dots is a microphone capable of transmitting an encrypted audio signal through a piggybacked cell tower. The cellular service won’t ever know the signal is there, but it can reach my decryption equipment anywhere in the world. If anyone else were to pick up the signal, it would only sound like static.” He put the sheet back in the box, then lifted a small box from inside. Opening it, he showed them all what appeared to be a wad of chewing gum, such as might be stuck under a table. “This little jewel is a well-camouflaged, high-definition video camera. Like the microphones, it can send its signal right through cellular data signals, like using Skype on your phone. It has a super adhesive on the back, so when you peel off the paper and stick it somewhere, I’ll get a clear color video signal for the next two weeks, unless somebody goes to scraping off the gum. You stick this up under the bar, or under a table, and I’m betting no one in that establishment will ever get around to it.”
Noah nodded appreciatively. “Excellent, that’s great. We’ll know what’s going on there, even when I’m not in the place.”
“Exactamundo,” Neil said. “I’m supposed to keep you supplied with Intel, and that’s what I’m going to do. Besides, once you stick a few of these around that bar, we’ll know instantly if anything starts to go wrong for you. That way, Blondie could drop off Muscles to help get you out of it.”
Noah shook his head. “No, I’m going in alone,” he said. “Moose will stay back with you; he’s got his own wheels and ID if he has to come into town for any reason, but I don’t want anyone getting a look at him if we can possibly avoid it. Same goes for you, Sarah; you’ll drop me off some distance away from the bar, and I’ll walk in. I don’t want them getting a look at you, not at all.”
“People might wonder how you get in and out of the city,” Jefferson said. “What do you plan to tell them?”
“I don’t,” Noah said. “In a city like that, I don’t think too many people advertise where they sleep, especially people who are involved in illegal activities. If anybody gets so nosy that they want to know where I go when I leave, they can follow me, but that means they’re taking the risks that go along with it. I’m supposed to be a bad guy, if I have to, I’ll act the part.” He shrugged. “Besides, I think it would make sense for me to get a room in Juárez, let myself be seen in other places around the city. If I’m in that bar every single day, that’s going to look pretty suspicious, wouldn’t you think?”
Jefferson looked at him for a moment, then nodded. “Okay,” he said. “There are a few hotels with some decent security, places where an apparently wealthy businessman like John Baker might stay. What about a vehicle? Or do you want Sarah to drive in each day to chauffeur you around?”
“No, of course not. I’ll let her drive me in tomorrow, so that I can get a room in one of those hotels, but I’ll use taxis to get around the city. Sarah, I’ll let you know when I need you to come and pick me up.”