Pipeline (25 page)

PAULI
OFFERED KYLE the use of his computer to write the story then contacted Reyna to
give him the good news about Lopez. We had a witness to the attack on Sarita,
and a witness to the smuggling of illegals and the sale of fake government
documents. Kyle could return to Sarita, and they could plan to live happily
ever after in Colorado. The story would help assure his future, and as I
watched him putting it together, I felt something I had never felt before —
pride. He had stuck it out until the end, even though I knew from long
experience that every instinct was telling him to run.

Pauli
was at the sink chopping lettuce and whistling softly to himself when I went
into the kitchen for another cup of coffee.

"How's
it going?" he asked as I poured.

"It's
going to be a great story. Wish we could have tied up everything, but this will
be good enough."

"If
the Feds take a serious interest in Camarena, maybe they can nail his ass,
too."

I
shrugged and sipped at the coffee. The phone rang, and Pauli wiped his hands on
a dishtowel before answering it. He listened for a second and pointed the phone
at me.

"It's
for you, Jo. Your ex."

I
would be glad to finally be able to tell her that everything was fine. That our
son was going to be around a while longer. I decided not to tell her about
Sarita. It was over, and Sarita hadn't been badly hurt physically. I didn't see
any sense in upsetting her over something that couldn't be changed.

"Hi,"
I said lightly as I took the receiver. "I was going to call you..."

"Jo,"
she interrupted me. I noticed that her voice sounded different, subdued, like
someone trying to find a good way to tell you bad news.

"What's
wrong, Cate? Are you all right?"

Pauli
swiveled his head around to look at me. I just shrugged. She hadn't said
anything yet, but my stomach told me there was a problem.

"Cate?
Answer me, honey. What's wrong?"

Her
voice was shaking when she finally spoke again. "Susan and I have been
abducted, Jo. I'm supposed to read something to you."

"What?
By whom?"

"Please,
just listen. Put everything you have about the ABP story in a briefcase, and
bring it to fifteen-twelve Alameda..."

"Wait,
I don't have anything to write on." I looked around and found a pencil and
a napkin on the kitchen table.

"Okay."
I repeated the address.

"Be
there at three o'clock. If you are, Susan and I won't be hurt. And come
alone."

"That's
only an hour, Cate. Is someone there with you?"

"Yes."

"Hand
the phone to whoever it is."

I
heard a man's accented voice as she apparently tried to give him the phone and
then what sounded like a slap.

"Cate!
Someone speak to me, goddamn it!"

A
man's voice came on the line. "You have one hour, Ms. Carlisle. Do you
understand what you're to do?"

"Yeah,
but how about we meet someplace a little more neutral?" I stalled.

"Fifty-nine
minutes," he said as he hung up.

I
slammed the receiver down. When I looked up, Kyle was standing in the doorway
to the kitchen. "They have your mother," I said. "And
Susan."

"How..."

"Someone
had to have seen us together either at the ranch or in Austin. Whether they
took her from work or home I'm sure Susan must have been with her. These guys
have eyes every goddamn place!"

"What
do they want?" Pauli asked.

"Everything
we have on the ABP story by three o'clock. I'm supposed to take it to an
address on Alameda." I slid the napkin toward him.

"Fuck,
Jo, that's in the middle of Escobar's territory. No one will come out of there
alive. It'll take us thirty minutes to get there ourselves."

"Guess
they figured we wouldn't have time to call in the cavalry with a deadline like
that. Kyle, grab everything and put it in a briefcase or something that looks
like a briefcase."

"I'll
get the car started," Pauli said.

"I'm
supposed to be alone, Pauli."

"Hell,
you can't get there in less than an hour alone. I know a few back streets that
might save us some time. Hang on a minute." Pauli picked up the phone and
dialed. A minute later he was talking to Reyna and relaying what was happening.
He hung up without saying goodbye and once again removed his gun from the desk
drawer. "I didn't use this damn thing this much when I was active
duty," he said as he shoved it into his jacket pocket.

"What
about me?" Kyle asked. "I know how to use a gun."

"You're
staying here," I said.

"The
fuck I am!"

"They
just want me, Kyle. As far as they know, you're not even in town."

"I
have to be there, and I won't get in the way. I love her, too, Jo."

We
really didn't have time to argue. Time was slipping away. Pauli had left the
room and returned with what looked like the world's oldest briefcase. He tossed
it to Kyle. "Put everything in that," he instructed.

He
turned to me and handed me the smallest handgun I'd ever seen. It looked like a
toy except it wasn't orange.

"You
know they'll search me," I said. "I wouldn't get ten feet with that
Tinker Toy."

"There's
a slit in the bottom of the briefcase. Slip it in there under the paperwork.
Most of these idiots are too lazy to search a bag carefully enough to find
it."

"What
if I get a real overachiever in the search department?"

"What
are you worried about? Either way they're probably gonna kill you, and either
way they get the information."

I
wasn't feeling any better after a pep talk like that, but we were on our way
with fifty minutes left. Pauli planned to stop at the edge of Escobar's
territory and let me drive the rest of the way. He and Kyle would have to go
the last ten or twelve blocks on foot. I felt certain Kyle could get there but
wasn't sure Pauli could walk that far fast enough to make a difference. His
size alone would make it hard for him to sneak up on anyone, and I didn't
remember seeing a lot of Dempsey Dumpsters the last time we had been in the
area.

Pauli
pulled over to the curb and shifted his car into park. He turned to me, and his
face didn't inspire confidence. "Drive slow. The kid and I have to have
enough time to get near the building. If it's the one I think it is, it's sort
of a warehouse with lots of open space inside. Stall as much as you can. I
don't know how long it will take Reyna to get here."

"Don't
come busting in there, Pauli. I can't take the chance Cate will be hurt."

"She'll
be okay, Jo. Just stay close to her if you can. She's not the primary target.
You are."

Pauli
and Kyle got out of the car, with Pauli leading the way. I glanced at my watch,
and when they had disappeared around the corner of a building, I pulled away
from the curb. Driving slowly, I tried to find numbers on the buildings. I was
beginning to get frustrated when I saw a man step out of an alleyway. As I
slowed down even further, he moved toward the car. I recognized Lopez as soon
as he bent down to look into the car.

"Pull
in there," he instructed, pointing to the alleyway.

I
went down the alley and stopped about halfway down. As I got out of the car, I
looked around at the tops of the buildings lining the alley. I didn't see
anything, but that didn't mean there wasn't someone there. Suddenly, Lopez
slammed me against the side of the car with enough force to knock the wind out
of me. As I gasped for breath, he searched my clothing a little more vigorously
than necessary.

"Where's
the briefcase?" he asked.

"In
the car," I managed to say.

"Get
it and let's go."

I
reached into the front floorboard and grabbed the briefcase. A few yards down
the alley, we turned into a walkway that opened into a small courtyard. Six or
seven men stood around and almost came to attention as Lopez and I joined them.
Lopez went into a door off the courtyard, and I followed him but was stopped by
one of the men before I could enter the door. A moment later, Escobar, trailed
by Lopez, came out the door.

"Where's
Cate Hammond?" I demanded.

"You
search her?" Escobar asked Lopez, who nodded that he had.

"The
bag, too?"

"No,
not the bag, Rico."

"Then
do it now."

I
held the bag out and Lopez took it. He opened the bag and dug through the papers
inside before closing it and handing it back to me.

"You
come alone?" Escobar asked me.

"I
did what I was told to do."

Escobar
stepped aside and motioned me inside the building. I waited to see if he was
going to follow me, but he remained outside with the others. The door opened
into a narrow hallway. I didn't see any other doorways leading off the hallway
and walked in the only direction left, straight ahead. The hallway was about
sixty feet long and led to what appeared to be a cavernous room at the other
end.

When
I reached the end of the hall, I looked around and saw Camarena standing in
front of a table to the left of the doorway. He motioned me forward, and I saw
that he was holding a revolver. To my right, Cate and Susan were sitting in
chairs, bound and gagged. I started to go to them, but Camarena stopped me.

"They're
still breathing. Bring the case to me."

I
tried to give Cate a reassuring smile as I turned toward Camarena. As I got
closer, he leveled his revolver at me. Reaching the table, I set the briefcase
down and stood there looking at him.

"Can
we go now?" I asked.

"You
can all go in a moment. But first I have to see what you brought."

"So
look. It's right there in front of you, asshole."

His
jaws tightened, and his knuckles whitened as he gripped the revolver tighter.
"You open it," he said.

I
opened the briefcase and looked inside, wishing I knew what the hell to do
next. "By the way, the pictures of your kid came out better than I thought
they would," I said.

"But
it kinda looks like you won't be getting them now."

"That's
a shame, but I'll survive without them."

"Hope
I can say the same," I said, looking at him. I pulled out two manila
folders and laid them on the table.

"This
it?"

"I
put everything on CDs, too," I said, reaching back into the briefcase. I
managed to find the slit Pauli had made in the bottom and slid the gun out. I
picked up two CDs with the same hand. As I brought my hand out of the
briefcase, I dropped the disks on the table, holding only the gun.

He
laughed when he saw how small the pistol was. "And what do you think
you're going to do with that?"

"I'll
blow a hole in your head big enough to look through," I answered, raising
the pistol. "All I want is to take Cate and her partner and get out of
here unmolested. Now put your gun down on the table, slowly, and back away. You
can have this other shit."

He
smiled at me in a way that was unnerving, but put the gun down anyway.
"And how are you planning to get past the men outside?"

"Well,
I haven't quite gotten that far yet, Felix. How about if you come around here
so you can escort us out?"

I
heard a sound behind me, like a chair moving. I turned halfway to see if Cate
was all right but wasn't ready for what I saw. Susan was standing up with a gun
in her hand. I glanced at the smiling Camarena and opened my mouth to speak. I
never got a word out before Susan fired twice. The first bullet tore into the
skin of my right side, and even though it was off the mark, the second shot was
good enough to shatter the humerus of my left arm. As I fell, I saw the
terrified look on Cate's face as she witnessed what Susan had done.

I
fell forward and hit the floor hard but wasn't sure whether I was injured as
badly as it felt. I was bleeding profusely and could feel the warmth of my blood
as it spread up and down my clothes. It only took a few seconds for my body to
react once it recovered from the initial shock of being shot. I closed my eyes
against the burning pain in my side and down my arm, deciding that no matter
what, playing possum was the only option I had left. I heard footsteps coming
toward me. A hand grabbed my shoulder and rolled me halfway over while I held
my breath as long as I could.

"You
got her, Bradley."

"Can't
tell if she's dead or not with all this blood, but she will be soon enough if
she keeps bleeding like this."

I
was still holding the pistol and allowed Susan to take it from my hand. I could
hear my heart beating, rushing blood past my eardrums, and prayed that Pauli
would bust through the door in time to save Cate. When the door opened a moment
later, I thought my prayers had been answered.