Velocity

can’t formulate a viable tactical plan until we’re sure of where they’re going to be when we move in. We’ve got a SWAT unit on standby, deployed one mile out. I don’t want any cartel spotters catching a glimpse of our rigs hanging around the strip. Even if we move in with their bread truck plastered with fake magnetic plumbing or electrical signs on the side, there’s a chance they’ll be made. I don’t wanna blow this before we have a chance to get close to Hernandez.”

“We’ve got no valid intel whether or not Villarreal truly intends to hand over Hernandez,” Gifford said. “So we’re treating this as a hostile hostage situation until or unless we find convincing proof otherwise.”

“You’ll coordinate with SWAT,” Ruth continued. “When you’ve gotten eyes on the layout of the area and have an estimate of how many there are and where they’re holed up, take up your positions and turn the show over to SWAT. Set down on that helicopter tour business’s landing pad and stay out of the way until the area is secured and Hernandez is safely in custody. Let’s do this right.”

Vail tried not to squirm in her seat. She expects me to sit on the sidelines while they go after Robby? Is this woman serious?

Clar stepped up to the white board. He pulled a cap off the red marker and wrote in abbreviated strokes as he spoke: “First objective. Locate and secure Roberto Hernandez. Second. Identify, locate, and take down members of the Cortez cartel. Now, for those of you who aren’t familiar with Vegas, the strip is almost always densely packed with tourists. If we pull our side arms and start blasting away, it’ll be near impossible to avoid striking innocents. So third objective. Minimize collateral damage.”

“The order of objectives,” Ruth said, “depends on logic, not priority. Clearly it’s of paramount importance to rescue our man. SWAT has been briefed on Velocity, so they understand our challenges. But I want there to be no confusion: given a choice of securing Hernandez or preserving the success of Velocity, we save the life.”

Vail, Dixon, and DeSantos shared a look. They then turned to Turino in unison, who looked away. Vail’s gaze was particularly harsh.

“It’s our assessment,” Clar said, “that Velocity will not be adversely affected by this op. Cortez knows we’d be looking for Hernandez, so any action we initiate will be seen in that light.”

Exactly. Vail kept an unforgiving gaze on Turino until he turned back in her direction. After a long second of silent anger between them, he looked away.

Clar capped the marker and tossed it down. “I’ve brought along an electronic tracking device that’ll assist us in triangulating Officer Hernandez’s position using Sandiego Ortega’s cell signal.” He rooted around inside a charcoal gray rucksack and pulled out a black PDA-size unit. Its top consisted of a dark, shiny glass display, with brushed aluminum sides. He held it up and said, “Meet LOWIS.”

“Lois, as in Lois Lane?” DeSantos asked.

“As in low output wave imaging sensor. L-O-W-I-S. She’s tuned to the quantized discrete-time signal emanating from the ESN—the electronic serial number—of that phone.”

“I’m no physics major,” Mann said, “but it sounds like a similar kind of technology that allows cell towers to identify particular phones on a network.”

“It does utilize that technology, but it takes it a step further. Mobile phones are like two-way radios. They regularly send out bits of data signals, called ‘pings,’ to the nearest cell tower every two or three minutes. It’s a way for the phone and the tower to know where each other is so they can communicate when a call is initiated. The towers forward the location of that phone back to the network. LOWIS uses a smart ping, a unique identifier that we’ve captured and that she’s now tuned for. Which means she’s like a hound dog on a scent.”

“I’ve never seen one of those,” DeSantos said. “And I tend to come across a lot of fancy technoelectronics the government’s got.”

“This won’t show up in any government agency. Not yet. It’s totally experimental. This is the prototype. I built it myself. Well, myself and a buddy of mine in Russia.”

“One other thing,” Gifford said. “The FBI is in the process of remotely turning off the ringer on Ortega’s phone. Once that’s done they’re going to switch on the microphone. That way, if the phone is powered off, we’ll still be able to listen in.”

“A roving bug,” Dixon said. “Very useful.”

“Very. No fancy hardware required. If need be, they can just call the phone and listen in to what’s being said by anyone in the vicinity.”

Clar held up LOWIS. “Who wants it?”

“I’ll take it,” Vail said.

“Take care of her,” Clar said. “We’ve grown attached.”

Vail took the device. “I think you need to get a life, Clar. But no worries. We’ll treat her just fine.”

Clar ignored Vail’s dig. “Keep in mind that even though she did well in our simulations, that’s far from being battle-tested. I can’t say for sure she’ll work like we want her to.” He looked hard at Vail and said, “You know how women can be sometimes.”

“But,” Mann said, “she—it—LOWIS has got a lock on that cell, and it’s tracking it. Right?”

“Affirmative.” Clar flung open a flap on his bag. He dug his hand inside and began pulling out black handhelds. “I’ve got two-ways for all of you. They’re set to channel 9. It’s encrypted.”

The task force stepped forward and took their radios—Turino included.

“The Huey’s still hot,” Ruth said. “Another of Agent Clar’s many talents is he’s a certified pilot. Since he’s the only one who knows the intimate workings of LOWIS, he’ll be your escort.”

Gifford waited a beat, then said, “Okay, let’s do it. Let’s bring our man home. And round up the bastards who took him.”

As Vail huddled with Clar, Mann, and DeSantos, Gifford cleared his throat and caught Vail’s attention. She moved over to the huddled suits, who were gathered at the back of the room.

“What’s going on?” Gifford asked.

“Sir?”

“Agent Vail, cut the crap. I know you better than your own father.” He winced, no doubt realizing the insensitivity of his comment and the reference to Vail’s sadistic parent. “Strike that. Point is, I saw the looks you and the task force were exchanging with Agent Turino during the briefing. So I’ll ask you again. What’s going on?”

Vail scanned the faces of Yardley, Ruth, and Gifford. She hesitated a long moment. She did not want to get into this—certainly not now. And she definitely didn’t want Turino leading them on this op. Still, she shook her head and said, “Nothing’s going on, sir.”

“You’re about to embark on a critically important op,” Ruth said. “What the hell is the problem?”

“That’s not a friendly request,” Gifford added. “It’s an order.”

Vail looked off at the wall. Realizing she was losing valuable time, she acquiesced. “Agent Turino.”

“What about him?”

Vail glanced over her shoulder. Sebastian and Turino were huddled in the far corner. Vail turned back and proceeded to outline what she knew. She stressed that they were unfamiliar with DEA policy, and that they were unsure whether or not his actions were above board. When she was done, Gifford, Yardley, and Ruth all wore variations of agitation and disgust.

“DEA policy,” Ruth said firmly, “is that a human life is always priority. Everything we do is based on officer safety. No operation’s worth a life—no amount of drugs is worth a life. It’s not written in any manual, but it’s built into everything we do, every op and takedown we plan.” She turned to Yardley.

Yardley threw a strained look across the room at Turino. “Agent Turino.”

Turino set his jaw and then walked over, gait confident, shoulders back, chin above level. “Yes sir?”

Yardley said, “We’ve been made aware of your actions as leader of the task force.”

Turino threw a hard, cold stare at Vail. “I’m sure you have.”

“Agent Vail was ordered to do so,” Gifford said. “And she did so reluctantly.”

Turino set both hands on his hips. “Whatever.”

Dixon called out from across the room. “Karen, let’s go. We’re ready to roll.”

“The issue,” Yardley said, “is you. Not her. I’m looking forward to sitting down and listening. You’re a decorated, veteran agent and you’ll be afforded all due process. And given the benefit of the