The woman closed her eyes when she heard this and wilted in relief.
The mercenary went to the door.
“Do you need anything else?”
“No.”
“If they don’t show, don’t kill her. We might have to use her again.”
“They will come. I could hear much love in his voice.”
The mercenary stared for a moment, then laughed very big as he left.
Sang Ki Park thought his joke funny, too, but masked his joy with a scowl. The mercenary had insisted Park carry out the plan as instructed, but the mercenary served his own goals, and Park served the goals of Ssang Yong Pa.
The plan would change as Ssang Yong Pa required.
46
Joe Pike
Pike met Jon Stone to hand off Megan Orlato and swap vehicles. They circled the date farm once on foot to fine-tune their plan, then parted. The Koreans had reached Banning Pass by then, and Jon had to meet them.
Pike drove to a feed store that opened at four A.M. He used their restroom, bought a bottle of water, two bags of trail mix, and a bag of dried mango, then returned to the farm. He parked behind an abandoned irrigation truck in a field across from the mouth of the gravel drive, and ate the food as the sky slowly brightened.
He thought about Elvis Cole, and their friendship, and hoped Cole was inside and alive. He told himself Cole was alive. Pike took the Jiminy Cricket from his pocket. He looked at it. A toy cricket. Pike put it back in his pocket.
If Cole was dead, there would be hell to pay.
The day grew full-on light. Nothing stirred at the farm.
Pike’s phone rang at 9:32 A.M. on a beautiful day in the desert.
Stone said, “He agreed. Go.”
Pike left the Jeep, ran hard for the date farm, and disappeared into the trees.
Ghazi al-Diri
Ghazi al-Diri’s life ended with the Korean’s call. He was in the commissary when his phone buzzed, letting his coffee steep in a French press he brought from Sao Paulo. Now, he slipped the phone into his pocket, and poured the coffee. Several of his men were near, eating burritos of eggs and beans they had made for themselves. Ghazi moved away from them to think. He was angry, but might yet survive if he remained calm.
Maysan changed everything. The Korean gangsters had somehow learned she was his sister, and now held her like a pollo. Ghazi had no choice but to assume the gangsters now knew everything Maysan knew-his phone numbers, his home in Ensenada, how he had operated north of the border these past two years, and even his current location. This frightened him the most as they might even now be watching the farm.
Ghazi acted quickly. The trade for his sister required the box truck and many men, but much more needed to be done if he was to survive, and these things were unpleasant.
“Rojas! Where is Medina?”
“With the pollos. You want him?”
“Yes, both of you. In the garage.”
Ghazi had more of the coffee as Rojas hurried away, then strolled to the garage. Ghazi had agreed to the exchange, but he would not make the trip. He would do everything possible to save his sister, and prayed the Korean gangster was good at his word, but Ghazi al-Diri did not believe he would see her again, and felt certain the exchange was a death sentence.
Rojas and Medina appeared almost at once. He straightened like the commander he was, and faced them.
“We are returning the Koreans. We need eight guards for the move, two for the big truck and the rest in the smaller trucks. They should be armed. Rojas, I want you on the big truck. You will be in charge.”
Rojas looked surprised, but made no objection. They had been together a long time. Ghazi would hate to lose Rojas, but Samuel was the smarter and more capable. If recovering Maysan was possible, Rojas was more likely to succeed.
Rojas said, “Someone has bought them?”
“The gangsters have my sister. You will be exchanging the pollos for her. I have made the arrangments.”
Al-Diri quickly outlined where and how the exchange would take place, told Rojas to pick his men, and move out as quickly as possible.
Rojas and Medina turned to leave, but al-Diri called after Medina.
“Medina, stay. I have something else.”
Medina turned back and waited. Al-Diri took a moment to be clear his thinking was right. He was not losing only the Koreans. He had decided to abandon the date farm, and without his sister’s access to properties, he had no place to keep them. He could not let them walk away, as they were witness to heinous crimes, so something had to be done.
Ghazi al-Diri was clear. He had made the only right and true decision.
“We will need another big truck. When Rojas is gone, we will leave this place. We have to get rid of the pollos.”
Medina studied him for several seconds, then shrugged.
“There are always more pollos.”
Vasco Medina was the right man for this job.
“You sure you don’t want to wait for Rojas? It will save us the cost of a truck.”
“We have no time to wait. We will meet Rojas elsewhere.”
Medina grunted thoughtfully, then slowly smiled to show the ruined crocodile teeth. Medina understood. They would not wait for Rojas because Rojas and the truck would probably not return.
“Okay. I can get us a truck, no problem. Bigger, maybe. We’re gonna have what, a hundred twenty, a hundred thirty?”
“Yes, something like that.”
Medina grunted again.
“We could leave them here. That would be fastest.”
Ghazi had considered this, but immediately discounted it. The date farm was connected to Maysan. Were so many bodies found here, the resulting investigation would eventually link her to Ghazi, and lead to his eventual identification.
“No, we cannot leave them.”
“Okay. I know a place we can reach with the truck. I’ll take care of it.”
He started away, but stopped.
“What about the rich boy? Him, too?”
Ghazi had soured on the uncertain chance a widowed mother would pay. Rich people could be trouble, so al-Diri wanted to get rid of the boy with the others.
“Him, too. We have no time to waste.”
“What about the asshole who’s in with the Sinaloas? I hate that fuckin’ asshole.”
“Everyone. Get the truck and get them loaded. I want to get out of here.”
“Can I take care of this how I want?”
Ghazi al-Diri cringed. Medina meant the killing. He was a man who would enjoy the killing. In Mexico, they did it with hammers.
“However you want, but not here. Wait till you get wherever you are going. Then you don’t have to carry them.”
