They jogged down the street. They had entered a bar district: El Paso del Norte, La Cascada, Aguilar Ladies Bar, and other such establishments lined both sides of the street.
'We are close now,' the doctor said.
They came to the intersection at Avenida Melchor Ocampo.
'We go north here. The next intersection is Vincente Guerrero, a very busy street. This street is not so busy.'
They hurried up the west sidewalk, which was shielded by cars parked along the street and shade trees. They were in a better part of town. Bode felt a sense of relief come over him-until he was slammed up against a building and a knife was jammed against his throat. A large Mexican man with whiskey breath put his weight into Bode.
'?Tu dinero o tu vida! '
'Our money or our lives,' the doctor said.
'I'm the governor. I don't carry cash.'
The doctor dug in his pocket and produced a handful of coins. The man took the money then threw the coins on the sidewalk.
'?Mas dinero! '
The doctor shook his head.
' No mas dinero. '
The man pulled the knife back as if to stab Bode, but his body suddenly clenched and his eyes bulged and he groaned. A hand-a white hand-emerged from the darkness behind the man and clamped over his mouth. The man dropped his knife and slowly crumpled to the ground. A shaggy figure leaned over the man a moment then stood and faced Bode.
'What the hell are you doing here, Governor?'
' Eddie? '
He stared at Eddie Jones' face in disbelief.
'What the hell are you doing here?'
'Saving your life.'
'Thanks, but why are you in Nuevo Laredo?'
''Cause you're paying me a million bucks to kill El Diablo.'
'I am?'
'Jim Bob is. Campaign expense.'
'Can you do it? Kill him?'
'Yeah, I can kill him. That's not the problem. Getting back across the river alive, that's the problem. So, Governor, what brings you to Nuevo Laredo?'
'He took my wife.'
'From the colonia,' the doctor said. 'This morning.'
Eddie nodded. 'Using her as bait. It's working. So what, you and the doc here figure on walking into that compound, killing the baddest drug lord in all of Mexico, rescuing the little lady, and then hightailing it back across the river before daybreak?'
Bode shrugged. 'As a matter of fact, that is the plan.'
'Well, Governor, as plans go, it sucks.' He glanced around. 'Come on, let's find a place to make a new plan.'
Bode pointed at the man lying on the ground.
'Is he dead?'
Eddie kicked the body.
'Oh, yeah, he's dead.'
'Maybe we should move him. A dead body on the sidewalk might attract attention.'
'In Nuevo Laredo?'
Enrique de la Garza did not sleep well alone. So he often worked late at night, after he put Carmelita to bed and read her a story in the ingles so she too could attend Harvard. He was in his office now, nowhere close to sleep, not with the governor's wife just one floor below in bed.
'You bring any weapons?' Eddie asked.
They had found a secluded alley around the corner between Farmacias where the doctor said Americans cross the river to buy cheaper prescriptions. Bode now pulled his dangerous game rifle off his shoulder and showed it to Eddie.
'Jesus, Governor, you'll wake up all of Nuevo Laredo with this thing.'
'One of those three-seventy-five caliber slugs, guaranteed to ruin El Diablo's day.'
'True, but we need to be a little stealthy.'
'I'm a good shot.'
'No doubt, Governor, but this ain't the turkey shoot back in Comfort. What else you bring?'
Bode pulled the six-shooter from his waistband.
'Colt Walker. 44-caliber six-shooter. It'll blow a hole the size of a bowling ball through a full-grown man.'
Eddie blinked.
'A six-shooter?'
The doctor held his six-shooter out.
'I have one, too.'
'Anything else?'
Bode pulled his right sleeve up to reveal the small pistol rubber-banded to his wrist.
'A Derringer?'
'Forty-one-caliber double-barreled.'
Eddie shook his head. 'How 'bout you, Doc, you bring anything?'
'This.'
The doctor reached into his pocket and came out holding a scalpel.
'A scalpel? What else you got in there, a catheter?'
Bode was getting a little annoyed.
'So what'd you bring?'
'Just these.'
Eddie pulled a gun.
'Nine millimeter Glock. Fifteen-round clip.' He screwed a long tube onto the barrel. 'With a silencer.'
Eddie opened his ratty jacket to reveal a sawed-off shotgun slung under one arm and a small weapon under the other.
'Uzi,' he said.
He lifted his pants leg to reveal a long knife with a serrated blade in a leg sheath. Taped to his other leg was an ice pick.
'You bring a can of Mace, too.'
Eddie chuckled.
'You came prepared.'
'This is what I do, Governor.'
'I thought you were a gopher?'
'I am. I get what I go for.'
Could the governor's wife love him if he killed the governor? Some women might be offended by such an act. But she had been working in the colonias for five months, perhaps she had left the governor, as the rumors on cable suggested. And he had cheated on her; she could not feel that strongly about him. If Enrique had cheated on Liliana, she would have killed him herself. With the governor out of the picture, certainly Enrique would be the front-runner for her affection. Who else would be in the race? There were no eligible men for her in the colonias… except Dr. Rincon. Yes, he was also educated and quite handsome. But he was quite poor. A woman such as the governor's wife was accustomed to certain things in life, things that only a man such as Enrique de la Garza could provide. Perhaps it was the wine he had with dinner or the brandy he had after dinner-or perhaps it was his lack of
