“Life?” Diana said. “For drug smuggling?”
“First, it was a lot of drugs, tens of millions of dollars in street value. Enough to keep Florida high for the next decade. Second, both men were on the FBI’s Most Wanted List for gangland murders within the United States. Carlos, the older brother, shot a man in…”
“Reno?” Riley said.
Selena slapped his shoulder. “Silence!”
“Sorry.”
“Not Reno,” Charlie said. “But it was in Nevada. He killed a man outside a casino in Vegas.”
“And the younger brother?” Atticus asked.
“Miguel,” said Charlie. “He stabbed a man to death in El Paso outside a nightclub. In both cases they used their smuggling network to get out of the country undetected and since the US-Mexican extradition treaty doesn’t include citizens of their own countries, the Mexican authorities refused to send them over the Rio Grande.”
“But they went into Florida,” Acosta said. “You already said they were busted there.”
“Under false names,” Charlie said. “In fact, during the trial, the US authorities found out both men had properties in Florida and regularly travelled there, usually entering illegally on boats used by their own smuggling networks. My contact tells me they are both extremely dangerous men with volatile tempers. Carlos, especially, is well-known for being unpredictable and extremely unforgiving toward his enemies. Less than a year after the trial, the head of the man who tipped off the FBI about the Miami drugs operation was found in a garbage can outside a police station in Tampa.”
“Que nojento!” Diana muttered, turning her head in disgust.
Riley nodded. “If that means holy crap, then at least I don’t have to say it, too.”
“It’s close enough,” she said.
“Anything else on Tarántula?” Decker asked. “Specifically, why the sudden interest in archaeological relics and doomsday machines? Is he planning something?”
Charlie shook his head. “Rich has nothing on that. Sorry.”
“Nothing to be sorry about, old man,” Atticus said, giving him a hearty pat on the back. “Your friend has done a wonderful job. Now we know who we’re up against.”
“And it’s not good,” Acosta said. “These men sound like animals. I mean, to order someone’s decapitation like that…”
“I hear that,” Riley said. “Sounds like they’re both off their heads.”
“I’m not even going to comment on that remark,” Selena said.
Riley grinned. “But didn’t you just do exactly that?”
“And didn’t I just tell you to be silent?”
He put his arm around her and gave her a squeeze. “You’d miss me if I wasn’t here.”
“I wouldn’t miss,” Selena said. “I’d aim straight for between the eyes.”
“Funny.”
Decker frowned. “Maybe this Tarántula just found out Montesino was on the trail of something else, something valuable – I mean seriously financially valuable like gems or gold or something and they want it for themselves, or maybe even to smuggle for someone else. Maybe they don’t know anything about the doomsday machine.”
Atticus sighed. “Consider this. Apart from the rumors spread by the idiot Danvers, the only real evidence of the Stormbringer is inside the Codex, which only we have read. With this in mind, I think we have to presume something like Mitch has just suggested,” he said glumly. “Just our luck, too! We finally get the Codex and discover the Stormbringer is probably real and we find ourselves up against a bunch of murderous cartel thugs out for loot.”
“Then we just have to be extra vigilant on this mission, Dad,” Selena said. “We can do that.”
“Did your contact get an ID on any of the other men who attacked us?” Acosta asked.
Charlie looked down at his phone and began scrolling through his old friend’s message. “Only one of them. The one with the face tattoos and red bandana is called Diablo.”
“His parents called him the Devil?” Diana asked with wide eyes.
“No, it’s just a gang name. They don’t know his real name. Very little is known about him except he’s not part of Tarántula’s normal smuggling network. He’s a sort of freelance thug and killer who works for the highest bidder. Some say he was the guy who took off the grass’s head and threw it in the dumpster behind the police station in Tampa.”
“Well, isn’t that just the best news?” Diana said. “I’m so glad I decided to come along on this mission.”
“Take it easy, mate,” Riley said, suddenly all business. “Anyone wants to hurt you, they’re coming through me first.”
“Thanks, Riley,” she said, reaching out and squeezing his arm. “That actually makes me feel much better.”
“No worries.”
“All right. Let’s get going,” Decker said, getting up from the seat and heading up to the cockpit. “The sooner we start, the sooner we get out to Lake Miramar. Thanks to the Avalon being a flying boat, I can set her down right in the middle of the lake. That should save us the time of having to find the nearest airfield and driving all the way out there, at least.”
*
An hour later, the old Grumman Albatross was sailing high over the Yucatan Peninsula. They were at eighteen thousand feet now and flying towards the west and the North Pacific Ocean. Decker eased back into the worn leather seat and breathed out a low sigh. Nothing like cruising above a tropical paradise in your own plane, he thought.
This was the life he loved, but it was time for a change. Back in Mexico City a few days ago, he had wandered into a jewellery store and paid a fair sum of money for a beautiful emerald and diamond engagement ring. He’d first had
