He pauses, and smiles at me.
“Well, except you.”
He pulls the hollow point from his pocket, holds it up.
“You’re going to stay here with this in your head.”
Thirty-Nine
Nova had positioned his car in a lot across the highway that faced the motel—about four hundred yards down from the park—and that was where he still was at almost nine o’clock that morning, his head tilted back on the seat, the windows down, listening to the morning traffic and trying not to fall asleep.
Besides the few times the motel door opened to let the same two freelancers out to smoke, nothing else happened. A housekeeper pushing her cart of towels and sheets had ignored the do not disturb sign hanging on the doorknob. She knocked at the door, and one of the men answered, shook his head at her, and the housekeeper had continued on her way to the next room.
Despite the fact they believed all the men who posed a threat were in the motel room, James had returned to keep an eye on Holly’s mom, just as Erik stayed in the neighborhood to keep an eye on Holly’s sister and her family. Erik texted not too long ago to alert them that the sister’s husband had left for work, but so far that was it.
Nova’s phone buzzed with an incoming call from Atticus.
“Holly made contact.”
He bolted upright in his seat.
“What? When?”
“Only a couple minutes ago. Her message was brief.”
“Where is she?”
“Los Angeles, though I know that simply because she said as much. The message didn’t last long enough for me to establish a location. The number appears to have come from a disposable. Nova, she confirmed what Erik said—her family is in danger.”
Nova nodded, his gaze focused on the motel across the highway.
“I think we already came to that conclusion.”
“That’s not all. The people who took her want her to assassinate someone.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know. The message got cut off before she could say. But it’s Los Angeles—it could be anybody. Although President Cortez of Mexico is flying in this morning for an event.”
Nova remembered standing in a church in Colotlán and listening to Father Crisanto tell them about how the cartels had come for Alejandro Cortez because they wanted to punish his father. That had been right before narcos dragged the priest out into the street and murdered him.
Nova said, “Cortez is the target.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Call it gut instinct.”
“I can’t notify the authorities based on gut instinct, Nova. Besides, if President Cortez suddenly cancels his trip, the people holding Holly will probably kill her if Cortez is indeed the target.”
“She’s probably dead either way. The least we can do is make sure her family stays alive.”
The motel door opened, and the same two freelancers stepped out to light cigarettes. A moment later, a man appeared on the steps leading to the motel’s second floor. He had dark hair and wore a dark suit. He climbed the steps casually, not looking like he was in any hurry.
Atticus said, “Nova, are you there?”
“Hold on a second.”
Nova leaned forward in his seat. With all the toys James had supplied them, Nova didn’t have a pair of binoculars.
The two smokers noticed the man coming their way and shifted their bodies in a naturally defensive position. They were no doubt carrying. One of the men even reached behind him but didn’t pull out his gun.
The man in the suit held his hands to the side and smiled as he said something to the two men. The two men glanced at each other. The man in the suit said something else, and motioned with his head to the motel room. One of the men stepped toward the room and opened the door, spoke to somebody inside, and then another man appeared.
The man in the suit was now only a few steps away from the door. He still kept his hands held out at his sides. He glanced out at the parking lot, said something else, and the other men seemed to realize just how exposed they all were. The one who’d stepped out motioned the man in the suit inside. The man in the suit followed him into the room, and the two smokers flicked away their cigarettes before joining them.
As the motel door closed, Nova said, “Someone new showed up.”
“Describe him.”
“Dark hair and dark suit. That’s all I could make out from this distance.”
“Where is he now?”
“He just went into the room with the others.”
Nova watched as the motel door opened again. The man in the suit stepped out, this time a bit more cautiously, scanning the parking lot and second level to make sure nobody was watching. He had a pistol in his hand and was unscrewing the suppressor from the barrel as he closed the door and started back toward the stairs.
Nova said, “Shit.”
He started the car but then immediately turned it off. He’d parked in a lot that gave him a great position to watch the motel but not a great position to reach the motel easily. That was because he hadn’t foreseen any need to reach the motel.
Atticus spoke in his ear.
“What’s wrong?”
“I think the new guy just took the rest of them out. Let me call you back.”
Nova grabbed his gun off the passenger seat and jumped out of the car. He ran down the embankment toward the highway and paused once his feet hit the macadam. The morning traffic was congested but not moving too fast. He spotted an opening and darted out, sprinting across the highway, ignoring the blare of horns that followed in his wake, and then he was racing up the embankment on the other side.
The man in the suit was long gone. He’d appeared from around the side of the motel, so Nova wouldn’t have been able to see what vehicle he drove even if he’d stayed.
Nova hurried across the parking lot and up the steps to the second floor. He kept the FNX-45 down at his side, concealing
