Chapter Hotel #2
“I don’t like the sound of this conversation,” Mother transmitted. “I’ve heard this type of chatter before, and it usually indicates human product.”
“Why do you say that, Mother?” Mac asked.
“They’re discussing the conditions in which the product is being stored with the heat today and the ramifications of the funds already paid if any of the product expires,” Mother said.
“We need to find that warehouse ASAP, especially if funds have already been paid,” Briana said.
She stood waist deep in the water in front of her and Roth’s chairs, where Roth still lay, reclined on his lounger in the shade of an umbrella.
“When this guy leaves here, he could be going straight there to pick up his product.”
“My thoughts exactly,” Mother said. “And it sounds like it’s multiple items, not singular or two or three. The pronoun they, has just been used.”
“Mac, can you go with your asset and report back?” Cooper asked.
“Yeah, I was just thinking the same thing. Let me know when Hector leaves the pool.”
“Affirmative. It will be at least the time it takes for him to drink the mojito the waitstaff just brought him,” Cooper advised.
Briana kept her back to Ruiz and Hector and waded around the pool.
She didn’t dare turn towards them as she didn’t trust her facial expression to remain neutral.
Roth got into the water and swam towards her.
He took her into his arms and whispered in her ear, “Relax, we’ll get to them in time.
” Then he kissed her. To anyone watching, they looked like a young couple in love, enjoying their vacation.
Cooper notified Mac when Hector and his muscle left the pool area. Mac was already seated beside his local asset in his car in the parking lot, ready to tail Hector to wherever he went.
The team stayed on Ruiz, waiting for updates from Mac.
An hour after Hector left, another man approached Ruiz.
He was older. Per Mother, his voice sounded American.
And he carried himself like an Operator.
“Yvette, get us any picture of Dyer you can get your hands on. I don’t care if it’s his high school graduation picture.
We need something to compare with this guy. ”
“Sending what I have through to your phones now,” Yvette said. “It’s from a very old unit photo. This guy’s a ghost. Shepherd hasn’t even been able to get a single photo of him besides this one. Someone scrubbed everything on him.”
“Sounds like CIA,” Cooper said.
“Then the Digital Team needs to track down and get a hold of someone who actually served with this guy who might be able to identify him from a current pic,” Garcia’s gravelly voice came through comms. “I’m messaging Hound dog to do that now.”
“Thought you were sleeping, Razor,” Yvette transmitted.
“I’ve been awake since Mac left the property. Any updates from him yet?”
“Negative,” Yvette reported. She wondered how he knew Mac had left.
“It’s been over an hour,” Garcia reminded her.
Yvette was well aware of what time Mac had left. She’d expected to hear something from him by now.
“This photo of Dyer is useless,” Cooper said. “It’s too grainy to make out important features. Can’t the Digital Team clean it up?”
“That is the enhanced version,” Yvette said.
“His new visitor is talking money with him,” Mother reported. “And it’s not a friendly conversation. It sounds like Ruiz owes this guy a lot and his patience to collect it is running low.”
“Dead men can’t flip to save their skin,” Lambchop said. “I’d hate to think we’re going to have to protect this guy.”
“Yeah, that’s not a palatable situation I’d like to be in,” Briana agreed.
“Mother, have they discussed exactly what the money is for?” Yvette asked.
“Negative, Control.”
“I’ve called the team that gave us the lift to standby in the parking lot to follow this guy if Mac isn’t back by then,” Cooper transmitted.
Briana’s gaze shifted to Cooper as he spoke. He didn’t move his lips. Anyone watching would never suspect he was talking, let alone transmitting. He actually appeared to be asleep in his lounge chair. Both he and Madison did.
***
Mac’s man, Manuel Aguirre, followed the vehicle driven by Hector at a safe distance through the crowded streets.
They hung back even farther when Hector veered off onto a road that Manuel told Mac led out of Cancun.
Mac knew the countryside was dangerous. The cartels controlled the entire area.
He un-holstered his weapon and held it at his side.
The vehicle with Hector and his man took a side, dirt road that was narrow, surrounded by tall grass and weeds. It looked rarely traveled on.
“Go past it. Don’t follow,” Mac told him. “But pull over up there.” He pointed to the side of the road.
“I wasn’t going to follow,” Manuel said. “I have no wish to die today. Not here.”
“Wait for me if it’s safe to do so,” Mac said, opening the car door.
Manuel grabbed Mac’s arm, preventing him from exiting the car. “There are snakes and scorpions out there. Amigo, don’t go through the brush.”
Mac thought about it for a second. He hadn’t planned to walk down the middle of the road.
“Fuck,” he muttered under his breath. He closed the car door.
“Hold on,” he told Manuel when the man put the car in drive and inched forward.
He dialed Yvette. “I got to a place that it’s too dangerous to follow.
Can you get a location on me through my phone, and do you have any satellites you can use to check out what’s down a dirt road Hector went down? ”
“I’ve got you, Mac,” she said, clicking her keyboard to get a lock on his phone.
She brought up satellite imaging of everything around his location.
“I think you’re being generous calling it a road.
If you’re referring to the path about ten feet behind your location that heads west, yeah, there’s not much there. ”
“Do you see the black car Hector is in?”
“I don’t have a live satellite feed. I’m looking at the last pass of the satellite, roughly ten hours ago.” She continued to scrutinize the image. “Hold on, about four hundred yards in, I have a structure. It looks like a barn of some sort. It’s big and it’s made of aluminum.”
“That could be it, Control,” Mac said. “Can you get a satellite pass over it before tonight?”
“I need to contact Big Bear,” Yvette said. “I’m going to assume you’re highly visible where you are. You need to move to a more covert position, Mac.”
Mac swiveled his head, looking in all directions. “There are no covert positions, Control. We’re in the middle of freaking nowhere.”
“Abandon your surveillance. We could use you back at the resort to tail the next visitor.”
Mac’s gut twisted. He sensed that they were close. It felt wrong to not check out that structure and to break off surveillance.
“Mac, do you copy?” Yvette transmitted. “The team will hit it later, after we’ve checked it out from the satellite and with more assets than just you. If you walk in there now, alone, and it is the warehouse it’s bound to be heavily guarded. You’ll be outgunned for sure.”
“Roger, Control. Heading back to the resort now.” She was right and he knew it, but it was hard to walk away believing that people were in trouble so close to his current location. He motioned to Manuel as he disconnected the call. “We head back to the resort.”
Yvette filled the team in through comms regarding her phone call with Mac.
“I messaged Big Bear with the intel and requested a redirect of a satellite to fly over the target building ASAP but it might be tonight before new images can be obtained. The structure looks vacant from the images I have, but the pass was not looking for heat signatures.”
“There could be some other intel team close enough to fly a drone over the area,” Cooper piped up. “I’d like to see thermal imaging on the area before we even think about approaching it. Control, run that through Big Bear as well.”
“Coop, have your people ready. It sounds like this meeting is about over. Our mystery man just threatened Ruiz that he has twenty-four hours, no more. And Ruiz assured him the funds would be transferred to his account by noon tomorrow,” Mother said.
So, it’s going down within the next twenty-four hours? That begs the question of why Ruiz will be here for several days after.” Laura Lee posed. “I’d think he’d be on his way as soon as business is wrapped up.”
“Unless this is only one of the deals he’s here for,” Lambchop added. “These two conversations Mother heard are different from his discussion with Moreno last night and honestly, I didn’t get the human trafficker vibe from Moreno.”
“Agreed,” Madison said. “Especially with the girl’s involvement. And I agree with Lah-lee. This guy’s going to want to get the hell out of Dodge when his business is wrapped up.”
“Okay, the visitor is on the move,” Mother transmitted.
“Mac won’t be back in time. Coop, are your contacts in position?” Yvette asked.
“Affirm,” Cooper answered. “And I just sent them a pic of the subject.” With that he stood. “I’ve got to hit the head. I’ll be right back. His phone remained in his hand.
“Let’s go in,” Lambchop said to Laura Lee. It was getting hot even though they lay beneath an umbrella. They entered the pool and moved through the cool water to a location at the far end of the infinity pool, overlooking the beach. From their location, they could still clearly see Ruiz.
All watched Ruiz get up. He left all his belongings in his cabana. He walked around the pool, with the team watching him, to the building the bathrooms were in. “The target is heading to the men’s room,” Mother broadcast.
Cooper was glad he’d gone to use the head first, before Ruiz got up. As Cooper washed his hands, Ruiz completed his business and his phone rang. “Yes?” There was a pause while Ruiz listened to the caller.
Cooper looked in the mirror and ran his fingers through his hair, smoothing it.