Chapter Seven
REX
I was grumpy as hell when I got to the office just before five a.m. Operating on very little sleep, hadn’t put me in the best of moods.
I’d tried calling Cachi as soon as I woke up, knowing it was way too early, but just praying he’d unblocked me and would answer my calls.
A call failed notification happened as soon as I hit his number.
I guessed I’d be forced to show up at the club after work, but I promised myself the man was worth whatever groveling I had to do.
I wanted Cachi in my life, not only in my bed.
There was something special about the adorable Puerto Rican man with the curly dark hair, golden skin, and haunting brown eyes. He just did it for me.
“What do you think this is all about?” Alain asked, walking up to me in the corridor just outside the Tac Team briefing room.
I smiled, shrugging. “Have no idea but the captain never calls us in this early unless it’s important.”
I turned when I heard footsteps and spotted Candy coming down the hallway along with Supervisory Special Agent Lincoln Snow. Lincoln smiled while the captain remained professionally stoic as always.
“Good mornin’,” I said.
“Good morning. Late night, Monroe?” Candy’s lips twitched. He knew damned well I’d been in the garage until late. He’d come down to check on me around nine and I’d only just begun to wash the outside of the massive shared tactical vehicle after scouring our own BearCat inside and out.
“Didn’t get home until almost one in the mornin’, sir.”
He slapped me on the back, grinning widely. “Glad you got any sleep at all. Hopefully, you’ll be all fresh for today’s Op.”
“Yes, sir,” I replied before turning to Lincoln and sticking out my hand. “Hello, Snow.”
He nodded, shaking my hand. “Monroe.”
Candy opened the door and we all filed inside.
I noted that the rest of our team was already in the room and seated, everyone that is, but Miguel Huerta, and Raven Mathis.
They’d be heading to an office near the Van Nuys courthouse where they would meet with the DA to go over testimony.
Monday morning they were set to begin testimony against a guy who’d tried to kill them more than a year ago, back before joining our team.
It was expected that they’d be away at least a week leaving us shorthanded, which didn’t make Candy the least bit happy, but it couldn’t be helped.
When we walked in, all conversation ceased as everyone else turned their attention to the boss. I took a seat beside Napoleon, smiling at my friend. He returned the smile and then sobered, returning his attention to the front of the room when the captain cleared his throat.
“Thanks for coming in so early. Let’s get started.” Candy turned to Lincoln who’d begun taping photos to the whiteboard at the front of the room. “Go ahead when you’re ready, Snow.”
Lincoln turned around. “Thank you all for coming in.” He pointed at one of the photos.
An older Hispanic man’s image had been captured face on.
The photograph looked like it had been taken at a distance, because it had been blown up to show his face which was slightly blurred and pixilated.
There was also a picture with the man in the blow up walking beside another Hispanic.
“This is Mario Castillion.” Lincoln pronounced Castillion as Casti-gen as they do in Peru which was interesting.
“The man he’s with is Luca Hernandez, a known member of Los Lobos.
“Castillion is an associate of the Los Lobos cartel. He’s not Mexican, but instead Peruvian.
His operation moves Los Lobos’ drugs throughout Peru, most importantly, the heavily populated capital, Lima.
But thanks to Castillion’s pipeline, drugs have spread throughout the country in other cities…
Cusco, Arequipa, Chiclayo, to name a few.
Castillion first hit the FBI’s radar several weeks ago, when one of our agents who was undercover with Los Lobos, was found dead in Lima.
He’d last reported in from Los Lobos’ headquarters in Durango, Mexico, three days before his body was found at the base of a cliff in Lima.
His throat had been cut. We’d become concerned when he missed a check-in and when the Policia Nacional del Peru entered his prints into Interpol’s Biometric Hub we knew we had a problem. ”
The FBI maintained the new national system—NGI—Next Generation Identification system.
It had replaced IAFIS—the Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System.
But Interpol housed millions of individual biometric data records internationally.
It included fingerprints, palm prints, facial images, iris scans, and DNA profiles provided by contributing countries.
With rare exception, when the FBI built a criminal background for one of our undercovers, they entered their fingerprints and false criminal history into both our databases.
The NGI, but also the Biometric Hub where they might pop up should any of our people turn up in another country, like the dead agent.
“Before his death, our agent, David Wise, reported that Castillion was planning on coming to Los Angeles where he was to attend the quinceanera of Maria Hernandez, the daughter of Luca Hernandez. It’s being held tonight at the Bel Air estate of Luca Hernandez located on Queensborough Lane.
Since both men are wanted by the FBI, we’re hoping to be able to arrest them but if not, we’ll settle for Castillion. ”
“Ain’t that gonna be tricky, Snow?” I asked, raising a hand. “Quinceaneras are typically attended by fifteen-year-old kids and havin’ that many innocents in the middle of an Op is complicated, not to mention, dangerous.”
Lincoln turned his attention to me, nodding.
“That’s right, but Hernandez is a Mexican cartel boss which means his family is always in danger.
The same goes for her father’s guests. If your friend is the daughter of a cartel boss, then you’ve got the wrong kind of friend.
And don’t forget, Maria’s party will not only be attended by fifteen-year-olds, but a hell of a lot of adults, many of whom are Los Lobos soldiers.
I don’t like it any more than you do, Monroe, but it’s a fact.
These scumbags put their families at risk every day.
We hope to be able to arrest Castillion outside, before he gets to the party, but if we can’t, then we’ll go in.
That, however, is a worst-case scenario. ”
“I get it.”
Lincoln nodded, turning back to the board and running his finger along a line.
“This is Roscomare Road. It’s a major road that runs all the way through Bel Air from north to south.
The main gate into the neighborhood where the Hernandez estate is located, is here.
” He pointed to a spot on Roscomare then nodded at Candy.
“If Captain Sorensen agrees, I’d like the entire team positioned somewhere near the gate, dressed as linemen. I’ll explain why in a moment.”
“We’ll work that out,” Candy said.
Lincoln nodded, turning back to the room.
“FBI agents will have a technician’s truck and hoist on the road close to the main gate as well as the rear gate.
A vehicle that’s been in an accident with a power pole, and a tow truck will be seen along the road, so the linemen won’t seem out of place.
As I was saying, in order to do as we want, and arrest him outside the party before he ever gets up to the house, I want both access points covered.
Hernandez has hired valets who will be parking cars along Roscomare and using golf carts to take party guests into the gated community of Bel Air Crest, up to the house.
They’ll have to stop to be checked in at the gate, which is when we’ll make the arrest. It’s this street which will need to be covered. ”
Lincoln pointed to another picture, this one, an aerial photo of the large estate.
“If he somehow gets through the gate, then this is where he’ll be going…
the Hernandez estate. The fifteen-thousand square foot house is only one-story arranged in a U-shape with a courtyard patio which opens to the backyard.
There are no neighbors behind because the house is built on a hilltop so the residents can have the best possible one-hundred-eighty-degree West facing view of L.A.
all the way to the ocean. The streets in Bel Air are very wide with the closest neighbors to the north and south being thirty feet from the Hernandez residence. ”
Someone whistled and I turned to look at Mars who was sitting forward in his chair. “Must be nice to be so bloody posh.”
I smirked at the Brit, his Liverpool Beatles accent got me every time. It sounded like “Musst be niece to be so bluddy posch,” and when he turned to look, I chuckled, nodding.
“Are you paying attention to me, Monroe?”
My eyes snapped to Snow’s scowl, and I squirmed in my chair. “Yes, Snow. Sorry. Go on.”
He glared at me for a few seconds before continuing.
“Captain Sorensen will tell you where he wants the rest of the team to set up, but it’s important for you to note that there are no commercial buildings anywhere in the neighborhood, Monroe.
That’s why I’m suggesting we grab him before he ever gets through the gate and up to the house itself. ” Snow turned to look at Candy.
“That means I want you to go out there before anyone else, Monroe. Get a look at the surroundings so you can choose the best place for a sniper perch. Whatever spot you choose must be undetectable and you must have a view of the valet stand. Like Lincoln said, we believe they’ll need to set up outside the gate to receive party guests as they exit their vehicles to climb into golf carts.
We know that’s typically what’s done when residents in this community throw a large party.