Breaking Creed

53

When O’Dell described the spider bites on Robert Díaz’s body, Agent McCoy nodded as if he had already seen or expected the wounds he was looking at in the photos.

“They call him the Iceman,” McCoy said with an odd look on his face.

“No one knows who he is or what he looks like. I’ve been tracking him for almost a decade now, ever since I came to the DEA. He’s like a ghost. Those who claim to have seen him, or know something about him, end up dead before we can get to them. He’s Choque Azul’s assassin. These two floaters — I recognize his trademark. These were his.

“The Zetas and Sinaloas — their assassins use shock and fear by leaving the dismembered bodies of their enemies hanging near school yards or from bridges. The Iceman likes to be subtle. He seems to enjoy making his prey squirm as he tortures and destroys them slowly.”

“And the cockroaches?” O’Dell asked. “What exactly were they for?”

“Cockroaches?” McCoy sounded genuinely surprised.

She pulled out the photos.

“Robert Díaz’s mouth was duct-taped shut. When the medical examiner pulled it off, we found these five cockroaches in his mouth.”

“Oh my God!” Senator Delanor stared at the photos.

“Were they still alive?” Kunze wanted to know.

“Yes, very much so.”

“How is that possible?” the senator asked.

O’Dell was watching McCoy the entire time. “Hard to explain, but I’ve seen it before.” She couldn’t decide whether McCoy couldn’t believe that the Iceman would deviate from his MO or he was trying to figure out what it meant. “So are you still sure this was the same assassin?” she asked him. “That both of these victims were connected to Choque Azul?”

McCoy nodded. “Killers change up their signatures. As a profiler, you know that, Agent O’Dell. I’m still very certain both Bagley and Díaz were killed by the Iceman for Choque Azul. We already suspected the second package might be Díaz. He disappeared days ago, after some of our agents questioned him. He was captain of a commercial fishing boat that we’ve been keeping an eye on. A seventy-foot long-liner named the Blue Mist.”

He smiled at that. “It’s a subtle trick we’re finding they like to do. Choque Azul is ‘Blue Shock’ in Spanish, or something to that effect. They think it’s clever wordplay to use ‘blue’ or ‘electric’ or ‘shock’ for various names or codes. Even George Ramos’s houseboat…” He glanced at the senator, and O’Dell thought he looked like he enjoyed the woman’s slight grimace when he added, “It was christened Electric Blue.”

“So my very first instinct was correct when we pulled Bagley’s body from the river.” O’Dell looked at her boss. “You told me it didn’t have anything to do with drug cartels.”

“I honestly didn’t know.”

“That was my doing, I’m afraid,” Senator Delanor said. “When the message about a package in the Potomac came into my Senate office, I had no idea either, but I suspected it had something to do with George. So I asked for Raymond’s help. George has made it no secret that he expects my help or he could cause me trouble.”

“Trouble? He’s in prison.”

The senator looked at O’Dell, and for a brief moment her porcelain veneer cracked enough to show the exhaustion and something else close to the surface that she was trying hard to suppress. Something she definitely didn’t want to be seen because she crossed her arms and sat back. She turned her head away as she said, “It’s complicated.”

She expected that to be enough explanation, which only made O’Dell angry. “Is it complicated or just embarrassing?”

“Agent O’Dell, you are out of line.” It was Kunze again.

“I could have been killed. I think I deserve more of an explanation. How exactly can he cause you trouble when he’s in prison?”

“You obviously have no idea.” Senator Delanor glared at her now. O’Dell had hit a nerve with the senator and she was glad. She was tired of the political bullshit.

“Being in prison hasn’t severed any of his connections,” the senator continued. “If anything, his arrest only strengthened and invigorated his henchmen… or whatever it is you call them,” and she shot a glance at McCoy. “George has always had a less-than-subtle way of getting my attention. His trial is coming up.”

“And your reelection.”

“Agent O’Dell, I’m warning you.”

“It’s okay, Raymond,” and this time she put up one of her delicate and manicured hands as if to stop him. “Probably both, Agent O’Dell.”

“But the Iceman is involved.” McCoy brought the attention back to him. “We don’t believe he was brought in just to deliver a few warnings. He’s cleaning up. And there’s a good chance these two victims are not the only two on his hit list.”