Burn Zone

11

DUARTE LISTENED TO ALICE'S VOICE ON HIS SMALL NEXTEL CELL phone. Even on the cheap piece of electronics, she sounded like music to him. He smiled, despite the fact that he was using his personal line and she was racking up his prime-time minutes.

After filling him in on a case where she had discovered a fingerprint which had linked a local veterinarian to the baseball-bat beating and attempted murder of his estranged wife, she said, almost without a breath, "So how's New Orleans?"

"Fine."

"Is that the telephonic equivalent of a shrug?"

He smiled as he settled into the chair at the local FBI office, where he was waiting while Lina briefed the local special agent in charge. He realized Lina would be telling him more about the source they called Pale Girl but didn't care. It was on a need-to-know basis, and the army had taught him not to ask about things that were not important to him for an operation.

As Alice started to tell him about her workout that morning, he heard a beep on his phone, and he said, "I'm sorry, I have a call. It might be about the case."

"I understand."

She started to say something else, but he was already switching lines, hoping he wasn't getting himself into trouble again. He realized he hadn't come as far as he'd thought in dealing with women. "Yes?"

"Rocket, it's Félix."

"How's it going down there?"

"We're all set. We're a go."

Félix sat at a table in a family chicken place not far from the national police headquarters. Gastlin had needed a few minutes to compose himself after the man from Ortíz's organization had left the little café. The dried sweat on Gastlin's shirt was a testament to the trial the meeting had been. Félix spoke to him alone because he knew Gastlin would be more comfortable that way. It also freed up the others to try and follow the man who'd met with him. If they could find a permanent location for the man, they might be able to better identify Ortíz. It was all pretty standard.

Gastlin took a deep breath and then gulped down a glass of water.

Félix said, "You okay?"

Gastlin nodded, panting a little now.

"Sounded like it went well," said Félix. He'd listened to the tape but wanted Gastlin's interpretation of events.

"Real easy." He grabbed Félix's water glass. "Don't even have to front any money."

"That unusual?"

"Not really. If I bring in extra for someone else, they usually let me send the money later or have someone come up and collect. I've never been late."

"How will they deliver the load?"

"They'll get a legitimate shipper to transport the container and deliver it to the port at Colón."

"And the load is only pot?"

"Yeah, but a lot of it. Twenty thousand pounds. That should be enough for you guys. Enough to get me out from under the charges."

Félix smiled. This guy had worked too hard and been under too much stress to let him hang. "Yeah, my guess is they'll let you walk."

Gastlin let out a huge sigh and then had to wipe his eyes.

Félix said, "They'll even deliver it to the port in Colón?"

"Yeah, they always do that. They deliver it to the boat or truck. Once they brought it all the way into Mexico so I could drive it over the border into Texas. That's nothin' new. But doing it tonight. That's fast. Even for these guys."

"You did good, Byron. How's it coming?"

"One container. A twenty-footer. They lift it right off the trailer."

"Shit. So far this whole case has been easy." Félix stood up and said, "I gotta brief the colonel to see if he can trace it from the trucker." He thought about what to do with Gastlin, then said, "Meet me back here in two hours."

Gastlin only nodded while he drank the last of the water in Félix's glass.

Félix was escorted up to the colonel's office immediately by the officer with the thick beard. He liked the view and felt the national police had done a good job on the case. He briefed the colonel on everything Gastlin had told him.

Colonel Lázaro Staub leaned back in his chair. The tall, fit-looking man smoothed out his mustache and said in Spanish, "All is in order. My men and the DEA are still following the man who met with the informant. We are one step closer to finally identifying one of the country's most notorious drug traffickers."

Félix said, "Now we must figure out how to get the cargo to the U.S."

Colonel Staub nodded. "This will not be a problem. We can make all the arrangements with a legitimate shipper. They will not realize we are the police. They will transport anything if the price is right. There are many ships that travel back and forth."

Félix couldn't keep from smiling. The case was flowing right along. "You guys get things done."

Staub smiled. "We are a small country. Those of us that have been in public service tend to know each other. There is little red tape."

"How long have you been in this job?"

"Three years as the head of narcotics. Fifteen years with the national police and ten years with the defense force before that."

"Is that the Panamanian army?"

"Yes, just a small force. We, of course, rely on the U.S. for some level of protection." His left eye twitched slightly. "Are you of Cuban descent?"

Félix nodded. "I was born there and moved to the U.S. when I was six."

"How did you arrive in the U.S.?"

"My father was a coach for the national baseball team. He was able to bring us on an exhibition circuit through South America and defected in Venezuela. We moved to the U.S. the next year."

"Cuba could be so much more if Castro weren't a nut and the U.S. didn't hold a grudge."

"You don't like our policies?"

"You forget, we were on the receiving end of a policy shift. The 1989 invasion taught us that U.S. interests are everyone's interests."

Félix wasn't sure where to go with this conversation, so he changed back to the case. "What do we do now?"

The colonel thought about it and said, "It is now up to Ortíz. When they deliver the container, we can move forward. What's the plan once it arrives?"

Félix knew the plan had to be fluid. "Once we secure it in New Orleans, there are supposed to be three recipients of the extra marijuana. We'll keep everything quiet and see if we can deliver the pot and then arrest whoever accepts delivery. Our customs guys say we'll get the container through the port with no hassles."

"Excellent. I'd get some rest and be ready to move tonight." He came from behind the desk and said, "I'll walk you down." He placed his hand around Félix's shoulder.

The colonel was wearing a casual tan sport coat that covered a P-38-style automatic nine-millimeter in a black flap holster. He looked like an old-time Gestapo plainclothes officer. Félix bet that this guy's name was known to most of the cops in the country and that there wasn't any place he couldn't go. It also seemed likely he knew everything that went on. That was probably why this Ortíz character had gotten under his skin. He hated someone doing something he didn't know about.

Once they arrived in the lobby, Félix sensed the heightened alertness of the security personnel now that the boss was in the room. The door was opened by two men as they crossed into the Panamanian humidity and heat, even more oppressive than Florida's.

A block south of the office building, they stopped next to an alley.

The colonel lit a cigarette he dug from his coat pocket and said, "I need to be getting back, but I think I'll take advantage of the case to make the trip with you back to New Orleans." He looked at Félix and added, "If that would be all right with you, of course."

"We would be happy to have you as our guest. I'll make arrangements with the FBI legate here in Panama right now."

Staub smiled. "I love New Orleans. Besides, it'll be good to practice my English."

"You speak English?"

Staub took a second and switched languages. "I speak the English and the Spanish and the French," he said in a heavy accent. "I have been traveled to Miami and New York." He smiled.

"That's good. I speak English and Spanish, but nothing else."

Still in English, Staub said, "I will enjoy this break in my hobby."

"Hobby?"

"Job?"

Félix nodded.

"Excellent."

Byron Gastlin sat for about ten minutes, then decided that, since there was no way in hell he'd ever come back to this godforsaken place, he'd take a few minutes to explore. Maybe he'd meet Félix at police headquarters instead of here. He walked past several shops that sold what was purported to be native jewelry and handmade blankets. He stopped at one place and thought about buying some dolls for his niece in Sarasota. He was tired all of a sudden. He walked, thinking he was on the right street for the police building, but then saw he was a block off-the top floor of the office building popped over the lower roofs of the businesses and apartments. He picked up the pace, pushing his stubby legs along as fast as he could without exerting himself.

Finally, he found an alley that crossed onto the next street and discovered that his worn topsiders gave him little traction on the slight incline of the alley's bricklike surface. There were doors to apartments along the narrow street and the occasional moped or bicycle, but no cars would dare make it down the roadway. It curved slightly, giving Gastlin a partial view of traffic on the next street: old, beat-up American cars traveling as fast as they could, white, nasty exhaust pouring from their tailpipes.

As Gastlin stepped onto the main street, he paused on the sidewalk to get his bearings, and a man almost bumped into him. It took the American a second to realize who it was.

He fumbled for the words, then finally said, "Hello, sir. I just finished talking with your man."

The taller man smiled, but with no warmth. "That's funny," he said in almost unaccented English. "I thought you just finished talking with a U.S. drug agent."

Gastlin froze. He knew the man was connected, but not this well. Gastlin had to think fast. "No, no. I was speaking to a distributor from the states. He's another smuggler like me. He couldn't be with the DEA."

Mr. Ortíz stared at him and said, "You flew into Panama with him."

Gastlin didn't know how to answer. The DEA had a bad leak in it.

Flustered, Gastlin said, "I, um, did see him on the plane."

"And an FBI agent met you both."

Gastlin stared at him. He finally said, "If you knew all that, why did you have your man meet with me?"

"I had my reasons." He smiled and arched his eyebrows.

It gave Gastlin a chill. He suddenly realized that his business partner might be completely insane.

Gastlin felt his usual sweat kick into high gear, and the cloth below his underarms looked like he had peed in his shirt. His stomach gurgled as he fought the urge to be sick. This was why things had gone so smoothly. Mr. Ortíz really did control the cops. He wanted to run, but now regretted all the Twinkies and making fun of runners because he knew he'd never leave this alley.