Chapter 6
Nick dropped a heavy binder onto the
table and positioned it in front of Dane.
Matt was still next to the kid with his elbow on the table and hand
holding up his chin.
Dane looked confused as Nick opened
the book to the first page and took a seat next to him, across from Matt. The double team.
“What is this?” Dane asked looking
at a couple of pages of faces in front of him.
“Those are border patrol agents,”
Nick explained. “You told us the case
was placed into the trunk of your car and then you crossed the border on a dirt
road in the middle of the night. Is that
correct?”
“Sure, yeah that’s how it happened.”
“Good,” Nick said, easing the boy
into the development. “So as you drove
onto this dirt road, there was a man, maybe several men who ushered you through
the border. They may have had rifles or
machine guns draped across their shoulder.”
A flicker of recognition ignited
Dane’s face. “Yeah, but there weren’t
any border patrol guys around.”
“They wouldn’t be wearing their
uniforms for this particular event.”
“You mean those guys weren’t
Reynoso’s Men?”
“Yes they were, but they were also
border patrol agents.” Nick pointed to
the book of faces and said, “Just look at these and see if any of them are
familiar.”
Dane examined the first page of the
photos with a blank stare. “I don’t know,
man. This doesn’t seem right. You’re telling me that Reynoso hires border
patrol to smuggle things across the border?”
Matt gently patted the kid on the
side of the arm. “You’re starting to get
it, dude.”
Dane frowned. “Look, I made a mistake, okay? I just don’t think I can do this. Why me?
Can’t you keep me in prison until you catch them?”
Matt’s expression changed to
sympathetic. “I’m curious, what did you
think was going to happen once you drove your car into that car wash?”
“Um,” Dane had a faraway look in his
eyes.
“Did you really think they were
going to pay you ten thousand dollars and let you drive away? After you could identify several of them?”
Dane’s face fell as the realization
struck him.
When Dane didn’t respond, Matt added,
“With all due respect, buddy. You’re
best chance to survive is to help us track these guys down and put them
away. Do you understand?”
Dane nodded vacantly.
“Good,” Matt said, turning the page
of the book and gesturing to the pictures.
“Now let’s focus our attention on these photos.”
Dane looked down, then back at Nick
and Matt. “Are you going to do something
about those guys waiting for me outside?”
Matt smiled. “I thought you’d never ask.”
Nick got up from his chair and
headed out the door. Matt and Dane
stared at the monitor and watched as a few seconds later they could see Nick
outside the complex heading toward the sedan.
* * *
Nick walked along the cement path in
a slight drizzle, watching the driver in the sedan stare at him from behind
dark sunglasses. They weren’t going
anywhere and their demeanor suggested they were ready for the confrontation.
As he approached the sedan, he
leaned into the driver’s window and said, “How’s college going Emelio?”
“Good Agent Bracco.”
“A nice break from Baltimore, eh?”
“Sure is.”
Nick dropped two hundred-dollar-bills
into the kid’s lap. “You did a good
job. Tell your mom I said hello.”
“Yes sir.”
“You can peel rubber as you head
out,” Nick said. “Make a good impression
for me.”
“Will
do,” the driver said, then started the car and began fish-tailing the sedan
down the street.
Nick stood there with his arms
folded and watched the car make a right turn at the light and burn rubber as it
sped off into the distance. He waited a
good two minutes before he turned to go back inside.
He’d just solidified his latest
informant. Now the real work was about
to begin.
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