Code Name: Camelot (Noah Wolf #1)(73)

Still, he made the call. It was never wise to fail to do what Tio Pablo told you to do.

Noah and Felicita were invited to Pablo’s table, and a couple of the men pulled another table up to the first so that they could all sit together. Pablo had Noah sitting to his left, and leaned over so that he could talk to him quietly.

“So, please, tell me,” he said, “is it only for the drugs that you come to Juarez?”

Noah smiled down at the small girl beside him. “That was what brought me here,” he said, “but it’s not the only reason I stay. This little Mexican beauty might be part of that, but there are other things that I’m interested in, as well. I’m just not sure where to look for them.”

Pablo’s eyebrows went up a quarter inch. “And what might be these things that you are looking for? Perhaps I may know where to find them.”

Noah looked into his eyes, and his smile started to fade. He forced it back into place a moment later. “I’ve heard stories about you,” he said. “There are rumors floating around that you can get anything at all. Up until lately, I thought that meant in the way of drugs, but now…” He chewed on his bottom lip for a moment. “What would you say if someone asked you if you knew where to acquire something very special, but very, very dangerous?”

Pablo smiled, and everyone at the table, except Noah, recognized the smile as the most dangerous one he ever used. It generally meant that someone was soon to die.

“I would say that there are some questions that should be asked very softly,” he said. “But, if I am asked in the right way, then it is likely that I would be able to say yes.”

Noah sat there and looked at him for just a moment, never letting the smile slip for a second. “I don’t know how to ask softly,” he said, “so I’ll just ask bluntly. I have a client who is interested in obtaining the necessary materials for making a small nuclear device. Would you be able to put me in touch with a source of such materials?”

Pablo Ortiz stared at Noah for a long moment, keeping his own smile firmly in place. At last, he licked his lips. “You ask a very dangerous question,” he said. “How am I to know that you are not an American federale? An American agent, sent here to try to entrap me?”

Noah chuckled. “Se?or Ortiz,” he said, “until just a couple of weeks ago, I thought you were nothing more than a drug dealer. It was only when I spoke to Raul Delgado that I heard that you might be involved in, shall we say, more lucrative opportunities. I had asked Raul that same question, and he suggested that you might be the man to talk to. If it hadn’t been for that conversation, I would have settled for some simple purchases I’ve made since I got here, and probably would’ve gone home several days ago, but I’ve been hoping to meet you.” He leaned forward, even closer to Pablo’s face, and Henrique and the others all slipped hands up under their shirts. “Tell them they can relax, Se?or Ortiz. I’m all alone here, so I’m not likely to present any kind of danger. I’m sure your people are smart enough that they would’ve spotted anyone watching this place from outside, so unless you think I’m some sort of miracle worker, then it seems to me that it should be pretty obvious I’m exactly who I claim to be. Just a buyer, working for clients. That’s me, and nothing more.”

Pablo let his smile grow even wider. “It is true what you say, that we know you have no one watching you. Eduardo has been keeping his eye on you since you got here, and he has told us of the deals you’ve been making. If there were the slightest possibility that you were any sort of risk to me, we would not be here today.” He picked up his glass and took a drink, then set it down. “I am curious about you, however. It is not often, in recent years, that an American comes to this part of our city unescorted. Do I think that you are a miracle worker? I do not know, but this I can tell you. You’re not a man who knows fear, because those who are afraid do not come here. So tell me, Se?or John, why is it that you are not afraid?”

Noah chuckled again, this time a bit louder. “Oh, you misunderstand me completely,” he said. “The fact is, Se?or Ortiz, that I’m downright terrified. This is the first time I’ve ever been asked to come into this part of the world, but as I said, I have a client who is looking for the materials I mentioned. It was she who told me to come here, based on some information she had that said there was a potential source to be located in this bar. I’ve just been taking advantage of the situation to make some other purchases while I’m here.”

Pablo sat back, and regarded Noah with suspicious eyes. “Your client for this material is a woman?” Pablo asked. “I find this to be very disturbing news, my friend. As far as I know, there is only one woman in the world who might seek such materials, and if you are working for her, then there is far more to you than I would have thought. Can you tell me your client’s name?”

Noah looked down at the table, then picked up his bottle of beer and took a long drink from it. When he set it down, he looked Pablo back in the eye. “I don’t know her name,” he said. “I only have a contact, a man who calls himself the Dragon. He tells me what she has to say. Does that sound like the same person?”

Pablo didn’t answer at first, but took another drink from his glass. “This Dragon, he is from where? Europe?”

Noah shook his head. “No, he is in Dubai.”