Fear No Evil(Alex Cross #29)(58)

“Because they’re in Maestro’s crosshairs too. Both your brother and I believe he wishes to break you, and your children will soon be targets.”





Chapter





65




My last words angered Alejandro’s twin sister.

“Are you threatening my daughters, Dr. Cross? And Marco’s children and wife? Because you are in no position to do so. Your life is in my hands here.”

“I acknowledge that, and I am not threatening you,” I said. “I’m just stating facts that your brother wanted you to know. If M and Maestro have the chance, they will try to kill you, Louisa, and every one of the children the same way they killed General Guerra and your cousin.”

“What would Marco have us do?” she said, flinging her hands out. “Give up? Take no action?”

I took a deep breath and said, “No. Just not the kind of action you have been taking. Stop retaliating against the families of the corrupt agents Maestro exposed and killed. What benefit is there in that strategy?”

Emmanuella looked at me as if the answer were obvious. “It tells others on your side of the border wall not to talk. They know the consequences if they do.”

“But why not focus on M?”

“Believe me, I have not taken my eye off Maestro, not in the least.”

“And you’re close to identifying him? Because of something he did here in Mexico? On your home turf?”

“Why would I tell you this, Dr. Cross?”

“Because the enemy of my enemy is my ally.”

“Not in this case,” Emmanuella replied evenly. “In this case, the enemy of my enemy is also my enemy. If there were not dead U.S. agents involved, maybe you could be an ally. But there are dead U.S. agents involved, dead agents who were of great benefit to my business, so you are my enemy, Dr. Cross.”

I sighed. “Again, I don’t see it that way. Do I want corruption exposed? Yes. Do I think it’s right for vigilantes like Maestro to declare themselves police, judge, jury, and hangmen? Absolutely not. That’s why I’m here. And that’s why I will continue to hunt M and not investigate your cartel. It’s frankly not my job.”

“Helping you hunt M is frankly not my job.”

“But you’ll reconsider retaliating against the families?”

She turned cold again. “I’m sorry I cannot be of more help to you, Dr. Cross. But our visit together is at an end.”

The hood came down over my head. My wrists were cut free and a strong arm supported my elbow. As I was led away, I said, “Thank you for your time.”

“You’re welcome,” Emmanuella Alejandro said.





Chapter





66




The new leader of the Alejandro cartel watched Cross until he was placed in the back seat of the Tahoe. As the SUV drove away, she turned to Raphael Durango, the rugged-looking man who’d brought the American here from the city.

Emmanuella trusted him implicitly. Durango was strong, smart, well trained, bullheaded, and completely loyal to her. Even though her skin was pale and his was the deep, dark red of the Sierra Madre, he was also her half brother.

Her father had been a miner in the mountains and fell in love with one of the Tarahumara Indian women there. Durango had grown up running around and climbing in the steep mountains before joining the Mexican army, where he was part of an elite fighting unit similar to the U.S. Army Rangers for more than a decade.

After he was discharged, their father died and Durango had come to claim his inheritance. Marco had seen their half brother’s value right away and made Durango Emmanuella’s bodyguard. Since Marco’s imprisonment, Durango had become her trusted confidant as well.

“Cross is sharp,” Durango said. “He may find Maestro before we do.”

“Unless he’s allied with M and supportive of having us destroyed.”

“Is that possible?”

“Why not, Raphael? Cross is a man of law and order. In any case, we are close to finding this pig M. I feel it in my bones. We need to learn who helped Maestro here in Mexico. Or at least figure out how they got in and out of Mexico City.”

Durango poured himself some water. “Just so you know, when we used the wand on Cross, we found a GPS transmitter in his belt, low back.”

“What?” she snapped. “Someone else knows he was here?”

Durango shook his head. “Calm down. The new Tahoe has an electronic jammer, and so does this entire hacienda. No one knows he was here. But now we know where he’s going and we will for as long as he wears that belt.”

“How’s that?”

“We got the transmitter’s frequency off the wand readout. It won’t take much to have it send his location to us.”

“That could be useful. Especially if my instincts are correct and Cross is aligned with M, wanting to see us destroyed and using his ability to go inside that penitentiary to bring Marco unwittingly to his side.”

“Why didn’t we kill him, then?” Durango asked.

Emmanuella’s cell phone rang before her fury could build. She looked at the caller ID, gritted her teeth, and answered sharply, “Yes, Claudio?”

“I think I’ve got them,” her ex-husband said. “Four men, one woman, all American. Left on a chartered jet from a private field in Cuernavaca yesterday afternoon at two, destination Denver.”