Hunt Them Down(68)
The captain, with whom Hector had had numerous chats over the phone, twisted his head to see what was going on. The look on his face wasn’t what Hector expected. The whole incident with his associate seemed to have amused him.
The man’s actually smiling, Hector thought.
“What’s so funny?” he asked the pilot.
The man’s smile disappeared, and he said, “I told him to stay in the cockpit, but when he saw your men and the guns, he panicked.”
“You didn’t?”
“You’re paying me well not to.”
“Can you fly this plane by yourself?”
There wasn’t even a hint of hesitation. “Absolutely. And I can keep my mouth shut too.”
Now it was Hector’s turn to smile. “Good,” he said.
The conversation’s implications weren’t lost on the first officer. His face was turning dark red as he tried to break free from Hector’s grasp. Hector let go of the man’s arm and pulled his knife out of its sheath. He stabbed the man twice in the chest before embedding the knife deep into his neck. Hector angled his body and threw the first officer out of the plane’s door.
He looked at the captain. “All set?”
CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
Stafford, Virginia
Simon Carter got the phone call in the middle of his workout routine. He was an early riser and preferred hitting the gym when there was nobody else around. His call display told him it was an unknown number. He picked up anyway. He knew it was Pierce Hunt.
“Any news?” he asked his friend.
“Kind of. I have a favor to ask.”
“You got it, Pierce.”
“You don’t even know what I’m about to ask you. It could be dangerous.”
Carter chuckled. “I’m sure it is. That’s why you’re calling me, right?”
“And illegal too,” Hunt added.
Hunt was toying with him, so he said, “But is it honorable, and will it serve justice?”
“I need your help getting my daughter back.”
“I already knew that. I’m in.”
“But this time it isn’t only to check stuff in the DEA database, Simon. I need a shooter.”
If Pierce Hunt needed a shooter, that meant he had a target. “How many of us do you need? You know the guys will do anything for you, right?”
“I do, and I appreciate that. But this operation will be black. No footprint whatsoever.”
“So only you and me?” Carter asked.
“And an old friend of mine from the Seventy-Fifth.”
“You trust him, Pierce?”
“Not as much as I trust you, brother. That’s why I need you.”
“Tell me what you need, and consider it done.”
CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE
Coral Gables, Florida
“Will Tony be okay?” Hunt asked Anna.
“Don’t know,” she replied, her eyes moist with tears. “He’s still in surgery.” Hunt watched her take a long sip of vodka straight from the bottle.
It had been six hours since Tony Garcia had been shot. The police were asking a lot of questions, and Hunt wouldn’t be surprised if, supposing Tony pulled through, they brought him in for questioning. Since the news that six Florida Highway Patrol officers had been butchered on an off-ramp of Highway 95 had hit the major outlets, every law enforcement officer in the region was looking for the perpetrators. Everybody was on edge. The slain officers were fathers, mothers, sisters, and brothers. They were pillars of their communities who had paid the ultimate price. Their brother cops wouldn’t hesitate to break a few bones to get to those who had killed so many of their own. They didn’t know the culprits were long gone, out of their reach.
But not from my reach, Hunt thought.
I’m gonna mess that fucking bitch up, he added, thinking about the Black Tosca. With only twelve hours left to the Black Tosca’s original deadline for Tony to deliver his own severed head, Hunt was anxious to hear back from Simon Carter. He checked his watch for the fifth time in ten minutes. Since Carter’s connecting flight from Houston to Querétaro, Mexico, was on time—Hunt had checked via the United Airlines application—he would land in about two hours. Upon landing, he would be met by DEA special agents, men who didn’t mind risking their careers to help Hunt. They wouldn’t participate in the actual takedown, but they would take care of all the logistics. They would provide Hunt and his team the necessary weapons and transportation options. They all knew Hunt could never repay them. What they also knew, though, was that if the roles were reversed, Hunt would be there for them.
Simon Carter was Hunt’s reconnaissance element. There was no point in Hunt and Egan traveling all the way to Mexico only to find out that Leila and Sophia weren’t there. Carter’s mission was twofold. First, he was to confirm Leila and Sophia’s position or, at the very least, verify that Hector was there. Second, he needed to scout a location from where they could establish their base of operations.
In the meantime, Hunt wanted updates from Daniel McMaster regarding the bystander he had accidentally shot during yesterday’s ambush—the cause of the warrant for his arrest.
“You have a phone I can use?” he asked Anna.