The Rules Of Silence Part 27

"t.i.tus, "Burden said, "in just a second you're going to hand the phone back to Macias, so I'm going to talk fast. Do you know about the gun?"

"Yes."

"Okay, while I'm talking right now take the mole off your arm and put it on the gun without letting him see. Then let him have the gun when he asks for it. I told him you'd swallowed a bug, and that we know where you are at all times. He needs to believe that. I'm going to try to get him to leave you with the Navigator in exchange for letting him go. Quickly, what did he go back to Luquin's for?"

"Laptop."

Macias s.n.a.t.c.hed the phone from t.i.tus with a slap to the side of the head that was so hard, it caused him to swerve off the highway and plow along a hundred yards of the median before he regained control and got back on the pavement.

"You're a G.o.dd.a.m.ned idiot! "Macias screamed into the phone. He was rattled and furious.

"Listen, Jorge, "Burden said slowly. "We want to be very careful here, okay? Remember, he lives, you live. Anybody dies, everybody dies. "He was stretching it out, giving t.i.tus time to switch the mole. "When my men brought you the car at La Terrazza, they jammed an automatic down in between the seats by Cain's right side. He's already found it. It's ready to fire, safety off. I told him to let you have it when you reached over the seat to get it."

"I'll blow his head off, Garcia, "Macias yelled, "I've got it to his head right now. I'll f.u.c.king shoot him!"

"d.a.m.n it, it's no trick, Jorge."

Macias kept the phone to his ear and spoke to t.i.tus.

"What did he tell you?"

During Macias's exchange with Burden, t.i.tus had carefully peeled the mole from his right arm with his left hand and was now pressing it into the scored handle of the pistol. He was still shaken from the blow against the side of his head, but he managed to move his hand slowly away from the gun to the bottom of the steering wheel as he answered.

"He said not to use the gun that's in the seat here. He said to let you have it."

Macias calculated the time they'd spent on the phone. Burden really couldn't have said much more than that. He screwed the muzzle of the automatic into the base of t.i.tus's skull and slowly reached over the seat. He found the handle of the gun, jammed between the seats, and slowly brought it out. There was a suppressor on it.

"Now what? "Macias said into the phone.

"Okay, you see how this is going? "Burden asked.

"Yeah, I see."

"We just want to bring this to an end, Jorge. If we get Cain back safely and in one piece, then you get a free pa.s.s. You're lucky this time. Very, very lucky."

Macias knew that Burden was speaking the truth, about this one thing, anyway. He had this little opportunity solo por suerte. solo por suerte. Every moment counted now. He'd kept glancing out the rear window. He hadn't seen headlights at a consistent distance, which meant that they probably were locked on to them with a tag, like they said. They didn't need somebody up close. If that was the case, then, that distance between him and whoever was back there-he wasn't stupid, he knew there was somebody back there-that distance was his opening. His only opening. And his next move had to be done in that s.p.a.ce, and in absolute privacy. Every moment counted now. He'd kept glancing out the rear window. He hadn't seen headlights at a consistent distance, which meant that they probably were locked on to them with a tag, like they said. They didn't need somebody up close. If that was the case, then, that distance between him and whoever was back there-he wasn't stupid, he knew there was somebody back there-that distance was his opening. His only opening. And his next move had to be done in that s.p.a.ce, and in absolute privacy.

"What about it, Jorge? Have we got a deal? "Burden asked him.

"Yeah, we've got a deal."

"Okay, now it's your turn to make us believe you, "Burden concluded. "When you drop him with the Navigator, you've got to put him on the phone so we know he's alive when you leave. We'll keep talking to him until we get to him. When we've got him, you're in the open."

"Hecho! " Macias said, and punched off the phone. Macias said, and punched off the phone.

He hesitated a second, calculating, going through the mental paces of what lay before him to make sure he didn't miss a step that would throw off his timing. Then he punched in a code on his cell phone and immediately pushed the time elapse feature on his watch, setting it for forty-five minutes.

Free pa.s.s. Yeah. Did Burden think he was so scared that he'd lost his mind? No f.u.c.king way was he going to give up t.i.tus Cain until he was safely out of this mess ... and maybe not even then. He'd have to see how it went. But in the meantime, maybe the lie would buy him a little time.

Chapter 56.

"Jesus, "Norlin said.

Burden could feel him looking at him. They were close in the van, their eyes jittering over the screens.

"That, "Norlin said, "was a b.a.l.l.sy call."

"You mean heartless, don't you, "Burden said without looking at Norlin. "You could've said heartless."

"No, I mean b.a.l.l.sy. If you're wrong ... then it was heartless. You've almost got everything you wanted, Garcia. More than you expected you'd get. You could've let it go."

"And I probably would have-if he hadn't gone back for that laptop. But if he risked his life for it, then I want it."

"Even if it cost Cain his his life?" life?"

"Cain is one life. G.o.d knows how many lives that laptop could save."

"What if it can't? What if it can't even save one?"

"You're acting like Cain's already dead. Look, if Macias believes that Cain's swallowed a bug, then he'll leave Cain with the car because he's got to isolate himself. If he does that, I want Cal to be able to get to him."

"That's a d.a.m.ned big if."

Burden said nothing, ignoring Norlin, his eyes fixed on the monitors.

"And if Macias doesn't buy that story? "Norlin persisted.

Burden turned to him. "Think about it, Gil. We wiped out this entire operation. h.e.l.l, I can hardly believe that myself. That's got to scare the h.e.l.l out of him. I've got to guess that at this point Jorge Macias is entirely focused on saving his a.s.s."

"But what if he doesn't buy the lie about the swallowed bug?"

"Then he'll take Cain with him. And even if he does that, he'll have to be thinking, in the back of his mind, that maybe he's guessed wrong. That maybe I'm watching this monitor, and I can see Cain's bug leaving with Macias and not staying with the Navigator like we'd agreed. He'll remember that I said that if he did anything other than what we agreed on, then he's a dead man. The second he deviates from our agreement- if he does-he's going to be sweating blood. People who sweat blood make mistakes. "He looked at the monitor. "Cal's still on him."

"Yeah, way back, "the technician said. "More than a mile."

The van was on the move again, too, just about a mile behind Cal.

Burden kept his eyes on the LorGuides. Up until now everything had worked far better than he'd had any reason to expect it would, but now he had no men to spare, and what happened next was largely out of his hands. All he could do was listen to it happening.

"There's another way to look at his thinking, "Burden said. "He knows d.a.m.n well that his security is tied to Cain. He may hang on to him like a drowning man hangs on to a piece of driftwood. There's that possibility. If that's the way it goes, and if he tosses that gun for any reason at all, or loses it, or forgets it in the panic, Cal will go straight to it, and we're screwed."

"Cain's screwed, "Norlin corrected him.

"They've turned off onto South Loop One, "a technician said.

"Pull up the maps in the southwest part of the city, "Burden said.

"If Macias continues on his course"-Norlin leaned across and pointed to the map on the largest of four screens-"he'll go into Oak Hill. He's headed for an intersection where he'll have to make a choice between two highways. One, a state highway, goes toward the lakes and on to Llano; the other one, a U.S. highway, better condition, can take you to Fredericksburg or south to San Antonio. All of them go through ranch country."

Burden stared at the map. Macias was headed into his escape plan. For it to work, he was going to have to drop off the LorGuides somehow. He had to disappear.

t.i.tus's hands were shaking on the steering wheel from the rush of adrenaline that just didn't stop coming. They drove south on Loop 360, where the city had effused into the rolling hills with up-market developments that overflowed into the wooded valleys and crawled along the crowns of the ridges, their lights spreading like a sparkling mildew into the rolling landscape. They stayed with the Loop as it turned back east on the southern side of the city, and when it intersected Loop 1, Macias told him to turn right and head south.

Macias wasn't talking, and t.i.tus found it particularly unnerving that he didn't ease off with the automatic, which he kept screwed into the base of t.i.tus's skull. He could actually feel the roundness of the barrel, and it felt like a coffin to him.

When Loop 1 intersected Highways 290 and 71, Macias directed him to exit on the access road. From there they headed off into the more traditional housing developments, street after street of ranch houses interspersed with shopping centers and apartment complexes.

"Pull in here, "Macias said, and t.i.tus wheeled into a new shopping center carved out of acres and acres of new ranch houses. There was a twenty-four-hour supermarket, a twentyfour-hour home repairs complex, a twenty-four-hour pharmacy franchise, a twenty-four-hour restaurant franchise, and several smaller businesses, their common sprawling parking area brightly lighted by towering halogen street lamps.

"Park here, "Macias instructed, directing t.i.tus to one of the largest cl.u.s.ters of cars in the area. He got out and opened t.i.tus's door.

"Come on, "he said, but as t.i.tus turned to get out, Macias reached in and put the barrel of his pistol to t.i.tus's Adam's apple. He said nothing, but he pressed so hard that t.i.tus could feel the cartilage of his trachea rolling under the steel. Then Macias jabbed the gun sharply for emphasis, bringing tears to t.i.tus's eyes.

"Get the keys and hand them to me, "Macias said.

t.i.tus did, and then Macias stepped back and let him get out.

Standing next to the Navigator, he watched Macias pull out his shirttail to cover the automatic with the suppressor and the mole, which he crammed into the front waistband of his pants. t.i.tus cringed, hoping he didn't rake the mole off in the process.

Macias put his arm around t.i.tus and draped his left hand over the top of his shoulder. "I know you want to keep your kidneys, "he said. "Let's go."

But t.i.tus froze. "Hold it. This isn't what we agreed on. They'll kill you if I don't stay with the Navigator."

"They'll have to find us first."

"Look, "t.i.tus said, "I've ... I'll be honest with you. I'm hot. I've swallowed a bug. They know where I am every second. When they see my signal leaving the car, you're screwed."

"Then why in the h.e.l.l are you telling me this?"

"Because I'm not an idiot. I don't want to get killed in a shoot-out, and I'm telling you, if I leave this Navigator, they're going to come after you."

They were standing face-to-face, and Macias smelled of stale cologne and perspiration. Both men were dealing with fear and with the mystery of the odds of chance. t.i.tus could smell Macias's breath, too, and he thought it smelled of desperation.

Chapter 57.

Rita looked out of the backseat windows of Kal's Jeep Cherokee as it pulled off the Loop 1 South expressway and into the parking lot of the La Quinta Inn. Kal was driving, Ryan was sitting in the front pa.s.senger seat beside him, and Janet was sitting next to Rita behind them.

They pulled up beside a van just as its rear door opened, and Garcia Burden stepped out into the parking lot. They all got out of the Cherokee and stood at the opened door of the van to talk. Rita could see inside the van, its cramped, dark interior glittering with banks of computer screens covered in colored lights. A clutter of transmission noises wafted out to her.

Burden spoke directly to her. "Two things: I don't have any more people, and before this is over I may need your three bodyguards here. So this is good for me. The other thing, you're right. If he's going to die, you shouldn't have to watch it like that. If this involved a lot of people, as it did earlier in the evening, I wouldn't have allowed this. But it's down to just t.i.tus and Macias.

"t.i.tus's signal has stopped moving, "he went on, "and it's coming from somewhere in all those shopping center lights over there."

He pointed across the expressway. The back of his saggy shirt was black with perspiration. He seemed wrung out. "Cal's over there, trying to get as close as he can. If we're lucky, that's where Macias is planning to leave t.i.tus with the telephone."

Ryan turned and stepped inside the van and immediately came back out with one of the technicians, who was carrying a LorGuide that they'd disconnected. They went to the Cherokee and started installing it between the driver and the pa.s.senger in the front seat.

"Hey, "Norlin said from inside the van. "It looks like the signal's leaving the Navigator."

Burden was instantly back inside the van, and the others crowded around the opened rear door.

"This's a big supermarket, "Norlin said, pointing to the schematic graphics on one of the screens. "It looks like the signal's going in."

Burden got Cal on the telephone.

"Yeah, I see that, "Cal said. "I'm easing into the lot. I'll try to get to the Navigator."

n.o.body had to say it: This wasn't good. The signal was on the gun. t.i.tus was supposed to be on the phone talking to them when Macias left the van. He wasn't.

Rita remembered her conversation with Burden earlier. She'd been stubborn, wanting to be closer to it all, and now here she was. She'd be d.a.m.ned if she'd fold and get whiny. She wasn't going to do it. t.i.tus wasn't dead. She would know it if he was. She'd feel it, like the vibrations of a tuning fork, some subtle fibrillation within her stomach. She believed that as surely as she believed the sun would come up again in the morning. She stared into the dark van and waited.

t.i.tus started walking, and they headed for the supermarket.

Inside the huge and brightly lighted store, Macias slowed down and they walked as casually as possible past the cereals and the soft drinks and the refrigerated goods, past the fresh produce and the meat market, and headed through the double swinging doors into the back of the store. Some of the workers threw them curious glances, but they weren't being paid enough to be too curious, and t.i.tus and Macias went right on through to the back of the warehouse and out the back metal door into the alley without anyone saying a word to them.

Outside again, Macias glanced around to see that they were still alone. Now he had his gun out in the open and jammed into t.i.tus's kidneys again and shoved him forward, fast walking down the alley, past the Dumpsters with their rancid odors hanging in the still summer air. On the other side of them, a tall fence of wooden slats ran the length of the long alley behind the stores, hiding it from the housing development.

To t.i.tus the alley seemed more isolated than the Antarctic, but Macias kept checking the rears of the stores, and when he pa.s.sed into the shadows between the security lights over the back doors of a pet store and camera shop, he guided t.i.tus with pressure from his pistol barrel, and they veered to the fence.

They slowed to a walk, then a slow walk, then they stopped and went back a few steps. Macias scanned the backs of the stores again, seeming to check his bearings, and then they went up to the fence, lifted the bottoms of three adjacent slats, and crouched into the backyard of a small ranch house. The yard, lighted by the street lamps in the adjacent alley, was overgrown with weeds; the house was dark.

Macias unlocked the back door of the house and pushed t.i.tus in first. The alley lights were the only thing that lighted the darkened kitchen through its small windows, and then t.i.tus saw a seam of light at the bottom of a closed door.

"Over there, "Macias said, and he pushed t.i.tus forward. When they got to the door, Macias told him to open it, and they stepped into the garage. A black Honda Accord was waiting there, backed into the garage, and there was a man sitting on the trunk, his feet on the rear b.u.mper.

"Whoa, "the guy said, suddenly alert and getting off the car cautiously, eyeing t.i.tus with alarm. "Oh, s.h.i.t, what's going on here, Jorge?"

He was in his late twenties, maybe, Hispanic, though he didn't speak with an accent. He wore jeans and a short-sleeved nylon shirt, open, over a white T-shirt.

"No questions, "Macias said.

t.i.tus was judging the younger man's reaction. He looked as though he wanted to bolt, his eyes darting back and forth between t.i.tus and Macias.

"Look, "the young man said, "when you called me and told me to be here, you said you'd pay me off. I ... don't want anything to do with this."

"You don't have anything to do with it, Elias, "Macias said. "You've got one more ch.o.r.e and you're through."