All five of Nomar’s lieutenants were on this drug drop, which was highly unusual, and it made Leo a bit nervous.

 

“Any contact from Gonzalez?” Leo asked.

 

“Gonzalez? Oh, you have been off, sorry. It is becoming a habit to believe you already know everything,” Nomar said with a smile. “I’ve taken care of the Gonzalez threat already.”

 

“Oh? Is the solution a secret?” Leo asked.

 

“From you? Not at all. I kidnapped Kari yesterday, then sent word to Gonzalez that I have her, and if any of my homes or businesses are attacked, I’ll kill her. On top of that, tomorrow she is eighteen, and I will marry her, as she wishes.”

 

“What was his response?” Leo asked, while a cold spike went through his spine.

 

“No response yet, which is unusual in these situations. But I’m fairly sure he got the message,” Nomar assured Leo.

 

“Hmm. Well, if you kill her, it will be all-out war. He’ll strangle your drug supplies and come at you with every resource he can muster,” Leo pointed out idly.

 

“Agreed,” Nomar said, “which is why this drop is so important. I’ve changed the drop amount to 1000 kilos, instead of 300.”

 

Part of Leo’s mind was doing the happy dance, because that meant Nomar had put out $18 million in cash for this drop, which he wouldn’t be receiving. Even for Nomar, that was a huge hit, more than Leo could ever have hoped for. Recovery from such a hit would take him years and weaken him enough that other threats might eat him up before he was able to get back on his feet. At this point, Woody and Emma were avenged.

 

Now, all he had to do was get out of this alive.

 

Just as they were turning off towards the Jacumba Wilderness Area, Nomar’s cellphone rang.

 

“Bueno?” he said after tapping the Bluetooth earpiece. He listened for a moment, and then said, “Hold on a moment, please.” Nomar tapped his phone a few times in its holder on the dash and put the phone into speaker mode. “Could you please say that again so that we can all hear it now? English please.”

 

The caller said, “Um, si. Jerome and elven of his men went out this morning at about nine to take revenge on Leo, but none have come back and I can’t reach any of them. The only answer I got was a woman on Jerome’s phone who said, ‘I’m sorry, Jerome has been disconnected,’ and asked if I would like to leave a message. I thought you should know.”

 

“Who told Jerome that he could do such a thing?” Nomar inquired.

 

“He said it was his bloodright,” the caller replied.

 

“Imbeciles! That whole fucked up family is stupidio!” Nomar snarled.

 

There was silence on the line.

 

“If,” Nomar said to the caller, “if Jerome shows his face, you are to take him to the cells and await instructions. Do you understand? He is rogue!”

 

“Si, I will do so,” the caller said.

 

“Adios!” Nomar growled, and he disconnected.

 

After a moment of silence, Leo said in a calm voice, “Jerome and his eleven friends are dead and buried in a common grave somewhere in the middle of a farm field.”

 

“Si? But you were not there. Not at home,” Nomar said.

 

“No, but I had guests who were. Jerome came watching for a bear trap, but he got the bear instead,” Leo said with a smile, and he leaned back in his seat.

 

Nomar’s curiosity was piqued, and he waited for Leo to say more. When Leo remained silent, he finally asked, “How many guests?”

 

“Two,” Leo said, holding up two fingers.

 

“Only dos?”

 

“Yes, only two. Women. They work as a team,” Leo said, laughing inside. It had to be Yvette who had said that Jerome was “disconnected.” It fit her kind of humor. And if she was in the mood to be funny, then Bev was obviously still alive and unharmed.

 

“These women are that good?” Nomar pressed.

 

“Better,” Leo agreed with a nod.

 

“Maybe I should hire them. It seems that my men are lacking real skill.”

 

“I’ll ask, but after being attacked by your men, they may not be so eager to talk with you,” Leo said.

 

“They do not know they were my men,” Nomar pointed out.

 

“Maybe. They will have taken IDs and used resources to find out who they were. If enough signs point to you, they will assume,” Leo explained.

 

“That would be unfortunate. Will they seek revenge, do you think?” Nomar asked.

 

“No,” Leo said casually. “They will know it was me that they were after. They had only just arrived, so it would not be them. The worst they will do is to try to convince me to leave your service.”

 

“Can you be convinced?” Nomar asked.

 

“Well,” Leo chuckled, “Counter-terrorism is not the only thing they are good at, and as I said, they work as a team.”

 

The two lieutenants in back got the joke before Nomar did, but soon they were all laughing.

 

Nomar told him, “Sounds like I need to give you a raise, and soon.”

 

“That would put more weight on your side of the argument, yes,” Leo agreed. “But to be fair, I’ll have to enjoy their point of view as well. Just to be fair, of course.”

 

“Well, of course,” Nomar said with a smile. “And let me know the damages to your house. I’ll take care of that for you. It is my fault. My men,” Nomar said more seriously.

 

“Thank you, I will do that,” Leo agreed graciously.

 

They arrived at Airstrip 8 to find the trucks and two more Hummers waiting. Men were already standing in a group near the middle of the mesa. Leo got out of the Hummer and adjusted his guns, then walked over to meet Nomar at the front of the vehicle. He took off his hat and wiped his brow, and then put it back on. “Well, let’s get the party started,” he said to Nomar.

 

Nomar was about to reply when spotlights hit the airstrip area, blazing down from both the north and south mesas.

 

“Shit!” Leo cursed.

 

“Madre! Not this one!” Nomar shouted.

 

Leo grabbed Nomar’s arm and pulled him toward the north side of the mesa just as the gunfire began and something exploded to the east.