Enemy Among Us-A Jordan Wright Thriller (42 page)

William noticed first. “There are only nine here.”

Max and the General looked at him, somewhat perplexed at his comment. Then it registered. One of the crew was missing.

“Sergeant! Where is the other crew member?” Estrada demanded.

“In the bathroom, sir!”

“Is anyone with him?”

“Yes, sir! Corporal Ortega.”

William ran to the restroom door. He turned the handle, but the door would not budge. It wasn’t locked, but something was keeping it from opening. General Estrada waved several of his men over. With two of the men aiding him, throwing their shoulders against the door, William pushed it open. What had wedged the door was the body of Corporal Ortega, his throat slit and a crimson pool beside him. A window with a steel screen had been ripped open from the outside, providing an escape route.

William turned away, but turned back when he heard a shout from outside, a female voice ordering someone to stop. The command was in English. It was Kate. As he started to move to the window, his body recoiled with the sound of two shots being fired. He grabbed his side arm and fumbled in his pocket for a small mirror he always carried. He pushed himself up against the exterior wall and positioned the mirror to give him a view point of outside. It was an alleyway and he could see two men running toward a large parking area. He quickly maneuvered to the other way and again used the mirror to survey. That’s when he say Kate prone on the ground not moving.

He swung around to exit through the window and turned quickly to Max. “Kate’s down, we need medical, NOW!” He dove out the window and to Kate’s side.

Quickly, two men appeared with their medical satchels They worked feverously to assess Kate’s wounds.

One of the American medics approached Stan. She’s got a bad leg wound. It’s not life threatening, but if we want to save the leg we need to get her out of here as soon as possible. The closest hospital we know where she can be treated is Scripps Memorial in San Diego.

Stan didn’t hesitate. “Take my plane and get her there!” he turned to the General. “Can you get them escorted back to the base and get priority clearance for the plane to get to San Diego?”

Estrada grabbed Stan by the shoulders. “Consider it done my friend.”

Stan nodded and looked at Max. “You go with them and use my name every way you can to move things and if that doesn’t work, call me.”

Max turned without a word and followed the stretcher with Kate to the waiting Ambulance.

William walked over and joined Stan. A quick look from Stan told him they were now back to the matter at hand. “My guess is there’s a dead crew member on the ship along with the helicopter pilot. Our man escaped. I think we need to get the dies to the plane and get out of here. I trust the General, but I don’t know how much control he really has here. We should go.”

Stan walked over to the General. “Sir, we need to get those containers to the airport at once. I don’t think there is any further need for us to remain here.”

Before Estrada could say anything, they were joined by Jon. A little breathless sounding – he’d evidently run from the ship – Jon informed them, “We’ve found two bodies. One’s the pilot and the other is a crewman. Looks like our suspect killed the sailor and dressed in his clothes to disembark with the crew.

The General’s disappointment that all had not gone as planned was evident in his face. “Yes. The truck will be here in five minutes. It shouldn’t take more than ten minutes to load the truck and I’ll have you escorted back. You understand, I’ll need to stay here?”

“Yes, General. We appreciate all you have done for us. I’m sorry about the corporal.”

“Thank you,” Estrada nodded.

At that moment Jordan came around the corner. He ran up to Stan. “What happened here?”

Stan looked at him and didn’t respond.

“Stan?”

“Kate’s been shot. She’s going to be all right, but her leg is real tore up. We’re getting her to San Diego. The man who shot her got away and we think he was on the ship. We lost him.”

“Maybe not. General can we get video of the cars leaving through the gate?”

“Sure that shouldn’t be a problem. But I don’t know how it will help. Once out of the gate they could go in many directions. We would never find them.”

“Possibly, but I have a hunch. As I was moving around the shipyard I found a Mercedes 500 AMG in the employee parking lot with it’s engine idling. Seemed to stick out amongst all the old beaters I imagine the dock workers are driving. I put a locater beacon on it. As I was heading back here I noticed it was gone.”

“Good thinking son.” Stan slapped him on the back. They jogged over to the main building to view the tapes. Sure enough the cameras caught the Mercedes flying out of the parking lot minutes after Kate had been shot.

At Stan’s request, Estrada dispatched a helicopter to pick them and locate the vehicle.

Chapter Eighty-Five

GATED ESTATE IN CENTRAL MEXICO

Jerome had traveled the one hundred miles from the port and was now safe in the confines of his walled and heavily guarded estate. He was tired, depressed and angry, having come so close to success, only to be on the run.

As they had docked, he’d noticed the abnormally high level of attention being paid to the ship. It wasn’t long before he’d spotted the army units attempting to stay out of sight. He searched the vessel for the helicopter pilot and found him in his cabin. Effortlessly, Jerome snapped the man’s neck having caught the pilot completely by surprise.

Jerome regretted killing him. The man had been a loyal employee for many years and had always done what was asked of him without question. As he gathered up the pilot’s personal items, he found his cell phone. He scrolled through the numbers and two attracted his attention. One was in Miami and the other in Washington, D.C. He could think of no reason why the pilot would have numbers on speed dial for those locations. Jerome pocketed the phone to check the numbers later, when affairs were not so pressing. He dragged the body to an electrical cabinet near the engine room and stuffed the pilot inside. He went to the trash room and threw the man’s bag into the furnace.

Coming out of the trash room, Jerome spotted a sailor similar to his own height and build. Jerome walked up to him and, as the man turned, Jerome smashed the heel of his palm against the base of the man’s nose, instantly breaking it and driving the ethmoid bone on a trajectory into the man’s brain, killing him instantly. He dragged the body back to the trash room, stripped it and changed into the fellow’s clothes and then he stuffed the man into a large trash container.

As Jerome left the compartment, a call came over the P.A. for all of the crew to report topside. The men on this ship knew who he was and knew not to say anything when they saw him dressed as they were, or to mention that one of the men was missing.

Jerome walked off the ship with the others and, as they were escorted to a nearby building, he made eye contact with one of his people who had been there waiting for him. They immediately knew the plan had changed and they had to get Jerome out of the Port.

Upon entering the room, Jerome saw his opportunity and asked to go to the restroom. The soldier assigned to go with him sensed no danger and Jerome quickly disarmed him and used the corporal’s own knife to slit the man’s throat. He went to the window and his own man was at the back of the building. Seeing Jerome his confederate located tools and quickly had the metal barrier off the window and Jerome climbed out.

“Stop right there!” Jerome heard the command and it took him a second to realize it was in English. This couldn’t be good. He nudged his man in a knowing way and they both turned and fired. Jerome’s shot caught the women in the leg while the other shattered the women’s arm forcing her to drop her gun. Hurriedly, they made their way to a waiting vehicle and left. They could view all of the activity aboard the ship and Jerome knew something had gone wrong. How had they known? He needed to find out.

He grabbed the cell phone and pressed the code for the number in Miami. It started to ring and was quickly answered.

“Roberto, this is Mike Hall where are you? We lost your signal. Have you met up with the contacts at the shipyards? They know you are with us.”

Jerome didn’t respond.

“Roberto,…. Roberto. Oh shit!” The line went dead.

Jerome immediately hung up. How could he have been such a fool? “Trust no one,” he’d murmured.

Throughout the entire journey to his house, his mind focused on his revenge. By the time he reached his home, a new plan was already formed.

Jerome gave a nod to the man who’d driven him and put his hand on the knob of his front door and turned it. He opened the door and walked into the foyer.

“Daddy! Daddy! You’re home. I missed you!” Jerome’s son ran up and jumped into his arms. “Did you bring me anything from your trip?”

“I did, my son, but it got lost. I’ll bring you two things next time.”

His wife and daughter came down the stairs.

He was home. But only for as long as it took for him to plan his next assault on America.

Chapter Eighty-Six

On a hill with a vast vista that covered central Mexico, Jordan raised up from viewing the man with his family with the Oberwerks long range binoculars provided by General Estrada. The locater on the car had led them to this area and the large palatial estate they were now viewing.

“Who is he General?” Jordan asked, staring intently at the General, his expression communicating Jordan’s “don’t give me any bull shit,” attitude.

“He’s a powerful leader of this region’s most powerful families. They control business in this area, both legal and illegal. The people love him. We know he’s bad. We know that was his ship and his cargo. But there is no way my country is going to do anything to help you obtain his arrest. I am sorry.”

“That’s not good enough General.” Jordan stepped toward the General wanting to get right in his face. “He shot an agent. He stole from the US government. What more do you need. More importantly I’ve seen him before. Stan remember the cell we had under surveillance in upstate New York. That’s the man Kate and I saw go into the house right before it blew up. We need to take him down. Now!”

Stan stepped in between the two, giving Jordan a small shove to move him away.

“Excuse my friend here Estrada, but it is hard for us to leave without this man.”

“Stan, I know, I know. I would turn him over to you in a minute. But I would never be allowed. Frankly, I’m probably endangering my career even bringing you out here.”

“I understand. Jordan take your last look. We need to move out and get home.” Stan patted the General on the shoulder.

Jordan walked back over to the chopper and pulled out the scoped sniper rifle. He hoped the son of a bitch was in the same room. He wouldn’t be afforded the time to search for him. He moved quickly back to where he had stood and quickly aimed.

The crack of the rifle report echoed throughout the valley.

Stan whirled around. “Son what have you done?”

Estrada walked up and grabbed the rifle. “You have made a grave error in killing this man. Stan, I may have to keep him here.”

Jordan laughed. “The bastard’s not dead. Take a look he’s probably still on the floor, but I didn’t hit him. But I’m sure I scared the shit out of him. He needed to know we know who he is. I’ve made my point.