Part 24 (1/2)
”Yes.”
”Where to?”
”I don't know. My job...was done.”
”Which direction did the plane go when it flew off?”
Moreno looked at Quinn as if he didn't understand.
”Which direction did it go?”
”East. After it took off, it turned and...flew east.”
The only thing east of Tampico was the Gulf of Mexico.
Moreno's head started to loll forward. Quinn put a palm on the cop's forehead and pushed back. ”Tell me about the plane. Everything you remember.”
For the next few minutes, he extracted as much information out of Moreno as he could. The aircraft was a prop-driven cargo plane, not too large. When pressed, Moreno was able to recall part of the number on the tailfin, and the color scheme: white with two stripes-one blue, one black. There was also some kind of logo near the door. A black bird sitting on a blue branch. That was all Quinn could get before Moreno pa.s.sed out.
They field-dressed the man's ankle, then pulled off his s.h.i.+rt and wrote with a black marker across his chest CORRUPTO-corrupt-and below that, the number of Moreno's Cayman account with the name of the bank. While they had removed a good portion of Moreno's money, they'd left enough in it so that there would be no mistaking that the cop had been on the take.
Fifteen minutes later, as they neared the airport to catch the first available flight to Tampico, Orlando called the personal cell phone number of a Federal she had previously identified as on the up and up.
”Who is this?” the man asked as he answered.
”Unimportant,” she said. She gave him Moreno's name and the address of the building they'd left him in. ”You should probably hurry. He's lost a lot of blood.”
”What happened?”
”Nothing he didn't deserve.”
”What?” the man asked, surprised.
”You'll figure it out.”
She hung up.
CHAPTER 30.
LIZ WAS SURE that at some point she would be discovered. If her brother had just stuck to the city, it probably would have been easier for her to stay hidden. But instead, he, Orlando, and Daeng had driven out into the countryside, stopping at some sort of industrial building before heading farther out on the highway, and turning off the road and driving into the wilderness.
Liz had motioned for her driver to follow them, but he refused.
”No hay camino ahi. Yo no voy alla abajo,” he said.
She got the gist of what he meant, so she had him continue down the highway for a quarter mile then pull off to the side.
He'd been shooting her suspicious looks in his rearview mirror since not long after they'd left the airport. In an effort to placate him, she'd handed him a thousand pesos-about seventy-five dollars. It helped for a while, but now the look was back.
Liz tried to ignore it while she kept her attention focused on the place where her brother had left the road. When the other car finally showed up again, it turned back toward the city.
”Okay, go, go. Um, vamonos,” Liz said.
Once more she and her driver took up pursuit.
It wasn't long before Jake turned off the road again, this time driving behind several cinderblock buildings. Liz had her driver turn down the road between the buildings and a gas station, and drive slowly past the road Jake had turned on.
She spotted her brother's car parked along the back of the buildings.
”Stop,” she told her cabbie. She glanced back at the Pemex station. ”Necesitas gas? I'll pay.” She mimed giving him money.
”Si. Gracias.”
He drove back to the gas station and pulled up to the pumps. While he filled the tank, she climbed out of the car and walked to the back of the lot so she could see behind the other buildings. The rental car was still parked at the side of the road, but unlike before, Jake and his friends were standing outside.
She wished she could hear what they were talking about, or, at the very least, knew the reasons for all these stops. They had to have something to do with Nate, but what?
After a few minutes, her brother, Orlando, and Daeng turned back to their car and climbed in. Liz ran back to the taxi. While the pump hose was no longer sticking into the gas tank, her driver was nowhere to be seen. She whipped around, looking everywhere for him, but she had no idea where he was.
She was going to lose her brother. She'd made it this far, but now she was going to lose him and that would be that.
Dammit!
Somewhere off to her right, a door swung open. She looked over and saw her driver exiting the toilet.
”Hurry,” she said, waving at him. ”Hurry, please. Vamonos!”
He began walking more quickly.
She pointed back at the highway. ”Come on, come on. They're going.” She climbed into the cab.
It was a full five minutes before they caught sight of Jake's rental again.
It's okay, she told herself, trying to relax. It's all right.
Deep in the city, Jake parked his car, then he and his friends got out and started walking away. Liz decided to chance that they wouldn't turn right back around and drive off, so she gave her driver another five hundred pesos, got out of the cab, and let him go, sure the man was happy to be rid of her.
Following on foot was nearly as tricky as it had been in the car, but she used her smarts and erred on the side of caution whenever necessary. Twice she lost them, but each time she caught sight of them again within a few blocks. They became very interested in an abandoned building, moving in and out several times alone or in pairs, sometimes bringing bags from stores back with them. Finally all three left so she followed again.
Several minutes later, they entered another building, this one not empty. As much as she wanted to follow inside, she didn't, and instead waited in front of a small grocery shop just down the street. They were there for nearly twenty minutes. When they came back out, Daeng split off on his own, while Jake and Orlando headed in her direction.
Liz stepped quickly into the store, moving down one of the aisles to avoid being seen from the doorway. Pretending to browse, she kept flicking her gaze toward the entrance. It wasn't long before she saw Jake and Orlando walk into view and then right back out again as they kept going.