Ready to Kill (11 page)

Harv grabbed Estefan’s cell from the glove compartment, handed it to his friend, and got out of the truck. He and Nathan walked several pickup lengths farther up the road. They were well screened from the highway by chest-high weeds and bushes growing along the base of the fence. The fields on both sides of the road had been plowed, but whoever did the tractor work had kept a safe distance from the wire.

Nathan tapped Cantrell’s number and waited, allowing her phone to ring ten times before hanging up.

Within seconds, their phone received a text from Bill Stafford’s number.

ten minutes

Nathan looked at his watch. “Let’s get going.”

“We may lose our cell signal farther down the road.”

“The sun’s coming up. We’re not hanging around here. Besides, the call isn’t that urgent.” They walked back to the truck.

Estefan backed out to the road. “When you guys get your return call, I’ll pull over and get out.”

“Good idea,” Nathan said. “I guess we should’ve done that back there.”

“No harm done,” Estefan said.

A few miles farther south, they entered the outskirts of a larger town that looked to be home to several thousand people. Nathan checked his cell. Three bars. “It’s still early, but with a little luck we’ll find a place to grab a bite. Keep an eye out for a diner or roadside stand. At this point, I’d settle for anything other than an energy bar.” Near the center of town at a major intersection, Nathan looked around and saw what they needed. “Make a right here.”

“I see it,” Estefan said.

They pulled up to a curio and fruit stand where the owner was still setting up shop. Estefan rolled his window down and asked if she was willing to open a little early. She nodded and continued unloading wares from her van.

“I’ll get a good mix of fruit. If she’s got some pork jerky, I’ll get some. Nuts too.”

“Sounds good,” Nathan said. “Offer her a nice tip for opening early but not too big. We don’t want to be remembered.”

“No problem. Give me a wave if you get your call while I’m out there. I’ll delay getting back in.”

After Estefan climbed out, Harv suggested sending a text to Stafford saying now would be a good time to talk.

A few seconds later, Nathan’s phone rang. He issued a single word. “Chromium.”

“I’ve got you on speaker. Bill’s with me.” Cantrell’s voice sounded clear and unbroken.

“We’re secure. Thank you for sending in the recons.”

“You’re welcome. I wouldn’t have inserted you without them, but I couldn’t let you know ahead of time. Their presence in-country is as unofficial as yours.”

“We appreciate it and understand.”

“What’s your status?”

“As we suspected, our messenger is a former kilo grad. A shooter, not a spotter. His name is Estefan Delgado. He’s the man who helped Harv rescue me from Montez’s camp. His father was Pastor Tobias.”

“Do you trust him?”

He exchanged a glance with Harv. “Yeah, we do.”

“What about Raven?”

“That’s where it gets complicated. Estefan can’t tell us with one hundred percent certainty that Raven’s responsible for his father’s murder, but he’s given us a strong argument.” Nathan relayed all the information about the sniper killings in the area.

“Given everything I just heard, I’m tending to agree with Mr. Delgado. It sounds like Raven’s your man.”

“Estefan wants to kill him.”

“And
. . . 
?”

“The man risked his life to rescue me.”

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

From the fruit stand, Estefan looked over. Harv simulated a phone to his ear. Estefan nodded understanding.

“If you’re willing,” said Nathan, “we could use some help. We need whatever you can dig up on a man named Paulo Macanas. He’s a landowner who runs some legitimate businesses. He owns a lumber mill in Santavilla and operates some cattle ranches and coffee farms. He also owns several gold mines. Gold is the reason Estefan asked for our help.”

Nathan gave Cantrell a quick overview of what Estefan told them about Santavilla, the gold-mining operation, and the connection to the slaying of Tobias Delgado.

She said, “On the surface, it doesn’t sound like a good enough reason for murder.”

“We thought the same thing and pushed Estefan a little. Because there were multiple shootings in Raven’s old territory, he told us he’d asked his father to see what he could learn. I think it’s fair to assume Tobias discovered something and got himself killed over it.”

“Based on everything you know at this point, is there a national security risk?”

“My gut says no. On the surface, it appears to be a personal issue between Raven and Estefan.” Nathan filled her in on what Estefan had shared about the summit.

“We’ll look into that. So what’s your next move?”

“We’re heading down to Estefan’s house in Managua. His father wrote hundreds of letters about what was happening in Santavilla. We’re going to read them and hope they give us something useful. We’re also going to access some maps and aerials to get a better handle on Macanas’s operation.”

“How much additional time do you need?”

“I don’t know, maybe a few days. We made it clear to Estefan we can’t conduct a prolonged surveillance of Macanas’s operation.”

“I’ve got your current GPS location around eighty-five miles northeast of Managua.”

“We’ve been driving for a while. In a straight line, that distance sounds about right.”

“I want you to give Bill Stafford regular updates. He’ll brief me.”

“No problem.”

“Give me as much lead time as possible for your extraction. I’ll have to set it up again. Unless something happens to change it, your extraction point will be the same coordinates as planned.”

“Are you giving us the nod on Raven?”

“That’s your call. I won’t second-guess you on it.”

“Understood.”

“I’ll have Stafford update you if we find anything on Macanas.”

“Apparently he owns a helicopter. I wouldn’t be surprised if he has a helipad at his house. From what Estefan told us, he’s fairly wealthy.”

“I’m making a note. We might be able to do something with it. Try to keep your profile as small as possible.”

Nathan sighed and rubbed his eyes. “Will do. We’ll check in with Stafford after we’ve looked at the letters.”

“When was the last time you two slept?”

“It’s been a while. The road leaving alpha was pretty rough. We should be okay from here on. We’ll catch a few z’s on the drive into Managua.”

“Make sure you do.”

Nathan ended the call. “Any doubts about her at this point?”

“Honestly, it’s hard not to like her.”

Nathan waved Estefan over. “But liking and trusting are two different things, right? Come on, Harv. She didn’t have to arrange the marines. I think it’s a clear statement. Setting that up with JSOC couldn’t have been easy.”

“Easy enough. All she did was make a call or two.”

“You know what I mean. She put troops in harm’s way. Yes, that’s her job, but that doesn’t make it easy. Cut her some slack. She’s earned our confidence.”

“If you say so.”

“Yeah, I do. And so do you.”

Estefan climbed in and handed the box of fruit back to Nathan.

“Good job, Estefan. Keep the change.”

“How generous of you. Our merchant was quite thankful for the tip. She had some homemade pastries, so I bought a couple dozen. We’ll stop for some jerky closer to Managua. I know a good spot.”

“How long to your house from here?”

“From here
. . .
maybe two and a half hours, depending on traffic.”

“Harv, we should try to get some rack time.”

“Yeah, that sounds good.”

They all saw and heard it at the same time.

A Nicaraguan National Police pickup turned right at the center of town and drove straight toward them.

CHAPTER 15

“Everyone stay calm,” Nathan said. “Estefan, be ready to punch it. We aren’t being taken into custody. If we have to bolt, we’ll head back toward alpha and try to lose him on the far side of town through those S turns.” Nathan began formulating a plan. If they had to evade the cop, they’d need to disable his vehicle without injuring him.

The NNP pickup’s front end lifted as it accelerated down the narrow street. They all collectively held their breath as the pickup screamed past. Its driver didn’t even look at them.

“Damn it,” Harv said. “I really hate that feeling.”

“Let’s get going,” Nathan said. He looked behind and saw the cop make a left about a hundred yards farther down the road.

“No argument here,” Estefan said. He made a U-turn and drove back to the intersection.

“We’re all on edge,” Nathan said.

“We’ll be able to relax a little when we reach my house. We can pull into the garage. No one will see you guys. I’ll call my wife and ask her to head over to her sister’s and spend the day over there. She knows I get nervous when she’s alone for more than a few days.”

“Is your house somewhat secluded?” Nathan asked.

“It’s not extremely close to other houses. Most of the lots are about three acres. I’m in a semirural area at the top of a ridgeline overlooking Managua. It has a nice view of the city. Don’t worry. We’ll have the place to ourselves.”

Nathan handed a banana to Harv. “Won’t it be
. . .
I don’t know
. . .
a little awkward? Asking your wife to leave for the day?”

“Not really. She’s been wanting to visit her sister for a few weeks. We just talked about it before I left to meet you guys. I’ll tell her I got delayed. She’ll be fine with it.”

“Sounds good. Nate and I could use showers and some serious rack time. That hump through the jungle took a toll on us.”

“Getting old?” Estefan asked.

“Just drive, amigo.”

When Estefan pulled into his garage and closed the door, Nathan felt a tremendous sense of relief at not having to worry about prying eyes any longer. It would be nice to unwind for a spell. All three of them needed hygiene and sleep—in that order. Neither he nor Harv had gotten more than six hours in the last two days. They couldn’t function indefinitely like this. Sooner or later, fatigue would win the battle and shut their brains down. Nathan had been through longer periods without sleep, but there was no reason to push it right now. As tempting as it was to dig into Tobias’s letters, it could wait. Estefan agreed and threw their MARPATs and underclothes into the washing machine. Since none of Estefan’s wardrobe would fit Nathan, he had to settle for a pair of Estefan’s tighty-whities, and the damned things were two sizes too small.

When he stepped out of the bathroom, Harv gave him an amused look.

“Don’t even think it.”

Harv feigned innocence. “What?”

Estefan’s expression registered shock, but he recovered quickly.

Nathan held up a hand. “If either of you say anything, you’ll die slowly.”

“What’s there to say?” Estefan said. “I think a couple of things speak for themselves. What do you think, Harv? Can he get a job downtown?”

“In a heartbeat.”

“I’m going to kill you guys.”

Estefan crossed his arms. “What are you going to do—dance us to death?”

“That would do the trick,” Harv said. “The man has no rhythm. It’s an ugly thing to watch.”

This was hopeless. Until the load of laundry was finished, Nathan would have to settle for looking like a male stripper. He issued a dismissive wave and left the room, heading for the kitchen. He knew anything he said could and would be used against him, so he chose to remain silent.

In the kitchen, he powered down a couple of pastries and chased them with a glass of milk and two mangoes. Feeling more composed, he found Harv in one of the spare bedrooms, stretched out on top of a beautiful quilt. If Estefan’s wife had made it, she was a skilled artist.

“I’ll be on the couch,” Nathan said.

“Don’t forget to warn Estefan about waking your ass up with a broom. I’m pretty sure he wants to keep all his teeth.”

“Cute, Harv. I can always count on you for moral support.”

“Sleep well, partner.”

“Yeah, right.”

Thankfully, his inner demons took the afternoon off. Sleep came in chunks, an hour or so at a time, but sleep was sleep, and Nathan took it.

Right on time, the cell’s alarm awoke him at 1700 hours.

He needed coffee; they were facing another long evening. He found Harv in the kitchen, standing at the counter next to the range-oven combo.

“How did you sleep?” Harv asked.

“Not too bad, thanks.”

“Your MARPATs are on the dining room table. I’ve been thinking about something.”

“What’s that?” Nathan asked.

“When you got out of the shower, you could’ve gone commando in your cargo shorts.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“So why didn’t you?”

Nathan lowered his voice. “I think Estefan’s more torn up about his father than he’s leading on. I figured I’d lighten the mood.”

“That was quite selfless of you, but it doesn’t surprise me. You’ve always been a giving person.”

“You too, Harv. Let’s go sort through those letters.”

“We still need to retrieve the aerials and topo maps and look into the public records on Macanas. Like Estefan said, if we find Macanas, we’ll find Raven.”

“Estefan’s already got them.” Harv handed him a cup of coffee.

“I didn’t hear him leave.”

“We pushed his truck out of the garage. We didn’t want to wake you. He parked it on the curb when he got back.”

“What about an address for Macanas from the public property records?”

“Estefan told me how it works. It’s not that easy to get down here. Well, it kind of is, but there’s no centralized database in Managua. Each city has its own cadastral office with survey records of the land. Nicaragua’s a small country. He said if he went into the Jinotega office and pointed to Macanas’s property on a big map, it’s a safe bet the staff will already know the book and page numbers. He said he works with the various cadastral offices to determine ownership on land bordering the forest preserves all the time. He uses the information to contact the owners about pending road improvements through their property.”

Estefan entered the kitchen. “What’re you guys talking about?”

Nathan said, “Getting a home address on Macanas.”

“Yeah, that might not be easy,” Estefan said. “He’s likely hidden his personal information by using shell companies as the owners of record. And those companies might be owned by second-tier shell companies. He’s probably got attorneys on retainer who handle all the real estate paperwork for him. If that’s the case, all inquests about ownership would have to funnel through his attorney’s office. Macanas would then know someone was snooping into his property, and he’d want to know who and why.”

“We definitely don’t want that. Do you think it’s worth a try? I mean, looking at the survey records?” Harv asked. “Do you have to sign a logbook or anything to look at the books?”

“No, but the cadastral office staff is often bored to tears. They’d be looking over my shoulder the whole time. I’ve been in the Jinotega office many times. We could hire an attorney to dig into Macanas’s land-ownership holdings, but it would take time and be really expensive.”

“Wouldn’t that also raise red flags with Macanas?” Harv asked.

“It definitely would. He’d find out about it for sure. I’m fairly certain we won’t find a residential address for Macanas in any of the cadastral surveys.”

“Tell Nate what you told me about that large property purchase two years ago.”

“A large chunk of land bordering Macanas’s property was jointly purchased by two corporations. Jinotega Norte Corporation and EMI. I remembered doing a Google search. Nothing came up for Jinotega Norte, but there were a bunch of listings for EMI, and one of them jumped out at me. Edmonton Mining Industries is a medium-sized Canadian company that primarily extracts copper, silver, gold, and uranium. It operates several sites around the world.”

“Uranium? Is that being mined in Nicaragua?”

“No,” Estefan said.

“Could a uranium mine be in the works?”

“Absolutely not. I’d know about it for sure.”

“Is there uranium in Nicaragua?” Harv asked.

“Technically, yes. It’s found all over the world, but concentrated uranium ores are rare. Australia, Kazakhstan, and Canada are some of the bigger producers. Super-high-grade deposits are only found in Saskatchewan.”

“What about copper and silver?”

“It’s quite common for gold mines to also contain copper and silver in the ores. Some of the mines in Atlántico Norte are producing silver, but extracting copper isn’t as cost effective.”

“Estefan, don’t take this wrong, but why didn’t you look into Jinotega Norte? Didn’t the connection to EMI make you curious?”

“I
was
curious, but two years ago before any of the murders, it didn’t look out of place. It was before I suspected Raven was working for Macanas. EMI hadn’t approached any landowners about leasing, and neither company applied for any mining permits. It looked like an investment or land-banking purchase.”

“I see what you mean. The purchase seems suspect now, but back then . . .”

“That’s right. Unless specifically requested, my office
. . .
well, me
. . .
I don’t generally get involved in private-party sales or leases. My jurisdiction is over government-owned land, mostly forest preserves. It’s like the Bureau of Land Management in the US. If a logging company buys some private property bordering BLM land, the BLM would get involved to make sure streams and rivers were protected from silt damage. Rivers cross from private to public land and vice versa. It works the same way down here, but many mining sites are bootlegged, so there’s no environmental oversight.”

“Are any of Macanas’s mines permitted?” Harv asked.

“Yes, but not very many. He permits just enough to keep the heat off.”

“What would you bet that Jinotega Norte is a Macanas-owned shell company?”

“I’d bet a lot,” Estefan said. “If Macanas owns Jinotega Norte, the question becomes, why did he buy the land jointly with EMI?”

“That’s a good question. Do you know how much land was purchased? Maybe it was beyond his reach alone.”

“I don’t remember exactly, but it was a pretty sizable chunk. I remembered it because it was within my overlay area of potential high-yield sites in Jinotega.”

Nathan broke into the conversation. “Maybe the question should be reversed. Why would EMI need Macanas to make the purchase?”

“Yeah, I see what you mean. A company like EMI would pursue a long-term lease rather than make a purchase.”

“Do other mining corporations buy land like that?” Harv asked.

“It’s not unheard of, but most of the landowners don’t want to sell. They’re way better off leasing than selling. They get a bunch of money and get to keep their land.”

“Is EMI currently operating any mines in Nicaragua?”

“No,” Estefan said, “but we’re being looked at by dozens of commercial operators, including EMI. It’s the primary reason Torres is hosting the gold summit. Nicaragua is a hot prospect right now.”

“It seems we’ve got more homework to do.”

They followed Estefan into his office. Inside the closet, concealed by a long raincoat, Nathan saw a gun safe. It looked capable of storing ten or twelve long guns with enough room for an upper shelf. It employed a combination dial and a brass handle on its door.

“Why do you keep the letters in your safe?” Harv asked.

“It’s fire resistant.” He shrugged. “I guess they’re important to me, even though I didn’t bother to read most of them.” Estefan opened the safe and removed two shoe boxes from the shelf. Behind the shoe boxes sat half a dozen boxes of various ammo and several handgun cases.

Nathan pointed. “It looks like you kept your Remington 700.”

“I offered to buy it when our kilo unit broke up, but no one could tell me who to pay, so my lieutenant told me to keep it. All of us kept our rifles. I haven’t used it in years.”

“You still keep a three-hundred-yard zero?” Harv asked.

“Just like you taught me.”

“Let’s talk about how we’re going to tackle these letters. Did your father date them?” Nathan asked.

“I think so, but I’m not positive.”

They carried the shoe boxes out to the dining room table.

“We’ll start by making sure all the letters are opened. Then we’ll put them in chronological order as best we can. Let’s reserve reading them until we have them organized.”

“I’ll get us a couple of kitchen knives.” Estefan returned a moment later.

Nathan grabbed a stack that was secured by a rubber band. “Once we have them in order, we’ll dig in. Each of us should have a pad of paper for making notes. Estefan, do you care if we color code the letters with a highlighter? I’m thinking we should put colored dots on the letters based on their relevancy to Macanas’s operations. A green dot for important, a yellow dot for maybe, and a red dot for not relevant.”