“Yes, but first I wonder if I could get you to sing to him. There’s something I would like to hear.”

“Sing to him? Okay … do you want me to sing the Dr. Hook song, Freakin’ at the Freaker’s Ball?”

“No, not that one. Your song about him being our little boy, our pride and joy.”

“I can do that.”

Jack listened to Natasha sing the song and didn’t care if someone saw the tears streaming down his face.

“How was that?” asked Natasha.

“Probably the most beautiful thing I’ve ever heard. Let me say hi to the little fart.”

Jack unsuccessfully tried to get Mikey to talk, but eventually Natasha cut in and said, “Well, you got him to smile and spit Pablum all over the mouthpiece.”

“I heard him.”

“So when are you coming home?”

“Tomorrow is Friday … we have a mop-up operation to do in the morning. A couple of houses to search. I also have to arrange for Lily to get proper travel documents, not to mention clothes. Everything she had was stolen. Still, with luck, there is a flight out of here tomorrow around four in the afternoon and it arrives in Vancouver just before ten at night. I’ll call you later to confirm it.”

“So tomorrow won’t be dangerous?”

“No. The bad guys know we’re coming so they won’t even be there.”

Jack was right about the fact that he didn’t have to worry about the bad guys. It was the good guys who were still after him.

chapter forty-six

Just before dawn, Adams arrived at the hospital and handed a bag full of clothes to Lily.

“You’re a little smaller than my wife,” he said, “but at least it will give you something until you get home.”

After Lily thanked him, Adams looked at Jack and said, “So? Are you ready to go for a ride?”

“I feel good. Let’s do it.”

After promising Lily he would be back to pick her up before noon, Jack left with Adams.

On their way to the airport, Adams said, “Slater never returned to our side of the border yesterday.”

“I’m not surprised. I don’t think the cartel would have taken too kindly to him saying I was his cousin and he has known me all his life.”

“Maybe we could send a request over to Detective Sanchez to investigate his disappearance,” chuckled Adams.

Jack smiled. “I’m sure Sanchez knows the right people.”

Minutes later, Jack and Adams taxied onto the runway in a U.S. Customs plane. By first light, they were flying along the border within easy sight of the radio tower on the Mexican side.

“You owe me a beer for making me hang and bake on that son of a bitch,” said Adams.

“I’m surprised you could climb it with all the guns you carry.”

It didn’t take long before Jack spotted Casa Blanca. There were no vehicles visible in the yard or on the surrounding hills.

The plane circled over three potential houses on the American side of the border. Two of the houses had vehicles in the yard. The third house didn’t.

Jack and Adams looked at each other and silently nodded in agreement.

The plane was taxiing back up to the private hangar when Adams received word that entry teams were preparing to hit the houses on each side of the border simultaneously. Each team also had a representative from the opposite country.

“We’ve been invited to watch,” said Adams. “You’re the guest of honour. They want you there to give the signal for the teams to go in.”

“Uh, thanks for the honour, but tell them not to wait for me,” said Jack. “The places will be empty.” Well … except for maybe two bodies at Casa Blanca …

“They know, but it will take them that long to get the warrant. They’ll wait for you, regardless. Everyone thinks you’re a hero. Go out and act like one. You’re in my country, it’s the American thing to do.”

“Will I be expected to shoot a gun off or something?”

“Hell, yeah! Did you bring your camera? Maybe we could even stage a car chase.”

“Had enough of that yesterday.”

Their one-hour drive out to the American side of the tunnel was strangely quiet. Both men knew it would be the last day they would work together and each dealt with the sadness quietly.

When they arrived, Jack was taken inside the back of a SWAT command-post truck where he was handed the police microphone and given the nod. Jack grinned at Adams as he squeezed the button and said, “Teams ready?”

“Team one ready,” drawled a voice in response.

“Team two are ready,” came a second voice.

“Go, go, go!” yelled Jack.

The initial results on the American side were as expected. The house had been cleaned out, but a tunnel entrance was located under a kitchen counter like the one in Casa Blanca.

Casa Blanca itself was a different story and the SWAT commander relayed the information as he received it over his headset.

“They’ve got six bodies over there,” said the commander.

“Six?” replied Jack.

“Five in the kitchen were lined up against a wall and taken out with one or more automatic weapons. Another body is in a back bedroom.”

“Have they identified them?” asked Adams.

The commander nodded and said, “Just getting to that. Of the five in the kitchen, three were known members of the Guajardo cartel. Sanchez … who they say was a cop, Eduardo Cortez, and a guy they call Berto. The other two are unidentified.”

“There were two mercenaries hired to work as security,” replied Jack. “Berto told me they were from South America, but I never got their names. Bet it’s them.”

“You gotta be kidding,” exclaimed the commander into his microphone. He looked at Adams and Jack and said, “The body in the bedroom is another cartel member by the name of Pietro Franco who goes by the nickname of El Pero. He was found half naked and someone literally put a round up his ass. No powder burns so it must have been real up close and personal.”

“Yeah, Jack said someone was shot in a bedroom,” replied Adams, while staring at Jack. “I just didn’t hear the part about it was up his ass.”

“Hang on, there’s another one,” continued the commander. “They found a seventh body at the bottom of the ladder in the tunnel. They say it looks like someone chewed the guy’s nose off and threw him headfirst down the shaft. Probably has a broken neck.”

“Let me guess,” said Adams. “Was it Alphonse Franco? More commonly known as Big Al?”

“Yup. How did you know?”

“Just a lucky guess,” replied Adams, looking at Jack.

“Hang on, someone else has something,” said the commander.

As they waited a moment, Adams leaned over and whispered in Jack’s ear. “Hope you used dental floss after.”

Jack looked surprised at the comment, then a look of concern came over his face, and he shook his head in denial.

“Okay,” said the commander. “Doesn’t look like we can give you guys a tour of the tunnel. The bastards have it booby-trapped with plastic. We’ll probably blow it up ourselves rather than risk anyone’s life by trying to dismantle it.”

Both Jack and Adams voiced their agreement and stepped out of the command vehicle.

“Looks like the Guajardo cartel didn’t appreciate some of their guys letting you escape yesterday,” said Adams.

“Looks that way.”

“You want to hang around and see them blow the tunnel?”

“Not really. I’m hoping to catch an afternoon flight.”

“I’m still supposed to take you back to the office. The bosses want to shake your hand and congratulate you before you go.”

“Politics.”

“You got it.”

Adams unlocked the Camaro and seconds later, they started the one-hour trip back to El Paso.