Mark Gimenez - The Governor's wife

Bode pointed at the man lying on the ground.

"Is he dead?"

Eddie kicked the body.

"Oh, yeah, he's dead."

"Maybe we should move him. A dead body on the sidewalk might attract attention."

"In Nuevo Laredo?"

Enrique de la Garza did not sleep well alone. So he often worked late at night, after he put Carmelita to bed and read her a story in the ingles so she too could attend Harvard. He was in his office now, nowhere close to sleep, not with the governor's wife just one floor below in bed.

"You bring any weapons?" Eddie asked.

They had found a secluded alley around the corner between Farmacias where the doctor said Americans cross the river to buy cheaper prescriptions. Bode now pulled his dangerous game rifle off his shoulder and showed it to Eddie.

"Jesus, Governor, you'll wake up all of Nuevo Laredo with this thing."

"One of those three-seventy-five caliber slugs, guaranteed to ruin El Diablo's day."

"True, but we need to be a little stealthy."

"I'm a good shot."

"No doubt, Governor, but this ain't the turkey shoot back in Comfort. What else you bring?"

Bode pulled the six-shooter from his waistband.

"Colt Walker. 44-caliber six-shooter. It'll blow a hole the size of a bowling ball through a full-grown man."

Eddie blinked.

"A six-shooter?"

The doctor held his six-shooter out.

"I have one, too."

"Anything else?"

Bode pulled his right sleeve up to reveal the small pistol rubber-banded to his wrist.

"A Derringer?"

"Forty-one-caliber double-barreled."

Eddie shook his head. "How 'bout you, Doc, you bring anything?"

"This."

The doctor reached into his pocket and came out holding a scalpel.

"A scalpel? What else you got in there, a catheter?"

Bode was getting a little annoyed.

"So what'd you bring?"

"Just these."

Eddie pulled a gun.

"Nine millimeter Glock. Fifteen-round clip." He screwed a long tube onto the barrel. "With a silencer."

Eddie opened his ratty jacket to reveal a sawed-off shotgun slung under one arm and a small weapon under the other.

"Uzi," he said.

He lifted his pants leg to reveal a long knife with a serrated blade in a leg sheath. Taped to his other leg was an ice pick.

"You bring a can of Mace, too."

Eddie chuckled.

"You came prepared."

"This is what I do, Governor."

"I thought you were a gopher?"

"I am. I get what I go for."

Could the governor's wife love him if he killed the governor? Some women might be offended by such an act. But she had been working in the colonias for five months, perhaps she had left the governor, as the rumors on cable suggested. And he had cheated on her; she could not feel that strongly about him. If Enrique had cheated on Liliana, she would have killed him herself. With the governor out of the picture, certainly Enrique would be the front-runner for her affection. Who else would be in the race? There were no eligible men for her in the colonias… except Dr. Rincon. Yes, he was also educated and quite handsome. But he was quite poor. A woman such as the governor's wife was accustomed to certain things in life, things that only a man such as Enrique de la Garza could provide. Perhaps it was the wine he had with dinner or the brandy he had after dinner-or perhaps it was his lack of sleep-but he actually entertained the thought that one day the governor's wife might be his wife.

The federales and cartels had set up competing roadblocks throughout the city manned by heavily armed men.

"And they wonder why tourists don't come no more," Eddie said.

They evaded the roadblocks by backtracking and taking a longer route around, cutting through alleys, and even maneuvering through a side street of small motels manned by women dressed in lingerie. Shortly before 3:00 A.M., they arrived at the street on which the white compound was located. They ducked into a dark alley between two buildings. Bode accidentally kicked a beer can; it sounded like a siren as it careened down the concrete. Eddie put a finger to his lips.

"Shh."

At each end of the street stood a man with a rifle slung over his shoulder.

" Halcones," Eddie said. "Lookouts. The far one is policia, on El Diablo's payroll." He pulled out the Glock with the silencer. "Wait here."

He disappeared into the darkness. Bode and the doctor stood there, only their breathing breaking the silence.

"I miss him already," the doctor said.

They peeked around the edge of the building and observed the halcones. First one, then the other, dropped to the ground. Eddie pulled the bodies out of sight.

"He is very good," the doctor said.

"?No mueva! "

They didn't move. They turned slowly to the voice behind them. A policia held a gun on them. Bode hoped Eddie returned soon. He didn't. But a large brick suddenly slammed against the cop's head; he collapsed to the ground.

"Hidi, Governor."

Ranger Roy, sounding like a kid come to play.

"Roy-what the hell are you doing here?"

He wasn't wearing his Ranger uniform, but still, a six-foot-six Anglo in a T-shirt, jeans, and sneakers without a tan in the can stood out like a capitalist in Cuba.

"Mr. Burnet told me where you'd gone, so I drove down right after you left."

"Why?"

"Because I'm responsible for her. Mrs. Bonner, she's like my mother."

The boy's voice cracked.

"How'd you find us?"

He pulled a GPS unit out of his back pocket.

"Tracking your cell phone."

" Roy? "

Eddie had returned.

"Hi, Eddie."

Eddie turned his palms up.

"Anyone else coming?"

"Uh, no, I think this is it."

Eddie shook his head.

"Let's get closer."

They stayed in the shadows until they found another dark recess located directly across the narrow street from the front entrance to the compound. Standing outside tall iron gates were four massive hombres.

"I cased the place in daylight," Eddie said. "They've got sensors strung all the way around on top of the wall, so even if we could get over, we'd be dead before we hit the ground on the other side."

"So how are we going to get in?"

"The front door."

"The front door?"

"Who would be stupid enough to try that?"

"Good point."

Eddie pulled out the Glock with the silencer again.

"Once we get in, we'll have to split up to find your wife."

"No, we won't."

Bode retrieved the GPS unit and activated it again. The signal came on.

"I'm tracking her cell phone."

"No way he let her keep her phone."

"She hid it."

"Where could she…?" Eddie smiled. "Your wife's a tough broad, Governor."

They looked at each other for a long solemn moment.

"Well, let's go get her," Bode said.

Eddie pulled his knit cap down low and the collar to his ratty jacket up high. He dug into his pack and pulled out a small sealed foil container of cottage cheese that smelled sour. He poured the stuff into his mouth, but he didn't swallow. He kept his right hand free under the jacket to hold the weapon. He stepped out onto the sidewalk and began walking as if he were drunk. He stumbled back and forth then into the road, mumbling incoherently. As he approached the entrance gates, the guards started laughing. Eddie then dropped to his knees and puked the cottage cheese into the street. The guards laughed and stepped closer; Eddie rose up, leveled his gun at them, and shot all four men. They fell to the pavement. Not a dog barked.

"He's got skills," Ranger Roy said.

They ran over and helped Eddie pull the bodies out of sight.

"I don't figure we got much time till we have company. Where's she at?"

Bode checked the GPS.

"East side."

They slipped through the open gates and headed east along the perimeter wall. The base of the structure looked like a bunker half-built into the ground. Three floors extended above ground level. The entire structure was constructed of steel and concrete.