Gregg Hurwitz - Troubleshooter

All eyes were on the black octopus of the speaker unit dominating the conference table. A mound of Rich's cigarettes grew from a Styrofoam doughnut plate like an ashen artichoke. Early-morning light filtered through the shades, pale and weak, losing itself in the fluorescents.

At last a clicking issued through the unit as Roberto Garcia returned to the phone on the other end. A liaison from the Mexican attorney general's office, he spoke clear English, unaccented and formal. "Ricardo, are you still there?"

Fingers drumming on his knee, Rich leaned forward over the speaker unit. "Still here, bud."

"The raid was a success. The Special Operations Group killed two Laughing Sinners in a shoot-out. We took the mortician alive."

Whoops and cheers and a smattering of applause.

Garcia said proudly, "My girl is sending the faxes through now."

As if on cue, the machine behind them whirred to life.

"Next time you come, my friend, bring some of that single-malt."

Rich smirked. "That stuff ain't free, compadre."

"I will supply the Cubans. Our customary arrangement."

Guerrera held the fax paper impatiently as it printed, then held up the crime-scene photos of the late Toe-Tag and Whelp to the others. Excited nods and high fives.

Tim slid the speaker unit to his side of the table. "Did you find the bodies?"

"Bodies? No bodies. The funeral home is disused for many months now. But we did find two cadaver tables with fresh fluids."

The celebratory mood dissipated immediately. Bear's shoulders sagged as if he were deflating. Jim swore sharply, his legal pad landing on the table with a slap.

Rich made a ticking noise with his tongue against his teeth. "I need another favor, Roberto. There are two corpses we gotta track down. Is the funeral director talking?"

"Not a word. He's loaded on heroin. He knows enough only to be terrified of the biker network. He will not talk."

In the background Maybeck said, "Even if the bodies shipped, we've got eyes at LAX. We're covered."

"We have to be sure," Rich said, at the same time Tim said, "We've got to question him."

"Can we get him extradited?" Guerrera asked.

"He's a Mexican citizen," Garcia said.

Tim's tone was bitter, discouraged. "They can't deport him, and a Mexican court won't extradite."

"So let's get country clearance from OIA and go interview him," Guerrera said.

The D.C. Office of International Affairs was notoriously bureaucratic. Tim spoke what everyone was thinking: "Won't happen within our time frame. That takes weeks, not hours."

Guerrera pressed on. "Maybe we can reclassify him as an international fugitive."

Garcia's voice came through clearly: "Gringo? Relax."

Wearing a sour face, Guerrera mouthed, "Gringo?"

Garcia said, "We have our own ways of dealing with matters such as this."

Rich's smile came fast, the gleam of his teeth standing out from his scruff. He reached across the table and pulled the speaker unit back in front of him.

"Our usual spot?" he asked.

They rattled along the desert in Tim's Explorer, Bear riding shotgun, Rich and Guerrera in the back. Yet another Border Patrol jeep drove past, slowing until the flash of Tim's badge hanging from the rearview came visible. The patrol officer lowered his assault rifle and waved.

The sun bleached the ground to a near white and made the border fence gleam. They were east of Tijuana, so the expensive fence had given way to a rougher design-runway metal used in Kuwait during the first Gulf War, stripped and rammed into desert sand. Each post went deep into the ground to discourage burrowing. They were in a desolate stretch-no houses, no bushes, just a floodlight every hundred feet, countless jeeps, and the endless barrier.

Twenty-six times as many CBP inspectors occupied this fence line as the one at the U.S.-Canada border. Since NAFTA and 9/11, the Mexican border had tightened up, the initiative propelled, as always, by a set of nifty designations. Operation Gatekeeper firmed up matters in California; Arizona needed its own Operation Safeguard, whereas Texas required Operation Hold the Line.

It was a few years since Tim had spent time along the southern seam, and the rise of militarism took him by surprise. He studied the dead, cracked land on which so many Mexicans died trying to get to paradise. Looking around, it was difficult to see the appeal of the side north of the fence.

They passed a tanker truck spraying water to keep down the dust along the sandy road. The hum of the power lines remained audible. A few miles back, when a corralled mustang had passed under the swaying lines, the static bleed-off had raised the hair of his mane.

"Right…here," Rich said.

The Explorer skidded off the road, angling for the fence. Rich got out and headed for a three-armed cactus. The deputies followed suit, Tim looking around at the miles and miles of sand.

Though they'd just exited the air-conditioning, Bear was already sweating through his shirt. "You want to tell us what the hell we're doing out here in the middle of nowhere?"

"Are you getting us across to interview the guy or what?" Guerrera chimed in.

"No," Rich said. He counted off a few steps along the fence line from the cactus, stopped, and let out a whistle.

A figure sailed over the barbed wire, dark against the sun, screaming. He landed hard, sand sticking to his cheek and neck. The man was hogtied, arms and legs bound behind him with cloth. His gag had come loose.

Tim put his face to the fence, making out the AFI insignia on the transportation-unit van on the other side. The agents on the roof offered Tim casual, two-finger salutes and went back to their game of cards.

Rich cut the prisoner's restraints and hauled him to his feet. "Gustavo Alonso?"

The man remained bent over, sucking wind, fighting to catch his breath. He managed a nod. "Y-yes."

Bear frowned and nodded, impressed. Guerrera's eyes were like coasters.

A Border Patrol jeep slowed, and they all waved except for Gustavo. The driver waved back and kept on.

Gustavo trembled, going at the scabs on his arms with his fingernails. From his urgency it was obvious he'd been waiting a long time to scratch. He looked terrified.

"Now, listen," Rich said. "Closely. I know you don't want to roll on the Sinners. Hell, if I was only up against some shaky aiding-and-abetting bullshit, I wouldn't want to either. But things are different now. You see this?" He toed the sand. "This is American soil. Congratulations. You just reached the promised land. So the problem is…the problem is, you were dicking around in an operation that threatens-as the song goes-this land that I love. Big time. Not just Laughing Sinners on their tricycles but terrorists. Muji motherfuckers, straight off the hijacked plane from Buttfuckistan. Comprende?"

Sweat streaking his face, Gustavo nodded. But he looked baffled.

"Now, on that side of the fence, you're all a bunch of big-family-having, God-fearing Catholics. You know what that means?"

"No."

Guerrera launched into a Spanish clarification, but Rich cut him off.

"It means no death penalty. But on this side of the fence, we're a bunch of pissed-off-cuz-we-got-caught-with-our-pants-down, vengeance-wreaking infidels. Guess what that means."

"Death penalty." Gustavo sounded sure, but he was looking at Guerrera, who nodded gravely.

"Very good, Gustavo. Now, you can play tough guy and prolong your visit to America for, say, the rest of your will-be-shortened life. Or you can talk and go back over the fence. Choice is yours."

Gustavo's eyes darted about. The tip of his tongue inched out and poked at his dehydration-cracked lower lip. "What we talk about. You won't give to them?" He jerked his head at the fence and the AFI agents beyond.