Suretta stepped into view and Hunter saw her. Suretta motioned for Hunter to roll down her window. She did, and thought about shooting the big woman when she did it, but decided not to.
Suretta said, “Get out, slowly, hands high. Now.”
Ike exited the passenger side and Hunter the driver’s side, and both had their pistols taken in a matter of seconds.
“In the van,” Suretta said. They did as they were ordered. The female driver, Sandra, ushered them inside and closed the sliding panel door. She slipped into the driver’s chair and they were soon moving. The man in the front passenger’s chair kept his AK below the front window so no other traffic could see the weapon, but he kept it low and pointed at Ike and Hunter. Hunter watched him, noticing the barrel never shook. He was calm, so Hunter knew he’d done this type of thing before. That didn’t bode well for her or Ike.
Sandra looked in the rearview mirror to catch Hunter’s eyes and said, “Are you the female Agent who killed Pasqual Osorio?”
“I didn’t kill him.”
“That’s not what people say in Ojinaga.”
“They weren’t there.”
“So, who did?”
“He died of cancer.”
“No, he had cancer, but he died of something else. Don’t play funny with me, Kincaid. He was my cousin on my mother’s side.”
“Ah.”
“So, who killed him?”
“A Japanese guy’s gang, a branch of Aum Shinrikyo. They’d taken over his home and ran him out of there.”
“Japanese?”
“Talk to your uncle, he’ll tell you. But I didn’t kill Pasqual, know that first.”
“My uncle’s dead.”
“When I talked to him over the phone, he never mentioned you.”
Sandra’s ears turned pink. “You are a bitch, you know that?”
“It all depends on the people I’m with.”
“It won’t matter in a while,” Sandra said.
Sandra continued to drive, but didn’t talk after that.
Ike leaned toward Hunter and said in a low voice, “We can’t be passive. We get a chance, we take it.”
“If we don’t get one, we make one. There’s no instant replay on this.”
“Yes.”
She watched the man with the rifle, but he didn’t waver, and didn’t relax his attention. Hunter hoped he might doze off, but that wasn’t happening, either.
Sandra reached the ranch gate in forty minutes. The man exited, still carrying his weapon, and opened the gate for her to go through. He closed it afterward and hopped in the passenger seat to resume his position, with the rifle pointed in the back, the barrel pointing between Ike and Hunter, and easy to bring on target to either one.
Driving to the barn added no surprises. The only difference that Hunter witnessed was the repaired plane resting on the crude strip near the barn, looking ready to go.
More people than usual milled about, and one truck loaded with tools left as they parked. Sandra and the other man exited the vehicle and joined Suretta, with the women using hand gestures as they talked.
Suretta left and went into the barn, then returned in a short time, obviously mad about something. She walked to the van and opened the sliding door, motioning for Ike and Hunter to get out. The man with the rifle kept the barrel on them.