Four Live Rounds

It must have been over ninety degrees inside.

“Sorry about the heat,” she said. “My AC went out two weeks ago, and I just haven’t been around to replace it.” Sheaves of paper had been spread across the coffee table, the sofa, in numerous piles on the floor. Devlin counted three bulletin boards in the living room alone. One had been covered with what appeared to be crime-scene photos. Another displayed the organization of the Gulf Cartel, with maps of various corridors of the United States, certain highways and interstates highlighted.

“I apologize for the mess. As you can see, I’m a bit of a workaholic.”

Devlin was already sweating. Kalyn grabbed three diet Cokes from the fridge, and they sat on the sofa, fanning themselves with sheets of paper, sipping the cold soft drinks.

“So here’s the plan,” Kalyn said. “We leave Devlin here, and Will, you and I drive over to Mr. Estrada’s residence, see if you can’t make that identification.”

“I thought I was just going down to look at a lineup. That’s what you—”

“No, you’re going to do what we call a ride-along. Don’t worry. You’ll be up front with me. It’ll be fine.”

“But I thought you already—”

“Look, we can’t pick him up unless you ID him.”

Devlin looked at her father.

“Will my daughter be safe here?” he asked.

“She’ll be fine. She can watch TV. I don’t have cable, but you can get the network stations.”

The last thing Devlin wanted to do was sit in this hot, disgusting apartment all afternoon.

“I want to go with you,” she said.

“You heard Miss Sharp.”

“Dad!”

Her father stood up, said, “Come with me, Dev.” He glanced at Kalyn. “I need to talk to her for a minute in private.”

Devlin followed Will outside and shut the door. They stood by the railing overlooking the downtrodden courtyard.

“Listen to me,” he whispered. “I know you don’t want to stay here, and I don’t blame you. The thing is, I’m not exactly sure what’s going on yet. This just feels off, but she has us in a bind. If you get scared, if anything happens while we’re gone, you call me on your cell. I’ll come back here and get you.”

“I just wanna go home. I’m missing a sleepover at Lisa’s tonight.”

“I know, baby. I’m gonna take care of this, and then we’re out of here. We’ll fly back to Colorado if we have to.”

“You promise?”

“I promise. You’re earning major points today.”

“You’ll take me shopping in Durango?”

“Yes.”

“On a spree?”

“Okay.”

“Three hundred dollars.”

“Two fifty.”

Devlin smiled, said, “All right. I’m not gonna let you forget.”

SIXTEEN

Fifteen minutes from her apartment, Kalyn turned into the driveway of a five-story office building and pulled into a parking space near the entrance.

“He’s here?” Will asked.

“No, this is the Phoenix Field Office. I just have to run in and grab something.”

Kalyn left the Buick running and hustled into the building.

She returned five minutes later, hopped in the car, sped out into traffic.

The road into Scottsdale was lined with palm trees.

“So how’s this going to work, exactly?” Will asked.

“I have to be honest,” she said. “I’m not wild about doing it this way.”

Will laughed nervously. “Makes two of us.”

“First, we have to see if he’s home. If he is, I’ll arrest him, bring him out to the car. You can give me a thumbs-up, thumbs-down on whether or not you recognize him.”

“What if I don’t?”

“This is the guy,” she said.

“But what if I can’t—”

“Can I trust you with something?”

“I guess.” They were passing strip malls at the rate of ten per mile.

“Here’s the dilemma. Mr. Estrada is wanted for a whole host of things, many of them much easier to prove than human trafficking. You ID him early on, we can go that route. Maybe we get some answers. If you don’t, well, somebody else gets a crack at him. Border Patrol. Phoenix PD. DEA. Mexican authorities. And then we can forget about ever getting him prosecuted for what he did to your wife, or finding out what happened to her. I really don’t like where that leaves you in terms of the pending charges.”

“Is this how it’s normally done?”

“No.”

“Is it legal?”

Kalyn glanced at him. “Something you should know about FBI agents.”

“What’s that?”

“We’re always by the book.”

They were driving through residential neighborhoods now, the houses on steroids, lavish and ridiculous.

“How’d you become an agent?” Will asked.

“I was a cop right out of college. Did that for four years, went to law school. Then the Academy. Typical route.”

“Did you always know—”

“Look, I can’t do the ‘Is this what you always wanted to be when you grew up?’ conversation right now. I’m trying to get my head straight for this takedown.”

They rode in silence for another few miles, and then Kalyn turned into a gated community. At the guard station, she flashed her badge and creds. The gates opened, and they drove into one of the swankiest neighborhoods Will had ever seen, six- and seven-thousand-square-foot homes being the runts of the bunch, private security gates, driveways that looked like Jaguar and Porsche dealerships.

They followed Superstition View Boulevard up the lower flanks of a brown mountain turreted with rock outcroppings and desert flora. The properties were exquisitely and exotically landscaped. Hundreds of species of cacti. Yuccas. Rocks in place of grass.

A mile past the guard station, Kalyn pulled over to the curb.

“This it?” Will asked.

“Next house on the right. You got your cell with you?”

“Yeah.”

Kalyn took hers out of her purse. “Give me the number.” She programmed Will’s number into her phone, then turned off the engine and opened the door.

“Wait. I thought—”

She tossed him the keys, said, “Leave your cell on and hop in the driver’s seat.”

“No, I want to know exactly how this is—” She shut the door and walked quickly up the road, disappearing behind a row of hedges. He scooted over behind the wheel. With the AC off, the heat soon became unbearable.