Private L.A. (Private 6)

“I have not seen Antonio in ten years,” Gomez said. “This is the truth.”

“But you can get word to him,” Cordova said. “I mean, he is your brother-in-law. Your wife and her sister must talk.”

“I need to see a doctor,” Gomez complained.

I removed my mask and stepped into the light, saying, “We’ll take you to one. But then you are getting a message to your brother-in-law. We want the Harlows. We aren’t leaving Mexico without them.”

Gomez snorted as if I were mad. “You think you gringos can just come to México and order a man like Antonio around?”

“Actually, yes, we do,” I said, and then nodded at the darkness beyond the spotlights.

More lights came on, revealing Sci and Mo-bot in their masks, aiming video cameras at Gomez and Fox.

Chapter 120

“WHAT IS THIS?” Chief Fox asked, bewildered.

“Shut up, you idiot!” Commandant Gomez shouted, and then looked angrily at us. “You can’t use anything we just said.”

“Of course we can,” Justine said. “The Harlow disappearance is the story of the century. Or the decade, anyway. There will be all sorts of people interested in your confession.”

“The footage has already been sent to a safe place in the USA,” I said. “Which means you are going to go to your brother-in-law, and you are going to get us what we want.”

Gomez looked at us as if we were insane. “My life does not matter to Antonio. Your life does not matter to Antonio. If he thinks I am to be exposed, he will kill me so I do not talk about him. Eventually he will kill all of you.”

“No, he won’t,” Justine said. “If he kills you, if he kills any of us, the repercussions will be the same. People the world over will know of Antonio de la Vega’s role in the Harlow abduction.”

“So what does he care?” Gomez said.

“Sí,” Chief Fox said. “Antonio is afraid of nothing.”

“Bullshit, Antonio’s a cockroach,” Cordova said. “And cockroaches don’t like light. They need the darkness to thrive.”

“The Harlows are like royalty,” I explained. “If their hundreds of millions of fans find out Antonio was behind the disappearance, the political pressure will become enormous, the law enforcement pressure will become enormous, beyond anything in your brother-in-law’s wildest dreams. No amount of bribery will keep him safe. His cartel, his life, will be over. So will Adelita’s.”

“They’ll both be torn limb from limb,” Justine said. “And you along with them, Commandant.”

Gomez said nothing.

“Here’s how it’s going to work,” I said. “We will be at the Hilton, waiting. If we don’t hear from you in twenty-four hours, the footage of your confession will be uploaded to YouTube and the feeding frenzy will begin for you, for your niece, but especially for Antonio. If you or Antonio or anybody tries to kill us, the same thing will happen. There won’t be a dark hole anywhere in the world that any of you can retreat to.”

“And if he complies?” Chief Fox asked.

“His role remains a mystery,” I said. “And your role remains a mystery. We’re only interested in bringing the Harlows to safety.”

The commandant grumbled, “What makes you think they’re alive?”

“If they’re not, we want the bodies,” I said.

Chapter 121

BEFORE GRABBING COMMANDANT Gomez and Chief Fox, we’d checked into a suite at the Hilton. Mo-bot and Sci rigged a fiber-optic camera at the suite door and linked it to a secure website that we monitored from sixteen blocks away in a shabby house surrounded by a high wall topped with glass shards.

Cordova had rented the house from an old woman who asked no questions when he told her he’d pay five times the going rate if she left us alone.

In shifts we watched the website. For nearly twenty hours after we dropped Gomez and Chief Fox at a hospital, no one entered the Hilton suite except a maid around eleven a.m. on November third.

She looked around, realized no one had used the place, and left.