Home Invasion - J. A. Johnstone [104]
The creek ran to within five hundred yards of the edge of the town, then curved west before looping south again and crossing the state highway a mile or so west of the city limits. The four men stopped when they were north of Home and lay at the top of the sloping bank where they could look through the brush at the community. Callahan had brought binoculars from the pickup. He trained them on the town and studied it for a few minutes.
The rancher grunted and passed the binoculars to Ford. “Take a look for yourself,” he said. “I don’t see anybody movin’ around except some fellas car-ryin’ automatic weapons.”
“The FPS? “ Parker asked.
“No,” Ford said as he peered through the glasses and spotted some of the men Callahan had mentioned. “Civilians. Hispanic males, all appearing to be in their twenties and thirties.”
Parker frowned. “And they’re armed?”
“Oh, yeah.”
“That sounds like drug cartel goons. But we’re north of the border.”
“That doesn’t matter much anymore. The Rio Grande is less than fifty miles away. From what I’ve heard, the cartels have a lot of influence over here, and they’re getting more powerful all the time.” Ford passed the binoculars to Parker. “Whoever those civilians are, it looks like they’ve taken over the town.”
Parker studied the situation for a moment and then said, “Yeah. It looks like a military occupation, the way they’ve got guards posted and patrols moving around the streets. What the hell’s going on?”
Earl said, “This is just off the top of my head, you understand, but, uh, what if they’re transporting the first shipment of that nerve gas out of Casa del Diablo today? Wouldn’t that be something those cartel types would like to get their hands on? They’re always at war with each other, right?”
The other three men stared at the young scientist. Earl said defensively, “Hey, it’s just a theory. I don’t know anything about this kind of stuff.”
“It’s a good theory,” Ford said. “It would explain a lot.”
“How would a bunch of Mexican drug smugglers find out about Casa del Diablo?” Parker asked.
Callahan snorted. “Shoot, they got folks workin’ for ’em all over Texas. Most of the people who come over here from Mexico are just lookin’ for a better job, but some of them already got a good job … workin’ for the cartels. And some of ’em go along with it because they still got relatives below the border who’ll be in danger if they don’t cooperate. When somebody crosses the cartel, it’s not just them who pays the price. Their whole family usually gets wiped out, too.”
Ford nodded and said, “That’s right. There’s no telling where they have agents these days. They could find out when a shipment is scheduled.”
“But we don’t know they’re bringing out the nerve gas today,” Earl pointed out. “I just said they might be.”
“And that’s what we have to find out,” Ford said. “Earl, why don’t you stay here?”
“By myself?”
“No, Mr. Callahan will stay with you,” Parker said.
The rancher objected. “Wait just a cotton-pickin’ minute. I got shot at, too. I want to know what it’s all about.”
“Yeah, but somebody’s got to live through this so that the truth will have a chance to get out,” Ford said. “That’s gonna be up to you and Earl here. Besides, getting in and out of places where everybody wants to kill us is what Brad and I are good at.”
Callahan rubbed his jaw and frowned. “Well… I don’t like it. But I reckon you’ve got a point. The boy and me will stay here … for now.”
“Don’t I get a say in this?” Earl asked.
“No,” the other three men said together.
“All right, all right. Go do your secret agent, commando thing. Just don’t forget that we’re out here, okay?”
“We’ll be back to get you,” Parker promised.
“If we’re alive,” Ford added.
“Have you heard of a place called Casa del Diablo?” General Garaldo asked.
“House of the Devil,” Alex automatically translated. “No,