always will be. We’re going to help you, but we don’t have unlimited time.”
“That means a lot to me. Besides you guys and my wife, I don’t have any family.”
“No kids?” Nathan asked.
“No. My wife can’t have children. I knew that when I married her.”
“Harv?” Nathan asked.
“Even though we both speak Spanish, we don’t have the local dialect or accent. We’d never blend in. Nathan’s a good foot taller than everyone down here. At six one, I’m still a head above most of the locals.”
“I blend in perfectly,” Estefan said with some renewed energy. “I’ll do all the legwork.”
It was good to see Estefan’s mood improve, but Nathan needed to make something clear. “Our help isn’t unconditional.”
“Okay.”
“Harv and I are in command.”
“That’s okay with me.”
“I need you to fully understand the situation. Command decisions are ours unless we ask for your input. Think about it carefully, Estefan. There will be no second-guessing us.”
“I can live with that. It worked before when I was a kilo . . . I never questioned your orders.”
“That’s true, you didn’t. Now you said you read some of your father’s letters. We’ll start there, with all of them, and glean what we can. But before we go down this path, Estefan, you have to really think about it. You’ve got a good thing going. Are you sure you want to risk everything you’ve accomplished? It sounds like you have an important job and a wife you love.”
“Raven murdered my father.”
“We don’t know that for sure.”
“He did it.”
“All I’m saying is we need to avoid impulsive decisions and do this right. Engaging Raven in a long-distance shoot-out might not have a favorable ending. We need to take him by surprise on our terms. If what you suspect is true, he’s still quite lethal. We’re going to need a whole lot more information on Macanas’s operation in Santavilla. When we asked if you had a plan, you gave us a goal, not a plan.”
“I need to say something for the record here,” Harv said. “We can’t go to war against any cartels. We don’t have the firepower or the ammunition for a prolonged engagement. We either make a surgical strike, or nothing at all.”
“Harv’s right, Estefan. You all right with that?”
“Yes.”
“Now about your father’s letters . . . I’m assuming they’re in your home in Managua?”
“Yes.”
Harv asked, “Have you had a chance to look through your father’s things? He might’ve kept a journal or an address book.”
“No, I guess I should’ve done that right away, but my father didn’t really have much. He gave all his money to the church.”
“Then it’s possible whoever killed him has already looked through his belongings,” Nathan said. “Especially if he was killed because he knew something critical or important about Macanas’s operation. We should search his house anyway. The church too.”
“That’s a good idea. Whoever killed my father may have missed something.”
“If all else fails,” Nathan said, “we can always grease some palms. We have a hundred thousand córdobas with us; that’s around $4,000 US. At the right price, everyone’s for sale down here, especially the police, and it’s a good bet they know something.”
“What you’re proposing is risky,” Estefan said. “Especially if we try to bribe the wrong cop. It would be just our luck to pick someone on Macanas’s payroll.”
“Hell, they’re probably all on Macanas’s payroll,” Harv said. “I don’t like the idea of bribing anyone. That could backfire. Someone in Santavilla must know what’s going on. We just have to find out who it is and get them to open up. Thinking about it more, I doubt any of the locals will cooperate. They’ll be worried Macanas will get word of it.”
“Leave that to me,” Estefan said. “They’ll talk.”
“Okay, but keep this in mind: I am not in favor of hurting anyone to get what we
“That means a lot to me. Besides you guys and my wife, I don’t have any family.”
“No kids?” Nathan asked.
“No. My wife can’t have children. I knew that when I married her.”
“Harv?” Nathan asked.
“Even though we both speak Spanish, we don’t have the local dialect or accent. We’d never blend in. Nathan’s a good foot taller than everyone down here. At six one, I’m still a head above most of the locals.”
“I blend in perfectly,” Estefan said with some renewed energy. “I’ll do all the legwork.”
It was good to see Estefan’s mood improve, but Nathan needed to make something clear. “Our help isn’t unconditional.”
“Okay.”
“Harv and I are in command.”
“That’s okay with me.”
“I need you to fully understand the situation. Command decisions are ours unless we ask for your input. Think about it carefully, Estefan. There will be no second-guessing us.”
“I can live with that. It worked before when I was a kilo . . . I never questioned your orders.”
“That’s true, you didn’t. Now you said you read some of your father’s letters. We’ll start there, with all of them, and glean what we can. But before we go down this path, Estefan, you have to really think about it. You’ve got a good thing going. Are you sure you want to risk everything you’ve accomplished? It sounds like you have an important job and a wife you love.”
“Raven murdered my father.”
“We don’t know that for sure.”
“He did it.”
“All I’m saying is we need to avoid impulsive decisions and do this right. Engaging Raven in a long-distance shoot-out might not have a favorable ending. We need to take him by surprise on our terms. If what you suspect is true, he’s still quite lethal. We’re going to need a whole lot more information on Macanas’s operation in Santavilla. When we asked if you had a plan, you gave us a goal, not a plan.”
“I need to say something for the record here,” Harv said. “We can’t go to war against any cartels. We don’t have the firepower or the ammunition for a prolonged engagement. We either make a surgical strike, or nothing at all.”
“Harv’s right, Estefan. You all right with that?”
“Yes.”
“Now about your father’s letters . . . I’m assuming they’re in your home in Managua?”
“Yes.”
Harv asked, “Have you had a chance to look through your father’s things? He might’ve kept a journal or an address book.”
“No, I guess I should’ve done that right away, but my father didn’t really have much. He gave all his money to the church.”
“Then it’s possible whoever killed him has already looked through his belongings,” Nathan said. “Especially if he was killed because he knew something critical or important about Macanas’s operation. We should search his house anyway. The church too.”
“That’s a good idea. Whoever killed my father may have missed something.”
“If all else fails,” Nathan said, “we can always grease some palms. We have a hundred thousand córdobas with us; that’s around $4,000 US. At the right price, everyone’s for sale down here, especially the police, and it’s a good bet they know something.”
“What you’re proposing is risky,” Estefan said. “Especially if we try to bribe the wrong cop. It would be just our luck to pick someone on Macanas’s payroll.”
“Hell, they’re probably all on Macanas’s payroll,” Harv said. “I don’t like the idea of bribing anyone. That could backfire. Someone in Santavilla must know what’s going on. We just have to find out who it is and get them to open up. Thinking about it more, I doubt any of the locals will cooperate. They’ll be worried Macanas will get word of it.”
“Leave that to me,” Estefan said. “They’ll talk.”
“Okay, but keep this in mind: I am not in favor of hurting anyone to get what we
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