this in Texas?’
‘I have no idea.’
‘A barbecue gun. Do you know why?’
She shook her head.
‘Because it’s the kind of gun you’d wear to a family barbecue. You’d strap it to your hip in a fancy holster like this one, and all your buddies would admire it.’
She looked to Payne for clarification. ‘People wear guns to family barbecues in America?’
‘Not in America, but they do in Texas.’
‘Really?’
Payne kept a straight face. ‘When kids play Cowboys and Indians in the great state of Texas, they use
real
guns. And
real
Indians.’
She cracked a smile. ‘That’s so wrong.’
‘Sorry. I meant Native Americans.’
‘Anyway,’ Jones concluded, ‘I don’t think Hamilton had this revolver to rob a bank or do anything illegal. I think he had it with him for self-defence.’
‘Why do you say that?’ she asked.
He aimed the revolver at the plasma TV and cocked the hammer. ‘This sucker might be slow, but people are going to think twice if you whip it out.’
‘OK,’ she admitted. ‘Self-defence sounds plausible. But why? Why did he think it was necessary?’
Jones pulled the trigger and the hammer slammed shut. The metallic clack echoed around the trashed suite. ‘That’s what we need to find out.’
17
Mexico City, Mexico
Tiffany Duffy didn’t know what to expect when she flew to Mexico City for a business trip, but she wasn’t expecting this.
According to CIA estimates, Mexico City is the third most-populated metropolitan area in the world, behind only Tokyo, Japan and Seoul, South Korea. With over 21 million people, Mexico City accounts for nearly 20 per cent of the population of Mexico and a significant portion of the nation’s wealth. Because of its proximity to the United States, Mexico is often viewed as a secondary player on the global stage, but its population of 111 million people is the eleventh largest in the world. That’s more than Canada, Ireland and the United Kingdom combined.
The capital city is nestled in the Valley of Mexico in the high plateaus of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt. Composed of more than twenty volcanoes, including some of Mexico’s highest peaks, the belt stretches across southern Mexico from the Pacific coast to the Caribbean Sea. With a minimum altitude of 7,200 feet, Mexico City has a very different feel to tropical Cancún. Instead of colourful resorts, there are drab apartment buildings. Instead of manicured streets, there is urban sprawl. And instead of white, sandy beaches, there are mountains perpetually topped with snow.
Sadly, many of those peaks are rarely seen by locals because of the thick layer of smog that hovers above the valley like a dirty blanket. Twenty times worse than any city in America, the smog reached such toxic levels in 1990 that a local newspaper estimated the life expectancy of its citizens was nearly ten years less than that of the residents of other Mexican cities. To combat this problem, the local government instituted a programme called
Hoy No Circula
. In Spanish, it literally means, ‘Today (your car) Does Not Circulate’, but it’s more commonly known as ‘One Day Without a Car’. Restrictions are based on the last digit of your license plate and prohibit certain cars from being driven on certain days of the week.
Tiffany wasn’t familiar with the programme, but she had a hard time believing there were
any
traffic regulations on the city’s busy streets. A constant stream of cars – more than she had ever seen in her native Ohio – whizzed past at alarming speeds. She tried to cross the road on multiple occasions, only to be greeted by a chorus of beeps and profanities. At least she
assumed
they were profanities. She didn’t know for sure since her street slang was rusty, but she had spent enough time in Cleveland to realize that the motorists probably weren’t welcoming her to their city when they flipped her off.
With map in hand, Tiffany made her way through the chaos and into the
‘I have no idea.’
‘A barbecue gun. Do you know why?’
She shook her head.
‘Because it’s the kind of gun you’d wear to a family barbecue. You’d strap it to your hip in a fancy holster like this one, and all your buddies would admire it.’
She looked to Payne for clarification. ‘People wear guns to family barbecues in America?’
‘Not in America, but they do in Texas.’
‘Really?’
Payne kept a straight face. ‘When kids play Cowboys and Indians in the great state of Texas, they use
real
guns. And
real
Indians.’
She cracked a smile. ‘That’s so wrong.’
‘Sorry. I meant Native Americans.’
‘Anyway,’ Jones concluded, ‘I don’t think Hamilton had this revolver to rob a bank or do anything illegal. I think he had it with him for self-defence.’
‘Why do you say that?’ she asked.
He aimed the revolver at the plasma TV and cocked the hammer. ‘This sucker might be slow, but people are going to think twice if you whip it out.’
‘OK,’ she admitted. ‘Self-defence sounds plausible. But why? Why did he think it was necessary?’
Jones pulled the trigger and the hammer slammed shut. The metallic clack echoed around the trashed suite. ‘That’s what we need to find out.’
17
Mexico City, Mexico
Tiffany Duffy didn’t know what to expect when she flew to Mexico City for a business trip, but she wasn’t expecting this.
According to CIA estimates, Mexico City is the third most-populated metropolitan area in the world, behind only Tokyo, Japan and Seoul, South Korea. With over 21 million people, Mexico City accounts for nearly 20 per cent of the population of Mexico and a significant portion of the nation’s wealth. Because of its proximity to the United States, Mexico is often viewed as a secondary player on the global stage, but its population of 111 million people is the eleventh largest in the world. That’s more than Canada, Ireland and the United Kingdom combined.
The capital city is nestled in the Valley of Mexico in the high plateaus of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt. Composed of more than twenty volcanoes, including some of Mexico’s highest peaks, the belt stretches across southern Mexico from the Pacific coast to the Caribbean Sea. With a minimum altitude of 7,200 feet, Mexico City has a very different feel to tropical Cancún. Instead of colourful resorts, there are drab apartment buildings. Instead of manicured streets, there is urban sprawl. And instead of white, sandy beaches, there are mountains perpetually topped with snow.
Sadly, many of those peaks are rarely seen by locals because of the thick layer of smog that hovers above the valley like a dirty blanket. Twenty times worse than any city in America, the smog reached such toxic levels in 1990 that a local newspaper estimated the life expectancy of its citizens was nearly ten years less than that of the residents of other Mexican cities. To combat this problem, the local government instituted a programme called
Hoy No Circula
. In Spanish, it literally means, ‘Today (your car) Does Not Circulate’, but it’s more commonly known as ‘One Day Without a Car’. Restrictions are based on the last digit of your license plate and prohibit certain cars from being driven on certain days of the week.
Tiffany wasn’t familiar with the programme, but she had a hard time believing there were
any
traffic regulations on the city’s busy streets. A constant stream of cars – more than she had ever seen in her native Ohio – whizzed past at alarming speeds. She tried to cross the road on multiple occasions, only to be greeted by a chorus of beeps and profanities. At least she
assumed
they were profanities. She didn’t know for sure since her street slang was rusty, but she had spent enough time in Cleveland to realize that the motorists probably weren’t welcoming her to their city when they flipped her off.
With map in hand, Tiffany made her way through the chaos and into the
Similar Books
