waiting for a table.
In a corner booth, Lock took a sip of coffee and pushed a half-eaten Western omelette around his plate while Ty continued to shovel up a mountain of food. They had walked there from the hotel, Lock wanting to make doubly sure that the surveillance they had been under had ceased. Not that it mattered. A new security team had already moved in to take over the coat-holding and car-door-opening duties demanded by Triple-C, but when it came to Mendez they were still at square one. Despite contacting everyone who might be able to lead them to him, there had been no new sightings, no fresh intelligence of any description.
Ty wiped his mouth with a paper napkin and belched. ‘So what’s the plan, Señor Lock?
‘Apart from you maybe getting some table manners?’
‘Sorry about that, just came out.’
‘So what do you mean, “What’s the plan?”’
‘Well, we going to go down there and get this asshole or what?’
Lock eyed him over the table. ‘Slight hitch, Señor Johnson.’
Ty smiled and scooped up some more food. Lock swore that his partner had hollow legs. Ty could eat all day every day and not put on a pound. It was irritating in the extreme.
‘Like we don’t have a goddamn clue where he is?’ Ty said.
Lock cleared his throat. ‘There’s that. But what if he never surfaces? Do we just let it go?’
‘Can’t do that either, can we?’
‘Okay. Let’s set ourselves a deadline. If we knew right now where he was, how long do you think we’d need to put everything together for a hostile extraction?’ Lock asked.
‘Day, maybe two.’
Lock signalled to the waitress for the check. ‘Two days’ time we head down there. If we don’t know where he is, maybe we can flush him out.’
‘Or get ourselves killed,’ said Ty.
Lock lifted his coffee mug and clinked it against Ty’s glass of orange juice. ‘That’s always an option too.’
The waitress dropped by with the check. Ty gave her his patented never-fails smile. She ignored him but took Lock’s credit card and came back with her phone number, which she had written on the back of the receipt.
Ty stared at it as she walked away. ‘You gonna call her? I mean the girl’s eyesight’s clearly not the best, but she is kind of cute.’
‘Don’t go there.’
‘What? You gonna be a monk the rest of your life? You gonna give yourself a bad case of DSB?’
Lock grimaced, knowing he would regret asking the obvious question. ‘DSB?’
‘Deadly Sperm Back-up, brother. Messes up a dude’s mind if he holds on to that dirty water too long.’
Lock pushed away his plate. ‘Can’t understand why you don’t get yourself more dates, Ty. Real old-school charmer such as yourself.’
Ty open-palmed an apology. ‘Hey, I’m just sayin’.’
‘Well, don’t.’
Ty’s BlackBerry chimed. He picked it up and took a look at the screen, then clicked the read button to open the email that had just dropped into his inbox.
‘Something?’ Lock asked him.
‘That break we needed?’ Ty said. ‘American guy I’ve been talking to down there who’s plugged into one or two of the local crews. He thinks he spotted Mendez in a bar.’
‘When?’
‘Last night,’ smiled Ty.
‘Where?’
‘Little town outside Santa Maria called Diablo.’
Lock tried to think back to his map. He was sure he’d registered that name. ‘Wasn’t that close to where Brady found him the last time?’
‘Think so.’ Ty thumbed further down the email. ‘Looks like he wasn’t alone either.’
‘Security?’ Lock asked.
Ty’s expression clouded. ‘Doesn’t mention it here but there was an American girl.’
Lock was already at the door. ‘Think we’d better move that departure date up.’
‘A day?’
‘No,’ said Lock. ‘We leave now.’
‘I can be good to go in an hour.’
‘Make it thirty minutes,’ said Lock, shouldering out on to the sidewalk.
Twenty-seven
THE AUDI WOULD stay where it was. Lock gave the valet who had seen
In a corner booth, Lock took a sip of coffee and pushed a half-eaten Western omelette around his plate while Ty continued to shovel up a mountain of food. They had walked there from the hotel, Lock wanting to make doubly sure that the surveillance they had been under had ceased. Not that it mattered. A new security team had already moved in to take over the coat-holding and car-door-opening duties demanded by Triple-C, but when it came to Mendez they were still at square one. Despite contacting everyone who might be able to lead them to him, there had been no new sightings, no fresh intelligence of any description.
Ty wiped his mouth with a paper napkin and belched. ‘So what’s the plan, Señor Lock?
‘Apart from you maybe getting some table manners?’
‘Sorry about that, just came out.’
‘So what do you mean, “What’s the plan?”’
‘Well, we going to go down there and get this asshole or what?’
Lock eyed him over the table. ‘Slight hitch, Señor Johnson.’
Ty smiled and scooped up some more food. Lock swore that his partner had hollow legs. Ty could eat all day every day and not put on a pound. It was irritating in the extreme.
‘Like we don’t have a goddamn clue where he is?’ Ty said.
Lock cleared his throat. ‘There’s that. But what if he never surfaces? Do we just let it go?’
‘Can’t do that either, can we?’
‘Okay. Let’s set ourselves a deadline. If we knew right now where he was, how long do you think we’d need to put everything together for a hostile extraction?’ Lock asked.
‘Day, maybe two.’
Lock signalled to the waitress for the check. ‘Two days’ time we head down there. If we don’t know where he is, maybe we can flush him out.’
‘Or get ourselves killed,’ said Ty.
Lock lifted his coffee mug and clinked it against Ty’s glass of orange juice. ‘That’s always an option too.’
The waitress dropped by with the check. Ty gave her his patented never-fails smile. She ignored him but took Lock’s credit card and came back with her phone number, which she had written on the back of the receipt.
Ty stared at it as she walked away. ‘You gonna call her? I mean the girl’s eyesight’s clearly not the best, but she is kind of cute.’
‘Don’t go there.’
‘What? You gonna be a monk the rest of your life? You gonna give yourself a bad case of DSB?’
Lock grimaced, knowing he would regret asking the obvious question. ‘DSB?’
‘Deadly Sperm Back-up, brother. Messes up a dude’s mind if he holds on to that dirty water too long.’
Lock pushed away his plate. ‘Can’t understand why you don’t get yourself more dates, Ty. Real old-school charmer such as yourself.’
Ty open-palmed an apology. ‘Hey, I’m just sayin’.’
‘Well, don’t.’
Ty’s BlackBerry chimed. He picked it up and took a look at the screen, then clicked the read button to open the email that had just dropped into his inbox.
‘Something?’ Lock asked him.
‘That break we needed?’ Ty said. ‘American guy I’ve been talking to down there who’s plugged into one or two of the local crews. He thinks he spotted Mendez in a bar.’
‘When?’
‘Last night,’ smiled Ty.
‘Where?’
‘Little town outside Santa Maria called Diablo.’
Lock tried to think back to his map. He was sure he’d registered that name. ‘Wasn’t that close to where Brady found him the last time?’
‘Think so.’ Ty thumbed further down the email. ‘Looks like he wasn’t alone either.’
‘Security?’ Lock asked.
Ty’s expression clouded. ‘Doesn’t mention it here but there was an American girl.’
Lock was already at the door. ‘Think we’d better move that departure date up.’
‘A day?’
‘No,’ said Lock. ‘We leave now.’
‘I can be good to go in an hour.’
‘Make it thirty minutes,’ said Lock, shouldering out on to the sidewalk.
Twenty-seven
THE AUDI WOULD stay where it was. Lock gave the valet who had seen
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