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Chapter 9
Brady reached Sergio Garcia, who answered with a string of Spanish.
“Whoa there, amigo. I am not bilingual. I speak a little Pashtu, but do you speak English?” Brady asked him.
“Sí! Sí, señor. I speak English very well. And who is this please?”
“This is Brady Rogers, and I am a friend of a friend, and she said she was going to give you my name. That’s how I got your number.”
“Ah yes, Mr. Brady Rogers. Listen, I do have employees here right now. Let me go out to my vehicle where we can speak in private.”
“Very well.”
Brady waited several minutes as he heard the sounds of machinery and chatter in a shop or a small space, perhaps a warehouse. In the background, some Mariachi music played. He also heard a couple of children running past the shop. And, as Sergio walked out to his truck, Brady also heard the unmistakable crow of a rooster.
After hearing the car door close, Sergio’s voice was loud and clear.
“I am so sorry, señor. I do not want any of my people here to know anything about this conversation. You understand, I’m sure,” Sergio said.
“Yes, I do. So just so you know where I’m coming from, I’m a former US Navy SEAL. I’m retired currently, but I have done some recent work in Mexico rescuing women and children. I recently rescued my own wife, who was taken by one of your cartel leaders.”
“No, no, no, señor. He is not one of mine. He is a criminal. And I believe he will be in prison for a very long time. At least that’s my hope.
“Yes. Esquivel Rojas,” Brady mumbled.
“We will not speak his name again, Mr. Brady Rogers. These telephone lines are often hijacked or listened to by government authorities. We must be careful. But I am here to help you, if I can. I understand your woman is coming here to help Father Salvador?”
“Yes, that’s correct. She left today. He’s supposed to meet her at the airport.”
“Father Salvador is a very decent man. He’s a Christian man. She could not be in better care, señor. That being said, this is a very dangerous time and a very dangerous place to live, perhaps not quite as bad as some of the border towns or down on the mainland or the end of the peninsula, but it is a strange time in our relations with the United States, and most of us are not sure who to turn to.”
“I understand, Sergio. May I call you Sergio?”
“You may. No last names please.”
“Roger that, so you call me Brady. You say this priest is someone that I should trust, that my wife should trust?”
“He is a very great man, very courageous, but he does not have an army behind him. Señor, nobody is safe here. And from what I watch on TV, no one is safe in the United States, either. There are factions here that are simply out of control. Our military, our police force, even our national drug enforcement teams are all compromised. And of course, there’s no reason to believe our politicians are any more honest than yours, señor. And I’m sorry to say that.”
Brady chuckled. “Oh, you’ll have no argument from me, sir. I would make the worst politician in the world. Just make sure you are not beholden to any of them. I give them a wide berth, and being a Navy SEAL was about as close to any government entity as I ever wanted to be. I’m glad I’m retired. I wish my wife would get it in her head she has no business going down there.”
“I see, señor. Well, you’ll get no argument from me on this either.”
“Can you check on the church there, perhaps find a way to discover where she’s staying, and at least verify what I’ve been told? She said the priest was going to house her in the clergy wing of the church, because it was more secure. I just would like your eyes on it if you could. And if you can’t, I understand, but I really need to know whether it can be locked up at night, if there are any guards, whether they have any enforcement capabilities, or if they’re just sitting ducks relying on the goodwill of the people around them.”
“Sí, señor, I understand. I think I can do this. One of my daughters does bookkeeping for the church, and she also does some light housekeeping, too, polishing some of the silver and the brass and doing errands for them. The priests do drive, but they try not to travel alone. I think it’s significant that he is picking your wife up at the airport, and I hope he has brought someone with him. Even though it’s just a small distance, the roads are not safe, señor. Especially at night.”
“But she’s arriving this afternoon. It should still be daylight.”
“Yes, well, we will hope so, and I will find a way to verify where she is staying. I’m sure she will let you know that she has landed, correct?”
“Well, let me put it this way, Sergio. If she doesn’t, I’ll be on the next flight there.”
Sergio chuckled.
“I must return to my shop, as I do not want to create too much attention with this phone call. But you let me know if she has arrived, and I will do the rest. You text me at this number, and now that I have your number, I will respond. If you get another call from Mexico and they say they are me, do not trust it, señor. Only this number is the number you can trust. We have lots of trouble with people using shared phone lines and masking their confidential conversations at the expense of other people. I want to make sure I don’t put your wife in danger just because I’m communicating with you.”
“I understand. And thank you.”
