She started to walk away when Brady caught her attention.
“Thank you, ma’am. Say, we talked to you a couple of days ago about Mr. Rojas and his Dragon Limited?”
She hesitated, her eyes squinted slightly. Then she furtively searched the room, obviously looking for someone who might be a witness to their conversation. At last, she relaxed, dropped her shoulders, inhaled, and leaned toward them. Brady was all ears.
“I understand Mr. Rojas is leaving for Mexico tonight.”
Brady was beginning to have that icky feeling that occurred just before an op was about to go sideways. He worked to keep his patience, keeping his voice soft, low, and conversational.
“That surprises me, ma’am. He’s got this big party going on tonight. I got friends who were looking forward to shaking his hand, making his acquaintance.”
“I don’t know Mr. Rojas, but there are two girls who help clean the restaurant for the owner, and they sometimes travel with him when he’s shorthanded. Otherwise, I wouldn’t know. They’ve put in for a few days off.” She shrugged and quickly glanced around the room again.
Brady used the opportunity to delve further.
“Are you concerned about something? Is something bothering you?” he asked gently. He didn’t want to spook the woman with too many questions, and he figured he approached his limit.
“He is a very powerful man, and I respect that. I also don’t want any trouble. You are not a friend, I guess, so you may not know Mr. Rojas is a very private man. I haven’t seen you here until this week, so would you mind telling me why you’re asking? Are you investigating him? Because he helps a lot of people here in the Fresno area.”
Brady’s senses went into high alert. “No, ma’am. I’m sorry if we peppered you with questions. I just drove a tremendous distance to help my friend attend his event, that’s all. And if it’s all for nothing, well, I had other things I could have done. But we aren’t investigating him. We don’t do that. I’m mainly a driver.” Brady hoped that she bought the lie.
“Well then, let me tell you something. You won’t find many people in this town who will speak ill of the man. He has a lot of powerful friends here. He is a very important for the economy. He works with schools and children, and he supports an orphanage in Mexico. He does all this gratis. Unfortunately, with the way the border is these days, there are many children who have no parents or have parents who have left the area in search of jobs elsewhere. He takes care of them and finds them homes.”
“I can see why you and others would be appreciative of all he’s done,” Brady answered carefully. He continued to bore into her eyes for an answer. She was difficult to soften up and kept her spine straight, her expression completely neutral.
“Sometimes, he finds babies that are abandoned. There are lots of peoples here who very much appreciate his hard work. For me, I just try not to get too close to such important people. I—”
Just then, two well-dressed Latino men walked into the restaurant and sat at a table on the opposite wall. One of the men nodded to the waitress, motioning for her to come over. She was visibly shaken yet tried hard not to show it.
“Excuse me. I’ve got other customers to see to. I’ve told you everything I know.” She sashayed over to where the two newcomers were and demonstrated a broad smile.
Brady and Riley shared a shocked expression between the two of them. It was Riley who spoke up first.
“I’m getting a bad feeling, Brady.”
“I’m right with you, buddy. I don’t like this at all. We better check in with Carter.”
They took one or two more bites of their pie. Brady could tell Riley was having difficulty separating himself from the rest of it. He left a twenty dollar bill on the table, got up, and left without addressing the waitress, heading toward the van. Riley was right on his heels. A few seconds later, John and Enemario followed them down the sidewalk.
Brady walked around the edge of the van until it obscured any view from the restaurant. The four of them huddled.
“I got bad news, gents. Waitress says that Esquivel is leaving for Mexico tonight. He’s going to make a very quick appearance at his party, and I’m not sure where is going to be the best place to catch him. I’m going to recommend, Riley, that you go over to the ballroom with Enemario and John. I will head back to the house. Whoever catches the first sighting of him, I just want to hear about it, okay?”
John objected at first, but finally, the team agreed and split up accordingly. Over the course of the next three hours, Esquivel Rojas never showed his face.
The event at the ballroom concluded, an announcer called out the winners of the silent auction items, and someone from Dragon Limited got up and thanked everyone for their time. A small group left to continue the party at Mr. Rojas’ residence. John and Brady had been waiting just inside the compound walls, nearly ready to pull the plug on the whole evening when the group began arriving. Brady wondered what had held up the rest of the team. His comm squawked to life.
“About time, guys. So all three of you are coming over then?” asked Brady over the comm.
“Yeah, we’re leaving now. We’re just going to come in separate vehicles. Carter’s got someone he’s been talking to who’s going to ride with him,” said Riley.
“Feel free, Riley, to do the same.”
“Nah. Carter has all the moves. I’ve been out of the game a little too long. I’m just the bodyguard.”
Carter and a young attractive woman arrived first at the house with a crowd of other partygoers. About ten minutes later, Enemario’s truck arrived, and though he knew the man was trying to be discrete, the motor’s decibel level was off the charts. The whole conclave watched him park his beast a block away. Brady instructed Enemario to take up a perch in a scaffolding adjacent a new construction site, where stucco was being applied.
There was still no indication that Esquivel was there. Then, after another half hour, Carter messaged Brady.
“Boss, I got some bad news. They just announced that the party’s over. I got a few pictures, but there are only about five or six girls here, and I haven’t seen Rojas anywhere. It appears he’s already gone. I hate to say it, but I’m feeling like he got tipped off.”
“Fuck!” Brady’s blood pressure spiked. “Okay, Carter, are you going to have to take your ride home?”
“No, I’m fine. I’ll meet you guys wherever you want. What’s next?” Carter asked.
Brady needed just a few minutes alone to think. “We’ll talk in a few. Meet me at the Flamingo. We’ll hole up there for the night and see where things stand in the morning.”
“You got it. Riley’s on his way over to me now. See you in a few minutes.”
When the five of them assembled, Brady examined their faces one by one and noted they all had the same expression. The optimism of yesterday and earlier today was completely shattered by the lurking feeling that something had gone wrong, the plans had changed, and now it was going to be more difficult to find Esquivel Rojas. They knew the score. Their mission had just amped up to a whole new level. They were going to have to find Rojas in Mexico.
He knew that was the last thing they wanted to hear.