The Cartel Enforcers (The Bill Dix Detective Series Book 2) (9 page)

The CI looked up and noticed it was Sullivan and began laughing uncontrollably.

The CI said to Sullivan, “Jesus Sullivan, what the hell are you doing? And who the hell is this guy?”

Petersen twisted on the handcuffs ever so slightly causing the CI’s eyes to bulge out of his head from the pain.

She noticed the move and yelled at the CI, “What the hell is wrong with you? You’re lucky he’s taking it easy on you.” Petersen released the handcuffs and let the CI out of his bear-like grasp.

Sullivan put the CI in the unmarked police car after searching him. Then they got into the car and drove to a secure area.

Sullivan told the CI, “Listen, I’ve got a felony sales case I’m holding over your head. Based on the crap you pulled back there, I think I’m going to push the case up to the District Attorney’s office regardless of what you tell me

right now.”

The CI was pretty sure Sullivan wasn’t pulling his chain. The look in her eyes was anger and urgency. He was sure whatever she wanted was important. He wondered if it had something to do with the attempt on his friend’s life. The CI used close family members to gather any intelligence he could on the whereabouts of his friend, Pedro, in case someone came asking.

Petersen jumped in before the CI could respond to Sullivan.

“We need information immediately. I’m guessing you already know what we’re going to ask you about. Choose your answers wisely, because if you don’t, I’m going to add more charges over your head.”

The CI went from somewhat jovial to very concerned.

He said, “Look, you guys probably want to know where Pedro is, but unfortunately, I don’t know. My sister was seeing him sort of on the side and she has not heard from him. I have no idea where he is.”

He hoped the two officers would believe him because he really did not know where Pedro was. The CI and most everyone around town believed Pedro was dead anyway. So what was the big deal?

“We don’t care where Pedro is,” Sullivan told the CI.

The CI thought about that and began to get more worried. If the cops didn’t want to know about Pedro, it meant they wanted to know about the people who wanted Pedro dead.
I’m not giving that shit up for nothing,
he thought.

“Come on Sullivan, I’m a dead man if I talk about those guys. They’re ruthless. They kill for fun; I have a wife and kids to think about.”

“That’s not my problem. You give me a name or I’m going to get federal time for you. Give me a name and I’ll ask the District Attorney’s Office to put you and your family in protective custody,” she replied.

The CI shook his head and obviously did not believe them. “That’s bullshit! You guys couldn’t protect Pedro, how the hell are you going to protect me?”

Petersen believed the CI knew someone thing about the case, however, getting him to talk was going to be difficult because he was afraid. In addition, he couldn’t handle the CI the same way Sullivan could because it was taboo to try to handle another person’s CI and he didn’t have any real leverage on the man…she did. He had to be patient and see what she would do to get the man to talk.

Sullivan stared into the eyes of the CI and said, “It’s life in prison, or you give me a name, an address, or a vehicle. I vouched for you, it’s the only reason you are still alive. You’ve got five minutes to figure it out. When I’ve told you I would do something for you, I’ve done it,” the CI continued to shake his head and look weary, “We’ll do whatever we can to protect you, if you cooperate. But if you don’t, you’re on your own.” She was certain the CI was close to the guys they were looking for.

The CI was speechless. His heart was pounding. He began scanning the area to see if he could make a run for it. He didn’t know the guy with Sullivan and wasn’t sure how far he could push him. His experience with cops was that they had a very short fuse. He sized up the man and decided it was best he didn’t push things with him. He also noticed Sullivan meant business and he recalled what happened to the last person who crossed her.

Desperation forced him to test Sullivan. “Screw it, take me in then. These guys have people everywhere. They’re in the colleges, the courts, the DMV, the prisons, the churches, and the hospitals. Literally everywhere. I’d be dead for sure if I talk.”

Sullivan opened the rear car door and pushed the CI inside. She slammed the door shut and looked over at Petersen with a glare that made him uneasy. He was impressed with her ability to deal with stress. He couldn’t explain it, but he looked at her differently after watching her with the CI. He thought maybe it was the lighting or the fact he was lonely; but whatever it was, he found himself extremely attracted to her.

He figured by the way she looked at him, she was basically asking for a little help with the situation… so he obliged. He motioned for her to get into the front passenger seat and asked for the keys to the car. He got in and looked at the CI in the rear view mirror. The CI seemed at peace with his decision to kiss them off.
Not for long
, thought Petersen. He put the car in gear and drove away from downtown and toward Mexico.

The CI noticed Petersen was not driving toward the local jail, but toward the Tijuana border.

“Hey, what are you doing? Where are you taking me?” He looked nervous as hell as sweat dripped off his brow.

Sullivan was about to respond when Petersen tapped her on the leg and made a signal with his hand to keep quiet.

They continued to drive toward the border and Petersen noticed the CI began to lick his lips a lot and was perspiring profusely. He was stone cold bluffing the CI and was formulating a story to tell him when the moment was right as to what he and Sullivan were doing with him. Sullivan looked over at Petersen with a grin as if she figured out what he was up to.

About a mile from the border the CI screamed, “What are you doing! Sullivan what is this crap?”

Petersen decided it was time to make his play. He retrieved his cell phone and dialed a spoof number. Once it picked up, he explained to the fake Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agent on the other end that he had a felony fugitive who wanted to turn himself in at the border.

He also shared that the felony fugitive was a member of a violent cartel and might be wanted for several murders related to turf wars along the border.

When the CI heard that, he snapped, “You can’t do this! This is bullshit! Let me out of here. Sullivan, tell him he can’t do this!” The CI was panicking and had no idea what to do. He pulled on the door handle but the rear doors only opened from the outside. He was trapped and freaking out.

“Well kid, you picked the wrong day to test a handler. I’m going to release you to HSI who will turn you over to the local Mexican authorities. You think it’s rough living under our protection, wait until you try to survive in Mexico, especially after the story I tell HSI,” replied Petersen confidently. He was an excellent poker player and it was useful with crooks.

Sullivan pretended to support what Petersen was doing. She looked over at the CI, “He called your bluff buddy. You’re done. And don’t even ask to call your wife.”

The CI was hysterical. He was in a real mess. Petersen waited a few more minutes and kept driving toward the Tijuana border crossing. As they retrieved their credentials to show the Border Patrol agent, the CI cracked.

“Ok, ok, stop dammit! Get the hell out of here and I’ll give you a name,” he yelled. He was pissed, but wanted nothing to do with HSI or Mexico. He couldn’t believe Sullivan did him dirty.

Sullivan looked at Petersen with an approving smile and said, “Take the next right and head parallel along the border. There’s a spot a few blocks from here we can pull in and talk some more.”

Petersen joked some with her, “Are you sure, I have great stories to share with the Mexican authorities?”

Sullivan looked back to see the CI was pale and trembling.

“Yeah, I think we’re good.”

Petersen pulled in where Sullivan told him to and put the car in park. It was a commercial area with several buildings and abandoned lots. He saw only one way in and one way out, which bothered him a bit. Before making the narcotics team he was a SWAT guy. He couldn’t help it, no matter where he went, he always looked for a way out and ambush points.

Sullivan turned around and asked the CI, “What do you have?”

The CI only said two words, “Jose Calderon.” Sullivan shot a look over at Petersen that made him think whoever Jose Calderon was would be troublesome.

Petersen raised an eyebrow. “Who’s Jose Calderon?”

Sullivan was still stunned, but needed to know if the CI was talking about
the
Jose Calderon, the pillar of the community, the restaurant owner, a man considered a saint in San Diego based on all his volunteer work and donations to local charities.

Before Sullivan could ask a follow up question, the CI looked at her and said, “He owns El Diablo downtown.”

“Unbelievable. How sure are you?” Sullivan was still not convinced they were talking about the same person. If they were, and could confirm it, all hell was about to break loose. She needed concrete proof before letting the bosses know.

“Sure enough that I’m a dead man walking. Even if you get lucky and catch him, they’ll send a Collector to kill me and my family. Only way my family and I survive is by you two killing Jose before he figures out who ratted him out. You need to put the whole crew down or I’m dead,” He said as he stared out the window of the car and wondered where he’d gone wrong in life.

Petersen butted in. “That speech didn’t answer her question. Sounds like this Jose guy has flown beneath the radar for a long time and made a lot of friends. We’ll start looking into him, but how do you know he’s the guy calling the shots?”

The CI hesitated before he gave up everything. He wondered if there was any way out of the mess his mouth had created, but he couldn’t find one. All he cared about was his wife and kids now. He felt it was better to trust the police would do what they said they would do than have to deal with his murderous second cousin Jose Calderon.

He let out a big gasp and said to Sullivan, “Look, Jose Calderon is family. I actually work for him. He pays me to keep eyes on you and other law enforcement people in San Diego. The only people I’ve given you to bust have been his competitors.”

The comment caught them off guard. The ease of which he explained how he was working both sides of the fence was alarming. Sullivan was thankful she hadn’t provided him with information other than standard stuff to have successful missions. Nevertheless, like it or not, he’d just busted the case wide open.

The CI, Sullivan, and Petersen got back in the car and headed toward the office. Sullivan and Petersen were madly dialing Kovach, Dix, and Romero. Petersen called Dix and he didn’t answer. Sullivan was able to brief Kovach of the latest development as Dix called Petersen back.

Dix asked, “What did you stir up?”

“We have a person to look at, his name is Jose Calderon. A CI working for Sullivan spilled the beans, but it’s going to get messy pretty quick,” replied Petersen.

Dix laughed and said, “Like it isn’t already. We’re meeting a CI working for Romero in a few minutes. We’ll head to headquarters right after.” Dix was eager to hear all about some guy named Jose Calderon, but right now he was backing Romero. Dix was hopeful whatever they could dig up from Romero’s CI would also help with the case.

“Ok, we’ll see you in a bit, and be safe,” said Petersen.

Chapter 18

Dix updated Romero as they pulled next to what looked like an abandoned building just south of the Gas Lamp District. He couldn’t help but compare his current surroundings to a similar run-down looking area back home known as Liberty City.

Romero digested the update and wondered who Sullivan’s CI was.
How the hell did anyone know anything about Jose
, thought Romero,
this can’t be good
. He knew in order for Sullivan to share the information she would have made sure it was accurate.

Dix asked Romero as they exited the car, “So who the hell is Jose Calderon?”

“He’s a pillar in the local community. Jose donates money and time to local charities. His damn restaurant,
El Diablo
, is a local hang out for cops.” Dix noticed Romero called him Jose like they were friends. Then he figured he was reading too much into it. If Calderon was a well-known figure in the community, most people would probably address him as Jose.

Dix thought about the last part of Romero’s statement and chuckled. “Damn, what better way to get the dirt on who the locals are going after than offering up your restaurant to the cops?”

Before Romero could reply the front windshield exploded. Multiple gun shots rained down on them from an elevated position and they reacted quickly.

“Grab cover!” yelled Dix. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Romero was already doing that and reaching for the radio to request cover units. Numerous rounds filled the front of the car. Several of them ripped through the radio equipment. Romero met eyes with Dix and shook his head to indicate the radio was now useless.