This new attorney general they got down here is clean and mean. He's working with us. So it's going to be a major jam, if we get the approval."
"When will you know?"
"Any time. One last piece has to fall."
"What's that?"
"If he's moving black ice across the border in EnviroBreed shipments, then how is he getting it from the ranch to the bug house? See, we've been watching the ranch and would've seen it. And we're pretty sure it's not manufactured at EnviroBreed. Too small, too many people around, too close to the road, et cetera, et cetera. All our intelligence says it's made on the ranch. Underground, in a bunker. We got aerials that show the heat patterns from the ventilation. Anyway, the question is then, how's he get it across the street to EnviroBreed?"
Bosch thought about what Corvo had said at the Code 7. That Zorrillo was suspected of helping to finance the tunnel that went under the border at Nogales.
"He doesn't take it across the street. He takes it under."
"Exactly," Ramos said. "We are working our informants on it right now. We get it confirmed, we get our approval from the attorney general and we go in. We hit the ranch and EnviroBreed simultaneously. Joint operation. The AG sends the federal militia. We send CLET."
Bosch hated all the acronyms law enforcement agencies cling to but asked what CLET was anyway.
"Clandestine Laboratory Enforcement Team. These guys are fuckin' ninjas."
Bosch thought this information over. He didn't understand why it was happening so quickly. Ramos was leaving something out. There had to be new intelligence on Zorrillo.
"You've seen him, haven't you? Zorrillo. Or somebody has."
"You got it. And that other little white squirrel you came down looking for. Dance."
"Where? When?"
"We have a CI inside the fence who saw the both of them outside the main compound shooting at targets this morning. And then we—"
"How close was he? The informant."
"Close enough. Not close enough to say 'Howdy do, Mr. Pope' but close enough to make the ID."
Ramos cackled loudly and got up to get another beer. He threw a bottle to Bosch, who wasn't yet done with his first.
"Where had he been?" Bosch asked.
"Christ, who knows? Only thing I care about is that he is back and he is going to be there when the CLETs come through the door. And by the way, you better not bring that gun with you or the federales will hook you up, too. They are giving a special weapons privilege to the CLETs but that is it. The AG is going to sign it—God, I hope this guy never gets bought off or assassinated. Anyway, like I'm saying, if they want you to have a gun, they'll give you something from their own armory."
"And how am I going to know when it goes down?"
Ramos was still standing. He jerked his head back and poured down half the bottle of beer. His odor had totally filled the room. Bosch held his bottle up near his mouth and nose so he'd smell the beer instead of the DEA agent. "We'll let you know," Ramos said. "Take this and wait." He tossed Bosch one of the pagers off his belt.
"You put that on and I'll give you a buzz when we are ready to rock. It will be soon. At least before New Year's, I'm hoping. We gotta move on this. There is no telling how long the target is going to stay in place this time."
He finished the beer and put the bottle on the table. He didn't pick up another. The meeting was done.
"What about my partner?" Bosch asked.
"Who, the Mex? Forget it. He's state. You can't tell him about this, Bosch. The pope has the SJP and the other locals wired. It's a given. Don't trust anybody over there, don't tell anybody over there. Just wear the pager like I said and wait for the beep. Go to the bullfights. Hang by the pool or something. Hell, man, look at yourself. You could use the color."
"I know Aguila better than I know you."
"Did you know he works for a man who is a regular guest of Zorrillo's at the bullfights each Sunday?"
"No," Bosch said. He thought of Grena.
"Did you know that to become a detective in the SJP, the promotion is bought for an average of two thousand dollars, not based on any skill in investigative technique?"
"No."
"I know you didn't. But that's the way it is here. You've got to understand that. Trust no one.