Blood of the Assassin - By Russell Blake Page 0,21

away.

Both sat, making appreciative noises, lost in their thoughts: Cruz dwelling on the next day’s meeting in spite of his best intentions, Dinah on how to get her husband to pursue a safer line of work. When they were done with dinner, she curled up in his arms on the couch as they watched one of the inevitable talent shows that seemed to dominate the airwaves. She snuggled against him and the tension fell away, and they were finally both able to relax, secure in the moment, their troubles fleeting as long as they had each other.

Chapter 9

“The director will see you now.” The receptionist sized Cruz up in his civilian attire with an expression he was sure she reserved for vagrants. “You know the way to his office, yes?”

Cruz stood, having been kept waiting for fifteen minutes past his appointment time – an expected part of the ritual whenever he was summoned before his superior, to underscore who was in charge. Cruz didn’t take it personally, but the receptionist’s attitude annoyed him. He bit back any of ten terse responses and merely nodded and strode down the hall to Godoy’s door, which was closed, forcing him to knock.

“Yes. Come in,” Godoy called out, and Cruz pulled the door open. “Ah, Capitan Cruz. Come in. Have a seat, won’t you?”

Cruz did as instructed, and waited for Godoy to broach the topic of the meeting. He eyed the man’s urbane, too-slick countenance that had all the warmth of a granite statue, and remarked to himself for the hundredth time that men like his boss had to have come from some factory where they removed all semblance of humanity before shunting them off the end of the assembly line.

“Congratulations are in order for the apprehension of El Gato, I think,” Godoy started, as if uncertain whether the capture of one of the most wanted men in Mexico City warranted praise. “It’s a pity that we lost so many officers getting him,” he continued, a faint reprimand in his tone.

“I agree. I spent most of yesterday calling and meeting with the spouses of the dead men. It’s a shame that these cartel thugs are so well armed, and think nothing of taking the lives of honest police.” Cruz’s rebuke was subtle, but it registered on the arrogant peacock; he could tell by the flash of anger in Godoy’s eyes.

“Yes, well, what’s done is done. The important thing is you got your man. Has he talked yet?”

“No. And he’s unlikely to, I know from experience. The cartel bosses at this level rarely say anything. They know better.”

“Hmm. And what are you planning to do with him? You still have him detained downstairs, correct?”

“Yes. But the district attorney is getting anxious. He’d like him moved to a proper facility to await trial. We’re not really set up for long term stays, as you know.”

“That’s one of the matters I wanted to mention. I got a call from him yesterday afternoon. He wants El Gato out of here before the end of the day. I assured him that would be no problem,” Godoy said.

Cruz decided to play nice. “No problem here, either.”

“Good. Again, job well done,” Godoy said with a wave of his hand.

“Thank you. It was a team effort.”

Godoy rocked in his overstuffed executive chair, and Cruz wondered how long it would take the man to get to the real reason he had summoned him. He didn’t have long to wait.

“I have some other news, which you may not be excited about. I’m going to take you off active duty with the task force.”

Cruz’s eyes widened. “What! Why? We’re finally making real progress...”

“Don’t worry. It’s just temporary.”

“Temporary...,” Cruz echoed.

“Yes. We have another matter that takes precedence. Something I need you to manage. I have it straight from the president’s office – you’re to handle this issue personally, and I will provide whatever support you need.”

“What issue?”

“Ah. Just so. We received information from CISEN yesterday about a threat we need to get in front of. An assassination attempt.”

“Assassination,” Cruz repeated, his mind churning furiously.

“Yes. As you might have seen in the news, Mexico is getting ready to sign a historic accord with the Chinese, ushering in a new age of mutual cooperation. It’s something that we’ve been working on for a year. The Chinese leader will be here in eight days to ratify the agreement in a ceremony with the president. We got word that an assassin is targeting the Chinese leader, and that an attempt