as Brodie had reminded Worley, and that left the Intel people with two choices: turn the suspect over to the CID or FBI, or kill him. Actually, there was a third choice: Intel people were infamous for offering deals to scumbags who belonged in jail. They called it “turning a guy around,” “making him a double agent,” and all that crap. It sometimes worked in that world of smoke and mirrors, but Brodie found it distasteful. Criminals, spies, and traitors belonged in jail. Not on the payroll. In any case, if Worley and his friends were actually looking for Kyle Mercer, they probably weren’t looking to recruit him—they were possibly looking to shut him up permanently. But why? The answer to that question was the answer to why Captain Mercer had deserted.
Taylor finished her cola and a handful of nuts and suggested, “Let’s go over the plan for tonight.”
“You want a plan?”
“Just for laughs, Scott.”
“Okay… I’ll be entering the whorehouse with the assumption that Kyle Mercer is probably not going to be there. So I need to find the opportunity to question people who are there regularly, but who are not motivated to protect Señor Mercer.”
“You mean the girls who work there.”
“Correct.” He explained, “I’m going in as a john, and I want an English-speaking hooker with whom I can discuss Venezuelan culture.” He added, “A girl of legal age.”
She looked at him. “Okay… sounds…”
“Somebody has to do this, Maggie.”
“Is Luis going in with you?”
“Yes, I need a translator. Just in case they don’t have an English-speaking hooker.”
“I see you’ve thought this out.”
“I’m thinking out loud.”
“Are you thinking you’ll go into a room with this girl?”
“I’ll try the front lounge area first.”
“Are you going in armed?”
“Gringos would not be armed. But Luis, like everyone else in that place, will have a gun, and even if they check for iron at the door, they won’t ask for Luis’ weapon if it means they lose a customer.” He added, “It’s like the Wild West here, Maggie. A man and his gun are not parted at the door of a whorehouse. That would be like asking him to leave his dick outside. Once we’re inside, Luis will slip the Glock to me.”
She nodded, then asked, “Does Luis know about this?”
“He’s figured it out.” He reminded her, “He lives here.”
“Okay, but… I don’t know how you can ask a civilian to risk his life for something that has nothing to do with him.”
“We did it all the time in Iraq. You hire the locals when you need them. They can say no.” He asked her, “Didn’t you do that in Afghanistan?”
“Yes, we hired locals, but not for dangerous assignments.”
“Just by hiring them, you put their lives in danger.” He pointed out, “The Taliban kill American lackeys.”
“All right, but—”
“Look, if Luis gets cold feet, I’ll leave him at the door, and I’ll go in myself, unarmed.” He added, “I know you’ll worry about me, Maggie, but at least Luis will be safe.”
“Don’t be sarcastic. I’m saying I’ll go in with you.”
“That doesn’t work. But thank you for the offer. Okay, so Luis has come in with me, but then he leaves and I take this girl into a room. I can’t have Mercer’s photo with me in case I’m frisked at the door. But it’s easy to describe a bearded gringo with a snake tattoo on his arm. I offer her a lot of American dollars, and with any luck, she’ll know him and maybe tell me when he usually shows up, or the last time she saw him, who he hangs with, maybe where he lives, and so forth.” He added, “Standard police procedure.”
Taylor nodded, then said, “At that point, you’ve gotten what you paid for and you get out of there.”
Brodie smiled. “When you go deep undercover, you’ve got to play the part all the way.”
“I’m inspired by your professional commitment.”
“Thank you. Okay, another possibility is that Kyle Mercer is there, and he’s there just out of chance, or he’s there waiting for the gringo he heard about. If it’s just a chance appearance, I leave, and we take him down when he leaves.” He went on, “If he’s there waiting for me, with backup, then I’ve got a problem.”
“Actually, you’ll be dead.”
“I should be so lucky.”
Taylor looked at him. “Why don’t we just stake out the place tonight?”
“I’m impatient. And Dombroski has put a time limit on us.” He lied, “Four days.”