Path To Revenge
Chapter four
Javier Esquel-Ranchez sat in the office of his deceased friend’s hacienda above Rosarito Beach, Baja California Norte. His mentor and old family friend, Luis Hernandez-Lopez, had been shot down by prosecutor Drummond after Luis had escaped from custody during his trial. Javier had testified at trial for Luis, giving him an alibi for a drive-by shooting of Luis’ former girlfriend and star prosecution witness, Felicia. Luis’ and Javier’s families were two of the one-hundred families that controlled Mexican politics and economy. They grew up in villas in the same Guadalajara neighborhood, behind stone walls topped with broken glass. Luis’ family was involved in narcotics trafficking while Javier’s family was a step removed—finances and money laundering were his family’s forte. Javier looked up to Luis as an older brother. Luis would let Javier tag along on trips to the waterfall-fed swimming holes on the Santiago River, just outside of Guadalajara. They also went horseback riding through the agave fields. Luis would let Javier sip the tequila he bought at the local distilleries.
Javier was a niño bien. He did not want for anything growing up—the sole child of a very wealthy family. Javier enjoyed the private schools and excelled at team sports, especially soccer. The family went to Europe every summer, usually staying in Spain or Italy. Javier insisted on going to a public school for college, wanting to broaden his horizons. He graduated with honors in economics from the University of Mexico. After college, he owned a software start up in Guadalajara for several years. Guadalajara was gaining a reputation as Mexico’s Silicon Valley. Javier did very well when his company was bought out—putting millions of dollars in a Cayman Islands’ trust. He then gravitated to his childhood friend—Luis was living an exciting lifestyle, rolling in money. Javier’s parents were against him
spending so much time with Luis knowing he was a lieutenant in the Baja Norte Familia cartel. Javier ignored his family’s entreaties and gradually became involved in the Familia’s money laundering operations. When Luis and the two other heads of the cartel, Mateo Gomez-Encinas and Rael Trujillo-Sanchez were arrested on Opening Day at the Del Mar racetrack the previous summer, Javier took over the day-to-day operations of the cartel. He still received instructions from Encinas, the head of the cartel, and from Sanchez, the chief of enforcement, from prison, but the routine operating decisions were left to him.
Encinas had approved Javier’s idea to expand the cartel operations into moving cocaine from South America. Javier had contacts in Peru from his junior year, study-abroad program at the University of Peru in Lima. Javier had not done much studying, but he did party a lot and got to know the sons and daughters of the ruling class of Peru. Javier believed it was time to cut back on marijuana trafficking in the States because of the legalization trend. Cocaine would fill the distribution vacuum. Javier planned to go to Peru to reconnect with college friends who were associated with cocaine trafficking and money laundering.
Javier missed Luis. The manner of Luis’ death angered him. The media portrayed it as self-defense when Drummond shot Luis as Luis drew a gun. The official version had a 38 caliber handgun next to Luis’ right hand after he collapsed in an alley. Javier thought, “Where did he get the gun? He had only escaped from the courthouse a half-hour before and nobody in the cartel knew about the escape at the time. Guns had been planted by law enforcement in Mexico and Javier was sure it happened in the United States as well.
A few days later, Javier heard the roar of a Harley coming up the winding road to Luis’s compound. It had to be Jesus, a loyal cartel soldier whose daytime job was a bartender in San Ysidro. Jesus had brought Javier the kites (prison notes) between Luis and Luis’ cousin, Jaime HernandezSalgado. Luis had instructed Javier to find and eliminate his witnessprotected former girlfriend Felicia in a spectacular fashion. After finding
out that Felicia attended a dental hygienist school in Topeka, Kansas, Javier arranged for an assault team to fire rockets and 50 caliber bullets into Felicia’s safe house. The house was destroyed, the deputy marshal eventually died, but Felicia had survived. The assault team consisted of two young cartel soldiers, Refugio and Raul, and an experienced driver, Felipe. Javier had watched the assault. He was parked in a rental Volvo a block from the safe house. He would have sworn on his abuela’s grave that no one could have survived the attack. But, Felicia had—unfinished business.
Javier called downstairs, “Send Jesus up.” Javier heard Jesus’ heavy footsteps as he climbed the stairs.
“Pato, I got something you’re going to want to see. That weasel plant in the U.S. Marshal’s Office paid off.” Javier didn’t mind being called Pato— it was a childhood name given to him by Luis. It meant duck in English. Luis branded him with that name when he was only eight because Javier had tried to stop the older kids from shooting a flock of ducks on Lake Chapala with pellet guns. Javier had always had a soft spot for animals. Luis never did. He hadn’t had a soft spot for anyone except maybe Pato.
Javier opened up the envelope and read through the pages quickly, but carefully. His eyes narrowed and his brow furrowed as he read. Damn it, he thought. I was careless to get tracked to the rental car—to be on the car rental video the night of the safe house attack. They even found the hotel I stayed at. I should never have signed the register with the same alias. There goes my lawyer alter ego, Lorenzo. It was a good run and I bedded a number of gringas pretending to be a sophisticated attorney and businessman.
Jesus saw the consternation on Pato’s face. “What are we going to do?”
“The first thing Jesus—we have to tie up some loose ends. They have identified Raul by a DNA analysis of his blood from being shot by ICE agent Schwartz at the scene. That bitch unloaded her clip before crashing into a pole just a few feet from where I was parked.”
“Are you ‘green lighting’ Raul?”
“I want Raul and Refugio to disappear. They’re joined at the hip. They have only been with us for a couple of years. If the feds arrest Raul, Refugio will be next. The feds can offer either one of them a sweet deal to go after the person who called the shots. Felipe, the driver, I’m not worried about. He has served Luis’ family since before I was born. He is like you—he would never turn on the cartel. Luis’ cousin, the owner of the Purple Flamingo, I have to think about. He didn’t talk to the feds when they squeezed him about the kite the guard found under the restroom sink in the prison.”
“I’ll work on it. Anybody else we should be worried about?”
“Mary Ellen, the young lady I spent such a pleasant evening with in my hotel room the night before the attack, was seen with me at the hotel. She hasn’t been identified and I don’t think I told her anything incriminating. We can hold off on her for now.”
Jesus turned to leave. “One other thing to keep in mind Jesus. That stubborn son-of-a-bitch Drummond. He never gave up on the case against Luis and the other chiefs, even when his star witness and two of his agents were attacked on different occasions. Now he’s involved with the Marshal’s Office to track me and anyone else involved in the Topeka attack. That bulldog never lets go. Also, he should answer for killing Luis. We might have to take care of him. If Drummond is taken out, the head of the law enforcement snake is severed. It would be a big step. I’d need to have El Jefe Encinas sign off. It would be a mercy killing—Drummond is living in a dive apartment in Pacific Beach and going through a divorce. I’ll get back to you about it.”
Path To Revenge
Chapter four
Javier Esquel-Ranchez sat in the office of his deceased friend’s hacienda above Rosarito Beach, Baja California Norte. His mentor and old family friend, Luis Hernandez-Lopez, had been shot down by prosecutor Drummond after Luis had escaped from custody during his trial. Javier had testified at trial for Luis, giving him an alibi for a drive-by shooting of Luis’ former girlfriend and star prosecution witness, Felicia. Luis’ and Javier’s families were two of the one-hundred families that controlled Mexican politics and economy. They grew up in villas in the same Guadalajara neighborhood, behind stone walls topped with broken glass. Luis’ family was involved in narcotics trafficking while Javier’s family was a step removed—finances and money laundering were his family’s forte. Javier looked up to Luis as an older brother. Luis would let Javier tag along on trips to the waterfall-fed swimming holes on the Santiago River, just outside of Guadalajara. They also went horseback riding through the agave fields. Luis would let Javier sip the tequila he bought at the local distilleries.
Javier was a niño bien. He did not want for anything growing up—the sole child of a very wealthy family. Javier enjoyed the private schools and excelled at team sports, especially soccer. The family went to Europe every summer, usually staying in Spain or Italy. Javier insisted on going to a public school for college, wanting to broaden his horizons. He graduated with honors in economics from the University of Mexico. After college, he owned a software start up in Guadalajara for several years. Guadalajara was gaining a reputation as Mexico’s Silicon Valley. Javier did very well when his company was bought out—putting millions of dollars in a Cayman Islands’ trust. He then gravitated to his childhood friend—Luis was living an exciting lifestyle, rolling in money. Javier’s parents were against him
spending so much time with Luis knowing he was a lieutenant in the Baja Norte Familia cartel. Javier ignored his family’s entreaties and gradually became involved in the Familia’s money laundering operations. When Luis and the two other heads of the cartel, Mateo Gomez-Encinas and Rael Trujillo-Sanchez were arrested on Opening Day at the Del Mar racetrack the previous summer, Javier took over the day-to-day operations of the cartel. He still received instructions from Encinas, the head of the cartel, and from Sanchez, the chief of enforcement, from prison, but the routine operating decisions were left to him.
Encinas had approved Javier’s idea to expand the cartel operations into moving cocaine from South America. Javier had contacts in Peru from his junior year, study-abroad program at the University of Peru in Lima. Javier had not done much studying, but he did party a lot and got to know the sons and daughters of the ruling class of Peru. Javier believed it was time to cut back on marijuana trafficking in the States because of the legalization trend. Cocaine would fill the distribution vacuum. Javier planned to go to Peru to reconnect with college friends who were associated with cocaine trafficking and money laundering.
Javier missed Luis. The manner of Luis’ death angered him. The media portrayed it as self-defense when Drummond shot Luis as Luis drew a gun. The official version had a 38 caliber handgun next to Luis’ right hand after he collapsed in an alley. Javier thought, “Where did he get the gun? He had only escaped from the courthouse a half-hour before and nobody in the cartel knew about the escape at the time. Guns had been planted by law enforcement in Mexico and Javier was sure it happened in the United States as well.
A few days later, Javier heard the roar of a Harley coming up the winding road to Luis’s compound. It had to be Jesus, a loyal cartel soldier whose daytime job was a bartender in San Ysidro. Jesus had brought Javier the kites (prison notes) between Luis and Luis’ cousin, Jaime HernandezSalgado. Luis had instructed Javier to find and eliminate his witnessprotected former girlfriend Felicia in a spectacular fashion. After finding
out that Felicia attended a dental hygienist school in Topeka, Kansas, Javier arranged for an assault team to fire rockets and 50 caliber bullets into Felicia’s safe house. The house was destroyed, the deputy marshal eventually died, but Felicia had survived. The assault team consisted of two young cartel soldiers, Refugio and Raul, and an experienced driver, Felipe. Javier had watched the assault. He was parked in a rental Volvo a block from the safe house. He would have sworn on his abuela’s grave that no one could have survived the attack. But, Felicia had—unfinished business.
Javier called downstairs, “Send Jesus up.” Javier heard Jesus’ heavy footsteps as he climbed the stairs.
“Pato, I got something you’re going to want to see. That weasel plant in the U.S. Marshal’s Office paid off.” Javier didn’t mind being called Pato— it was a childhood name given to him by Luis. It meant duck in English. Luis branded him with that name when he was only eight because Javier had tried to stop the older kids from shooting a flock of ducks on Lake Chapala with pellet guns. Javier had always had a soft spot for animals. Luis never did. He hadn’t had a soft spot for anyone except maybe Pato.
Javier opened up the envelope and read through the pages quickly, but carefully. His eyes narrowed and his brow furrowed as he read. Damn it, he thought. I was careless to get tracked to the rental car—to be on the car rental video the night of the safe house attack. They even found the hotel I stayed at. I should never have signed the register with the same alias. There goes my lawyer alter ego, Lorenzo. It was a good run and I bedded a number of gringas pretending to be a sophisticated attorney and businessman.
Jesus saw the consternation on Pato’s face. “What are we going to do?”
“The first thing Jesus—we have to tie up some loose ends. They have identified Raul by a DNA analysis of his blood from being shot by ICE agent Schwartz at the scene. That bitch unloaded her clip before crashing into a pole just a few feet from where I was parked.”
“Are you ‘green lighting’ Raul?”
“I want Raul and Refugio to disappear. They’re joined at the hip. They have only been with us for a couple of years. If the feds arrest Raul, Refugio will be next. The feds can offer either one of them a sweet deal to go after the person who called the shots. Felipe, the driver, I’m not worried about. He has served Luis’ family since before I was born. He is like you—he would never turn on the cartel. Luis’ cousin, the owner of the Purple Flamingo, I have to think about. He didn’t talk to the feds when they squeezed him about the kite the guard found under the restroom sink in the prison.”
“I’ll work on it. Anybody else we should be worried about?”
“Mary Ellen, the young lady I spent such a pleasant evening with in my hotel room the night before the attack, was seen with me at the hotel. She hasn’t been identified and I don’t think I told her anything incriminating. We can hold off on her for now.”
Jesus turned to leave. “One other thing to keep in mind Jesus. That stubborn son-of-a-bitch Drummond. He never gave up on the case against Luis and the other chiefs, even when his star witness and two of his agents were attacked on different occasions. Now he’s involved with the Marshal’s Office to track me and anyone else involved in the Topeka attack. That bulldog never lets go. Also, he should answer for killing Luis. We might have to take care of him. If Drummond is taken out, the head of the law enforcement snake is severed. It would be a big step. I’d need to have El Jefe Encinas sign off. It would be a mercy killing—Drummond is living in a dive apartment in Pacific Beach and going through a divorce. I’ll get back to you about it.”