Reign of Terror

Now he would have to rebuild his fortune carefully. He couldn’t let anyone know that he was desperate.

  Padilla wanted to be his next confidant, but he was just a pawn, a tool to be used when needed. He was more valuable where he was. His success and his father’s success had been based on deception at the border. Most of these had been arranged with Jamie Montes distracting the DEA. How could he rebuild from scratch without Montes? This was a problem. Without a clear passage, he was no better than any other smuggler trying to cross the border. At this point, he only had his brain and his reputation. That would have to be enough.

  Recuperation

  John Stokes was at his home in Illinois when Peter called,

  “John, how are you man?”

  “Hi, Peter. You know, it’s one day at a time.” He was smiling hearing Peter’s voice.

  “So, how’s the healing going?”

  “Pretty good. The docs say I’m good-to-go medically. All systems are working. I start physical therapy tomorrow. Carolyn will be driving me until my arms work better.”

  “How are your arms?”

  I’m damn lucky to have them, Peter. The docs weren’t too sure for a couple weeks. Something about frozen joints and dead tissue. Blood was shut off pretty much.”

  “So, what are they telling you?”

  “Ah, who cares? I’m gonna be back to normal in a couple months. I don’t think they really have a clue, but I’m getting feeling in my fingers and can move my shoulders lying in bed. It’s better every day, but slow going.”

  “We want you back, John.”

  “I know boss, and I want to be back. I miss the guys in El Paso. They’re actually fighting an enemy.”

  “Well, don’t be too eager, and make sure Carolyn is on your side.”

  “Yeah, well. I’ll need to do some tall talkin’ to convince her, but my heroic days are over — for good.”

  “All right, buddy, you take care and hug Carolyn and the girls for me.”

  “Thanks, Peter. Every time I hug them, it’s for you — or because of you.”

  Peter smiled after ending the call. He genuinely loved John like a brother. A few hours later, Carolyn called. “Hi, Peter.”

  “Hi, lady. How are you?”

  “We’re good, Peter. He’s in therapy right now, and I wanted to call you to thank you for talking to him.”

  “He’s pretty special to me too, Carolyn.”

  “Yes, I know, but he feels disconnected now. He loves the military, and he feels left out, so your calls help his spirits a lot.”

  “I think he’s done some reflecting on his priorities, Carolyn, and he may turn out to be a different guy after this.”

  “I know, but I’m not sure that’s what I want either.”

  Call to Action

  Peter and Rachael began seeing each other again after months of uncertainty. For two weeks, they saw each other almost every day and talked on the phone even more often. He was settling back into his routine and she was becoming more familiar with the “Sandcastle” double-agent story.

  Sandy Vitale was getting more anxious by the day as reports of violence on the Texas border continued escalating. Congress would not tolerate it for long, and they had no intelligence assets on the ground without Jamie. He continued to pressure Rachael to find a solution--and to keep her positioned as a scapegoat.

  After allowing Peter to spend the night for the first time in almost six months, she felt her life was back on track. She was settling into a new position at the CIA, although not completely comfortable there yet. It was cold and rainy as a late fall low-pressure cell remained stationary over Northern Virginia. Rachael and Cybil had bonded. Entering her office, Cybil said, “Rachael, Mr. Vitale would like to see you, pronto.”

  She said “Thanks,” then grabbed a notepad and went back downstairs to his office. “Did you want to see me, boss?”

  Vitale had finally been confirmed by the Senate. “Yes, Rachael. There’s a meeting at ten o’clock over at Homeland Security. It’s about what they’re calling the ‘Crisis in El Paso’.

  “I want you to attend since it’s in your region.”

  “Sure, Sandy, where’s it at?”

  “Somewhere in the Reagan Building. Check with the fifth floor when you get there.”

  She didn’t bother saying more. He was acting perturbed, which she recognized was his normal demeanor toward subordinates. He’d spent too much time in politics.

  Two hours later at DHS headquarters, she found the conference room filled with several dozen people. She recognized Leo Moritz, Marian Colson and Mike Schmitt from El Paso. There were also senior executives from different Agencies around Washington: FBI, DEA, ICE, National Guard, etc. There were also some congressional staffers.

  The meeting began promptly and stragglers sat in the back. It was a large meeting, even by Washington standards. Rebecca Weir, a Director at DHS, started the meeting, “Thank you all for coming. As you all know, the border situation with Mexico has become increasingly violent and dangerous, spilling over into our cities nearby. The worst areas are in the Tucson and El Paso sectors, although by no means is it that simple. The rate of crime has accelerated in El Paso the fastest. We’ve had people killed there in the past year, and the situation is deteriorating.

  “We need to do something proactive. Our pressure on the Mexican government has tapped out without success. With us today are representatives from our military and civil law aencies in Washington and from the El Paso sector.”

  For the next two hours, several people gave presentations about their agency statistics, successes and failures. A common theme was the increasing level of dangerous crime all were experiencing. Each of the people Rachael had met in Texas spoke to the assembly. Jamie Montes wasn’t mentioned, although Leo Moritz alluded to him.

  After the presentations, Rebecca asked for suggestions. It was obvious from the first comments that more people and equipment were needed in El Paso. Several people were skeptical, feeling that it would just push the problem elsewhere, but there was little doubt about the general consensus.

  As proctor, Rebecca refined the collective thinking, “The Administration is demanding that we turn the tide at El Paso, so that’s where we need to focus.”

  Someone said, “How about rolling out the National Guard?”

  LTC Gates, Peter’s immediate boss, stood saying, “Ladies and gentlemen, I know you think the National Guard is an endless pool of minutemen that can be mobilized overnight. While it’s true, it’s also a myth. We’ve been deployed overseas as part of the ‘War on Terror’ for more than ten years. Our equipment is mostly in-theater and worn out. Our soldiers and airmen are exhausted. If we mobilize more troops on the border, we won’t have anyone for civil disaster relief.”

  There was debate about adding Border Patrol forces and infrastructure changes, but it would cost billions and enlarge Government during an election year. Rebecca made it clear that it was not an option.

  Rachael introduced herself, “I’m with the CIA. From what we know, the main cartel controlling the drug trafficking near El Paso is in disarray after the DEA bust at Smuggler’s Pass. The cartel controls the Mexican gangs. It’s been hurt, and, if it weakens further, the gangs will rebel and probably destroy each other. This will increase violence and force the Mexican government to increase their fight, if we can push the violence south again. I think we should cut off the head of the snake.”

  Jamie had said hundreds of small-time gangs were controlled by fear of the Cardenas Cartel and would attack each other like frenzied sharks if the cartel disappeared. Violence below the border would escalate, forcing the Mexican government to real action. Rachael knew the CIA had often made wrong predictions about the effect of internal disarray in other global conflicts and it was risking creditability to actually promote violence to end violence.

  After some discussion, she continued, “We can concentrate border security res
ources on El Paso to keep violence south of the U.S. for a short time, but eventually, resources will need to return to normal levels and violence will return on our side. The Mexicans aren’t committed because it’s not their problem. It’s our problem. Violence has two causes. Partly it’s the fighting between Mexicans to control trafficking into the states, and partly, it’s our blockade. The way to cut down on the attacks on our forces in the long run is to shift the war south. It won’t stop them from trying to cross the border in El Paso, but it will cause the Mexican government to step in if the violence gets bad enough on their side.”

  Someone asked, “Ms. Aston, what about the Mexican police and the military. Aren’t they just helping the cartels?”

  “Yes, that’s a big problem, but, if the cartel wasn’t in charge, none of the small gangs could control enough graft to call the shots, so infighting would increase and the Mexican forces might actually return to doing their jobs.”

  The El Paso people remained silent, but were nodding in agreement. Finally, Mike Schmitt spoke up, “Ms. Aston ... Rachael, are you saying that if we get Hector Cardenas out of the way, gang warfare will escalate south of us, and this will solve our problem? That sounds like the same strategy for getting Saddam Hussein out of office, and the population will rise up, and we can go home in six months -- pretty naïve.”

  “Not exactly, Mike. It’s our opinion (CIA-Jamie’s plan) that the Mexican Federales and military will actually start