Extreme Justice

“Nothing occurred to me,” the man from Justice said.

“So, it’s a kidnapping on hostile turf.”

“These days, we call that a rendition,” Brognola corrected.

“Call it anything you like. It could get messy.”

“Diplomatically, of course, we can’t appear to be involved.”

Meaning I’m on my own, as usual, Bolan thought.

“Who else knows about Favor?”

“Well,” Brognola said, “Romano, obviously.”

“Does Romano know you’re looking for him?”

“Hard to say. We have as many leaks in Washington and New York as we ever did. For sure, Romano knows the state’s primary witnesses are dead. And since the charges haven’t been dismissed, he knows the prosecution plans to go ahead with something else.”

“So it’s a race,” Bolan said. “And I’m starting out behind the pack.”

“I grant you, it’s a challenge,” Brognola said.

Or a death sentence, Bolan thought.

But he said, “I’ll need his file.”

San José International Airport

June 18

THE WORST THING about red-eye flights was arriving at some ungodly hour in a deserted airport terminal. The shops and restaurants were closed, shuttered and dark. No throng of passengers or loved ones armed with flowers and balloons greeted arriving flights. Footsteps rang hollowly on concrete floors, while dull-eyed custodians pushed their brooms along the concourse.

Granted, 9/11 and the war on terror had imposed some barriers to any overt ambush in an airport, but the dead zone of a terminal at 2:00 a.m. reminded Bolan of occasions in the old days, when he’d left commercial flights to find guns waiting for him in the crowd. Nor would a setup be impossible this day, by any means, particularly in a nation that had earned a global reputation as a safe haven for felons on the run.

He counted seven people waiting for his fellow passengers, noting that none of them spared him more than a passing glance. His contact, according to Brognola, was supposed to meet him at the airport, but if something had gone wrong already, this soon in the game…

Bolan was a hundred feet from his arrival gate, eyeballing a sign that directed him to rental-car agencies and guessing that all would be closed, when a soft voice at his elbow said, “Matt Cooper?”

Bolan turned and blinked once at the lady, scanning her from head to toe in nothing flat before he said, “You have me at a disadvantage, Ms….?”

“Blanca Herrera. And I doubt that very much.”

Her grip was firm and strong as they shook hands. “You’re late,” she said. “No trouble on the flight, I hope?”

“Some kind of warning light came on, approaching Mexico City,” Bolan replied. “They don’t exactly set a land-speed record in the maintenance department.”

“It was probably siesta, Señor Cooper. You’re no longer in El Norte.”

“So I noticed.”

“You have luggage?” she inquired.

“Just this,” he said, hoisting his carry-on.

“A man who travels light. That’s good.”

“I still need wheels,” he said.

“I know a good rental agency. An independent. We can use my car until morning and rent one then.”

Bolan nodded. “And there’s a man I need to see about some gear.” A glance at his watch produced a frown. “He won’t be open for a while yet.”

“Have you slept?”

He nodded. “There was nothing else to do.”

“Then breakfast,” she said cheerily, “if that’s agreeable.”

“If you can find a place that’s serving, I’m with you.”

They cleared the terminal and Herrera led him underneath the floodlights to a parking lot. She handed him the keys. “If you wish to learn the city, it is best for you to drive.”

“Sounds fair.”

She took the shotgun seat and guided Bolan from the parking lot into sparse traffic. He followed her directions toward an all-night restaurant.

En route, she asked him, “May I know the nature of this gear that you require?”

“Hardware,” he said, “in case I get into a tight place unexpectedly.”

“And these would be illegal tools?”

“I haven’t brushed up on the local statute books,” he said, “but probably.”

“I think I know the man you seek.” She spoke a name and cocked one stylish eyebrow.

Bolan nodded. “That’s the guy.”

“You’re right about his hours,” Herrera said. “He operates a pawnshop as his—how you say it?—front.”

“That’s how we say it.”

“Very good. Unfortunately, he does not open for business until nine o’clock in the morning. Can you do your other business then, as well?”

Bolan considered it. “It would be better after nightfall,” he replied.

“Then you are graced with a free day in San José,” she told him, putting on a smile that seemed a trifle forced. “If you allow me, and you have the energy after your flight, I’ll be your tour guide.”