Free The Savage Dead by Joe McKinney Page B

the odd man out on a joke.
    “I was going to ask your opinion of that,” Sutton said, “but I can see that isn’t necessary. You don’t approve.”
    “Well, ma’am, I guess you’re entitled to a vacation, just like anybody else.”
    “That’s not exactly what I’m driving at, Agent Perez. I want your opinion.”
    “My professional opinion, you mean?”
    “Of course. It’s not every day I’m put under the watchful eye of a presidential security detail.”
    “Well, in that case, I think a cruise is going to be a logistical nightmare for my team. And two weeks is gonna be pretty tight when it comes to setting up cabin arrangements, and we’ll have to contact the—”
    Sutton held up a hand. “Agent Perez, let me stop you there. I don’t want the Secret Service treatment on this. This is going to be a casual affair. My husband, and I, and of course, Mr. Godwin, if I can get him off his phone long enough to enjoy some Caribbean scenery.”
    He looked at Paul, who was still focused on his phone. No help there.
    To Sutton, he said, “Ma’am, I think you lost me.”
    “Agent Perez, I know an awful lot about you, despite your sealed Army record. You spent five years in Delta Force. I read the action report for the silver star you won in Zacatecas.” She suddenly smiled at him. “Don’t frown like that, Agent Perez. I know that information is classified. I have clearance.”
    He nodded.
    “I also know you were recruited by the CIA’s Special Operations Group. Not many people get an invitation like that, but you turned them down. Why?”
    Juan didn’t hesitate. “I’m a soldier, ma’am. Not a spy.”
    “Yes, but you left the Army. Why? Why walk away from what I understand to be the most coveted spot in the Army?”
    Images of his wrecked first marriage surfaced, along with a lot of guilt and regret, but he didn’t let it show on his face. He sipped his coffee and said, “Deploying for months at a time isn’t good for a marriage,” he said. “I left to try to save mine.”
    “Ah,” she said. “Well, fair enough. My point is I know that you’ve spent more time fighting the cartels than just about anybody else out there. You know them, and I respect that. I haven’t fought them the way you have, but I’ve engaged them in my own way, and I’ve come to think of you as something of a kindred spirit in that regard. We both have the same enemy, and we both mean to stamp him out forever. So it’s your professional opinion as an enemy of the cartels that I want to hear. Knowing them the way you do, how do you think they’d react to an American senator vacationing right under their noses?”
    He leaned forward and took another sip of his coffee while considering his answer.
    “I still think it’s a bad idea,” he said at last. “Why play games like that with your safety?”
    “This is most assuredly not a game, Agent Perez. You need to understand that I am very serious about what I’m doing.” She paused there, staring him directly in the eye. Finally, she said, “What I intend to do is make a statement the cartels will never forget. Not only am I going to ruin them financially, but I am going to rub their noses in it by drinking piña coladas in their backyard.”
    Juan nearly laughed. And he would have, right in her face, if what she was suggesting wasn’t so offensive. The woman’s sense of entitlement was shocking.
    “You don’t approve,” she said.
    Paul laughed without looking up from his phone. “I told you.”
    Juan didn’t trust himself to speak, so he simply shook his head.
    “Why?” Sutton said. “I want to know. I thought you, more than anyone, would understand why this is so important.”
    Go easy, he told himself. The ground can slip away from here if you’re not careful.
    “You’re making a statement,” he said. “I get that.”
    “But . . . ?”
    “I’ve seen what happens when politicians make statements. I saw it in Zacatecas and I saw it Ciudad Juarez. When