Free The Ninth Day by Jamie Freveletti

vehicle. The motor roared to life, and the car shot off, its back wheels churning up dirt and gravel from the crude road.
    She walked to stand next to Oz. From that angle she saw a black Cadillac Escalade parked behind the ambulance. The back doors were thrown wide and the workers were busy lining the interior of that vehicle as well. Behind the SUV was a black BMW 850 with its wheel wells exposed. The migrants packed the opened space with more bricks. Emma moved to the side to peer into the interior. The cavity that usually contained the glove compartment was exposed and it, too, was being filled. The trunk lid was up and the migrants worked their way back and forth.
    Oz took a swig from a plastic water bottle. “What happened at the hut? Did they smoke the salvia?”
    “It didn’t go well.”
    He raised an eyebrow. “What happened?”
    “One of the men claimed that we were all going to die tonight when the clock strikes three.”
    Oz groaned. “More hocus-pocus. These guys believe in more shit than the rock groups I’ve dealt with for the past eight years, and I thought the rockers were nuts. They were on as many drugs, that’s for sure. What did Octavio say?”
    “He agrees with the men. He thinks he’ll die then.”
    “And you?”
    Emma shook her head. “No. Not me.”
    Oz gazed at her. “You still going to try to escape tonight?”
    Emma nodded.
    Oz looked down at the ground. “I’ll help you.” She opened her mouth to protest, and he held up a hand. “I don’t expect to come with you. But you’ll need my help with the cameras.”
    Before Emma could ask him what he meant, a worker waved Oz over to the BMW. Oz joined him to stare into the trunk. After a moment, he returned to her side.
    “I assume the trunk has a false bottom?” Emma indicated the BMW.
    Oz nodded. “We’ll try to cross the border with all three, spaced at close intervals. If one gets stopped, the other two will try to slip by. My theory is that there are only so many guards at each gate, and if we occupy them with one, the second will be ignored.”
    “We?” Emma said.
    Oz grimaced. “It seems as though I’m not to be trusted. Raoul informed me that four guards will escort me the entire time.”
    “Why do they need you at all? Why not have the guards handle it?”
    “Presumably for my U.S. passport. Raoul claims that the fakes they’ve been using are being detected more often than not. At least that was what I was told when they recruited me. But now I know that’s not exactly true.” Oz hesitated. “They actually need my expertise.”
    Emma glanced at him. Now it comes, she thought. “What expertise?” She sounded sharper than she intended, and the way that Oz looked at her made it clear that he’d caught the tone in her voice.
    “I’m good at computers. All things electronic, actually. I have a knack for it. Always did.”
    He didn’t seem willing to continue. Emma pushed him. “And?”
    “And they need me to disable the security devices used at the Department of Defense.”

Chapter 11
    E mma snorted in disbelief. “Is La Valle crazy? He can’t disable the devices at the Department of Defense. For one thing, the security isn’t only technological, it’s human. They have guards there. Well-trained ones.”
    Oz nodded. “I know. I explained to Raoul that even if he could block the cameras, he’d still have the human security to contend with. He said that was no problem. His guns are bigger. But it’s all cartel bravado. These guys are so used to getting their own way here, they can’t envision a scenario where there is actual resistance.”
    “And that resistance would continue every step of the way into the building. The offices are loaded with current and past military personnel. Male and female. This isn’t your usual corporate crowd. These people know how to defend themselves.” Emma felt panicked at the very idea of Oz trying to blast his way into the DOD. He would die in a hail of bullets. On the