THE LULLABY KEY : THE FALL
CHAPTER 43: The Trade
Mexico City was a maze of color and noise and danger.
Lena arrived alone, as Castillo had demanded. Marcus was nearby, hidden in a safe house with a sniper rifle and a team of Swarm operatives. Zero was monitoring from Baltimore, her voice crackling in Lena’s earpiece.
The Angel of Independence stood in the middle of a wide boulevard, gold and gleaming. Tourists took photographs. Vendors sold balloons. Children chased pigeons.
Lena stood at the base of the angel, a small metal box in her hands. The box contained a USB drive. The copy. Not the original.
Castillo arrived in a black SUV, flanked by four bodyguards. He stepped out, his dark suit immaculate, his smile easy.
“Ms. Ashford. You came alone.”
“I always keep my word.”
“Do you?” He looked at the box in her hands. “Is that what I think it is?”
“It’s Vault 4. Every document. Every photograph. Every recording. The complete history of Marchetti’s dealings with the Zetas.”
Castillo reached for the box.
Lena pulled it back. “First, Pike.”
Castillo nodded to one of his bodyguards. The man opened the SUV’s trunk.
David Pike was inside. Bound and gagged. His face was bruised. His left arm was still in a sling. His eyes were wild.
Lena walked to the trunk. She looked down at the man who had killed her mother. Who had killed her father. Who had tortured her.
“Hello, David.”
Pike mumbled something through the gag.
Lena turned to Castillo. “He’s alive?”
“Barely. The Zetas were not kind to him. They thought he had betrayed them. Apparently, Marchetti had promised them protection and then reneged. They took their anger out on Pike.”
Lena nodded. “Thank you.”
She handed Castillo the box.
Castillo opened it. He pulled out the USB drive. He examined it.
“If this is a fake—”
“It’s not. Check it yourself. You have people who can verify the files.”
Castillo smiled. “I do. And if you’ve lied to me, I will find you. And I will kill you.”
“I know.”
Castillo walked back to his SUV. His bodyguards followed.
Lena stood alone with Pike.
Marcus emerged from the crowd. He had his gun drawn.
“We need to get him out of here. Now.”
They dragged Pike from the trunk, threw him into a waiting van, and drove away.
Behind them, the Angel of Independence glittered in the sun.
And somewhere in the city, Eduardo Castillo was already uploading the files from Vault 4.
He would not discover they were copies until much later.
By then, it would be too late.