22 Seconds by James Patterson & Maxine Paetro

Author:James Patterson & Maxine Paetro [Patterson, James & Paetro, Maxine]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Random House UK
Published: 2022-04-28T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 58

I PUT THE satchel on the table, unzipped it, showed my CI the banded packets of used twenties and fifties. Kenny Chen stood up, looked inside the bag, stirred the packets with one hand, then, satisfied, sat back down. He gulped his drink to the bottom and slammed the glass down on the table. He was apparently ready to give me fifty thousand dollars’ worth of information.

He said, “There’s a tunnel that runs under the border between Tijuana and the Otay section of San Diego. Two Mexican guys will come out of the manhole on our side with sixty-five pounds of fentanyl. When pressed, they will give up the name of who’s behind the operation in exchange for a deal.”

The waitress came over and refreshed Chen’s drink. Conklin and I said no thanks, and when she moved away, Kenny continued telling us the details.

He said, “Three box trucks are carrying the weapons. All three have logos on the sides saying, ‘Fresh to You.’ They will be moving toward Pennsylvania Avenue at the same time. The buyers will take the trucks and go to points unknown—get me? So you have to have all the manpower you can get and make sure you’re on time. After the transaction is finished, the mules and the drivers will take off. Don’t know where. Only thing that matters is be on time. This is all going to happen fast.”

“Coordinates and time of this operation,” said Conklin.

Chen took a folded piece of paper out of his breast pocket, placed it on the table, his fingers holding it down.

“It’s all here. When, where, and my mobile number. It’s a burner, so it’s only good for the next forty-eight hours and then I ditch it.”

I took the paper. Now that I had it, I wanted to drag Chen off his ass, throw him against the wall, toss him into the van with Brady, and return the money to the mayor.

I pushed the canvas bag over to my CI and took the other half of the torn hundred-dollar bill out of my hip pocket. I gave him that, too.

His eyes smiled. “I knew you were good for it. Meet me back here tomorrow night with the other 50K and a big wide thank-you. I’ll be waiting.”

I said, “You’d better be on the level, Ken.”

“Don’t insult me, Sarge.”

Conklin got out of his chair, covered me from the rear as we passed Chi at the bar, and headed out to the street. I didn’t know if Chen was full of crap or if we were headed for the Medal of Freedom. But we had a lot to do.

I spoke to Brady through my mic disguised as a pack of spearmint, and he said, “Good job, you two. Chi, hang around for a while. Watch what happens.”

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