Page 120 of The Fourth Option
“We caught a boot print. Size eleven Vibram sole boots. One set. Not the type of footwear usually associated with cartels. We found the same boot print at the shooting in the Ninth. And of course, there’s the shot placement.”
“What do you mean?” asked the DA.
“This guy knew what he was doing. He had training, experience, or both.”
“And no direct witnesses to the Ninth murders?” she asked.
Bates glanced across the table at the two FBI men.
“We canvassed the neighborhood, but you know how it is over there. Bureau had better luck. Agent Stanton,” Bates said.
“With the cross-border international drug trafficking connection to the murders, we opened an investigation,” Stanton said. “Special Agent Jennifer Jimenez found a witness who had fled the scene in the Ninth, a homeless woman suffering from the effects of drug addiction. EMS took her to the hospital, where she offered information.”
“What kind?”
“She claims to have been present in the drug house at the time of the murders. Claims that the shooter also murdered her two friends she called ‘Gremlin’ and ‘Playboy.’?”
“Did she get a good look at the shooter?”
“Special Agent Jimenez requested a Bureau sketch artist.” Stanton turned his folder so Isaacson could see the composite sketch. “The witness called the shooter ‘Cyclops.’?”
Icy shook her head. “Is that a suspect or a hallucination?”
“That could be a monocular night vision device on the shooter’s head. The place had no power, so it was dark. The sketch and the witness’s description of the shooter as a cyclops makes sense in context.”
“But no good in court,” Icy said. “Any snot-nosed public defender in this building could get that testimony tossed.”
Stanton nodded.
“We agree, ma’am,” Bates interjected. “However, if the sketch is accurate, it illustrates the sophistication of the shooter. Based on the earlier point about this being rival cartels, we’re thinking this all might be the work of asicario.”
“An assassin,” Icy said.
“Yes. These hits were likely part of a special mission in whatever cartel war is going on. Shooter was possibly trained by some of our ex−spec ops boys now selling their training and experience on the open market.”
“A specialist.”
“Could be a contract killer, former Special Forces, something like that. Cartels have been known to hire hitters with that type of background.”
Stanton cleared his throat. “Respectfully, Lieutenant, the DEA doesn’t support the cartel spillover theory.”
Bates swiveled to him. “Something I’m not aware of, Jarrett?”
“I caught up with Alvaro Mendez, DEA. He says there’s no credible cartel activity in New Orleans.”
“Mendez is DEA. Cartel involvement in the city would reflect poorly on him,” Icy observed.
Stanton didn’t flinch. “DEA has a high-level CI they are going to ping for us. Mendez will report back to me as the federal liaison on this case. But, for now, I don’t think we should zero in on the cartel spillover theory until we have tighter evidence. Might lead to confirmation bias.”
Lloyd interjected for the first time, his voice calm and reassuring. “We need to remain open to all possibilities. But one of them, it seems to me, is that thisiscartel spillover. DHS thinks they have the Gulf locked down. Border Patrol and ICE have stepped up enforcement on infiltrations from the south. But, like Lieutenant Bates said, this might be a contract killer. The shooter could have already been in the States.”
On edge, Stanton glanced at his boss. The narrative was forming. The facts were secondary. How many times had Alma told him that if he wanted to make SAC, he had to play the game? And here he was, witnessing Lloyd make everything fit the story Icy wanted to hear.
“Connor Staub was found with heroin in the trunk of his car. There’s our lead,” Bates said.
Lloyd shifted in his seat. “I agree. Sounds like the Staub family got in the way of a cartel. The mother was caught in the crossfire. Whateverring the younger Staub was involved in was related to the activity in the Ninth.”
“Or that’s just a coincidence,” Stanton said.
