An Acceptable Sacrifice

which careers do not recover.
    In a half hour they were back at the hotel and watching the news, which confirmed that indeed Alonso María Carillo, known as Cuchillo, the suspected head of the Hermosillo Cartel, was dead. No one else had been injured in the attack, which was blamed on a rival cartel, probably from Sinaloa.
    The news, Evans was surprised to note, wasn’t the lead story, which Cuchillo probably would have taken hard. But, in a way, it was his own fault; he’d contributed to the ubiquity of the drug business in Mexico, which made stories about death in the trade unnewsworthy.
    Evans supposed it was something like book collecting: the bigger the print run for first editions, the less the interest, the lower the value.
    He shut the set off. They decided to get a little dinner and a lot of tequila—though definitely not at Sonora Steak or Ruby’s bar, Cuchillo’s favorite hangouts. They’d go somewhere across town. They’d probably be safe; the Hermosillo Cartel had been neutralized. Still, both men had their weapons underneath their untucked shirts. And extra magazines in their left pockets.
    As they walked to the big old Mercury, Díaz said, “You should have seen all those books in the library. I never saw so many books in my life.”
    “Uhn,” Evans said, not particularly interested.
    “What does that mean, that sound? You don’t like books?”
    “I like books.”
    The Mexican agent gave a fast laugh. “You no sound like you do. You read at all?”
    “Of course I read.”
    “So, what do you read? Tell me.”
    Evans climbed into the passenger seat and counted three pickup trucks pass by before he answered. “Okay, you want to know? The sports section. That’s all I read.”
    Díaz started the car. “ Sí , me too.”
    Evans said, “Could we get that A.C. going, Al? Does it ever cool off in this goddamn town?

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    This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
    copyright © 2012 by Jeffery Deaver
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