And he can testify to its authenticity.

But Vera is too smart to fall for that. He would have placated Aguilar to buy himself time to act.

But he'll act.

Headlights flash in his rearview mirror and Keller sees a car coming up behind him.

Fast.

The car starts tailgating him, dangerous on this winding road. Then it flashes its lights-it wants to pass.

"Hold on a second," Keller mumbles.

He finds a place to pull over and the car roars around him.

"Asshole," Keller says.

But then the car gets directly in front of him and slows down. At first Keller thinks the driver is just trying to teach him a lesson, get back at him, but then another pair of headlights appears behind him.

It comes up fast and then gets right on his bumper.

They have him boxed in.

Keller tries to pass the front car, but it slides out into the oncoming lane and blocks him and then the little parade races through a chicane, with steep slopes on either side, which opens onto a straightaway.

The car in front slows down.

The car in back-a Jeep Wrangler-pulls into the passing lane and comes even with Keller. He throws himself down on the seat as the muzzle flashes crackle red and bullets shatter his window.

Keller cranks the wheel to the left and hits the Wrangler, which flies off the road and crashes into the opposite slope.

The car in front slides sideways, stops, and blocks the road.

The natural instinct is to hit the brakes, but the natural instinct is only going to get him killed. He can already see the gun barrels pointed at him.

Keller hits the gas.

He aims straight for the driver's door.

The crash is horrific.

Keller's face slams into the airbag and his neck snaps back.

Dizzy, he reaches into the console and grabs his Sig Sauer. His right arm is weak, tingling, and he can barely grip the handle. With his left hand, he unhooks his seat belt and then pushes the door handle down.

To his relief, the door opens and he gets out.

Blood gushes out of his broken nose.

He can see that the driver of the other car is dead, his neck snapped. The passenger is getting out on his side. Seeing Keller, he rests the barrel of his shotgun on the roof of the smoking car and aims.

Shouldn't have taken the time.

Keller pops him twice in the head.

Then he staggers back to his car. His legs feel like water beneath him and he realizes that he's bleeding.

He collapses on the hood.

- Aguilar clicks off the phone.

Keller didn't answer.

Where are you, Keller?

The pilot's voice comes over the intercom. "Sir? We're cleared for takeoff. We only have a short window."

Aguilar wants to tell him to wait. Hopefully, Keller will be there any moment. But the material he has in his case is too valuable to risk, and Vera could be on his way already.

"Go ahead," Aguilar says, settling back into a thickly upholstered seat.

It feels odd, being alone in the cabin, which can hold ten passengers. He watches out the window as the plane taxis, then picks up speed and takes off. Looking down at the lights of the massive Mexico City metropolis, Aguilar can't help but wonder if he'll ever come home again.

- Adn looks at his watch.

He hasn't received the phone call he was expecting, the call to tell him that he would shortly have a body to view. There was a small risk entailed in coming to Mexico City, more from Tapias's sicarios than from the police-but it's worth it if he can look down at Keller's corpse.

Art Keller.

Holier-than-thou.

Mr. Clean.

Incorruptible.

You have to hand it to him, Adn thinks as he looks across the coffee table at Magda. He almost had me, he almost drove straight through the gap in my defenses, a gap that it's taken great effort to close up.

But it's almost closed.

Chido Palacios, the last of the Izta Mafia, is dead, the news all over the television, which is already blaming Diego Tapia.

The rest will be taken care of soon.

And Keller, by this time, should be in hell.

He glances at his watch again and Magda notices. Then again, she notices everything, something he admires about her. She's been a wonderful partner, maintaining relationships with the Colombians, assuring a smooth flow of cocaine, becoming wealthy and secure on her own.

"What?" Magda asks, seeing him look at her.

"Nothing."

Other than her, Adn really has no friends.

Nacho is an adviser, but also a father-in-law and a partner as well as a potential rival. Adn isn't afraid that Nacho would try to kill his own son-in-law, but Nacho definitely has his own agenda.

Adn can't relax with him, ever really let his guard down.

Only with Magda can he do that, and the truth is now that he'd rather talk to her than fuck her, not that he can't do both. He used to scoff at the old cliche about "the loneliness of command." He doesn't scoff now-he feels its truth. No one who doesn't have to make the decisions that he has to make can understand.

To order the deaths of scores of people.

The fight for Jurez has been far bloodier than he expected.

Vicente Fuentes is just a figurehead-hiding in his lairs, maybe even in Texas-but La Lnea has fought hard and so has La Azteca. The Juarenses are ferociously protective of their turf.

Then there's the war with Diego.

A war that's your own fault, a situation that you brutally mishandled, almost fumbling the entire protective machinery into Keller's hands. But how could you have known that Martn Tapia taped his meetings with the Izta Mafia? How could you have known that Keller was working with the Tapias, maybe literally in bed with Yvette?

Stop giving yourself excuses-you should have known. It's your business to know.

You woke up-hopefully-just in time.

He looks at his watch again.

So much killing on both sides, so unnecessary. And exactly what he didn't need just as he was about to launch his campaign in Jurez. A needless distraction that saps resources away from the real battle. He has the resources to fight simultaneous wars against the Fuenteses, the Tapias, and the CDG with their Zeta mercenaries, but it stretches him thinner than he wants.

And he has bigger plans for Jurez, plans that go far beyond the city itself.

The Zetas are a problem.

The Zetas are going to be the problem. Of all his enemies, Heriberto Ochoa is the best of the lot-the smartest, the most ruthless, the most disciplined. He did the smart thing, siding with the Tapias. It was the right move. And he's doing the right thing staying out of the fighting in Jurez. Adn sees his strategy-let Fuentes and me bleed each other, then make his play.

At the end of the day, Adn thinks, it's going to come down to Ochoa and me.

Magda pours herself a glass of Mot, which he knows to have on ice for all their meetings. "You're thinking about Keller."

He shrugs. He's thinking about a lot of things.

"They'll call," Magda reassures him. She distracts him by going over business-prices per kilo, transportation issues, personnel decisions. Their relationship, while still sexual, has been more that of friends and colleagues recently. He's come more and more to rely on her advice, and she has new ideas to grow the business.

As for other men, Magda's had a few lovers, but fewer than anyone, herself included, might have expected. While a few men find her wealth and power an aphrodisiac, a surprising number find it quite the opposite, and she doesn't relish another night of coddling, as it were, another limp dick and assuring its owner that "it's all right, it's nice just to be close."

It isn't.

And she's not ready to go in the other direction, to the pretty younger men-boys, really-who see her as a source of cash and gifts, holidays and expensive meals. They're more than eager and able, and she has indulged once or twice, but she knows that her ego is far too healthy to accept the role of "cougar."

Nor, she thinks, am I a "MILF," lacking the "M" for "mother," and she's surprised that this is a source of increasing sadness. She wouldn't have expected that and supposes it's just some sort of biological thing, but she finds herself thinking about it, knowing that she's approaching the now-or-never moment, and she's increasingly pessimistic about meeting the right man to father her child.

For one thing, there's so little time in her busy days.

"Shouldn't he be here by now?" Adn asks Magda.

"He'll come." Magda smiles serenely. "I told him it was business, but he probably thinks it's more."

Doubtless he does, Adn thinks, knowing his man.

It's good to know a man's strengths.

Better to know his weaknesses.

The volume on the television picks up, the shrill tone of breaking news, and both Adn and Magda turn to the screen.

A Learjet 25, on fire as it plummeted from the sky, crashed into the busy financial district of Las Lomas at the corner of Paseo de la Reforma and Anillo Periferico, barely a kilometer from Los Pinos. It smashed into an office building, killing six people as well as the pilot, copilot, and the sole passenger on board.

Adn takes no joy in it.

From all accounts, Luis Aguilar was a decent man.

With a wife and children.

He hears voices downstairs as the guards stop someone, then start to walk him up to the second-floor apartment.

"I told you," Magda says.

The guard lets Gerardo Vera in.

He smiles at Magda, then his look turns to fear as he sees Adn sitting in the wingback chair.

"I didn't expect-"

"No," Adn says pleasantly. "You expected to have an assignation with my woman without my presence."

"It was a business meeting."

"It doesn't matter," Adn says, shaking his head. "It's not why I wanted to see you. Palacios is dead, Aguilar is dead, Keller should be dead by now."

"Then we're in the clear," Vera says.

"Not quite."

Vera looks puzzled at first, and then Adn sees the comprehension come across his face. "You let things get out of hand, Gerardo. You're compromised now."

"I see." Vera looks at the bottle of champagne. "May I?"

He pours himself a glass and then takes a long swallow. "It's good. Very good. I won't beg for my life."

"I didn't think you would."