Chapters (110)
- Cover
- ALSO BY J. TODD SCOTT
- Dedication
- Epigraph
- PROLOGUE
- I
- II
- PART ONE
- ONE
- TWO
- THREE
- FOUR
- FIVE
- SIX
- SEVEN
- EIGHT
- NINE
- TEN
- ELEVEN
- TWELVE
- PART TWO
- THIRTEEN
- FOURTEEN
- FIFTEEN
- SIXTEEN
- SEVENTEEN
- EIGHTEEN
- NINETEEN
- TWENTY
- TWENTY-ONE
- TWENTY-TWO
- TWENTY-THREE
- TWENTY-FOUR
- TWENTY-FIVE
- TWENTY-SIX
- TWENTY-SEVEN
- TWENTY-EIGHT
- TWENTY-NINE
- THIRTY
- THIRTY-ONE
- THIRTY-TWO
- THIRTY-THREE
- THIRTY-FOUR
- THIRTY-FIVE
- THIRTY-SIX
- THIRTY-SEVEN
- THIRTY-EIGHT
- THIRTY-NINE
- PART THREE
- FORTY
- FORTY-ONE
- FORTY-TWO
- FORTY-THREE
- FORTY-FOUR
- FORTY-FIVE
- FORTY-SIX
- FORTY-SEVEN
- FORTY-EIGHT
- FORTY-NINE
- FIFTY
- FIFTY-ONE
- FIFTY-TWO
- FIFTY-THREE
- FIFTY-FOUR
- FIFTY-FIVE
- FIFTY-SIX
- FIFTY-SEVEN
- FIFTY-EIGHT
- FIFTY-NINE
- SIXTY
- SIXTY-ONE
- PART FOUR
- SIXTY-TWO
- SIXTY-THREE
- SIXTY-FOUR
- SIXTY-FIVE
- SIXTY-SIX
- SIXTY-SEVEN
- SIXTY-EIGHT
- SIXTY-NINE
- SEVENTY
- SEVENTY-ONE
- SEVENTY-TWO
- SEVENTY-THREE
- SEVENTY-FOUR
- SEVENTY-FIVE
- SEVENTY-SIX
- SEVENTY-SEVEN
- SEVENTY-EIGHT
- SEVENTY-NINE
- EIGHTY
- EIGHTY-ONE
- EIGHTY-TWO
- EIGHTY-THREE
- EIGHTY-FOUR
- EPILOGUE
- I
- II
- III
- IV
- V
- VI
- VII
- AUTHOR’S NOTE
- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
- Excerpt from LOST RIVER
- LITTLE PARIS
- DILLON
- ABOUT THE AUTHOR
- What’s next onyour reading list?
The explosive detonated in the satchel—identified as a black Cole Haan Barrington Messenger bag—was a traditional C-4 composite improvised explosive device triggered by a Chinese Huawei Honor 5x 4G cell phone that was recovered from the dashboard of the van.
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IDENTIFYING THE DEAD was difficult and required the help of the Policía Federal Ministerial, or PFM—the Mexican Ministerial Federal Police—and the Procuraduría General de la República, or PGR—the Office of the General Prosecutor.
The shooters in the van were Joaquín Abarco Hernández, Carlos Gómez Gonzáles, and his brother, Vicente Gómez Gonzáles. They were all on file with the PFM as known sicarios of Nemesio.
The young man who died in the explosion was Xavier Alejandro Robles, and he was the only one of the group with any active border crossings on record. He’d most recently crossed on foot two days before the shoot-out, at the Naco port of entry in Douglas, Arizona.
It was unknown how Xavier got from Douglas to the Big Bend, but it was noted in more than one news article that if he’d been picked up by a vehicle at the POE, and that vehicle took Highway 80 over to Interstate 10 (the most direct route to El Paso and then Murfee, beyond), he would have most likely passed right through Tombstone—the historic site of the infamous Gunfight at the O.K. Corral.
Visitors to Tombstone can pay to see a reenactment of the gunfight three times a day.
The older female was identified as María Fernanda Pérez Medina. She was a longtime resident of Murfee, Texas, and owned a small unlicensed clothing and general goods store on the west side of town. The Ford Aerostar van was registered to her.
It was unclear what association she had had with her apparent captors.
It was believed she was shot by one of the deputies from the Terrell County Tejas unit.
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THE TEJAS UNIT DEAD included Ernesto Chavez, Edward Ortiz, Thomas Ringo, and Johnnie Machado, son of the Terrell County sheriff, Chuy Machado. Like Sheriff Cherry, Sheriff Machado did not give any interviews, and issued a brief statement denying any knowledge of corruption in his department or in the Tejas unit, and offered no explanation for how or why his deputies appeared to be involved with known sicarios from another country.
Both federal and state probes were opened simultaneously targeting the Terrell County Sheriff’s Department.
It would be several months later that Sheriff Machado would step aside, citing health reasons, and naming longtime deputy Roman Avila as his successor, until a new election in the spring.
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REPORTS APPEARED of a rising tension between the U.S. and a Mexican government that was very eager to see the return of the man identified as Fox Uno.