Page 72 of 25 Alive

Now Enrique was jabbing a finger at him and then touching his headset, indicating that Garza should put his ear gear on so that he could listen to and communicate with him, cutting out the aircraft’s racket. Garza clapped on the headset.

Enrique said, “Good man.” And then he pointed out land features, asked after Garza’s comfort, and told him that there were sandwiches and a thermos of cold water between their seats. The soft, choppy sound of the blades and the sunny view of the Pacific gave Garza great pleasure, and then his eyes closed and he caught up on some missed sleep.

Sometime later, when Garza had lost his sense of time, he felt a hand on his shoulder and came out of a deep dream. Paco, who was Enrique’s nephew, was in the seat behind him.

He said, “Sorry, Señor Garza. We are almost there.”

Garza saw it. The meandering route of the American River. And beyond that, a collection of buildings enclosed by a stone fence all the way around. They were only minutes away. Just minutes.

Garza opened the thermos, slugged down some water. Offered it to Paco, who drank deeply and handed the thermos back.

Enrique was too busy. He pulled up on a lever, and the chopper’s altitude dropped.

“Tiago,” he said, “look down and see what God made.”

Garza pulled his phone from his pullover’s pocket and snapped off some shots of the magnificent waterway and then spotted the walled cluster of buildings where they would be landing soon.

“Paco,” he shouted out to the boy behind him. “Cue the music.”

As the opening bars of Johnny Cash’s greatest hit filled the cabin, the chuffing of the rotor and the blades sounded more like the chugging of a train rolling ’round the bend.

CHAPTER106

YUKI FELT SURE that once El Gato testified today, the jurors would decide if Dario Garza was guilty or not before they even heard other witnesses, and before she or Credendino summarized their case.

El Gato was that important.

Not only was he an eyewitness to the murder of Miguel Hernandez, but he also had taken several photos and a few seconds of video of Dario aiming a gun at Miguel Hernandez’s head.

Yuki had entered that material into evidence.

El Gato was young, unsophisticated, and he felt inferior to the slick killer on trial. Still, the jury had to believe him. That required him to have confidence and a good memory, and he had to be honest.

Days ago, El Gato had told Yuki that he had the shakes because of this responsibility. He said that he was afraid of public speaking even if he couldn’t see the audience. And he was afraid of what Dario would do to him if he was found not guilty and set free.

After their talk, Yuki spent hours speaking with her witness over a secure Wi-Fi connection. She outlined the key points of his testimony so he would have notes if he got confused or overwhelmed. And she assured him that he knew what he’d seen and what was said.

Days after Yuki had begun the coaching sessions, El Gato thanked her for standing by him. It was important to him knowing that he was doing the right thing, that he was doing his part to put away the man who had killed his friend.

Nick Gaines had also worked to protect El Gato. He’d collaborated with computer techs to make sure that the network was secure, and that the voice modulation would fully alter El Gato’s voice, that the facial mask would truly disguise him, that the shades and curtains would be drawn so as not to give away his location.

All of these preparations came down to now.

Court was in session. Judge Walden asked Yuki, “Are the People ready to introduce their first witness?”

“Yes, Your Honor.”

The multiscreen computer was on and visible to the jurors and the legal counsel. The link had been sent, and Gaines initialized the connection so that El Gato was now seen sitting in an ordinary reclining chair against an eggshell-white backdrop. His mask was made of black latex, and his voice was clear and unaccented.

The bailiff swore in the witness and it was on.

“Mr. El Gato, you’ve recently told me you prefer just to be called ‘Gato,’ no ‘El.’ Is that correct?

“Yes, if that’s okay.”

“It’s fine. Gato, please tell the court what you know aboutthe events of June 15th when you were a passenger inside Mr. Garza’s car.”

“Yes. Okay. Well, I want people to know that I am not a so-called popular kid like Mr. Garza and Miguel Hernandez, may he rest in peace. So, I was very excited to be going out with them. I knew Miguel much better, and he was in the front seat next to Dario, and he was, like, Dario’s public relations guy.”

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