by Dana Arama
The Mexican above me was concentrating on the conversation in the room. It wouldn’t be hard to overcome him and take the gun from his hand and shoot Zorro. She was directly in my line of fire. I took a deep breath, counted to three and… Guy moved forward and stood between Zorro and me.
“We are not a traitorous team and we have no intention of leaving here with you.” Guy sounded calm and sure of himself. “I do expect to get information from you about the drug deal you have struck with Murat Lenika from the east coast.”
“I cannot admit to having struck such a deal at all.”
“I don’t need you to admit it. I need to know the origin of the money being paid out for such a transaction.”
“Why would you need this information?”
Guy thought for a moment. He was weighing the risk of revealing the information at hand and when he decided to talk, he did so briefly. “The factors who paid for the deal are planning a large-scale terrorist attack.”
“What interest do I have in giving you such information?”
“You won’t gain from the terror attack. At worst, you will lose, because if it is found out that your cartel was involved in this there will be another reason to attack you, and this time it will be an international and well-aimed assault. With all due respect to the anti-drug authorities, it can’t be compared to the war against terror. You haven’t felt what it is like when all hell breaks loose because of you. I am talking about bank accounts shut down in every possible place in the world, satellite tracking, viruses and Trojan horses that will be planted into every cell phone or computer you will ever open. Any device you know about and devices you don’t even know exists, because this time it will not be a war against an authority. This will be a war against all intelligence agencies around the world.”
“With all due respect to your intelligence agencies around the world, we are a dangerous organization too and very well-equipped.”
“With all due respect to your organization, my love,” Zorro answered him, “I am holding your equipment and am pointing it towards this woman and am dying to use it.”
El Desconocido moved his gaze between Zorro and Gail, and when he caught Zorro’s gaze, he said, “I will have a few conditions for my cooperation.”
“What are your terms?” said Guy.
“First of all, that my deals won’t be sabotaged. You won’t ask me about the essence of the deal, nor of the timetable or the transport of the goods.”
“Your conditions are acceptable to me.” I thought it was a bit presumptuous for Guy to accept the terms. After all, I was the law representative. But I kept quiet.
“Secondly, my business partners…” he stopped for a moment and asked, “Are you sure that you don’t want a shot of tequila? I have a lovely bar.”
“Another time. Go on, please.”
“Any crime my business partners commit has nothing to do with me. I am not liable for them.”
“Raphael,” Zorro interrupted. “We are only interested in information on the origin of the money in this deal with Murat Lenika. Give us this information and we’re out of here.”
“It is not so simple, Alex, not so simple.”
“Don’t try and complicate matters Raphael.” Zorro stood in front of him and at the moment her gun changed direction, Guy shifted his gun to point at Gail, as if they were a well-synchronized team. “I know you… You are capable of giving us this information.”
“It is not so simple. I am sure that this source is not the original.” El Desconocido turned on his computer and added, “But you insist, and because knowledge is power, I am prepared to check it.” Next to the computer lay a pair of gold framed glasses. He took them absentmindedly and put them on and then asked, “Can I sit down to check?”
Zorro said, “Yes,” and then shifted her position so she too could look at the screen.
Guy asked, “What makes you think that the source is not the original one?”
“Because we are talking about a legal deal, it has to go through some sort of guise.”
Guy checked his watch. He was feeling pressured and we had run out of time. The room was in total silence. I could hear the wheezing breathing of the man who held me. He probably smoked too much. I fixed my gaze on Gail, who stared at Zorro, who in turn stared at the flickering screen. I counted to three and, just as I had known, Gail started twisting her hair around her finger. She always did that when she wanted people to think she was indifferent but was actually feeling anxious.
The arguing outside got louder. Someone was yelling, “You are not going to do that.” Another voice yelled, “And what about the blood of your brother, bleeding at your feet?” I didn’t hear the answer because they walked away. What I did know was that every second we wasted here, more and more decisions were being made outside. I started thinking that if we were to come out of this alive, it would be a miracle.
Before my eyes, El Desconocido morphed into Raphael the accountant, and for the first time, I could see what my sister saw in him. His face was serious, and he concentrated on the screen before him. I could see the screens changing through the reflection in his glasses. Was he really trying to help? After a few minutes he leaned back and announced, “I think I have found the source.”
“We’d be happy if you’d share it with us…”
“The source that appears here is a private British school. I am sure that it is a guise.”
“Do you have the name of the school?”
“Not exactly…”
“How can a school afford to pay for drugs?” Zorro asked, still staring at the screen.
“It isn’t paying for the drugs. It is paying a charity that runs an orphanage in South America. One of these orphanages is in the Sinaloa area. Whoever looks closely enough will also find an indirect connection to my business.”
“So maybe the school doesn’t even know who it’s paying for and for what…” The reality of the business had hit Guy in the face. A look of despair crossed his features.
“Yes,” El Desconocido answered him. “That definitely could be possible. On the other hand, it could be a cleverly-planned laundering of money.” He smiled. “That is the type of thing accountants like to do.” He cleared his throat and added, “Who but me would know something like that.”
Nobody in the room said a word. As far as Guy was concerned, it was a total waste of two days. His nephew’s time was running out. Thousands of travelers flying the different airlines and Israeli embassy employees were also at risk. For two days, danger had hung low over our heads and now we were only further away from resolving the entire affair. As far as Zorro was concerned, she’d found an equal rival. As far as I was concerned, this was the end of a seven-month journey where I had found and lost my only sister.
“I need all the details about this school.” Guy was reinvigorated. I wondered what it was about El Desconocido’s answer that had uplifted his spirits and made him think that this information was helpful. Then it hit me -- He was still getting instructions from the Israeli Mossad, who were about to operate in the United States against their agreement, and I, as a representative of the law, had to stop them.
Murat Lenika,
New York City, November 14, 2015, 12:15 p.m.
“Aldo, you have behaved with respect to your direct boss and your boss’s boss.” My father had a deep and quiet voice. He was most frightening when he spoke softly like that.
“What should I do now?” Aldo asked. “Do I take him to this meeting or not?”
The deep voice was silent. We all waited for it to echo again in the void of the car, but all we heard was a sigh.
“He has no choice. He has to go and face them.”
“But…”
“There is no but!” My father cut Aldo short. “He gave his word and in our world, we have nothing else to rely on besides our word.” After another moment of
silence, he added dryly, “I have all the facts. I have another two hours to do what I can from here… To try to change something, preferably cancelling the meeting altogether.”
I was silent. He was very angry with me. I defied him and someone else was talking for me, so he couldn’t even tell me off directly as he clearly wanted to do. Deep down I prayed he would manage to cancel the meeting. Truth be told, I felt lost. I was stuck in a whirlpool which I didn’t want any part of, and the faster it spun, the more helpless I felt.
If my father couldn’t help me, no one in the world could do it. Between Yassin’s terrorist scheme and getting involved with the Red Mafia the ground beneath me was cracking up, and I was about to fall into its abyss.
“I promise to protect him.”
“Until the last bullet, Aldo!”
“Until the last bullet, sir.”
A monotonous dial tone ended the conversation. Aldo hung up as well and there was an icy silence in the vehicle.
“It will be okay. This is a good deal for them too,” I said again, maybe to persuade myself as well.
“You heard your father. The honor. You have hurt their dignity which is more important than making more money.”
“I will start by apologizing and I will carry on by saying I will reimburse them for the injustice I have done to them.”
“I am half Russian,” Alex said, “So if some young blood comes, he’ll close the deal with you. The young ones don’t give a damn about honor and dignity. All they are interested in is making more fast money. That is where their honor is. But if someone old gets out of the car… God help him, I will put a bullet in his forehead.”
“Are you crazy!?” Aldo yelled at him. I had never seen him get so mad so fast. “You don’t shoot unless they shoot first, understood?”
Alex looked away, out of the window. I saw he was trying hard not to start an argument. He clenched his teeth and his jaw jutted out. In the end, he explained quietly, “You won’t get a second chance, you don’t know them. I grew up there. If an old man gets out of the car, it is only to see Murat sprayed with bullets.”
My mouth went dry. I tried to swallow. “You do realize that we can’t show them we’re suckers.” My voice sounded strange to my ears. Somewhere between hoarse to broken. I continued anyway, “It will affect everyone. All the way to Albania. Everyone will know what happened to the boss’s son.” I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “This time I agree with Alex. If an old guy gets out of the car, we shoot. Tell Dubroshin to prepare for hell’s fire.”
Aldo waited a moment. Maybe he expected me to rethink my statement. When I said nothing, he made the call. “The decision has been made,” he said without pause, then continued, “If one of the older bosses gets out of the car, it is most probably a call for war. Alex claims that the older ones want Murat to pay for their lost dignity, and that is more important than the deal.”
“Alex is right.”
“In that case, we shoot first and ask questions later.”
“Okay. I am here with my men. We have already positioned ourselves and are waiting to see their preparations. We will be able to tell you ahead of time if they are preparing for defense or attack.”
The next two hours were nerve-wracking. We sat in the car and waited. After twenty minutes we changed position and drove to the upper parking area. We received no calls, perhaps because we had no cellular signal. We waited. Alex opened the window. The stress had filled the car with steam. Outside, it rained. It increased from a drizzle to a flood. We were still silent. Aldo pulled out his phone and Dubroshin’s voice echoed through the car after one ring.
“Anything new?”
“No.” We heard his footsteps as he changed places. “As soon as there is something new, I will notify you.”
“And if he slaughters you before you have time to notify us?
“When everything ends here, I will slaughter you!”
Aldo laughed nervously. I was silent. Alex opened the door and announced, “I am going to check out the area.”
“There is nothing to check,” I said.
“I can’t keep sitting here… I feel jumpy, my ass is burning.”
“Your finger is burning on the trigger. That’s what’s burning,” Aldo answered him.
Alex only said, “That too,” and got out. I saw him climb up onto the hood of a black Jeep and take a look around.
“He’s looking for a car whose exhaust pipe is letting out hot steam. Or a car with a wet roof,” Aldo explained, as if I didn’t know that myself.
“They will arrive at the appointed time. That is their way of showing confidence, that they are in control of the situation.”
“I am afraid that they are really in control of the situation,” he answered, and looked once again at the glowing clock opposite him. “Another hour…”
“An hour and ten minutes,” I corrected him. Alex got off the Jeep and started walking in between the parked cars. At random he would peek into a car he deemed suspicious. “It is starting to get chilly,” I noted.
“I can’t switch on the car and warm it up. Sorry,” he said, not sorry at all. “I can give you my jacket.”
I laughed. “I’m not that cold.” I looked to my right and then to my left and also tried looking out the back window. “Can you see Alex?” I asked.
In response, Aldo took out his gun and locked the doors. He punched in Alex’s number and he answered immediately.
“There is nothing suspicious. Everything is quiet over here.”
“Come back to the car and we’ll change positions.”
We went through this routine three times before Dubroshin notified us that it was starting.
“What is their layout?”
“I can’t tell. Either a broad defense or a narrow attack… There are already a few cars spread out around the meeting point. The boss hasn’t arrived yet.”
I had one last conversation with my father. He said, “You’ll have to go to the meeting. There is no choice.” He added, “I love you,” then hung up. I asked myself if that was a farewell. Did he know I was going to die?
The wheels squealed as they came down to the third floor. It seemed symbolic, a meeting under the ground. As if it foreshadowed the entrance to hell. The black limousine appeared and stopped in between two marked parking bays, as if it meant to stop for just a few minutes. A small pool of water started forming around the car. I thought that when the limousine eventually left, it would look like a coffin.
We stopped a short distance from the limo. The ground between us was empty, and I could identify the Reds with their weapons drawn and their threatening looks. I didn’t see Dubroshin or his team at all and that worried me. I tried not to; not being seen was his specialty.
Aldo said, “Dubroshin just texted that they have shut off the area to this floor,” and then added an explanation of his own, “They don’t want guests…”
One of the Reds approached the vehicle and peeked inside. He signaled me with his weapon to get out of the car. I was sure that Aldo and Alex could hear my heart beating and both of them opened their doors to get out as well to escort me. Both the Reds pounced on them, slamming their doors and preventing them from getting out of the car.
“I can shoot them,” Alex said.
“No! Stay here. There is no reason for you to die as well.”
“As if they will leave eyewitnesses….”
I took a deep breath and sent up a quick prayer to God, who I knew was punishing me because I had breached the Besa code. I promised to do everything in my power to save the kidnapped kid, if I made it out of there alive. I opened the door and got out. With quick strides of confidence, I walked over to the limousine opposite me. Its engine was still running. The Red who had signaled me before to get out of the car now signaled me to stop. I stopped about a meter from the door of the limousine.<
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The limousine door opened, and a leg clad in grey suit pants and a stylish leather shoe emerged. I felt like a pauper in my cowboy boots and jeans.
On the door a hand appeared, bejeweled with a gold ring, upon which rested a huge diamond. I tried in vain to see if the hand was young or old, but couldn’t make it out through the dim light in the parking lot.
“We will close this deal under my terms,” the man said as he got out of the limousine with agility. “There is no room for discussion.”
I breathed a sigh of relief and smiled. “Vladi, how are you?”
“We are not hanging out in a club now, Murat. This is business.”
I became serious and nodded my head in agreement. “What are your terms?” I asked.
“All the profit for the weapons transaction goes to us. We will confirm or not confirm all future dealings with this cell, and we supply the arms.”
“And what do I get in return?”
“Besides your life? You get the drug market.”
I felt a smile spread across my face but then he said, “Maybe ‘get’ is too generous a word… You get the right to continue with your new business partner in this drug deal of yours.” He then smiled and added, “I am planning on working with you on this matter, so don’t disappoint me. By the way, have you tried this new drug? It is out of this world.”
***
We had entered the parking lot during the day, and by the time we left the sun was setting. The night came like a dark icy cloud, along with lightning and thunder. Under any other circumstances, it would have affected my mood. I am a summer person, accustomed to cold margaritas and beauties in bikinis, but now even the frost was welcoming. I had earned my life back, my friends’ lives, the honor of my community, as well as an amazing deal with a friend I regularly partied with. I preferred to ignore the fact that he was a representative of the Russian mafia and that they had the tendency to take over anything they got their hands on. Life looked good, even amidst the raindrops hitting my window. I was starving, like a young wolf.
“What do you think about Joe’s Den? I feel like ribs.”