Betrayed in the Keys

by Matthew Rief

  “You saved me?” Felix said, still gasping for air from the long hours of heavy labor. “You murdered my entire family,” he continued, raising his voice. “You killed them right in front of me, and you threatened to do the same to me if I didn’t join in.”

  “And you didn’t!” Jefe barked. “It was your initiation and you failed. You should have died that day in the mud right alongside them. I’m the only reason you were spared.”

  “You’re a monster,” Felix fired back. “You’re a fucking—”

  Felix was interrupted by an ear-rattling explosion and a hot rocket of lead that struck him right in the chest. His body lurched backward, and he grunted in pain as the .44 Magnum round exploded out the back of his body in a large spray of blood. He fell to the ground, overtaken with pain, and I knew that, in all likelihood, he only had a couple seconds of life left.

  Anger swelled within me as I watched him. I looked at Jefe, who still had his smoking revolver raised at Felix. He showed no emotion except a sadistic satisfaction.

  With an evil smile on his face, Jefe said, “That’s what you deserve, Felix. To die here painfully in this dark cave that has become all of your tombs.”

  He turned to his thugs and ordered that the two remaining chests be carried out and loaded into the helicopter. Time slowed as they reached down to grab the large chest Frank and I had gone for before. My eyes went from Felix to Jefe, and to Frank as two thugs grabbed its handholds. I didn’t know what was going to happen, and neither did Frank. He only knew that it was a final booby trap, Shadow’s last effort to rain down retribution from the grave upon anyone who tried to steal his treasure.

  Without the slightest inkling of what they were doing, the two thugs lifted the chest from its place. For a split second, nothing happened. I wondered if maybe we’d been wrong, but my thoughts were instantly silenced when the large, flat flagstone the chest had been resting on moments before began to move.

  Everyone in the chamber froze and turned their attention to the movement and sound. Even the two thugs who’d lifted the chest froze and stared as the stone shook and then began to rise up out of the floor. Its movements were slow at first but gradually sped up until we realized that the stone was a long, wide pillar instead of a normal part of the floor.

  “What the fuck is happening?” Jefe barked as he stared at the rising slab of rock.

  As Jefe and his thugs stood frozen and stared as if entranced by the movement, Frank and I glanced at each other, then stepped towards a pair of Jefe’s thugs that had their backs to us. Part of me wanted to kneel down and help Felix. He had his head down and was struggling to breathe and move. But I knew that if we didn’t act now, we’d end up just like him. Cesar, seeing what we were doing, moved in as well, trying to flank them from behind.

  I glanced in amazement as the stone continued to rise. It was sticking out over three feet and moving faster and faster with each passing second. Just as I reached within arm’s length of one of the thugs, the silence and anticipation inside the chamber shattered in an instant. A loud and powerful hissing sound filled the air as if a large water pipe had spontaneously ruptured. My eyes darted over to the pillar of rock, focusing on a spray of water bursting out from its edges and splashing into the walls and the thugs beside it.

  My mind raced, reminding me that we were probably sixty feet underground on an island that is nineteen feet above sea level. The rock was still moving, the water gushing out intensely, and the realization came over everyone in the chamber that we’d all soon be underwater if we didn’t get the hell out of there. With my hands still bound behind me and with all of the thugs focused on the spraying water, I made my move.

  Stepping towards the nearest thug, I snatched the Taurus 9mm from his hip holster, then planted my right foot, spun around quickly and kicked him in the neck. His head whipped forward and his eyes bulged while his body flew backward and slammed into the ground. Just as he hit the ground, I took aim with the Taurus, firing two rounds into the second thug beside me and sending him screaming to the ground.

  For a fraction of a second, I glanced over at Frank and Cesar, who’d sprung into action just after I had. They each managed to take down a thug as well, leaving four not including Jefe. Upon seeing what was happening and hearing the gunshots over the loud spraying water, Jefe made a break for the opening leading out of the chamber. Time slowed as Jefe’s remaining thugs ran behind their leader, trying to escape the room, which already had over two feet of water. They turned back occasionally, sending bullets flying wildly in our direction.

  Aiming the Taurus as best as I could with my hands bound behind me, I fired off a few shots into the swarm of thugs running through the narrow opening, then dove for cover. My body splashed into the warm seawater, and I crawled as fast as I could toward Felix, who was still lying motionless. Bullets rang out from all directions as Jefe and his thugs opened fire, then disappeared from view. Frank and Cesar managed to take a few more out as I brought my cuffed hands under my feet to the front of my body and helped Felix. He was still breathing, but in erratic and short gasps. Blood dripped out from his chest as I helped him to his feet, then forced him to move as fast as he could towards the opening.

  The pillar stopped suddenly and the large spray of water turned into a row of open fire hydrants, causing the water to rise expeditiously. I held on to Felix, helping him splash through the water beside me as the water level rose up around us. It was just above our waists by the time we reached the opening alongside Frank and Cesar.

  Once out of the treasure chamber and into the adjacent room, we glanced around momentarily for any sign of Jefe or his thugs. We couldn’t see anyone and couldn’t hear anything over the sound of the roaring waters behind us. Holding tight to our weapons and helping Felix to stay on his feet, we moved as fast as we could away from the water and towards the small set of stairs on the other side of the room.

  By the time we reached it, the water almost overtook us completely. For a moment I thought we’d have to swim out of the tunnels, then the sole of my shoes struck the first step and the four of us heaved up away from the water.

  As we lumbered up the steps, the rising water slowed behind us. When we reached the top step, we were able to catch our breath for the first time. Looking forward, we still saw no sign of Jefe or any of his men. Looking back, we saw that, though its ferocity had died a little, the water would still overtake us in a matter of seconds if we didn’t move.

  With soaked clothes and weary bodies, we used the surge of adrenaline to press on through the tunnels. When we reached the fork, I spotted movement up ahead. It was one of Jefe’s thugs and he was running towards the long corridor, about to disappear from view. I didn’t hesitate. Still gripping the Taurus, I raised it and fired off two rounds as fast as I could. The bullets struck the running thug in the leg and the side of his chest, causing him to yell in pain as he tumbled forward and collapsed onto the ground just out of our view around the corner.

  I led the way, keeping my Taurus locked in as I moved around the edge of the rock. The distant rushing water made it difficult to hear anything going on up ahead, so I wanted to be prepared for the worst.

  My eyes grew wide as the long corridor came into view. Less than twenty feet in front of me, I saw two big thugs facing me with their weapons raised. I only had a fraction of a second to react, and in that time I squeezed the trigger over and over, sending a series of bullets straight towards them as I yelled for the others to stop and dove to the ground for cover. They pulled their triggers as well just as the rounds struck their bodies. The long dark corridor came to life with loud, pounding automatic gunfire. Bullets streaked through the air just over my head, ricocheting against the tunnel wall behind me.

  I landed hard on the rock and contorted my body into a roll before hitting the side of the tunnel. Keeping my eyes trained forward, I watched as both thugs fell backward, still holding the triggers and sending streams of bullets across the ceiling as they slammed into the gro
und and went motionless. I could hear my heart pounding in my chest as I scanned over the rest of the corridor, ready for more stragglers to appear.

  When I turned back to look at the others, my eyes grew wide as I saw dark figures reveal themselves from the shadows. With all of my attention drawn forward, I hadn’t even looked down the other side of the fork, where the swinging log full of spikes had ended the massive thug’s life less than an hour before. There, out of the darkness, appeared Jefe alongside three of his men.

  In an instant, his three men sprang out and grabbed hold of Frank and Cesar, catching us all off guard. With Felix struggling to stay on his feet right behind me, I spun to aim my Taurus at Jefe, knowing that I only had one round left and I needed to make it count. But before I could take him out, he fired, sending a round into the rock wall just inches over my head.

  “Drop the fucking gun!” Jefe shouted while aiming his Magnum straight at my head.

  I froze in place, staring back into his eyes and contemplating whether to take my chances and try and take him out.

  Seeing me pause momentarily, he stepped closer and repeated the order. His thugs held tightly to Frank and Cesar and ripped the weapons from their hands. We were caught off guard, and my mind went to work, trying to think of a way out of it.

  I watched closely as Jefe’s finger moved slightly, starting to squeeze the trigger of his Magnum, which was still locked on to my head. With a slow movement, I released the Taurus, letting it drop and clatter against the flat rock at my feet. Felix collapsed to the ground in front of me. He was so weak and disoriented from the loss of blood that Jefe didn’t bother to have anyone grab hold of him.

  Jefe shot me an evil smile as he glanced at the Taurus at my feet.

  “You’re a bunch of reckless fools,” he said sternly. “Well, before you all die, just know that you handed us a treasure on a silver plate. The treasure is ours, and now… now it’s time for you all to die.”

  Time slowed as I debated what to do next. I had to do something, I convinced myself. Jefe would kill us all, and I wasn’t about to go down without a fight.

  I bent my knees slightly, preparing to dive to the side in order to avoid Jefe’s round. But, catching me by surprise, he suddenly pulled the trigger. Keeping my eyes trained forward, I realized that Felix had positioned himself in front of me. As the dark air shook and the loud explosion overtook my senses, Felix sprang forward, rotating his body around and blocking the line of sight between Jefe and me.

  The bullets struck Felix’s torso as I dove to the right. I didn’t have time to wonder why he’d done it. No, he’d surprised everyone and given me an opportunity I wasn’t about to waste. Jefe continued to pull the trigger like a madman as I landed into a somersault, then twisted my body around in a flash and slammed my leg into his hands. The loud, repetitive gunpowder explosions ceased as his Magnum flew into the air and rattled onto the ground over near the edge of one of the pits. Sliding my left leg around, I hit him hard in the calf, causing his body to collapse backward and hit the ground with a loud thud.

  Before I could rise to my feet, the thug beside him lunged towards me and wrapped his meaty hands around my neck. Grabbing hold of his wrists, I jerked my body back, dug my heels into his chest and hurled him over me. His massive frame flew through the air and crashed onto the ground, causing him to grunt loudly as he tumbled, barely able to stop his momentum from hurtling him over the edge and to a painful death at the bottom of the pit.

  I glanced over at Frank and Cesar, watching as they fought to overtake the two men who had been holding them in place moments earlier. I wanted to help them but didn’t have time as Jefe jumped to his feet and sprinted towards his Magnum on the ground.

  I ran after him, reaching his back just as he bent down to grab the weapon. Without hesitating, I grabbed him forcefully by the collar of his dirty black dress shirt, jerked him back, and slammed him into the wall beside us. He grunted in pain, twisted his body around, and threw a strong fist through the air. I moved sideways, narrowly escaping the path of knuckles and rage. As I turned to send a punch myself, he transitioned quickly and struck me in the side with his knee.

  It hurt bad, but I didn’t show it or pause for a second. Instead, I forced myself behind him, dropped down, and lifted him over my head like he was a barbell and I was going for a heavy squat. Before he knew what was happening, I bent forward and slammed him hard into the ground like a WWE wrestler. It felt good to bring pain to such an evil guy, and moments after he landed, I kicked him across the face, causing his nose to crack and splatter blood over the stone floor.

  With the cartel leader struggling in pain at my feet, I looked up just in time to see the big guy I’d kicked across the room as he sprinted straight towards me. I had only a brief moment to brace for impact before he ran into me like a freight train. Tackling me at full speed, he knocked the air out of my lungs as I flew backward in a haze. Tumbling onto the hard ground, I pressed my hands beneath me and struggled to stop myself before reaching the edge.

  Before I could blink, he was on top of me, rearing his massive arms back and pounding them towards my face. The first blow skinned the side of my cheek, and the second I was able to fully deflect, causing his knuckles to grind into the stone less than an inch away from my left ear. As his body shifted sideways, I held his arm in place then jammed my left hand into his neck. His head jerked forward and the air burst free from his lungs. With all of my strength, I forced him off me, grabbed a nearby loose stone, and slammed it across his head. His body went motionless beside me, right on the edge of the trap.

  As I turned to look for the others, I saw Jefe reach down and grab hold of his Magnum just a few feet away from me. I saw Jefe’s face in the darkness. His eyes were narrowed, his jaw clenched, and there was blood dripping down from his broken nose. For the first time since I’d met him, his lips didn’t bow to form their typical evil smile. Instead, he looked only pissed off beyond belief as he raised his piece towards me. I knew that if he managed to get a shot off, the force from the blow alone would knock me over the edge, which was just inches behind my heels.

  Fractions of a second stretched thin as I quickly reared back the rock that I’d used to take out the big guy resting in a heap of blood beside me. It was my only chance. But before I could hurl it towards the cartel leader, I saw his right index finger begin to flex.

  As fast as I could, I shifted my upper body to the left, trying desperately to avoid the bullet’s path of destruction. The loud, shaking sound of a gunshot filled the air and I expected my life to end there in a flash of bright light in the dark corridor. As I landed on my side I heard a painful yell and realized that I hadn’t been hit. Jefe still stood beside me, but his revolver rattled to his feet as he stared at his bloody, mangled hands.

  My eyes darted towards the back of the corridor, where I saw two figures walking out from the shadows. Cesar stepped into the light of one of the flashlights that had fallen to the ground, followed closely behind by Frank. I hadn’t been able to help them since the start of the fight, but clearly they’d been able to take down the two cartels they’d been with without too much trouble.

  As they stepped towards us, Jefe’s face filled with rage. He shouted violently and pressed his hands against his chest as blood continued to flow out from under them. Since we hadn’t moved far down the tunnel, the inrushing water grew louder just behind us. I could tell it was about to reach Felix and Frank and watched as they turned slightly to see the water reach their feet.

  Suddenly, Jefe snapped his head up to look at me. Channeling every ounce of strength and anger he had left, he dove towards me. I only had a split second to prepare myself before he crashed into me, tackling me onto the hard ground and causing my body to tumble over the edge. With the corner pressed against my chest, I was barely able to stop myself from falling to my death.

  Jefe yelled at me, cursed at me as I tried to stay up. As I deflected one of his punches, I saw the faint glimmer of metal peeking o
ut from his waistband. I knew what it was and reached for it as Jefe transformed into a mass of personified rage. Wrapping my right hand around the handle, I snatched the old dagger, brought it back a few inches, and stabbed it as hard as I could into his neck.

  Blood gushed out, and his eyes grew wide as the blade sliced all the way through to the other side. With all of my remaining strength, I pulled myself up onto the ledge, rose to my feet, then grabbed ahold of his bloodied body. He made eye contact with me, and I could see the life draining out of him by the light of Frank’s flashlight.

  Tilting my head in closer, I said, “Black Venom is over.”

  Before he could struggle to get out a reply, I dug my heels into the stone, gripped his body tightly and hurled him over the edge. His wails and gagging lasted only a moment longer before being silenced forever as his body was pierced by rows of scattered wooden spikes.

  With my gaze drawn to the edge of the trap and my right hand wrapped around the handle of the dagger, which dripped with Jefe’s blood, I gave out a brief sigh of relief.

  “We’ve got to get out of here,” Frank said, running up beside me and placing a hand on my shoulder.

  He held a set of keys in his left hand, and less than a minute later he used it to remove all three of our handcuffs. I wrapped my hands around my wrists, happy to finally have them free after so many hours bound together.

  Bending down, I grabbed a flashlight from the ground, then scanned it around until I found Jefe’s revolver. Moving over to it, I gripped it with one hand and joined the others. As we walked over the first creaky metal ladder, I shined the beam of the flashlight downward. Twenty feet below me, I saw the bodies of Jefe, Felix, and the three other thugs. I was relieved to see that Jefe had finally met his end but felt an unusual pang of sadness upon seeing Felix. Though only days earlier he’d been my captor, a man who I would have killed without a moment’s pause, he had become something more.