by Pablo Poveda
A feminine voice announced the departure of the train, inviting the passengers to board. It was time to say goodbye.
“Goodbye, Gabriel,” she said and kissed me on the lips again. I took a deep breath, intoxicating myself with her smell for the last time, and memorizing every detail in my head.
Before she left, Blanca confessed. She had also received a phone call and a drive full of pictures. Those were the pictures that we found on her laptop. Violeta and Cornelius had been playing with her and blackmailing her. It was possibly our pride that made us cross paths.
September came, leaving the summer behind. I had to find a job. Ortiz disappeared from the news media when the news of his involvement broke out. There was a lot of digging to do, many people to interrogate, and many questions to ask. The Silent Brotherhood was the head of a network that performed illegal activities such as smuggling, racketeering, human trafficking, and pedophilia. I was unemployed, and the last thing I knew about that bastard was that his wife had asked him for divorce.
One September morning, while I enjoyed a beer under the sun and read my article on a special edition of El Mundo, I got a phone call.
It was a private number.
I felt compelled to let it ring. Days before, I had already gone through something alike:
“Mister Caballero?” said a male voice on the line.
“He’s speaking.”
“I’m the Chairman of Las Provincias newspaper,” he said. “Armando Fuego, I guess you may have heard about me.”
Or course I had; he held the highest rank at the newspaper, way above Ortiz.
“Sure. What can I do for you?”
“I want you back in the newspaper,” he said. “Things are not going well after Ortiz’s departure, and well, you are knowledgeable, and your name is gaining notoriety. Don’t screw up, and the position is yours.”
“Will I have my own office?”
“Yes.”
“And Ortiz’s salary?”
A sigh came through the line.
“I guess.”
“No, no guessing,” I replied. “Will I have it or not?”
“We’ll talk it over,” he rectified, mortified. “What do you say?”
“Count me in,” I said. “I guess I’ll see you soon.”
I hung up, and a warm and satisfying feeling invaded me.
The phone rang again. I finished my beer and asked the waiter for the check.
The street was getting full of people, and college students increasingly substituted summer tourists. Sneakers replaced sandals. The city, little by little, returned to what it really was — a proper city and not only a collection of bars by the beach. Castilian Spanish was again spoken on the street, mixed with poorly constructed phrases and regional dialects.
I finally took the call.
“Hello?” I asked. “Fuego? What is it?”
“I see that you’re back to your old stray dog habits,” a male voice stated on the other side of the line.
“Rojo?” I uttered in surprise. “Where are you?
He hung up and appeared out of nowhere, among the crowd. His hair slicked back, wearing the aviator glasses so characteristically his. He grabbed a chair and sat down.
“How’re you, Gabriel?” he asked. “How are you coping with fame?”
“Not bad, as you can see,” I replied jokingly. “What are you doing here?”
The officer produced a crumpled yellow envelope and placed it on the table, next to the wet pint of beer.
“Let me know,” he said and got up, ready to leave. “You know where to find me.”
He mixed in the crowd and disappeared.
I lit a cigarette, took off my sunglasses, and opened the envelope.
It was an invitation.
Rojo suggested that we work together on a new investigation.
I put the note back in the envelope and in my pocket.
A group of girls walked in front of the table. A brunette looked back at me. I smiled at her, and she smiled back.
Life was calling at my door once again.
How did you like it?
Gabriel’s world is falling apart.
A journalist on edge. A story he cannot forego. Caught in the crossfire of a covert war between drug cartels, his only way out is the truth.
Caballero is willing to risk it all, even the lives of those he loves the most.
A novel drug is scourging the streets of the Spanish coast. Those who try it lose their minds and their lives.
Caballero faces new foes and challenges, but this time around, he cannot count on officer Rojo for help, who is still mourning his loss and focused on finding his wife.
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What some readers say.
★★★★★ A plot full of suspense at all times.
★★★★★ Intriguing! I read the whole book in three hours. It keeps you on the edge of the chair throughout the whole narration. I love how the writer connects the characters with the events, it’s like watching a movie at the theater.
★★★★★ I loved the story. It kept me interested at all times, trying to find who the murderer was.
★★★★★ Full of vibrating action and suspense. It’s one of those stories that you get hooked with from the beginning and can’t wait to finish them.
★★★★★ It hooks you from the beginning because the characters are well developed. The story is worth reading: current and intriguing. Very recommendable.
★★★★★ I loved this book, a really different kind of mystery in an exotic location. The main character is engaging and all-too-human. Kind of like real life. The Spanish was not difficult to follow for one who is not yet fluent.
★★★★★ I loved it. It’s quite an entertaining book, of agile reading, politically incorrect that transforms the topic into a virtue.
★★★★★ Very good novel that gets you stuck to the eBook until you finish it.
I’ve got the whole series and I think it’s wonderful. Very well written.
About the author
Pablo Poveda (Alicante, Spain, 1989) is a writer and journalist. He already published more than 30 books. After spending four years in Warsaw where he developed his writing career, currently, Pablo lives in Madrid where he writes every morning.
Finalist Period, Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award 2018 & 2020
E-mail contact: [email protected]
Website: elescritorfantasma.com
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[1] A Finnish chain of convenience stores.