by Matt Rogers
‘During your career?’
‘Yes.’
‘A man of many cultures,’ Raul said with a slight smile. ‘Anyhow, they’re drug runners. Started as a low-level street gang and built themselves into what they are now. They’re the largest importers of narcotics into the state of Vargas. Everyone knows where they do business but they’ve paid so many officials off that no-one bothers them.’
‘They control the authorities?’
‘They do.’
‘And you worked for them?’
‘I did.’
King hesitated. ‘Then what are you doing in here?’
‘They threw both of us to the wolves. We were dealing recklessly, thinking we were invincible because of who we worked for, and we got caught. We had close to a kilo between us. I never heard from any of the Movers again. They just let us get arrested and charged. Abandoned us as soon as we found ourselves on the wrong end of the law.’
‘Is that what they usually do?’
‘Exactly the opposite. From what I’ve seen, they protect their own. But our boss started getting more and more ruthless as time went on. He doesn’t have time for incompetence. I’d say he saw us as two idiots and let El Infierno swallow us up.’
‘Who is he?’
‘He’s the reason they run half the state now. They were nothing before the mudslide tragedy many years ago. It crippled more than half the state. He capitalised by snatching up an entire shipyard for almost nothing. Now he pays off police, he buys politicians. All to be left alone and increase the cocaine coming in through the port from neighbouring Colombia.’
‘What’s his name?’
‘Rico.’
King’s stomach dropped.
Of course it fucking is.
Pieces began to fall into place. He slowly put together a number of different theories as to why he ended up in El Infierno, and why a drug gang’s leader was watching over him under the guise of a prison official.
He turned to Percy, who until this point in the conversation had remained completely silent, watching from his bunk.
‘Percy,’ he said. ‘You bought cocaine, correct?’
Percy nodded.
‘Where from?’
‘Somewhere in Maiquetía. I can’t remember exactly what the street was called, but it was near the beaches.’
‘I was staying near there,’ King noted. ‘Raul, did you operate in that area?’
‘If you bought cocaine in Maiquetía, it would have come from the Movers. They’re the only players in that district. Trust me. Me and my brother used to make most of our money from cashed-up tourists.’
‘Used to?’
‘Well, up until the Movers forgot all about us.’
‘Ah,’ King said. ‘And are they professionals?’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Do they make mistakes? Do they mix up orders?’
‘Never. That’s the last thing they would do. The entire philosophy behind Rico’s operation is to be as consistent and efficient as possible.’
‘Percy, tell him,’ King said.
The British tourist explained what had transpired, from the moment he decided to purchase drugs all the way up until he was thrown in El Infierno. Once again, he stressed the once-off nature of his urges and continued to highlight that he would never dabble in such illegal activities again. Much like King, Raul didn’t give a shit. He seemed more concerned with the details of the deal itself.
‘Perhaps I was wrong,’ Raul said after Percy finished.
‘What do you mean?’ King said.
‘That definitely doesn’t sound like the Movers.’
‘Which part?’
‘Showing up with a quarter of what was agreed upon.’
‘Maybe they slacked off in the time you’ve been here.’
‘I guess … if Rico moved on. But I doubt either of those things have happened. Rico was a wild man in the time I knew him. He lived and breathed his operation.’
King recalled the crazed sneer on Rico and the aggravation behind his eyes when he thought he was being lied to. ‘I don’t think he’s moved on either.’
‘What makes you so sure?’ Raul said.
‘Just a couple of things I’ve seen.’ King paused, thinking hard. ‘So say the Movers are still operating in Maiquetía. Why would they stuff up a deal like that? Maybe they thought they could extort some dumb foreigner?’
Percy frowned.
Raul shook his head. ‘No chance. That was the one thing they prided themselves on. Professionalism. Always being accurate. They would not be so foolish to start ripping off their customers. Rico would never do such a thing. It’s how he grew the Movers into what they are today.’
‘So something’s off in their operation?’
‘Must be,’ Raul said. ‘Why are you so curious about all this?’
‘I think I may have inadvertently been the cause of all this behind-the-scenes turmoil.’
‘How so?’
‘I’m still trying to work that out.’
Suddenly the room lit up as the door swung open rapidly. It caught King by surprise. He’d been deep in thought, distracted by recent revelations. He’d let his focus falter. As such it took him a fraction of a second too long to bring the Zamorana round and aim it at the door. He knew he could very likely die in the time it took to do so, and his heart froze in his chest.
But that didn’t happen, because Luis stepped into the room, followed swiftly by two Spanish men. Both were short and stocky. They waddled with the gait of men who had packed on a little too much weight in the belly area. One had long thin hair and the other was bald.
Luis noted the barrel pointed at his temple and smiled wryly. He said something in Spanish.
‘He says you’re very trigger happy,’ Raul said. ‘Always ready to go.’
‘Gotta be,’ King said. ‘Too many people want me dead. I was slow that time.’
‘What world do you live in where that kind of reaction was slow?’
‘The world where I stay alive.’
Luis introduced the pair as Daniel and Mateo, friends who had been locked up in El Infierno for several years. They had suffered abuse from Tevin and his men for years, for reasons they could not work out. He seemed to hold a hatred towards the pair ever since they’d stepped foot inside the pavilion. As such they’d been treated like dirt for the majority of their time in prison. They were more than willing to lend their services to King in the event of conflict.
Raul translated all this, listening fast and speaking fast. King took it all in, resting the Zamorana on his knee as he thought. He stood up and shook each of the men’s hands. The language barrier prevented any sort of meaningful conversation, but he noted the look in their eyes and knew they would help. There was pent-up rage and frustration in both of them. King knew exactly what that felt like.
He knew they could be trusted.
‘So we have six,’ he said, turning to Percy and Raul, the only two English-speakers in the room. ‘This could get ugly.’
‘It will get ugly,’ Raul said.
‘Did Luis tell you anything?’
‘A lot of people out there know what’s happening. They know tension is brewing. He said he hasn’t seen the pavilion like this in years. Everyone’s quiet, everyone’s scheming. I don’t know, King … this could go very badly for us.’
‘It could go very badly for a lot of people.’
‘What time is it? It’s tough to keep track in here.’
‘Middle of the night still.’
‘And everyone’s awake?’
‘I think they can sense something large is coming. Apparently a few weapons have crept back into the pavilion already. Guards selling them on the down-low.’
King shook the Zamorana in his hand. ‘I have one, at least.’
‘Won’t do you much good if everyone’s after you.’
‘Let’s worry about that when it happens.’
King studied the members of the room. There was enough men o
n his side to provide a slight level of reassurance, but nothing more than that. All it meant was that they would not be extraordinarily outnumbered in the event of an attack. Nevertheless, his heart rate began to ease.
He wasn’t alone.
‘We can take shifts now,’ he said. ‘Two men watch the door, four sleep. Everyone good with that?’
A collection of nods came back. Daniel and Mateo spoke to Raul in Spanish. He listened and nodded. Then faced King.
‘They offer to take first shift,’ he said. ‘As a thank you for standing up to Tevin.’
King smiled. ‘I don’t have much of a choice.’
‘They’re grateful anyway.’
He nodded and rolled over in the bunk. Sleep had been sporadic and restless over the last few days, given everything that had transpired. He’d managed a few restless hours before, but it hadn’t been enough. Constant tension and unease made one exhausted.
‘How the fuck can you sleep right now, mate?’ Percy said. ‘I’m shitting my pants.’
‘We’ve been over this, Percy,’ King said, still facing the wall. ‘I’ve been in worse situations.’
‘You’re a nutter.’
‘At least being a nutter makes me calm.’
He drifted off, slipping away from the throbbing and aching and burning all over his body as it healed from the dozens of baton swings. He ignored the cramped, humid conditions and the unease which had plagued his every thought since he’d first been arrested. It all went away.
But not for long.
CHAPTER 20
Panicked shouting tore him from unconsciousness.
His eyes flicked open and he came to in an instant. He blinked hard twice, until his blurry surroundings came into focus. Bodies, all around him. Frantic movement. Yelling. Surprise and tension and unrest.
He leapt to his feet, still processing what he was seeing. A cluster of men had stormed into the room, slamming the door open, taking the two sentries by surprise just long enough to capitalise. Now the room was over-populated, bodies against bodies. An air of confusion permeated the place.
King looked at the intruders. They weren’t Tevin’s men.
Three of them were Guardia Nacional.
The other was Rico.
All four brandished Kalashnikov AK-103 assault rifles, big, bulky guns, all reliable, all pointed in their direction.
‘Hey, boys,’ Rico said, a devilish smile spread across his face.
Raul made a guttural noise full of rage. King saw him lock eyes with his old employer. Rico’s smile did not falter. He kept the leer spread across his face, languishing in the twins’ anger. ‘Didn’t think I’d see you two again. Enjoying the stay?’
Luis spat at him. The glob of saliva landed on Rico’s combat boot. He looked down at it, then shrugged. ‘I’d normally kill the both of you for that. But I probably deserve it. Anyway, enjoy the rest of your short lives. I have other matters to tend to.’
King took his finger off the trigger of the Zamorana. It would do no good to end Rico here, because he would just take three magazines full of ammunition in return. The remaining Guardia Nacional soldiers would tear him to shreds. He couldn’t kill four men before they retaliated. Besides, where would that leave him? Stuck in a pavilion, no closer to freedom, with four dead officials on his hand.
Well, three dead officials. And one drug lord.
‘What are you doing?’ King said.
Percy cowered in his bunk. Raul and Luis stood side-by-side, fists clenched, ready to attack. Daniel and Mateo looked similar.
Rico let his eyes wander over the ragtag group of men and laughed. It seemed he found everything in life hilarious. ‘You six better not put up a fight. We’ll kill you and bury the evidence.’
‘We’re not putting up a fight,’ King said. ‘Now what do you want?’
‘There’s rumours spreading,’ Rico said. ‘That you gentlemen are inciting something you shouldn’t be. Care to explain?’
Silence.
‘I think I need to talk to the two Westerners,’ he said. ‘They seem to be the ones causing all the trouble lately.’
‘Leave Percy out of all this,’ King said. ‘I’m the one you have a problem with.’
‘Are you?’
‘You know I am.’
‘You’re certainly right that I have a problem with you. But I also have a problem with your friend. So I’ll talk to you both. Follow me.’
He instructed the three soldiers in Spanish to keep watch over the other four men, which King deduced by hand movements and general tone alone. Then Rico gestured for he and Percy to follow. Reluctantly, he stepped forward.
‘King,’ Percy said feebly.
He turned. ‘Let’s go. You won’t change his mind. Just do what he says.’
Percy’s shoulders sagged. Maybe he thought King had some magic solution to this problem. But right now, he had nothing.
The air was already thick and humid in the room, warmed by the body heat of ten men. Raul and Luis watched them go with venom in their eyes. King knew every fibre of their being wanted nothing more than to pummel Rico into oblivion for tearing them away from their family and throwing them into hell.
But they wouldn’t get a chance.
Not yet.
King powered through the small crowd and stepped out into the hallway. Rico kept the barrel firmly trained on him. His hands did not falter. They stayed deathly still, positioning the gun completely on target, standing just far enough away to negate any kind of wild charge King might decide to throw.
He’s well-trained, that’s for sure.
Percy scurried out of the living quarters and stopped by his side. King looked through the pavilion, and outside. It was still dark, but not pitch black. The faint glimmer of dawn had begun to creep into the surroundings, turning the buildings outside a shade of blue.
‘Out there,’ Rico said, motioning with the barrel.
They moved through the pavilion, heading for one of the gates. Dozens of inmates gave King the evil eye as he passed them by. He ignored them and pressed on. He was sure that were it not for Rico escorting them through the compound, he would have caught a bullet in the head by the time he reached the far gate. So far, the prisoners hadn’t started trouble with him, but that didn’t mean they respected him. He presumed that for the right price they would kill anyone.
And Tevin seemed to have his sights set on eliminating King for good.
They stopped by the gate and Rico scanned his keycard on the sensor. He punched in a four-digit code and the lock emitted an electronic beep. He pushed on the steel bars and the door swung open.
King could have killed him in that moment. Rico had taken his eyes off his prisoners while fumbling with the keypad. It would have taken a single motion to disarm him and light him up with Kalashnikov rounds. But that would result in no answers, and would do more harm than good. So King ignored it and stepped through into the prison grounds.
This side of the pavilion faced a number of neighbouring buildings, all plain concrete, all grey, all unassuming. The prison grounds were a maze of interconnected compounds. Breaking out would be all but impossible. He’d have to navigate down paths that twisted and turned — avoiding all guards — then find a way through the perimeter building.
Rico stood across from them in the low light. Beside King, Percy stood hunched over, hands shivering. He was terrified.
‘The fuck are you two doing?’ Rico said.
‘He’s not doing anything,’ King said, gesturing to Percy. ‘He just got here. I’m the one antagonising Tevin, so you deal with me.’
‘Tevin?’
‘The guy who runs the pavilion.’
‘Ah.’
‘You’d know that if you actually worked here.’
Rico chuckled. ‘So you pieced together that I’m not a guard. Congratulations.’
‘I know more than that.’
‘Oh, you do?’
‘I know you want me alive because you want answers to
all your questions.’
‘That’s pretty obvious.’
‘And I know why.’
‘Elaborate, if you really are such a detective.’
‘I fucked up your entire operation, didn’t I?’ King said. Then he grinned, as if showing that he had done so intentionally.
Rico grit his teeth in rage and tightened his finger around the Kalashnikov’s trigger.
CHAPTER 21
For a moment King thought Rico would blow his brains across the pavement. But he didn’t, because he was curious. King would humour him.
He raised a finger and pointed it at the drug lord.
‘The three thugs in the alley,’ he said. ‘The ones I beat the shit out of. Now I know where they were headed. It seems they were responsible for securing more of your supply. They missed a meeting of some kind because of what I did to them. The suppliers must have high-tailed it out of there. Maybe they suspected foul play. Or they’re big on punctuality. Anyway, that’s irrelevant. Point is, your supply is non-existent now, isn’t it? Seems you’ve had a communication breakdown with the supplier. I set off a chain reaction. You don’t have enough to get you through. And your gang prides themselves on running a tight ship. Now competitors can creep in. Snatch up the eager customers. Am I right?’
‘You already knew that,’ Rico said. ‘Who put you up to it? Which group?’
‘That’s the thing, Rico,’ King said. ‘I’ve been telling the truth this whole time. No-one did. I worked all that out myself. Percy here tried to buy cocaine from one of the Movers and the guy wasn’t able to deliver what was promised. You’re spread out, and you’re losing your hold on the market. Must have really pissed off your suppliers by not showing up, huh?’
‘You really have nothing to do with this?’ Rico said.
‘That’s what I’ve been telling you. You assumed I did because it was an almighty coincidence. I beat down the three most important men in your organisation on that day. But all they did was piss me off. That’s their fault.’
‘You’re some kind of ex-soldier?’
‘I am.’
‘Just passing through?’
‘Uh-huh.’
Rico smiled and raised the Kalashnikov.