by Matt Rogers
‘Very. It’s where the Movers operate out of.’
‘Surely the authorities would catch wind of something so large being run by a gang of drug dealers.’
‘Trust me, they know.’
‘They pay them off?’
‘They pay everybody off. No-one even glances at it.’
‘You’ve been there?’
‘A few times. Not often. I was low-level. Wasn’t granted access to those kinds of places. Most of my instructions were delivered over the phone or at a random location.’
‘I’d hazard a guess that they smuggle most of their supply in through the port?’
Raul nodded. ‘Mostly cocaine. They import it from Colombia.’
‘Smooth operation.’
‘For the most part. Rico mentioned something about you ruining their operation?’
‘I beat up a few of them who were supposed to attend a very important meeting. It seems there’s been a breakdown in communication between the parties. I inadvertently caused that.’
‘That’s a shame.’
King smiled, then realised the magnitude of the task at hand and lapsed back into concentration. ‘So you think your mother and sister are in there somewhere?’
‘I’m certain.’
‘You can’t be sure.’
‘It’s the only place they have that’s heavily fortified. Every other property they own is small-scale production labs and packaging facilities. Rico wouldn’t risk keeping prisoners anywhere near his pipeline. They have a small army stationed in the shipyard at all times. Mercenaries, gangsters, you name it.’
King sighed and thought back to Australia. ‘Nothing I love more than mercenaries.’
‘I don’t know why I’m showing you this,’ Raul said. ‘It’s just false hope.’
‘Why’s that?’
Raul stared at him like he was an idiot. ‘I’m just saying, I know where Rico’s keeping them. Nothing more than that. There’s nothing we can actually do about it. You said it yourself.’
King gazed out at the shipyard far in the distance. From here, the task seemed surmountable. The graveyard looked like any of the other hundreds of strongholds he’d stormed in the past. But that had been in his prime. He was older. Slower. And he’d spent the months since his retirement determined to avoid death.
Charging headlong into a drug gang’s headquarters would counter-act that goal.
‘Like I said, you can’t be sure that they’re there,’ King said. ‘What if the Movers don’t even use the shipyard anymore? What if Rico’s decided to keep your family somewhere secluded, where we’ll never find them?’
‘Okay, fine,’ Raul said. ‘You’re right. I can’t be sure. But it’s my best guess. And I’d rather die trying to get them out than surrender to Rico.’
‘He’ll kill them either way, won’t he?’
Raul nodded. ‘So you know what he’s like, too.’
‘I’ve seen enough of him. I can’t imagine he’d let them go. Even if we turned ourselves in.’
‘So that’s it,’ Raul said, slamming a hand against the window pane hard enough to rattle the sill. ‘I’m fucked either way.’
‘We both are.’
Raul turned. ‘No, we’re not. You don’t have anything to do with this. Rico wants you to join me in a suicide mission because he wants to make you pay for everything that’s happened. He said it himself. You’re too stupid to leave when you have the chance.’
‘I’m not leaving.’
‘You should. I won’t let you do this with me. You’ll die.’
Images of Rico flashed through King’s mind. ‘You need me. And there’s nothing I’d enjoy more than seeing that piece of shit get what he deserves. I can make that a possibility.’
‘King, I’m running into the shipyard to die,’ Raul said. ‘Dress it up any way you want, but that’s it. I’m going to get killed. I don’t have any other choice. I couldn’t live with myself if I backed out and the rest of my family died too. I will die with them. It would be foolish for you to condemn yourself too.’
‘If I leave, then that’s exactly what will happen,’ King said. ‘You’ll die. Without a doubt. But with me, there’s a possibility. Very slight, but it’s there.’
‘Why are you willing to do this?’
King paused before responding. Truth was, he had no idea. It’s just what he’d done for the last ten years. Help people who needed helping. Kill people who needed killing. Sure, that was an oversimplification for a multi-faceted state of mind, but in the end he felt at home in combat. Despite not wanting to admit it, the time he’d spent in El Infierno had rejuvenated him in a way which was difficult to describe. He felt fresh. He felt peaceful.
‘I guess I’m not quite sane,’ he said, admitting the truth. ‘But this is what I enjoy. I’d rather help you and demolish Rico in the process than flee Venezuela and spend the rest of my life thinking about what I could have done. Who I could have helped.’
‘So this is personal too?’
‘Of course. I despise Rico. I wouldn’t be here if there wasn’t something in it for me. Nothing would bring me more satisfaction than seeing him dead. So I’ll make sure that happens. If they stop me, bad luck to me. But I’ll try.’
Raul held out a hand. King shook it.
‘Thank you,’ the man said. ‘Honestly, thank you so much. You don’t know how much this means to me.’
‘I do,’ King said. ‘Trust me.’
Raul paused and surveyed the hotel room. He smiled wryly. ‘It took me this long to realise there are levels to this game.’
King cocked his head. ‘What do you mean?’
‘I used to think some of the Movers I met were the scariest people on the planet. I thought they could break me in half with one hand. When I got thrown into El Infierno, I thought some prisoners were even tougher. Luis and I had to battle to appear strong-willed — so that no-one would bully us. I’ve been scared to death the whole time. I thought it couldn’t possibly get much worse than the men around us.’
‘What do I have to do with this?’
‘I’ve never seen anything quite like the two days you spent in the cage with us.’
‘How so?’
‘You’re something else. These men are vicious gangsters and hardened criminals and seasoned killers. And you just strode in there and didn’t take shit from anyone. You beat the crap out of half the men in the pavilion. Anyone who antagonised you … it was like you were scolding toddlers. And these were men who weren’t used to resistance in any way, shape or form. They’d bullied their way through life because everyone gets out of their way. I did the same. And all it took was for you to fight back for a couple of days and all hell broke loose.’
‘I wouldn’t go that far.’
‘King, if you’d spent another week in that pavilion you would have been running the place.’
‘You think?’
‘I’ve never seen a newcomer react the way you did.’
‘I guess I have the nerve to stand up against anyone. Maybe that’s why I keep ending up in situations like these.’
‘It’s not just that. The way you move … I’ve honestly never seen anything like it. You’re so slow and controlled all the time. Then, when you need to act, you go off like a grenade. I haven’t seen a single man who’s managed to deal with it since I met you.’
‘Offence is the best defence,’ King said. ‘And yes, you’re right. The skills that I’ve learnt over my career are very useful. But it’s time to stop fawning over me. I’m just a guy who can punch people faster than they can punch me. We have three hours to do what we need to do.’
‘I’m just glad you’re on my side.’
‘I’m on no-one’s side. I happen to dislike Rico with a passion. And I happen to dislike people who mess with innocents. If I didn’t have personal motive for this, I’d be out of here. Remember that.’
‘Understood.’
‘Now,’ King said, fetching the scrap of paper off the bedside
table and holding it high, ‘why don’t you give your old friend José a call?’
CHAPTER 35
Ten minutes later they were back in the stolen hatchback. The receptionist had eyed King off from across the marble lobby, noting his purposeful stride and the determined expression on his face. He probably figured that King’s troubles had yet to cease. But if business was conducted outside the grounds of his place of employment, it didn’t concern him in the slightest.
King started the car, shoved the gearbox into reverse and stamped on the accelerator. The tyres squealed on the asphalt as it peeled out of the parking space. He slammed it back into drive and took off towards the exit.
‘You don’t fuck around, do you?’ Raul said.
‘Time is of the essence. What did José say?’
‘Not much. I think he was surprised that I was out. He knew the situation around my arrest. Probably figured me and Luis would spend the rest of our lives in El Infierno. Not many people have got on Rico’s bad side and lived to tell of it.’
‘I’m still hazy on the details as to why Rico hates you so much.’
‘He hates incompetence. Luis and I were dumb enough to get arrested. It jeopardised his operation, which is everything to him. He doesn’t do anything else. He just works, and pays politicians and policemen off, and kills people he doesn’t like. It’s his entire life.’
King nodded. ‘That explains why I provoked such an insane reaction.’
‘If you ruined some kind of business deal, he won’t stop until he kills you.’
‘So I’ll kill him first.’
King lapsed into silence and concentrated on the morning traffic. José had given Raul directions to an industrial zone far from the tourist district. Before long they had re-entered a sprawling maze of congested traffic, shouting locals and general commotion. King breathed in the smell of Maiquetía. The real smell. In that moment he convinced himself never to buy into the facade of luxury again. His time in Venezuela had been a trial run of sorts. He’d never strayed into the artificial commerciality of expensive hotels and designer malls before, even though he’d had the funds to for a long time. He’d always thought it wasn’t the true way to experience the world.
The brief period of time he’d spent in luxury had done nothing but prove himself right.
This was the real Venezuela. The slight edge of danger, the natural conversing of the locals, the dirtiness and the claustrophobia and the mixture of smells and sounds and sights. If he’d isolated himself solely to the tourist districts, he would never have seen the country for what it really was.
He vowed never to cocoon himself again.
Then his mind began to wander. He thought of Rico, and the mess that he’d become wrapped up in. He flashed back to an earlier time, only just after he’d stepped away from Black Force. To a small-town police officer who had been willing to help a psychopath all because of the lure of financial gain.
‘Raul,’ he said, breaking the quiet inside the car. ‘Did you know Rico well?’
The man shook his head. ‘Not at all. But I heard a lot of things. Rumours spread through the ranks, especially with someone so secretive.’
King nodded. ‘Why do you think he’s doing this?’
‘Doing what?’
‘He kills people and ruins lives. All for his operation. Does money motivate him that much?’
‘Not money. I’ve seen some of the things he’s done, and it wouldn’t be solely money driving him. I’ve seen him murder people based on a whim, just because he felt like they might be a threat down the line. Rico grew up poor as dirt. I think he was abused. I’d say he never wants to feel like that again. He wants to be in such a position of power that he would never go back to what life used to be like.’
‘Pretty selfish.’
‘He runs a drug gang. What were you expecting?’
King nodded and shrugged. ‘The world’s full of people like him.’
‘You know that from experience?’
He nodded again. ‘A hell of a lot of experience.’
‘Did you deal with people like that in the past?’
‘You bet. I spent ten years killing them.’
‘That’s why you’re doing this.’
King looked across, taking his eyes off the road for a moment. He met Raul’s gaze. ‘What?’
‘You went your whole life being ordered to do shit like this. Maybe that’s why you’re helping. It’s what feels natural. You’ve been conditioned to do it.’
‘Maybe you’re right, Raul. Maybe you’re right. Where did José say to meet?’
‘At his warehouse.’
‘As in where he keeps his supply?’
Raul nodded.
‘He must trust you,’ King said.
‘He does. We were like brothers.’
‘You think he’ll help us?’
‘I doubt it. We’re planning an attack on his most lucrative client.’
‘That did cross my mind,’ King said. ‘But we don’t have any other options. Only thing we can do is try. Let’s see if family trumps business.’
‘I don’t think it will in this instance,’ Raul said, gazing out at the passing shops. ‘It’s a cruel world. Got to fight to stay ahead.’
Raul directed King into the industrial complex on the outskirts of Maiquetía, buried amidst the rolling plains and shanty towns. The area was barren, with wide roads devoid of traffic save for the occasional rumbling lorry. The hatchback ascended a rise in the road and for a moment they could see out over the city. King spotted the shipyard directly ahead, separated from them by a few miles of civilisation. The Caribbean Sea sparkled in the mid-morning sun.
‘This is his place,’ Raul said, gesturing to a small rusting warehouse buried up the back of a spacious property. It was dwarfed on either side by buildings almost double the size, giant behemoths that catered to the needs of Maiquetía’s various industries.
‘You sure?’ King said.
‘I helped him find it when he was just starting out. I’m sure.’
King turned the wheel and passed through an open gate. The cracked pavement leading to the warehouse was overgrown with weeds. The path cut through a field full of litter and discarded plywood, strewn randomly across the empty land.
The warehouse itself looked like it had been abandoned for years. There were no logos or lettering on the exterior whatsoever. There was none of the usual sounds of an operating business; no buzzing of machinery, no hissing of industrial presses, no beeping of heavy vehicles as they reversed into place.
‘I’m having doubts, Raul,’ King said, studying the compound. ‘This doesn’t look like an arms dealer’s place.’
‘Exactly why he bought it.’
‘Whatever you say.’
He coasted to a stop at the end of the path and killed the engine. The warehouse’s enormous roller door rested shut. As the noise of the hatchback subsided, complete silence descended over the property. Not a peep of noise came from inside the building.
King opened the driver’s side door and stepped out, his boots crunching on the gravel. He brought the AK-103 out with him. This far from the bustling heart of the city meant there were few potential witnesses. He could wield a Kalashnikov assault rifle as much as he desired with little fear of police interference.
It also carried with it the risk that he would be seen as hostile and shot from a distance.
He took that risk in full stride and aimed the weapon at the warehouse, resting the stock against his shoulder.
He’d rather be able to fire the opening shot.
‘Relax, man,’ Raul said. ‘No need for that.’
Suddenly a voice exploded out of a loudspeaker, harsh and discordant. ‘I agree. Put the weapon down, please.’
King searched for the source of the noise and noted a small megaphone drilled into one corner of the warehouse’s exterior, perched high up. He wondered if it had come with the building, or was a custom addition from Raul’s old friend.
‘That’s him,’ Raul said, smiling. ‘Put the gun down, man.’
It took King a moment of hesitation to figure that he had no other choice. He wasn’t one to surrender his chance of survival, but if anyone in the property wanted him dead, he’d be dead. He abandoned his aim and hurled the rifle away into the gravel. Then he raised both palms towards the warehouse.
‘I hope José’s motivations haven’t changed in the time you’ve been away,’ he muttered to Raul.
‘I trust him,’ Raul said.
A narrow door swung open in the corner of the building and a short man stepped out into the open front yard. His rotund belly strained against his cheap flannel shirt and his thin greasy hair had been combed back over a bald spot. In direct contrast to his stomach, his bare arms were packed with muscle. Veins ran along the surface of his forearms. King smiled. Testosterone replacement therapy had treated the man well. At first glance, he seemed to be in considerable shape, but further scrutiny revealed that he’d simply become wealthy enough to inject a cocktail of growth hormones that allowed him to stay vascular with minimal effort.
Still, it probably had its intended effect.
It certainly afforded him the look of an arms dealer.
‘Raul!’ the man exclaimed as he approached them, beaming from ear to ear. ‘I never thought I’d see you again.’
Raul looked at him, and for a moment his expression was cold and hard. ‘You didn’t bother to try and talk Rico into letting me out, José?’
‘Of course I did,’ José said. ‘You think I would just give up on you after everything you did for me? But Rico wouldn’t hear a word of it. I’m an outsider. I’m not part of them. I just sell them weapons.’
‘Pleased to meet you,’ King said.
José looked across. ‘And you are?’
He spoke with the blunt, reserved nature of someone who hated strangers. He didn’t know King, and King was dangerously close to his illegal operation.
‘I helped Raul get out of prison,’ King said.
‘He’s a good man,’ Raul said.
José extended a hand. King shook it. ‘Any friend of Raul’s is a friend of mine.’
‘What have you been up to since I was put away?’ Raul said.