by Dan Kelly
“One hears all kinds of stories around a race track and meets all kinds of people. Most of the people I’ve met that are the kind you want to avoid are the lower rank people, the messengers and gofers of the higher ups. In my case, Hector Montoya is an exception.” He proceeded to regale them with more stories about the seamier side of horse racing and dropped a number of names in the process.
“Ricardo, are you familiar with a woman by the name of Zarita Barranco?”
“She’s a race horse owner who races some of her horses at Hipodromo Camarero as well as some of the other tracks in Puerto Rico. She hasn’t had any winners yet, but she has a reputation for being a poor loser, so I think she’ll keep trying until she does. There are rumors that there is cartel money backing her. I’ve never met her, but I’ve heard she’s a beautiful woman.”
“I have and she is.”
“Take some advice from an old man who’s been around the track of life a few times. Give that one a wide berth. People I know and trust have told me that their impression of her is that she doesn’t have many scruples and her friends play very rough.”
“I will, Ricardo, and thank you so much for everything you’ve done for us today.”
“You’re very welcome and thank you for dinner.”
Pete and Abby dropped Ricardo off back at the track and then they headed back to the hotel. It had been an interesting and informative day and they wanted to get the names they had picked up and the pictures Abby had taken at the track to Dave so he could start the ball rolling on finding out whatever is available on them. They figured on getting to bed early as they had an 8:30 tee time tomorrow morning at the Trump International Golf Club in Rio Grande.
They figured wrong. About half way back to the hotel Pete said, “I think we’re being followed.”
“It’s probably either Montoya’s people or someone following Zarita’s orders. There’s no one else here that would have an interest in us.”
“That we know of. I’m going to get off the main drag and go down a few of the side streets and see if the car follows us. I could be wrong. I might just be getting a little paranoid and starting to see danger where there isn’t any.”
“Let’s find out. Do your Andretti thing and see what happens.”
At first, Pete maintained his speed and signaled a left turn a few blocks down the road. He made some random left and right turns in a business park section of the city and the car he was watching stayed on his tail. He drew up to a red light at the main drag and signaled for a right turn. When the light turned green, Pete floored the accelerator and turned left, cutting off oncoming traffic, and weaved around slower traffic as he sped down the busy street. A few blocks later he made a sharp, sliding, screeching left turn onto another busy street, this time cutting off of all things a police car, and tromped on the accelerator again. Taking a quick glance at the rear view mirror, he saw the car following them trying to make the same turn Pete did and crash into the police car as it started to pursue Pete with lights flashing and siren blaring. Pete slowed down, went around the block and stopped in a shopping plaza on the corner where the police car was rammed, hoping to get a look at who was tailing them.
The two cops in the patrol car appear to be uninjured as they were hit in the driver’s side rear door and spun around, but no one is moving in the other car. Its front end looks like an accordion. Water is pouring out of the radiator, the windshield is lying in the street with glass from the front side windows and the doors are jammed so the cops can’t open them to get to the unconscious people inside. As a crowd of curious onlookers begins to gather, the paramedics arrive and are able to pry the driver’s door open. Pete and Abby join the crowd to get a look at their pursuers. As the driver and his passenger who are still breathing are removed from the car, the crowd is moved back by a bunch of other cops that were called to the scene, but not before Pete and Abby are able to see who is in the car. Two men, dressed all in black, chinos, long sleeved shirts, socks and running shoes, are covered in blood and except for their shallow breathing they aren’t moving. The driver is also wearing a black beret and the passenger a black cap and, amazingly, the headgear is still in place. The way they were dressed reminded Pete of the song Johnny Cash used to sing, Man in Black.
Abby whispered, “Well now, I should of thought of this possibility. There is a lot of truth to that old saying, ‘Birds of a feather do flock together after all.’”
Pete whispered back, “What the hell are you talking about?”
“Take a good look at those guys. The driver is Zarita Barranco’s chauffer and the other one is one of Montoya’s men. He’s the one that stayed off to one side when we were talking to Montoya at the race track.”
Pete took another look at the men and saw that she was right. “I didn’t recognize the chauffer without his expensive duds and I didn’t pay any attention to the other guy when we were at the track. Hector and his other lackey had my full attention. I guess that’s why you get paid the big bucks.”
“Life in the red zone does have its perks. Remind me when this mission is over to invite you to my villa in Bermuda. You’ll love it there, the best of everything and servants to cater to your every need.”
Softly chuckling, they headed back to their car. Since everyone was preoccupied with the accident, they had no problem melting into the stream of looky-loos slowing passing by.
By the time they got back to the hotel, it was close to midnight. They still had to call Dave before they could hit the hay. They were on the phone with him for over an hour exchanging information and finally crawled into bed a little after one.
Chapter 17
-San Juan, Puerto Rico-
They were up at 6:30 a.m., showered, dressed and bellies filled with breakfast by 7:45 and on the road headed for Rio Grande which was 25 miles away a few minutes later.
Abby asked, “Did you catch the news this morning?”
Pete responded with a laconic, “The only thing I caught was the biggest damn scorpion I’ve ever seen in my shower and a case of indigestion form the sausage in my omelet this morning.”
“Well, what hit your grouch button this morning?”
“Sorry, I’m always cranky when I don’t get enough sleep. What did you catch on the news?”
“Those two guys who were chasing us last night died in the emergency room shortly after they got to the hospital. The reporter said that according to the officers involved in the accident the deceased’s car was in a high speed chase of another vehicle which cut off the police at the intersection where the accident occurred and they have no leads as to the description of the other car other than it was white. They have no idea who was in the other car and are asking anyone who witnessed the chase or the accident to contact them.”
“Damn, what do we do now, fess up?”
“No way, that would jeopardize our mission. I called Dave and he said to keep quiet about our involvement. He said Phil would take care of the matter, whatever that means.”
“You know, Abby, our roles have changed considerably since we began to work together. We’ve gone from observers to participants. I’m not trained for this stuff. My lack of experience could get you killed. I think it’s time for me to talk with Phil about getting you a new partner.”
“I don’t want a new partner. You have extensive knowledge of the Caribbean, know people all over the area who can give and have given us a lot of valuable information, you have guts and aren’t easily rattled under pressure and you have a naval knowledge that will be extremely helpful as we get more involved with the smugglers’ methods of moving their merchandise from one port to another.”
“Gee, if I’m that good, maybe I should ask for a raise.”
“I’m serious, Brody. I’m a firm believer in that old saying, ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t mess with it.’ Besides, you’ve got an even nicer tush than Julio Mendoza.”
At the surprised look on his face, Abby burst into uncontrollable laughter.
&nbs
p; Before he could think of a witty response, they had reached their destination and a valet was reaching for Abby’s door. Pete’s thinking, “She’s gotta be kidding me. There’s no way she’d be flirting with me. No way! She was just trying to lighten the mood. Yeah, that’s got to be why. I’m nuts if I think otherwise.”
That settled, he followed Abby into the club house, admiring her tush all the way to the reception desk. They rented some clubs, shoes and a golf cart and headed for the first tee. They already had some golf balls, tees and gloves from their outing at the Bahía Beach Resort and Golf Club.
It was a beautiful morning with a slight breeze and there weren’t too many people on the course yet, but there were quite a few folks in the club’s restaurant lingering over breakfast. Pete said, “Maybe we should have had breakfast here.”
“Too late now.” We can look for people to talk to on the tees as we work our way around the course and, of course, the nineteenth hole is always a good place to find people who like to talk, especially if they have a drink in their hands that someone else has paid for.”
Three hours later they were headed for the showers and a change of clothes that they had brought with them. They both had had a good day of golf. Abby shot a 76 and Pete an 80. Not too shabby for a couple of recreational golfers. As for striking up conversations with someone that had the kinds of information they were looking for, their morning on the course was a triple bogey all the way.
They planned on having lunch at the club and then hanging around the bar for a while to see if anything interesting developed. Boy did it ever.
About 2:30, who walks into the bar but Zarita Barranco, Hector Montoya and the other guy who was at the track with Montoya yesterday. At first, they didn’t see Pete and Abby sitting at the bar, but when their eyes adjusted to the change in lighting Zarita spotted them immediately and nudged Hector.
Abby said, “I don’t believe in these types of coincidences. We’re either being followed or they have eyes everywhere and those eyes have been told to report back if we are seen anywhere.”
“Well, it looks like it’s game time as they are coming our way.”
As they drew near, Zarita said, “You two really do get around, don’t you? Hector told me he met you in the club house at the Hipodromo Camarero yesterday.”
Abby replied, “We try. Are you a golfer, Senor Montoya?”
“I try.”
“Touché, Senor.”
Pete couldn’t help himself and asked Hector, “Where’s the other man that was with you yesterday?”
Hector responded with a poker face. “He was in a car accident and he and his passenger unfortunately died from their injuries.”
Zarita added, “The passenger was my chauffer. They were headed to a Chinese restaurant to pick up some take out when the accident occurred.”
Pete said, “You know, Abby saw something on the news this morning about that accident. The reporter said that they were chasing some white car when they rammed into a police car.
Why would they be chasing anyone?”
Still with the poker face Hector said, “We have no idea, but the accident occurred in a busy part of the city. Someone had to see something to help the police identify who was in the other car. It’s only a matter of time before someone comes forward with a lead. Won’t you join us for a drink? Our tee time is still a half hour away?”
Abby answered with, “Thank you for the offer, but we were just leaving. We’re bushed and want to get back to the hotel to rest up for a dinner appointment we have at seven. More research for my book.”
Hector said, “Zarita has told me about the research you are doing for your book. Perhaps I might be of some help in that regard. Please reconsider my offer to join us for a drink. We could talk about your research.”
“Thank you again, Hector, but I’m just not up to it right now.”
Abby and Pete stood up and began to walk towards to the door when Hector’s man roughly grabbed Abby’s arm and said, “This is the second time you have said no to an offer of assistance from Senor Montoya in as many days. He does not like people saying no to him. Please join us for a drink.” As he finished saying this, he tried to steer Abby towards a booth against the far wall.
Abby said, “Take your hand off me or suffer the consequences.”
The man just smiled at the audacity of this shrimp of a woman and continued to shove her towards the booth. Hector and Zarita did not attempt to intervene and before Pete could Abby had dealt with the situation herself. In less than five seconds, the man was on his backside with a broken wrist and a bloody, broken nose.
As she headed for the door with Pete close behind, her parting comment brought a scowl to Hector’s face and a smile to Pete’s. “Tell your man there that size has nothing to do with getting the best of somebody. The deadliest animal on earth is the Dart Frog which is only two inches long and as he now knows I’m nobody to mess with either.”
As they were waiting for the valet to bring the car around, Pete exclaimed, “Dart Frog? Is what you said true?”
“You better believe it. Just touching it can kill you. They’re found in rain forests in Central and South America.”
“Boy, it’s just one surprise after another with you. How did you learn about this killer?”
“From a documentary I was watching on exotic animals with my nephew last summer. Like a lot of ten year old boys, he’s into bugs, snakes, frogs and such.”
As they are driving back to the hotel, Pete is very quiet. Abby asks, “What are you thinking about?”
“I’m trying to get a handle on the reason for all of the aggression directed at us, starting with those guys on Guadeloupe trying to get us to pull over, then the car chase last night and now Hector’s guy trying to force you to do something you didn’t want to do. Whatever information they’re looking for, why don’t they just ask us instead of pulling stunts like that?”
“The answer is really quite simple, Pete. Intimidation. These people get what they want through the use of intimidation. People are much more apt to answer questions truthfully, to do what they are told, if they are afraid. I learned early on that these people are ruthless and will stop at nothing to get what they want. They do everything they can to perpetuate that reputation because they realize it’s a powerful persuader.”
“What you’re saying makes sense from their perspective I guess, but it seems to me that there are situations where it would be a lot simpler and easier to get at the truth just by first attempting to verify answers to simple questions. They could always resort to Plan B, the rough stuff, if the civil approach didn’t produce the desired results.”
“No one said these lowlifes were geniuses, but they’re not stupid. They have a lot of street smarts and know the value of fear.”
“Well, one thing’s for sure, we’ve worn out our welcome here as far as Hector and Zarita are concerned. I think we should move on. We got what we came for, names of some of the key players and an idea of the games they are playing.”
“I agree. We can check out tomorrow and cruise the open sea for a few days while we figure out our next move. That might be determined by what Dave and his people come up with on the names we gave him to check out.”
Chapter 18
- Somewhere in the Middle of the Caribbean Sea -
For no other reason than they didn’t have a better idea, they are heading towards Cartagena, Columbia where they will stay for a few days before moving on to Belize, then Cozumel and then back to Miami. Pete has a lot of friends in these ports that are plugged into the harbor life and other scenes and they are hoping to pick up some useful information from them. While at sea, they will use the special equipment on board to search for suspicious sea and air traffic.
The first few days at sea are uneventful and border on the boring. They have managed to work in some swimming and fishing between their stints of searching the skies and beneath the surface of the calm sea, but the rest of the time has been filled wi
th nothing but feelings of disappointment and frustration at the lack of finding anything meaningful to their mission.