By edRogers
[Reviewed here on the novel’s publication day, October 6, 2018: “Coming soon to a Barnes & Noble store near you?”]
Juan waited for the guard to unlock the gate. He could see Tai’s black Town Car parked in front of the office, so he knew he was there.
The guard wanted to see his pass. Instead, Juan flashed his badge. Few people ever read the bottom part where it said “Retired.” The guard opened the gate without another word.
The secretary was another story. “You cannot see Mr. Tai without an appointment.”
“Do you not see this badge? That is all the appointment I need.” No matter what he said, her reply was the same. “No appointment, no see Mr. Tai.”
At a loss for words, Juan pulled out his handcuffs. “Stand up, you’re under arrest for interfering with an officer of the law.”
She went white and tears came to her eyes. She grabbed the phone. “Mr. Tai, Captain Juan Reyes is here to see you. I told him he needed an appointment, but he will not leave.”
She turned to Juan with hate pouring from her eyes. “Have a seat. Someone will come to get you.”
Juan waited for over an hour before one of Tai’s men came to get him. He was led to the office, where he walked to Tai’s desk and placed a bag in front of him. Tai said, “What is this, my old friend, a present?”
“I’m returning your property. You seem to have misplaced it.”
Tai opened the bag and looked inside. “What makes you think this is mine? I’ve never seen it before.”
“It’s yours all right. There isn’t anyone else around here who could put their hands on C-4.”
“I think you give me far too much credit, my friend.”
“Tai, I am not your friend, and you will address me as Captain or Captain Reyes.”
“Very well, Captain. What can I do for you, other than tell you this is not my bomb?”
“That was placed in the car of the French woman Friday night. Had it gone off it would have killed her and her American friend and hurt or killed a number of people on the street. You may not have planted the bomb, but it came from you.”
“You cannot prove I had anything to do with this.”
“You’re right, I can’t. But we both know it’s true. If anything else happens to her or her friend, the next conversation we have will have a very different tone.”
“Are you finished, Captain?”
“I’m finished, Tai.” Juan turned to leave, but Tai’s man blocked his exit. Juan said over his shoulder to Tai, “I’ll see myself out. The only question is: do I step over this asshole or does he move?”
Tai barked a command and the man stepped aside.
Juan opened the door and walked down the hall and out the gate. It wasn’t until then that he took a breath. He walked down the street not looking back but trying to stop the shaking inside of him. He wanted to fall down and throw his arms around his body and squeeze the fear from his soul. His car was parked in the yard of a friend on the side street close to the warehouse, but not wanting anybody to see where he had parked, he was going to go around the block. He tried to walk slowly but his pace quickened as he put more distance between himself and Taiwan Shipping.
Suddenly, he realized he was outside the house of the Nicaraguan he had paid to plant the camera. Not wanting to be seen that close to the man’s house, in case someone had followed him, Juan moved quickly to a side street. He got control of himself and checked for anyone following. After a few turns, he was satisfied he was alone. He stopped at the first restaurant and ordered a beer.
Margot and Charlie had lain around the house all day Sunday, and Monday morning found them both restless. Margot set her coffee cup on the counter and looked at Charlie. “You know, we don’t need Juan. You and I can go to the Customs. It’s not like we are going to bring in a crate of birds. We’re just there to talk to Julio Morales. Besides, did you ever think that Morales might know who Juan is or was?”
“No, I hadn’t, but you’re right. It’s possible that their paths have crossed and Juan doesn’t remember them meeting, but Julio would.”
“Good, then let’s get dressed and take a trip to Customs.”
They showered and dressed. Charlie called Juan and told him what they were doing. It was a beautiful morning as they drove toward San Jose. A lot of cars were on the road and the drive took a little longer, but on a beautiful day who cared? Two and a half hours later they parked outside of the Custom’s warehouse.
Margot approached the man at the desk and asked to see Jennifer Araya. He called her on the intercom and she showed in a couple of minutes,. Smiling, Jennifer asked, “Oh, are you wanting to ship something else that belonged to your mother?”
“Could we speak outside?”
“Sure.”
Once outside, Jennifer asked, “What do you have to ship?”
Margot turned to Charlie, who was standing a few feet away, and put her hand on his shoulder. “This is my American friend. He has a large business selling exotic birds back in the States. He is having a problem with the limits that Costa Rica has placed on the number of birds he can ship. He is willing to pay someone in Customs well to count twenty birds as being ten birds, if you understand my meaning.”
“Is this a one-time shipment?”
“No, it would be once, maybe twice a month far into the future, if it works out.”
“I can’t do that, but come back at two this afternoon and I will see if my boss will speak with you. If he says no, that will be that.”
“Thank you. We’ll be back at two.”
Jennifer hurried back into the warehouse and Charlie and Margot got into her jeep. Margot started the jeep and waited for the explosion. She knew better, but she couldn’t forget how close they had come to dying. “Let’s grab a bite to eat and a cold beer.”
“Sounds good to me,” said Charlie. “What do you think? Is Morales going to buy getting in bed with us?”
“I don’t know, Charlie. Costa Ricans are funny about their birds. Even someone like Julio may have a line he won’t cross. I guess we’ll find out at two.”
Charlie’s phone rang. “Hi, Juan, what’s up?” Charlie put his phone on speaker so Margot could hear.
“A friend who is watching the warehouse for me called. The San Jose truck has pulled up to the loading dock. That means the drugs are there or on their way. We’ll need to turn the camera on tonight. I’ll go by later and tell our Nicaraguan friend to pull the camera out tomorrow.”
“It looks like things are coming together. We just left the Customs warehouse and are going back at two, hoping to meet with Julio Morales.”
“That sounds promising. Be sure and call me when you get back.”
“I’ll do that. Have a good day, amigo.”
Charlie was smiling from ear to ear. At last, they were catching some breaks. “That was good news, wasn’t it?”
Rufino was three cars behind them. He had followed them from Margot’s house to the Customs warehouse.
He had intended to run them off the road back in the mountains, but the traffic was so bad he never got a chance. Now, with the trip to Customs, he was wondering what they were up to. More than that, he was wondering whether it was something he could convert into money.
| Copyright © 2018 by Ed Rogers |
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