By edRogers
[Reviewed here on the novel’s publication day, October 6, 2018: “Coming soon to a Barnes & Noble store near you?”]
Charlie and Margot returned to the Customs warehouse at ten minutes to the hour. Margot joked, “It shouldn’t take two hours to decide if he wants to talk to us or not.”
When they walked into the warehouse, Jennifer was waiting for them. “Mr. Morales would like to hear more about your business idea. If you’ll follow me.” She turned and started across the wide expanse of concrete toward a set of stairs on the other side.
Charlie was drawing a mental map of the inside of the warehouse. As they started across the floor it dawned on him that he might have reason to come back there some night. Margot was chatting with Jennifer as they approached the stairs. Jennifer stepped aside and said, “The door at the top will let you into Mr. Morales’s office. He is expecting you.”
Margot took her hand. “Thank you so much, Jennifer, you have been a great help.”
At the top of the stairs, Charlie opened the door and stepped aside for Margot, who was confronted by a man in his fifties. Julio Morales was overweight to the point of being fat. His round, bald head looked too large for his stubby body and his clothes strained at the stitching, threatening to explode with one more bite of food. The thought crossed her mind that if this guy’s a crook, he’s underpaid.
“Come in, come in.” He put his hand out to Margot. “My name is Julio Morales.”
“I’m Margot. Thank you for seeing us. This is my friend Charlie.” The two men shook hands and Julio walked around his desk to his chair. “Please, sit down.”
Margot and Charlie each took a chair in front of the desk. And Julio asked, “What is it that I can do for you?” He was looking coolly at Margot.
Charlie put his hand to his mouth and coughed. “Did Jennifer not explain to you what we needed?”
“Yes, she did, but that was before I knew I was dealing with Margot Rosenburg the environmentalist.” He looked squarely at Margot. “Your picture has been in the newspaper, on TV, and every place there is a protest, you are there. I have to ask myself, why would this woman be shipping illegal birds to the States?”
Charlie looked at Margot. “I had no idea you were famous.”
“I’m sorry, Mr. Morales,” Margot said. “I had hoped to go unnoticed. Seeing as how you know about my work, then you can understand that it takes a lot of money to carry on a fight like mine.”
Charlie had no idea where she was going with her story. The possibility that this guy would know her had never crossed his mind.
Julio raised the palms of his hands. “Why do you keep fighting? Accept that there are some things that are meant to be.”
“That I can’t do. The sharks need to be saved and this will give me the money I need.”
Julio was laughing. “You want me to believe you are willing to illegally ship Costa Rican birds out of the country to save the sharks? You must think I’m a fool.”
“It is a matter of numbers. The birds will bounce back, but soon the sharks will reach a point of no return. Birds have two, three, sometimes four chicks. A shark has one birth per season. I don’t have time to go from country to country trying to get funds. By the time I got back it would be too late. Charlie, Mr. Blankenship, offered me a deal that I couldn’t pass up.”
“Let’s say I believe you. What would my cut be?”
“It would depend on the birds we were shipping. As you can guess, some are worth more than others.”
“No, I don’t like doing business like that. If we do this, I want to be paid for the shipment. I don’t give a shit what is in the boxes or how much money you make from it. I want two thousand dollars for each one you send out.”
“Let’s be sure what you’re saying,” said Charlie. “It doesn’t matter how many or what kind of birds I ship as long as you get paid two thousand dollars.”
“That’s right,” said Julio, “but there is one more thing.” He pointed a finger at Margot. “You never come back. I have a deal with your friend, not you.”
“That will suit me just fine.” Margot stood. “I’ll wait in the car.”
The door closed behind Margot, and Charlie said, “Thanks, I was getting tired of her asking questions. She wanted to know how many birds I was going to take and what kind, because some were endangered. All kinds of crazy shit like that. But it makes it easier to get a permit using an environmentalist, and her having money problems played right into my hands.”
Julio wasn’t interested in having small talk with the gringo. “I will expect the money at the time of shipment, is that understood?”
“That will be no problem. However, there will not be a large cage of birds to be shipped. There is more money in exotic bird feathers than in the birds themselves. Also, on the other end, Customs in the U.S. doesn’t give a damn about the feathers. They’ll pass right through.”
Julio was finished with the conversation and stood with his hand out. “Like I said, I don’t care what you ship. It’s two thousand dollars, paid before we clear it.”
Charlie shook his hand. “It’s a pleasure doing business, and I’ll be seeing you soon.”
In the car, there was a worried Margot. “What happened, Charlie? Did I mess it up?”
Charlie put his seatbelt on and laughed. “You didn’t mess up anything. But how the hell did you come up with that story, and out of nowhere?”
“He took me by surprise. At first I couldn’t speak, but then I asked myself why would I be doing this, and I started telling the story as I saw it. He doesn’t know me or he would have known I would never do something like this for any amount of money.”
Rufino pulled into the Customs parking lot as Margot turned onto the highway toward Puntarenas.
He got out of his car and walked into the warehouse. He handed the man at the desk 10 mil in colons, which is about twenty dollars. “Who were those people talking to?”
The man folded the money and put it in his pocket as he reached for the mic. “Jennifer Araya, someone to see you at the front desk.” He put the mic down and looked up at Rufino. “She’ll be here in a minute.”
“I’ll be waiting outside.” Rufino stepped out the door and lit a cigarette.
Jennifer appeared in two puffs. “I’m Jennifer, what can I do for you?”
“I was wondering what those people who just left were doing here.”
“That is none of your business.” She turned to go inside.
“I know the information is not free, and your time is worth something also. I am willing to pay for both.”
“How much?”
“That will depend on what you tell me, but here is a hundred just for not walking away.”
“They want to make a deal with Mr. Morales.”
“What kind of a deal?”
She smiled at Rufino. “That will cost you five more of those hundred dollar bills.”
Rufino was thinking that it would be cheaper to beat the information out of her, but he might need her help again, so he counted out her money.
“They want to ship birds through without inspection. I guess they will be shipping more than the limit.”
“Did they talk to Julio?”
“Do you know Julio?”
“I know the bastard.”
“Please, don’t tell him I said anything about their meeting.”
He reached down and pulled a hundred out of her hand. “It will be our little secret.”
He flipped his cigarette into the air and walked to his car. As he drove off he was trying to think of what he could do with this new information.
| Copyright © 2018 by Ed Rogers |
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