The Devil's Syndicate

by Chris Draper

  The place seemed deserted with nothing but the sound of the rain clanking against the steel roof and the brief flashes of lighting streaking through the windows. The lights were on in the living area like someone had been there recently but the room itself was empty. A few beer cans sat desolately on a coffee table and Hawk caught the faint traces of smoke circling up from a glass ashtray – that meant Larry must still be around somewhere. He was just about to call out for him when he thought he heard something and stopped to listen. Yes there was a sound all right, a soft whimpering mixed with an occasional gasp and a quick tearing of fabric coming from down the hallway. Hawk's eyes widened when he realized what it was.

  Dottie. He took out his gun, bolted in the direction of her cell and on the way there heard her scream and ran the rest of the way like a race horse to the steeldoor. The door was slightly open and he rushed inside, saw Larry on top of her with her top in one hand and his other hand trying to pull off her underwear. Larry looked up at him and froze for a second, like a deer in headlights, then whipped off her in a flash and went for the knife on the floor by his feet. Hawk saw the movement, reacted, and fired off two bullets that hit him in the chest. The impact sent him flying backwards onto the floor and he lay there for a moment, breathing heavily, blood gushing out of his chest, then he got up again and began crawling towards Dottie, one hand clutching his chest and the other holding the knife. He knew he was dying, could feel the demon within him being sucked out, had to make it to her one last time. Dottie screamed and Hawk got ready to fire again, but then Larry stopped crawling forward, paused near Dottie's feet, let out a final breath and some blood trickled down his chin, then slumped forward on top of her legs on the bed. She shrieked, kicked him away and slid back towards the wall. She looked up at Hawk, embarrassed, then quickly pulled on her jeans and covered her exposed chest with the torn fragments of her shirt.

  Hawk went over to Larry, felt his pulse, heard her shaky voice behind him ask: “Is he dead?”

  “Yeah...he's gone.” Hawk said, then sat down on the bed and tried covering her with his leather jacket. Instinctively she flinched away, “Don't come near me.” She said. “I need a cigarette, get me a cigarette please.”

  Hawk nodded, went back out to the living area, took out a cigarette from a pack on the table, then came back to the room, lit it for her and she took it, thanking him with a nod of her head. She was trembling, breathing hard, and Hawk sat there on the edge of the bed, waiting for her to calm down a little. He'd seen women like this before while working as a cop, usually battered wives or abused hookers who'd been taken by force. It always made him feel angry inside, made him think of his daughter and how protective he'd been of her when she was alive.

  Dottie felt the nicotine start to flow through her blood, started to relax and lay her head back on the wall. Then she began sobbing, said “Hold me” to Hawk and before Hawk could answer, threw her arms around him and pulled him close to her.

  “Oh God...oh God.” Dottie said through her sobs. “It was so awful...”

  “I know, I know.” Hawk said pulling away and put his jacket around her again. This time she accepted it gratefully. “Are you hurt?”

  “No, just shaken up a little. He'd been trying to do that for awhile but I never thought he'd actually go through with it.”

  “Well it's all over now, just try to breathe okay?”

  She was still shaking all over, her body a cataclysm of energy, and Hawk bent over and wiped a tear from her eye. She looked at him for a second like she was realizing something, then asked, “You came back here to rescue me? When I heard that man take you outside I thought they might have...”

  “Killed me?” Hawk asked. “Not a chance. I played by their rules and they came up short, now I'm the one calling the shots.”

  “How did you get away?”

  “I'll tell you all about it later.” Hawk said. “Right now the important thing is to get you out of here, okay?”

  She started to get up from the bed, took a deep breath, said “Okay,” and Hawk helped her to her feet. “Thank God you got here in time, or he could of...had me.”

  “Let's not think about that right now. Come on, we have to get going. I have a vehicle waiting outside for us.”

  She nodded, and they walked back down the hallway to the front door. Hawk asked, “Do you have everything?”

  “Yes, I didn't have much here.” She said, pulling the leather jacket closer around her body. “Where will we go?”

  “Your Dad is waiting at a hotel in Miami for you, I spoke to him yesterday on the phone. He hired me to come and get you.”

  “So you're a policeman?”

  “No not quite, more of a bounty hunter of sorts.”

  “And I was your bounty?” She looked up at him and Hawk saw the girlish innocence there, saw why Harvey Wagner had wanted her back so badly.

  “Yeah something like that.” Hawk smiled. “Come on, let's go.”

  Hawk led her to the door and on the way there spotted his rifle case and duffel bag stashed on a shelf in the corner of the living area. He pulled them down, did a quick sweep with eyes to make sure everything was there, then rushed the two of them to the front door.

  As soon as they were outside Hawk knew something wasn't right; it was all over everything, coating them, the trees, and the storm in a wave of wrongness. Maybe it was his instinct again, or maybe something about the way the wind and rain had died down out there, but he felt it in his stomach the minute they set foot on the dirt outside the compound. And before he could connect the dots in his mind his eyes saw what it was.

  Up ahead, in front of the truck stood five figures in the darkness. Hawk didn't have to guess who they were, he could tell already by the lightning reflected off the wet leather of their black jackets.

  The Devil's Syndicate.

  One of the figures in the middle stepped forward, a larger man, and Hawk recognized the voice as Byron's. “Going somewhere Blake? Or should I call you by your real name Simon Hawk?

  20

  Byron Logan stepped forward and Hawk could see the large grin on his face, made him think of how a snake would look if it had arms and legs and could smile. He had a flashlight in his hand, shone it on each of their faces.

  Hawk was still holding the gun, thought about using it until Byron spoke. “I wouldn't think about using that gun if I were you.” He said looking down at the weapon hanging limply in Hawk's right hand. “Etaro has a rifle aimed at your head over there in the dark, and he's very good with his aim. Grew up shootin' ducks in the Wyoming wilderness.”

  Byron looked back over his shoulder, shone the flashlight towards a dark patch about 5 feet behind and Hawk could make out Etaro through the rain with a rifle nestled into his shoulder, aiming it directly at him. Byron stepped closer and slowly took the gun away from Hawk who offered no resistance, then looked back and forth between him and Dottie.

  “Well it looks like you've made yourself a new friend Mr. Hawk, and my isn't she a pretty one too.” Byron drew a finger underneath Dottie's chin slowly until she yanked her face away and then he looked back at Hawk.

  “I suppose you have some questions for me, such as how we got here so fast after you put the police on us? Or how we got away? Or how we uncovered your true identity?"

  “Yeah I suppose those questions did cross my mind a little.”

  “Good. I guess it's only fitting that I should tell you seeing as how tomorrow you'll be in a crocodiles stomach.” Byron said without a hint of sarcasm. “It's simple really Hawk. Just after the cops arrived Travis advised me over the truck radio that you had, well, exited the scene in one of our trucks. And since I've known Cleetch longer than I've known you, it didn't take me long to figure out that you were the one driving that truck, and that you were also the one who sold us out to the cops. Sort of like a Trojan horse if you will. But it was my fault in a way as although I had my suspicions about your background I had assumed Cleetch would have been capable of handling yo
u.”

  They looked down at the ground where Cleetch was starting to wake up after being knocked out cold by Hawk. He looked up at them, a bewildered expression on his face.

  “Byron!” He said slowly getting up to his feet. “You won't believe what-”

  “We'll get to that in a second Cleetch.” Byron said without looking at him and continued. “As I was saying Hawk, there was no other reason for you to run. Running only solidified your guilt further. And about Fiesta Lochez, you made things very hard for us back there, you probably thought we would have went easily with the police, but about that you were wrong. Some of the Syndicate stayed and shot it out with them and even had the El Hombrez on their side, and as for myself and a few others, we managed to escape over the fields behind the bar in the remaining trucks before turning back onto the highway. Perhaps I should have stayed and assisted my men but pardon me when I say I had other more pressing concerns on my mind. Such as the rat who sold us out.”

  “And no one saw you leave?” Hawk asked in disbelief. “There must have been at least 15 police cars there.”

  “Don't forget the weather Hawk, there was low visibility and it wasn't hard for us to sneak out in the gunfight. And yes there was one cop that tried to come after us – he chased after us a bit over the fields until Etaro fired a shot into him from the truck, hit him right in the face, then his car rolled over and it was goodbye cop.”

  “You killed him?”

  “No Hawk – you killed him. You were the one who had them called in the first place. How you did this I'm still not sure.”

  “I had to put an end to your crazy ideas, you were endangering the lives of many including your own men. And as for how I tipped them off is my business – right now I think you have bigger things to worry about like how every law enforcement agency in the state will be out looking for you.”

  Byron laughed, “You're forgetting we already were the most hunted group in the state, why do you think we hid ourselves out here? To hunt reptiles and live happily ever after? Not a chance. No one knows we're here. Look at you even, you tried and failed to have us caught. And now you'll pay for it with your life.”

  “The cops must have caught some of the Syndicate, someone will talk. This compound will be surrounded by police in the next hour. I'm surprised they're not here yet.”

  “That's where you're wrong.” Byron stepped in closer. “The Syndicate never talk, especially not to police. When a Syndicate joins they have to take a blood oath that whatever happens in the Syndicate stays in the Syndicate. Now, any other questions before you spend your last night on this earth?”

  “Yeah, how did you know my real name?”

  “On the way back we remembered you telling us how you heard about the Devil's Syndicate from Randall's old friend Peter Choudry in Miami. A stupid move on your part. Randall gave him a call, and Choudry told us that he didn't know a Blake, but that he did have a visitor by the name of Simon Hawk come snooping around, asking questions about Dottie Wagner."

  “I thought Mr. Choudry didn't have a phone.”

  “He doesn't.” Byron said. “But his ex wife does, she lives a few blocks away from him. She delivered the message and he called us back a few minutes later.”

  “Aha.” Hawk said then: “So how did you get back here so quickly?”

  “The Devil's Syndicate know that path through the Everglades a lot better than anyone else, there's more than a few shortcuts that you probably didn't even notice. But enough fooling around, you played your hand and you lost.” Byron said and looked over at Travis and Etaro: “Take him inside and stick him in one of the empty rooms. Randall, go grab my special tool. I think it's time we gave Hawk his Syndicate initiation.”

  “Initiation?” Hawk asked. “What do you mean?”

  “It's something we should have done when you first got here.” Byron grinned. “Something all Syndicate members have to go through. And your time is now Hawk.” He turned to Stacey: “Grab Dottie, and make sure she doesn't get loose this time, throw her in the same room with Hawk. I want them both where we can keep an eye on them until tomorrow.”

  They nodded and Travis stepped up to Hawk, said “This is for tipping off the cops,” then with a crooked smile thrust a quick uppercut into Hawk's stomach. Hawk folded over from the hit and Dottie screamed, then they grabbed him, forced his arms behind his back, and trudged him forward through the slippery grass back through the front door. Dottie saw Stacey step towards her, then bent low on her knees like she was about to run off, but Stacey was quick and grabbed her by the hair, said, “Come on pretty” then forced her inside behind Hawk.

  After they were inside Byron was left alone in front of the compound with Cleetch.

  “What about me boss?” He asked uneasily.

  “Come with me Cleetch.” Byron said without looking at him, and motioned for Cleetch to follow him over to the riverbank beside the compound. The rains were still coming down hard and what little light was left out there came from the lights on inside the building. When they were near the riverbank they stopped and Cleetch froze, could feel his heart starting to beat as fast as a locomotive. He'd seen this scene many times before, but never would have thought someday he'd be an actor in it as well.

  “Byron, what do you plan to do...”

  Byron took out his pistol, made sure he still had bullets in the chamber and glanced at Cleetch. “I think you know the answer to that question already.”

  “But no, you can't!” Cleetch was sweating now, his breathing heavy. He didn't even notice the rain anymore. All he could see was the glint of the silver in Byron's right hand. He had to talk some sense into Byron or pretty soon he'd be floating belly up in that dark river down there like so many others had before. “He took me at gunpoint! I swear boss. We was going to the backdoor at Lochez and he got the upper hand.”

  “You should have never let him out of your sights in the first place Cleetch. Doing so was a risk to all of us, and look at what’s happened now. Who knows how many members we lost back there, and who knows what the aftermath of all of this will be. You fucked up hard Cleetch and you know as well as I do that fuck ups this large cannot go unjustified in the Syndicate.”

  “Please boss, it wasn't like that. It was dark, and that rain...I couldn't see anything. That sons-a-bitch got me at gunpoint...took me straight to the truck and made me drive him all the way here...”

  “Enough Cleetch.”

  “No Byron...”

  Cleetch saw the muzzle flash, felt a pulverizing blast into his forehead and sank down to his knees whimpering, still saying, “Please boss” until his words ceased and he lay his head down on the mud. Byron kicked him a few times and watched Cleetch's large body sink into the river and start his descent down the rapids.

  Byron didn't feel any guilt. As far as he was concerned Cleetch and anyone else who threatened the existence of the Syndicate was expendable. Letting Cleetch live would have sent the wrong message to the others. Besides, now it was done with. Now he had to take care of Hawk.

  He went back inside and found the room down the hall where the remaining Syndicate had taken Hawk and Dottie. When he got there he saw Stacey was holding Dottie in a tight grip with her hands behind her back, and saw Travis and Etaro had Hawk pressed with his face to the wall and the rifle barrel aimed at the back of his head. He also saw some legs sticking out from behind the bed on the floor and stepped over to see his cousin face down with a trickle of blood coming from somewhere on his upper body.

  “He was like that when we came in.” Etaro said. “We didn't want to touch him until you came back.”

  Byron went over to Larry's body and turned him over, picked up his head and saw his eyes were wide open in a death stare. He looked over at Hawk for an explanation and Hawk said: “I had to kill him, he was trying to rape her. He pulled a knife on me.”

  Byron looked at Dottie. “Is this true?”

  She nodded sullenly adding, “I never thought he would have taken it so far. H
e'd wanted me that way for awhile, you know that.”

  Byron lowered his cousin's head gently back to the floor and shut his eyes. He knew what they said was true, knew it had only been a matter of time before the demons inside his cousin would take over. Even if Hawk hadn't killed Larry he would have done it himself. They're all expendable, he thought. Even your own blood.

  “He's better off this way anyway.” Byron said without a trace of tenderness in his voice. “Larry never knew when to quit which I guess was his downfall in the end. I told him not to mess around with that bitch behind my back, but he didn't listen and got what was coming to him.”

  “I'm sorry boss.” Said Etaro. “We can bury him out back when it's daylight.”

  Byron stood up, looked down at his cousins lifeless body laying on the floor. “Poor Larry was always getting himself into trouble, ever since we were kids. Did you know that one time he got his tongue stuck on a metal door in 3rd grade and they had to call the fire department to come and pry him loose?” Byron chuckled at the memory. “Yeah that was Larry, problem with him was that he never had it up here like me.” Byron said tapping the side of his head then glanced over at Randall. “Is my special tool ready?”

  “It should be.” Randall said. “I got the oven set to broil now, another few minutes and it should be good to go.”

  “Good. Go put Larry in one of the empty rooms and on your way back bring it here and grab me some rope as well. I don't want to keep Mr. Hawk waiting any longer.”

  Randall nodded, came over, hoisted Larry's body over his shoulder then left the room. Byron stepped over to where Dottie was, grabbed her suddenly and hurled her down on the steel cot. Dottie was in hysterics now, screaming and kicking and tried getting up but Byron forcefully pushed her back down on the bed. She sat there for a minute looking at him, her eyes rimmed with red and her nose a little swollen, then Byron said, “We have a meeting with your old man very soon and I intend to keep that arrangement whether you like it or not. Now are you going to behave or am I gonna have to let you spend the night in Stacey's room?”