by Mike Ryan
“Not everything.” Bridge took out Evelyn’s picture and showed it to him. “Seen her?”
Flores shrugged. “Not that I know of. I didn’t mess with any of the girls, though, so if she’s one of them, I couldn’t say. I got a family. Anything that happened with them girls was just business. I didn’t get involved.”
Bridge put his hands on the collar of Flores’ shirt and pulled on the fabric, stretching it. “Listen to me, you little scumbag, I don’t give a shit about your business or anything else about you. I need to find this woman and you’re gonna help us.”
“How you expect me to do that? You asked for addresses and I gave you addresses. As far as I’m concerned, we’re done.”
“We hit two warehouses that Meyer has. This girl wasn’t in them.”
Flores shrugged again. “So what do you want me to do?”
“Meyer wasn’t there either.”
“Again, so what? You think he just sits around all day with these people? No, that’s what he hires people for. He just runs things.”
“Through you.”
“No, not through me. Consider me like an investor. I put money in, I take money out. That’s all.”
“Then you must know Meyer pretty good.”
“No, not really.”
“Don’t hand me that. You’re gonna tell us how to get in touch with him and how to find him. And you’re gonna do it right now.”
“Or what?”
“Or the next time your wife sees you, it’s just gonna be your head in a box.”
“You don’t have the cajones for that.”
Bridge rushed over to his bag and pulled out a knife, then returned to their prisoner. He jabbed the tip of the knife into the side of Flores’ neck, breaking the skin, a trickle of blood running down his neck. Flores could feel the blood coming down.
“Should we see which one of us breaks first?” Bridge asked.
“OK, OK,” Flores said, barely above a whisper, not wanting to move and have something accidentally cut his throat.
“Where is Otto Meyer?”
“OK, put the knife down and I’ll tell you.”
Bridge slowly pulled the knife away from Flores’ neck, ready to listen. “Where is he?”
“He owns a house. About two hours from here.”
“You been there?”
“Yeah. A few times.”
“Guarded?”
“Yeah, he’s got some people.”
“Is the girl there?”
“I don’t know. I told you, I’ve never seen her before. I’m not lying about that. I really don’t know.”
“Does Meyer have more girls there?”
“He, uh, occasionally has a few girls there that he really likes.”
“He have them tied up, in a room, what?”
“He lets them roam around the property, within limits. They’re not allowed outside contact, can’t leave, can’t go in the kitchen where the knives are, things like that. He makes sure he has them under control.”
“So they’re basically prisoners that can move around?”
“Yeah. There’s a swimming pool, game room, things like that.”
“And they have to attend to whatever sexual desires Meyer wants?”
“I think so.”
“Pretty good racket he’s got going on,” Nicole said.
“So how many guards are we talking about at this place?” Bridge asked.
“I’m not sure. Ten, fifteen, something like that.”
“Oh, well, at least it’ll be easy,” Nicole said.
“Fenced?” Bridge asked.
“Yes. Stone fence all the way around. About ten feet high.”
“Entrances and exits?”
“One way in or out.”
“Kind of reminds me of your place.”
Flores smirked. “Where do you think he got the idea?”
“So what’s our best way of getting in?”
Flores shrugged. “Maybe by parachute.”
Bridge laughed, turned to look at his girlfriend, then quickly turned back to Flores and smacked him with a backhand. “Funny.”
“I do my best.”
“When was the last time you were there?” Nicole asked.
“Maybe five, six months ago.”
“Seems to be a familiar timeline.”
“How many girls did he have with him there at that time?” Bridge asked.
“Three, four, something like that. I’m a married man. I try not to look at the merchandise.” Flores grinned again.
“You really are a funny guy, aren’t you?”
“Does he keep the same ones there?” Nicole asked.
“He switches up every few months, I think. He likes to keep it fresh.”
Bridge and Nicole went over to the window and discussed their options. They were talking low, but Flores could still hear what they were saying.
“How are we gonna get in there?” Nicole asked.
“I think we’re gonna have to use him somehow.”
“Trusting him now is one thing. Trusting him out there, when our backs might be turned to him, when our lives might depend on what he says or does, that’s a totally different thing. I’m not sure we can do that.”
“What other options do we have?”
“Same as we always do. We stake the place out, wait for an opportunity, then make our move.”
“Whatever happened to just rushing in and not being patient?” Bridge said.
“I’m patient when I need to be. When the situation calls for it. This one does.”
“Then what do we do with him? Just keep him on ice for a few days while we wait for a move? How long can we keep doing that?”
“As long as we need to,” Nicole answered.
“I’m not as fond of that idea, for what it’s worth,” Flores said.
“It’s worth nothing,” Bridge said.
“I don’t see another option,” Nicole said.
“There is another option,” Flores said.
“What is it?”
“Go through the front door. That’s the only way in. You’re not getting in any other way.”
“Or we could just wait for him to come out. Just like we did with you.”
Flores shook his head. “Won’t work.”
“Why not?”
“Because Otto doesn’t take those girls with him wherever he goes. If he goes out, he leaves them behind. And he leaves guards behind. You’re gonna have to fight your way in, regardless.”
Nicole looked at her boyfriend. “What if we capture Meyer on the outside, make him lead us inside and free the girls?”
“Still won’t work,” Flores said, not letting Bridge give his opinion.
Nicole put her hands on her hips. “And why not?”
“You think Otto hasn’t thought of that before? I guarantee you he has. He has contingencies in place.”
“Such as what?” Bridge asked.
“You think he’d tell me?”
“Well, you seem to know.”
“Just because I know of them doesn’t mean I know what they are. There’s a difference. Believe me, the only way you’re getting those girls out, if there are any there, is if you break down the front door. And you’ll probably get yourself killed in the process, which is fine by me, just untie me first so I’m not stuck here for days while they bury you.”
“You’re not getting out of here until we’re ready to leave for good,” Bridge said.
“Can I ask you guys a question? Seriously?”
“What is it?”
“What is this girl to you? Family?”
“Nope,” Bridge said.
“Friend?”
“Never met her.”
“Then what’s the big deal? You did your thing here, you broke up some of Otto’s business, you freed what, twenty-five, thirty girls? Chalk it up as a win for you guys and go home. Forget all this other nonsense. You can’t save the world. All you can do is die trying.”
“W
ell, that’s what I intend to do. Die trying.”
Flores shook his head. “Suckers. Just don’t take me down with you.”
With Flores’ words echoing in Nicole’s head for a minute, she contemplated something she knew Bridge was not going to like. But she thought it could work. It was just a matter of convincing her boyfriend and partner that it would. And making sure that Flores wouldn’t turn on them in the process.
“Believe me,” Bridge said, “if we’re going down, you’re going down with us.”
Bridge and Flores then started arguing for a minute, Nicole letting them have their say as she formulated a plan in her mind. Once she had some semblance of it, she finally got the two of them to stop talking.
“Will you guys just shut up?!” Nicole said. She pointed to Flores. “You, you’re not in a position to dictate anything to anyone. You’ll do what we tell you or you’re never seeing your family again.”
“Alive, that is,” Bridge said, rubbing it in.
“And you, you don’t need to be goading him. We’ve already got him.”
Bridge nodded. “Yeah, I know. He’s just… pushing my buttons, I guess.”
“The only one who pushes your buttons is me.” Nicole hesitated for a second, wanting to make sure what she was about to say came out right. “I’ve got a plan.”
“What?”
“Now, I know you’re probably not gonna like it, but I think it could work if we do it right.”
“What is it?”
“First of all, if you’re intent on getting this done as soon as possible, I think this is the best option to get in there without having to blast our way in.”
Bridge laughed. “OK, Nic, I got it. What is it? You know, when you stall, it’s always a good indication I’m really not gonna like what you say.”
“Just don’t say no before I finish, OK? Give it some thought?”
“OK, I’ll give it some thought before I say no.” Nicole gave him a stern look, and Bridge laughed again. “OK, I promise I’ll really think about it.”
“OK. So what’s the one way we can get in without a fight?”
“Pretend we’re mail carriers?”
“No.” Nicole then pointed at Flores. “Him.”
“Him. OK? Then what?”
“First, we have him call Meyer and tell him he’s got a girl he’d like to sell him. Then we have him arrange a time to meet him. That gives us a way in.”
“You’re not really going to bring another girl in there, right?”
“We’ve already got one. Me.”
Bridge immediately resisted. “No. No. You’re not doing it. No. No way.”
“Just listen to me.”
“No, I’m not risking it.”
“There’s nothing to risk. Would you just listen and let me finish?”
Bridge sighed, but agreed to listen to the rest of it. “Fine.”
“We’re gonna get in there anyway, so this is nothing but giving us the access to get inside without having to fight our way in. It’s not like we’re actually going to go through with the sale. If he sees Flores, he sees me, and Meyer’s threat level goes down. All this is doing is giving Meyer a story that allows us to get inside, that’s all.”
Before Bridge had a chance to respond to her latest plan, Flores started laughing.
“That might get you in, but you’re gonna have a hard time leaving.”
Bridge gave Flores a dirty look, though he couldn’t say he was wrong. “As much as it pains me to say it, he’s right. And how are we gonna sneak guns in there?”
Nicole pointed at Flores. “He’s got bodyguards. Meyer knows they carry guns. It’s expected.”
“They won’t expect me to travel so light,” Flores said. “One bodyguard. I mean, who travels with one bodyguard?”
“You decided to be nice and give the rest of your men the day off since you were visiting a trusted friend,” Nicole said.
Flores laughed again. “He’ll never believe that.”
“You’ll make him believe it.”
“I will?”
“You will. Because Luke will be right behind you with a gun pointed in the small of your back. So if you don’t say or do the right thing, you’re gonna be the first one killed.”
“OK, OK. What’s that old saying? You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink? Seems rather appropriate right now, no?”
“Shut up, nobody’s asking you.”
“You can’t go in there unarmed,” Bridge said.
“Nobody said I had to.”
“What if they search you?”
“Then we improvise from there. Or you just carry a couple extra weapons on you, then when the need arises, you pass me one.”
“That also means we’re only using handguns.”
“We can still load up the trunk with extra stuff.”
“Doesn’t mean we’ll be able to get to it.”
“We’ll have to get back to the car anyway to get out,” Nicole said.
“I don’t know.”
“It’ll work, Luke. You said it yourself, you wanna get in as soon as possible.”
“Without risking too much, yeah.”
“As soon as what happened today reaches Meyer, his guard is going way up.”
“All the more reason to think he might hesitate on this.”
“Or he might see it as an opportunity to quickly get a girl back and replace what he’s lost. It’s still going to take him a few days to figure out what happened, who hit him, all that.”
“Or he could just pull the plug and call in all the guards and bunker down.”
“In which case we’re not gonna get to him anytime soon, anyway. This is the chance to get him before he has a chance to react.”
Bridge thought about it some more, but finally nodded after a minute or two. He still didn’t think it was a great option. But it seemed to be the best option they had unless they just pulled the string and went home. And he wasn’t doing that. Not with the person they were looking for still out there. They would just have to find a way to make this work.
“Let’s do it.”
20
“Make the call,” Bridge said.
Nicole put the phone down on the desk, waiting for the right numbers to dial. Flores hesitated on giving them out.
“I can tell you with point blank honesty that if you don’t, you will never walk out of this room,” Bridge told him.
“You know what you’re asking me to do?” Flores said.
“I’m asking you to help us so you can live through this and get back to your family.”
“If I help you, and you don’t make it out of there alive, I’m as good as dead anyway. You think Otto would just let me walk out of there after bringing in you two to help destroy him? He’d kill me for being a traitor.”
“Let me be clear. We’re not specifically after Meyer. We’re after the girls he has. Once we have them, we’re gone. It’s not a kill mission.”
“Please, you really think you’re gonna be able to get out of there without killing everyone there? If you do, then you’re a bigger idiot than I thought you were. The only way you’re getting out of there is if everyone else is dead. That’s the bottom line. Otto’s not just letting you waltz in, take his girls, then ride on out like you’re the Lone Ranger or something. He’s gonna put up a fight. Especially if he’s already learned about what happened to his business. He’ll fight to the death.”
Bridge seemed unconcerned. “Then he’ll fight to his death.” He shrugged. “Fine by me.”
“Seems like that’s a good incentive for you to work with us,” Nicole said.
“How’s that?” Flores asked.
“If we die, and Meyer makes it, then your reputation is shot. And a few other parts of your body might be too. But if you help us, and we get out of there, and Meyer’s dead with the rest of his men, then you get to go home like nothing ever happened.”
“And nobody ever has to know that you helped us,�
� Bridge said.
“Your reputation and business are still intact.”
Flores cleared his throat, what seemed like a thousand thoughts running through his mind. He didn’t want to help them, but it didn’t seem like he had any good option on the table. The only thing he could worry about now was self-preservation. And the best chance he had now at getting through this was working with the people who kidnapped him.
“Fine,” Flores finally said, after thinking about it for a minute. “I’ll help you.”
“Wise choice,” Bridge said. “Now make the call.”
Flores told Nicole the number to call, and she dialed for him. They still didn’t trust Flores enough to untie him, so Nicole put the phone on the desk and hit the speaker button option. It rang five times until someone answered.
“Sergio.”
“Otto. My friend. What’s happening?”
“Now’s not really a good time to shoot the breeze, Sergio. I got a lot of things going on right now. I just got hit.”
“Hit? What do you mean? Hit where?”
“Someone just hit my warehouses, hit my stores, killed about twenty of my men, and took over thirty of my girls.”
“What? Who would do such a thing? The police?”
“Ahh, I don’t know yet. I’m still trying to get to the bottom of it. Not getting any answers so far.”
“When did all of this happen?”
“Hey, Sergio, you got me on speaker?”
Flores laughed. “Yeah, sorry, don’t worry, there’s no one else in the room. It’s just I got my hands full right now. Trying to glue together a broken toy for the boy, you know? Trust me, it’s safe to talk.”
“From what I understand, it happened a few hours ago.”
“No details?”
“Trying to piece it all together.”
“You don’t think they’re coming after you, do you?”
“Tough to say. I don’t think so. Apparently, all these raids happened right after each other. I think if I were next, I would have gotten hit already.”
“Probably. You’re still protected there, right? ‘Cause I can send over some men if you need it.”
“No, thanks, Sergio, but I still got some boys here. I sent a few away to investigate what’s going on, but I’ve still got ten or twelve. I’ll be fine.”
