“They will be back tomorrow,” she told Marianna.
“How do you know this?”
“Becuase, my husband is Eduardo Delgado,” she said with pride.
Marianna smiled again as they cut into the leaves of spinach in the salads the cook had prepared. It was a nice meal shared between two women, whom no longer felt alone nor as afraid of what may or may not be. Today was now, which was all that mattered.
Chapter 8 – We be...
Vacamonte, Panama
It had been nearly three hours since Saxton had been put behind the door. True to Alberlado’s word, he turned the handle and it wasn’t locked. There were 13 guardians at the door. Each time he opened it to peer out, fear seized him again, which made him close the door and go back to the corner. The food which was brought to him was now a cold gelatinous pile that he would not have eaten if it were his last meal on earth. At this rate, the likelihood of that being true sat on his chest like a weighted verb daring him to conjugate it. Hours had passed, and each ticking moment, his heart sank further.
“How long has he been in there,” Eduardo asked his brother.
“Nearly three hours,” Carlos responded.
“Does he have any weapons on him?”
“Si, he has his gun, with the silencer, his backup piece and that knife I heard he likes to carry,” Carlos responded. He handed his brother the high ended binoculars. Eduardo spotted Saxton. The weapon on his ankle showing up through the metal detecting spectrum of the lenses.
“Okay,” Eduardo said. “He must be heavily guarded. Is that why he hasn’t made a move?”
“No, there are no guards on him,” Carlos said in a hushed tone.
Eduardo stared at his younger brother. He’d grown a full beard from the last time he’d seen him when he was in America. That was only a few months ago when he’d come to the US to kill Dwight, Ryanne’s husband. Since that time, he’d fallen in love with his victim’s wife, killed Saxton’s horse, and shot Agent Roget. Life was funny like that. Fast forward four months, he was married to Ryanne and sent on a rescue mission to save Agent Roget, Ryanne’s brother and bring Saxton Blakemore home.
He peered through the binoculars that his brother handed him, looking into the building, spotting Saxton still sitting in the room on the floor. “Then why is he sitting there like el bufón? Did you know that he and that wife of his, the last time they were in Panama, that dude took out a whole squad of Mateo’s goons, shut down una cuadrilátero de los pedófilos and rescued a rare white liger, all in one night?” Eduardo said with admiration in his voice.
“Well, that dude is not down the hall in that room. That shivering buffoon in there couldn’t shut down a ring of circus clowns let alone a ring of pedophiles. The man that is in that room is one step from peeing on himself and sucking his thumb. The bad ass you are talking about is going to require some therapy when he leaves this place...that is if you can get him out in one piece. I think they all would prefer to send him home in parts...after they have finished with him...Eddie, these men...these men are sick,” Carlos said to him.
Hugo had been right; their little brother was soft. Carlos lived a life of privilege, shielded from the ways of the world but inside he was still a Delgado. He was not much older than Ryanne’s brother, but like himself, he could blend into any scenario. This was a good trait for a Delgado man. Carlos was a Delgado. Today, he was going to be shown what that meant.
“Stop dragging it out, what is holding him in the room,” he asked.
“He is being guarded by a shit load of snakes,” Carlos said.
“All poisonous?”
“Hell, I don’t know. I am not going to go up there and pick one up asking, excuse me Mr. Guard Snake, are you full of venom?” Carlos said sarcastically.
“Don’t tell me you too are afraid of the serpents?”
“No, but I have a healthy enough respect to leave them the hell alone,” Carlos said.
Eduardo was sick of the talking. He still had to get the men out of the building, get back to his plane, fly to Houston, then to Los Angeles all before he could get home to his beautiful wife and kids. He had never known this type of happiness in his life which was now filled with contentment and it was not going to be ruined by a bunch of cut throats or flesh peddlers.
“Carlos, you go and free Roget and the kid, meet me back here,” Eduardo said.
“Is there a signal...like caw-caw, or something?” Carlos asked.
Instinct made Eduardo reach for his knife but then he remembered Carlos was his brother.
Eduardo glanced at him sideways, “Don’t make me kill you today, Carlos.”
It was hard to believe they we are related. He squinted his eyes when he completed the response to the youngest Delgado, “No, we are going to walk out of the front door, just as I am going to walk into the front door to go and get Blakemore,” he said.
“Just like that? You walk into the front door, no knocking or anything...just waltz right in, kill Alberlado’s pets and walk out like it’s something you do every day,” Carlos said in total disbelief.
“Of course, I am Eduardo Benicio Castanza De La Marta Delgado!”
“Yeah, tell that to a bullet and see how many fucks it give,” Carlos said.
“Language Carlos...is that what you are learning in that expensive college in Los Angeles?” he asked.
Carlos never got a chance to respond as he watched the rigid back of his brother enter the front door of the building. Just as Eduardo promised, he walked up to the warehouse filled with poisonous snakes, venomous men, and villainous intentions, opened the front door sauntering his way in as if he owned the place. The men only watched Eduardo in shock as he walked right past the door of a room filled with henchman down the poorly lighted hallway, where Saxton Blakemore sat in a room waiting for a miracle. Eduardo grabbed a broom from against the wall, pushing the loose snakes to one side until reaching the door and peering in. A smile actually crossed his lips when Saxton looked up with relief on his face.
“I know this is very bad when you are happy to see me,” Eduardo said to him. He stepped inside the room and closed the door. “Blakemore, why are you sitting in this room like an idiot?”
Saxton swallowed hard, before he said, “The snakes...I ...me and snakes...”
“Yes, they know that and so do you, as do I. However, you have a gun with a silencer on it...shoot the damned snakes,” he said to him.
“There are too many, poisonous ones...I am a Dad now, what if there is no antivenin here for some of those breeds. I saw a Black Mamba out there!”
“Then you kill that one first,” Eduardo said.
“Easy for you to say. You didn’t get bitten by a whole nest of poisonous snakes or spend two years in a bed learning how to walk again,” Saxton confessed. “My fear of snakes is justified.”
“Being deathly afraid of anything to the point of being paralyzed by your fear is not healthy,” he told Saxton. “It is no good for you. A man must master the nerves which will hold him hostage.”
Saxton wasn’t buying it. One bite could possibly kill him.
Eduardo was trying the patience thing his wife has spoken of on many occasions to him. He said gently, “Everyone is afraid of something Blakemore, you cannot allow a fear to be another man’s strong hold over you.”
Saxton unstated acknowledgment of his words was present, but he didn’t care. It is easy to give advice on how to swim if you aren’t the one in the throes of drowning. “Oh yeah, tough guy, what are you afraid of...” Saxton said facetiously.
He did not expect Eduardo to answer. He definitely didn’t expect him to answer so honestly.
“Asian people,” Eduardo said. “Especially Asian men.”
“Whaaaa?”
“You do know they fight you with their feet?”
“Whaaaa?” Saxton said again, his forehead furrowed.
“Si, it is true. There you are prepared, fists up ready to fight, mano y mano, then suddenly, you hear
this ‘aaaarrrrgh’ and boom- a foot is on your face. There you are on the floor, with some little bastard’s shoe print indented in your skin wondering what just happened. It is very disconcerting...they frighten me,” Eduardo said with a straight face.
Saxton started to laugh.
“This is no laughing matter, Blakemore,” he said. “They also smell like garlic. What do they do, eat a whole clove every meal?”
Eduardo was walking towards the door, mumbling to himself about Chinese food giving him gas which makes the bed covers hover at night while a man tries to sleep. He was inarticulately saying something about ghosts in his bedroom then he looked back at Saxton. He shuddered as he asked Saxton, “Have you ever seen an Asian person speaking Spanish? It is espeluznante; it really creeps me out.”
Saxton was so busy listening to Eduardo, laughing at what he was saying that he hadn’t paid much attention to the door being opened.
“I see you have been practicing your American English,” Saxton said at Eduardo’s use of very modern American terminology.
“I have. Ryanne and the sayings... almost everyone creeps her out,” he said with a slight smile to his lips. “The Asian men speaking Spanish gets to her too.”
“So, you don’t do business in Asian markets?” Saxton wanted to know. It was an odd question but he was working on focusing on something other than the snakes. Hell, the whole conversation was odd, but it was all he had to keep him from crapping his pants, so he went along with it.
“Oh I don’t have a problem taking their money, I just don’t like talking to them. These days, you don’t have a choice. They are a race of savvy business people, but they still creep me out,” he said again with a shudder.
Saxton couldn’t help but laugh harder. The entire scenario was surreal to him. Especially the idea of the tough as nails, kick your ass, vicious man who killed his horse, coming to Panama to rescue him, Roget, and Kevin Jr. It was also amusing to know something so simple as a small Asian man who had mastered the art of martial arts could strike fear into the likes of Eduardo Delgado. Suddenly, the terror of a few snakes was nothing in comparison to being afraid of a race of people. The snakes he could kill. An entire race of people who could potentially fight you with their feet distracted Saxton from the floor crawling with serpents.
Through the opened door slithered a cobra, head up, hood open.
“Shoot it now Blakemore,” Eduardo said.
With very little effort, one shot took the head off the serpent. Over the door, another poisonous slitherer peeked its head in. In a flash, Eduardo grabbed the slithering menace, using one hand to hold its jaws closed and the other to secure the body before it wrapped around his arm.
“On three,” Eduardo called as he counted out in Spanish. He threw the animal towards the wall. Saxton placed three bullets in it before the snake hit the floor. The first in the head, the second bullet in the body and the last bullet snipped off the tail. The silencer offering a quiet death to Alberlado’s pets.
“Let’s move,” Saxton said calmly.
As Eduardo turned, the Black Mamba was there. Saxton did not hesitate as a well-placed bullet went into the animal’s head killing it.
“Gracias,” Eduardo said to him.
“De Nada,” Saxton said.
Eduardo armed with the broom, pushed snakes to the side as they made for the main door. Saxton’s eyes were wide, looking at the snakes. He had only shot the three deadliest of the slithering pack of venomous guardians. The others were piling up in a writhing ball, his hands were sweating, as the fear began to come back.
“Eduardo, wait...what’s the plan?” Saxton asked.
“Open the door and walk out,” he said with his chest puffed up like a strutting bird.
“Weapons...where are your weapons?” Saxton asked concerned, his eyes darting to the floor looking at the snakes. Sweat dripped into his eyes. He used the sleeve of his shirt to wipe away the perspiration. “You need something before we go into that room. I have my gun and a backup...you want my knife?”
“I am Eduardo Delgado! Why do I have to keep repeating that?” he said, annoyed by the whole situation. A snake slithered up behind him to strike at his foot. He raised his leg, bringing his heel down hard on the snake’s head.
“Okay then...” Saxton said as he pointed toward the door. He may have been awesome at being Eduardo Delgado, but Saxton was only good at being Mr. Blakemore; he had a wife and two kids he wanted to see again which meant he was not walking out into a room full of armed men without all of his weapons on the ready. Another pitted viper worked its way behind Eduardo. Instead of allowing Saxton to shoot it, or kill it himself, the drug czar grabbed it by its head with one hand and held the body with the other.
Snake in Eduardo’s hands, Saxton opened the door to the room which led into the main portion of the building, only to find nearly every man in the facility standing in wait for them.
Chapter 9 – Señor...You have been shot!
Fifteen minutes.
Fifteen long minutes.
It was fifteen minutes that would forever change the lives of five men. Everything happened in a flash of fists, bullets, and a flying poisonous snake. Most of all, a room full of men were taught the meaning of respect. It started with learning to recognize the shortness of their life spans when it came to dealing with Eduardo Delgado and Saxton Blakemore.
Alberlado stood at the front of the group. Fisted hands were perched on his hips as he waited for the appearance of the new cartel leader. It had been many years since he’d seen Eduardo Delgado in person and surprise was all over his face when the men had come to find him, informing him that the big man had walked right into the viper’s nest. He didn’t even come in with his bodyguard. Carefree as a jay bird, they’d told him, Eduardo had opened the front door walking right down the hall to where the captive Blakemore man sat.
All of his men were at the ready. Everyone had weapons poised. Alberlado had realized too late the glaringly obvious, if everyone was up front, no one was in the rear guarding the prisoners. It didn’t matter, his intention was to hold Eduardo for ransom too. The cartels would have to respect him then...no more scud work and dirty jobs their precious sons were deemed too important to do.
“Eduardo Delgado, as I live and breathe,” Alberlado said loudly.
“No, not for long,” Eduardo responded.
“Wow, you have a set on you to just waltz in and think you are going to simply walk out with my prisoner,” Alberlado said. His hands were jammed into his pockets as he said the word, ‘prisoner.’
“Sí,” Eduardo said.
A wry smile came to the henchman’s lips. He wasn’t sure if he was answering yes to the set on him or the bit about walking out with his prisoner.
“I am still angry with you for cutting off Mateo’s head and sending it to my uncle in a box,” Alberlado said.
“I am a fair man. I do not have a problem doing the same with you,” Eduardo said with a straight face.
Saxton watched Eduardo’s eyes. The factor which set the two of them apart were in the man’s eyes. He preferred to make a judgment call. There were no doubts in the cartel leader’s eyes; Saxton knew he had no issue killing every man in that room. Either Saxton was going to help or possibly fall prey to the anger which sat behind the cartel leader’s eyes. The more Alberlado’s mouth moved, the angrier Eduardo became.
“The problem with these young people is that you have no respect. You think you are tough men because you rape women and sell them to the highest bidders. Weak, scared little boys is what you are,” Eduardo said to the group.
Eduardo raised his voice yelling loudly so all of them could hear his next words, “Anyone who does not wish to die should leave now. If you choose to stay and take us on, I will take great pleasure in ending your lives.”
No one moved. A few of the men even snickered. This seemed to please Eduardo.
Alberlado opened his mouth to speak but was silenced by a poisonous snake flying at
his head. Two of the men screamed as the snake landed on one of them, sinking its fangs into the man’s arm. The bitten henchman tossed the snake into the air and when it came down, the very pissed off viper landed in the middle of the group. It coiled up, striking at everything coming its way.
Alberlado yelled, “Fung!”
The Asian man who’d challenged Shifty earlier emerged from the rear of the crowd. Saxton drew his weapon as he watched the look on Eduardo’s face. If there was fear present, he could not see it. Fung screamed a battle cry, yelling ‘Aaarrggh!” The small man charged at Eduardo, swinging his arms, kicking his legs, trying to hit the cartel leader and knock him off his feet. Each blow Eduardo blocked, each punched halted, but a quick change up by Fung caught the cartel leader off guard as Fung’s feet flew through the air, one perfectly directed foot making contact with Eduardo’s face. This kick was so powerful it threw off Eduardo’s balance and he staggered trying to stay upright. Saxton moved quickly, using his arm to catch Eduardo, giving some balance to the cartel leader preventing him from hitting the floor.
Fung realized quickly that it had been a mistake kicking Eduardo in the face. One other man in the group also ate the error in his judgment as he made a move towards Eduardo while he was about to fall down. A knife came from the side cargo pocket, hitting the attacker in his chest. Fung’s second miscalculation of Eduardo Delgado came from the largest bodyguard Saxton had ever seen, as Tonda came through the center of the crowd like a comic book hero. Bodies raised into the air as if a belly flop had been completed in the middle of a crowded pool. Tonda quickly picked up the snake coiling in the middle of the group and tossed it again into the pile of men. More of the henchmen screamed, running like frightened girls, scattering about the space as Tonda commenced to swinging his massive arms. Saxton didn’t even feel Eduardo take the gun from his hand as the cartel leader pulled the trigger, putting a bullet into Fung’s knee.
Being Mr. Blakemore (The Blakemore Files Book 7) Page 5
