“How do you get in touch with him?” I asked.
“I call a number, leave a message, and he calls back.”
I asked, “Who knows about us?”
“Only the people who were at the yacht party, and you have already disposed of my Colombian associate. That leaves only Nancy Smith, Aaron Carson, Juventino Cienfuegos, and myself.”
I looked at Caleb and Charlie. They returned a look of agreement. Charlie grabbed one of Toro’s arms and Caleb the other, and they started pulling them away from his body. He immediately shouted, “No, please. I am answering all your questions. Why are you doing that?”
I said, “Nicanor, you’re lying to me! Who else knows about us?”
“Nobody at my end, and I am sure that Nancy and Aaron have not told anybody else. We cannot let anybody know about you. If other people were to find out, it would reflect badly upon us. We needed to deal with the problem ourselves. We needed to contain it!”
I said, “Nicanor, who knows about Caleb?”
“We only knew for sure that the big white American and you were alive. We were certain that the black American and the Mexican girl were dead. That is why I was so surprised when I saw you,” Toro said, looking at Caleb.
I asked, “Nicanor, have you sent any of your soldiers to my mother’s house in Mexico City?”
“No. I was going to do that as soon as I got to Mexico City. You don’t relay that kind of information on the phone. It has to be face to face.”
“I believe you, Nicanor,” I said, and Charlie and Caleb let go of his arms.
***
“Nicanor,” I exclaimed, “call Nancy Smith and tell her that we called and told you that we were willing to make a deal with her; that the white American is convinced that he can reach an acceptable compromise with her; that we are frightened and willing to do whatever she wants, as long as we can go back to our normal lives. That we don’t want to spend the rest of our lives running, hiding, and looking over our shoulders. You can even suggest to her that as soon as she meets with us, she should grab us and dispose of us.”
Toro kept quiet for long time. Charlie and Caleb placed their hands on his arms. He sighed and said, “I will call her.”
Caleb asked the pilot for his satellite phone and passed it on to Toro. Toro dialed from memory. Caleb and Charlie grabbed his arms. Toro looked at them while he continued dialing. I put my ear next to the phone. After a couple of rings, I heard Nancy answer. “Hello.”
“Hello, beautiful. This is me. I have some information about our two young friends.”
“Where are you calling from? There is so much noise!”
“You know from where. I am in the chopper,” responded Toro.
“Good for you! Pray tell, what is the information?”
“The big white guy called me. They are running scared. He and his friend want to deal, but only with you. They are more afraid of me than of you. He thinks he can reach a compromise with a fellow American.
“What do you think? Do you want to see them? It might be the only way to find them before they talk. It seems to me that if you agree, as soon as you see them, we can grab them and take care of them. It is your decision. If you say no, I will continue looking for them, and I am sure I will eventually find them. I just don’t know whether it will be sooner or later. What do you say?”
“What is the deal?” she asked.
“They are calling back in ten minutes to hear your decision. If you say yes, they will meet with you in a public place or a popular restaurant in Mexico City.”
“I agree,” she said. “This is too good an opportunity to let it pass. Of course, say yes. Call me back after you have heard from them.”
Toro hung up and looked at us. Charlie and Caleb let go of his arms.
Charlie asked me, “You know Mexico City. Where should we propose to meet her?”
***
I was amazed at how a man with so much money and the power to kill or maim at will had deflated so rapidly. A man who had been flooding American streets with illegal drugs and commanding a vast army of thugs. All his boldness, bravado, and self-confidence were gone from him along with his clothes. And we had achieved that by taking away his dignity and by confronting him with his fear of being naked in public. How fragile the human psyche could be, I thought.
I looked at Toro and said, “Who lives at your house in Mexico City?”
He responded, “My employees, who are the same in number as in Acapulco. Except that my four bodyguards are back there.”
I looked at Ramon, and he nodded.
“So we can expect four maids and a gardener waiting for the helicopter?”
“No. A cook, a male servant, two maids, and a gardener,” he said.
“What about your family?” I asked.
“They live in Puebla,” he answered.
“Do they visit much?” I asked.
“No. We talk on the phone once or twice a month.”
“When was the last time they were at your house in Mexico City?” I asked.
“They have never been to my house in Mexico City, and I intend to keep it that way,” he said.
Charlie said tersely, “A candidate for father and husband of the year!”
Toro didn’t respond.
“Are you expecting anybody tonight?”
“No,” responded Toro.
“What about tomorrow?” I asked.
“Nobody before ten a.m.”
“I think,” I said to Charlie and Caleb, “that we should meet Nancy at Toro’s house. It provides for a controllable environment with only a low risk of collateral damage.”
“Sounds good to me,” said Charlie.
“To me too,” said Caleb.
“Nicanor,” I said to Toro, “call her back and tell her that you have talked us out of meeting in a public place, that you have proposed that we meet her at her own home tomorrow at five thirty in the morning, where she cannot do anything to jeopardize her public image in Mexico. Then you tell her that it will not really be her home the meeting will take place at but yours, where you have control of the situation and the means to subdue us. I am sure she will go for it.”
Toro called Nancy again and told her about the plan. As I had thought, she liked it because it minimized her exposure and use of resources. All the costs, effort, and risk were Toro’s.
I looked at them and said, “Everything is settled, then. We spent the night at the invitation of Toro in his house, and tomorrow morning we meet Nancy Smith.”
“Sounds good to me,” said Charlie.
“And to me too,” said Caleb, and he added to Toro, “Thank you very much for the invitation, sweet lips!” And he proceeded to pinch his nipple.
The all-powerful and feared drug lord did not even raise his eyes. He just sat there making himself as small as possible and shivering from the cold and the anxiety of being naked.
We knew that Nancy Smith would be on the phone with Carson in Washington to inform him of the situation. What we didn’t know was how many bodyguards she would bring with her tomorrow.
***
I stood up, sat down next to Ramon, and asked him, “Whom can we trust in his house in Mexico City?”
“The five of them hate Mr. Toro. They stay with him out of fear. If you can somehow reassure them that he will not be coming after them, I am sure you will have them on your side. The problem I foresee is that the only way that you can really reassure them is by killing him, and I don’t think you intend to do that.”
“Ramon, we will see what we will see. But rest assured that Toro will not be coming after you or anybody else who helps us.
“Will any of Toro’s men call or arrive at his house before ten a.m. tomorrow?”
Ramon answered, “No, I don’t expect them to do so. They usually call before coming to his house. If Mr. Toro wants to see them, he calls them first. Everybody fears Mr. Toro.”
***
I could see on the horizon the bright lights of Mexico City. I wanted to ask Tor
o about Valentina, but I thought it prudent to wait until after the interview with Nancy Smith. We still needed his help. We still needed him alive.
Common sense prevailed upon my ardent desire for revenge.
Part 2 – Charlie
Chapter 7: The Praying Mantis
Good, better, and best
We needed to keep our wits about us and think quickly on our feet.
I had always been able to handle myself in difficult situations. I became better when Caleb and I started to hang together. We had been a good team since we became friends. We made top of our class at the Army Airborne School, where we learned parachuting and got our silver wings. Soon after, we volunteered for army ranger training. We also did well in the Army Ranger School, where we got our Ranger Tab after sixty-plus days of combat leadership course.
We were now part of an even better team since Santi had joined us. We complemented one another. The three of us understood one another without any exchange of words, and we acted as one. I was good, the two of us better, and now the three of us felt as close to best as we had ever felt.
Santi seemed to naturally add something that the two of us hadn’t known we were lacking.
I still couldn’t believe how fast things had gone haywire the past few days. Fighting a ring of criminals and international kidnappers?
I didn’t ask for this. None of us did. We were provoked. They thought we were easy prey, and now we were hunting for them. The wheel keeps on turning, and right now we were on top, giving them a fight they’d never anticipated. The element of surprise had favored us so far.
We were going against impossible odds with only our wits, cunning, ability to fight, surprise, and one another. That ought to be more than enough. But was it?
The Bull’s lair
It had been raining all the way from Acapulco. We had used the travel time well. Santi had conducted a thorough and effective interrogation of Toro. He seemed to know what he was thinking and what he was hiding. Caleb and I felt intuitively when it was time to threaten and pressure Toro. Caleb was excellent at getting into Toro’s face and keeping him unhinged and off balance. The mighty supercriminal, butcher of hundreds, kidnapper of minors, and drug lord extraordinaire was completely despondent and defeated. We had been lucky to find his only weakness, his extreme fear of being naked in public. The three of us had clicked like a finely crafted piece of machinery for cutting this domineering, intimidating asswipe down to his real cowardly size.
The helicopter was new and in decent shape, and the pilot was good. It took us two and a half hours to get to Mexico City.
***
It was 7:30 p.m.
Toro’s house was in an exclusive neighborhood named Jardines del Paseo, in the south of the city. It sat in the middle of a large property with a heliport. The man knew how to travel.
Ramon had called ahead, and the four servants were waiting for us when we landed. It seemed that the rain had followed us. We disembarked into a light shower. Caleb and I were escorting Toro. We had covered him with a beach towel. We all walked inside the house, where we were met by the surprised looks from the staff.
Ramon told the staff to wait for him in the kitchen. He then took us to the servants’ quarters. There were ten apartments and a common area. Ramon opened an apartment in the middle. It consisted of a three-by-five-meter room and a tiny bath with a toilet, shower, and washbasin. It didn’t have a window. There was a bunk bed, a tiny wooden table, two chairs, and a built-in open closet in the wall. The lower bunk bed was made. It had blankets and a pillow. We left Toro there naked, taking the towel with us. We closed and locked the door. Built to satisfy Toro’s concern for security, the door was solid and could hold the big bad Bull in without problem.
Ramon pointed out where the telephone cables entered the house, and then he and Santi went to the kitchen. Caleb and I went to cut the phone lines.
The Bull’s staff
When Caleb and I returned to the kitchen, Ramon and the staff of five were sitting around the kitchen table. Santi was standing to the right of Ramon, so Caleb and I flanked his left.
Ramon addressed the staff. “Let me get straight to the point. We have all suffered at the hands of Mr. Toro and his bodyguards. Mr. Toro’s associates kidnapped the girlfriends of these men next to me and tried to murder them. They fought back and managed to capture Mr. Toro and take care of the bodyguards.
“I would like us to help them find their girlfriends, and in the process, we can get even with Mr. Toro. I know that what I am asking entails some risk, but I wouldn’t be asking this from you unless I was prepared to face the same risk. I am convinced that we are in even more danger if we continue to serve Mr. Toro. I am convinced that the risks of helping to bring him down are far less than the rewards.”
Santi said, “If any of you feel uncomfortable with this and you don’t want to help us, please rest assured that nothing will happen to you. You can stay in your room until we leave the house. We expect to be going away sometime tomorrow. The decision is yours.
“But before you decide, please hand us your cell phones. You can have them back tomorrow after we leave.”
After they gave us their cell phones, we patted them down.
Santi said, “Ramon, we will wait outside for their decision.”
As the three of us sat in the living room, I asked Santi, “What do you think they’ll decide?”
He responded, “If what happened with Toro’s staff in Acapulco is anything to go by, I am sure they will decide to help us too. They fear and hate Toro and his bodyguards at the same time. With his bodyguards out of the equation and Toro restrained, I think they will help us and try to get even with him.”
Caleb said, “Yeah, I concur with Santi.”
“Oh my, Caleb, you have such a way with words!” I said.
“Yeah, he is such a smooth talker, he is. Charlie, do you also concur with me?” asked Santi.
We started laughing.
***
We fell into a comfortable silence. Then Santi said, “So far, we’ve been lucky. I have taken the lead up to now in the interrogations because the bad guys have mostly been Mexicans, and I am familiar with their culture and mode of thinking. However, we’re starting a new stage, in which the bad guys are Americans, and I believe you both have a comparative advantage over me. I think you should take over.”
Caleb said, “I think Charlie should do it. He talks too much. He is always yapping away. Yap-yap-yap-yap!”
“OK,” Charlie said. “I’ll take over.” And, turning to Caleb, he remarked, “If you think I talk too much, why don’t we sit down and talk about it?”
We started laughing.
Despite the awful circumstances and the fact that we were wiped out and hungry, we were optimistic. We sensed some sort of invincibility in us when we were together.
***
Forty minutes later, Ramon and the pilot came out of the kitchen. Ramon said, “We are all going to help. We will follow the same plan we did in Mr. Toro’s Acapulco house.”
“The same MO sounds good to us,” said Santi.
The pilot said, “I don’t know what is going to happen to Mr. Toro, but in any case, I would like to keep the helicopter.”
I said, “No problem with us. You can keep the chopper.”
We had not eaten since breakfast. We needed to replenish our energies. Tomorrow was going to be a long day, and I didn’t know when our next meal was going to be.
“Ramon, please ask the cook to prepare us some food.”
He said, “No problem. I will come back and let you know as soon as it’s ready.”
I added, “And, Ramon, we will eat in the kitchen. It will be easier and quicker that way.”
Ramon and the pilot left the living room for the kitchen.
Fifteen minutes later, we were eating “seefood.” Yeah, whatever food we saw, we ate.
Mama’s boys call home
It was 9:00 p.m.
I was listening to Sant
i talk to his mother on one of the cell phones we had taken from the bodyguards. He was telling her the houses in Acapulco and Mexico City were safe. He suggested keeping the precautions in place for a little while longer. He didn’t mentioned any names or specifics, especially not about the people who had died.
He called Dr. Díaz at the Santa Cruz Clinic to inquire about Valentina. She was doing better and breathing on her own, but she was still weak and under sedation.
He called Sandra and asked her to check on Valentina. He asked about the Rhodesian Ridgeback. The dog was doing fine and would not let Sandra out of its sight. Santi said that if we were going to keep it, we should give it a name.
He was still talking to Sandra when Caleb and I each took a cell phone confiscated from the bodyguards, put the batteries in, turned them on, and left to call our respective mothers.
It was one hour later in Essex, Connecticut, where my mother lived. She was happy, in her restrained Anglo-Saxon kind of way, to hear my voice. After the affectionate preliminaries and responses to her questions about the storm and conditions in Acapulco, I got to the crux of the matter. I knew that Aaron Carson was powerful and that he knew who I was. He could easily get to my mother in order to get to me. I needed her protected, and the best protection I could think of was her brother, my Uncle Jonathan. I had to tread lightly. She might reject my suggestion if I didn’t approach the subject correctly.
Charlie’s flashback
My mother had always been a feminist. She studied sociology at Columbia University in New York. She met my father in 1989 and married him in 1990. I was born a year later. After my father died, she dated a few men but stayed single. She worked as a consultant for small companies doing human-resource appraisals. She was not wealthy, but she was well-to-do. She was tough but fair. She was unafraid of expressing her affection, but she was careful not to do so in public.
I had always been big and strong. I was six years old and had just entered first grade. Due to my height, I sat all the way in the back of the class next to two big brothers, one of them my age and the other a year older. We rapidly became friends. I started following the lead of the older brother. The problem was that they were not very nice to other kids in school, especially if the other kids were smaller and weaker. After three months of hanging out together, we cornered a smart, fat kid with curly hair and a freckled face during break. We took his lunch and money. The fat kid tried to fight back, and the two brothers hit him until they made him cry. Of course, many of these incidents had already happened, but this was the most serious one. I didn’t hit the fat kid, but I didn’t defend him either. The parents of the fat kid complained to the school principal, who called our parents.
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