Road to Darkness

by Miller, Tim

“So you expect me to believe this. The great and powerful John Adams let some low level employee get the best of him?”

  “Look, I don’t want a war here. I know you don’t either. Why would I send him, of all people, to kill you? Hell. You did me a favor. If you guys haven’t already, go kill him. I won’t be mad. Hell, skin him alive while you’re at it. This guy has cost me millions.”

  “You do have a point. My men are having some fun with him now. He claims you sent him.”

  “I imagine he would say that. Trust me. I know taking you out wouldn’t help things for me anyway. One of your captains would step in and it’d be like starting all over. I assure you, I did not send him.”

  “Okay then. I will have my men peel the flesh from his bones. We’ll make a movie for you and send it to you,” Esteban said.

  “Now that would be some fine entertainment,” Adams said and hung up.

  Well that was one headache he didn’t have to deal with. Shit. He’d just hired Krautenhammer for nothing.

  Chapter 28

  Tony ignored the gate guard at the Mexican warehouse and crashed through the gate. Men came running and as he had hoped, Benito came running out as well. Several men were carrying rifles. This wasn’t the best way to make an entrance, but he was tired and didn’t feel like arguing with a gate guard. He just hoped Benito would listen to what he had to say.

  He stepped out of the car as the men yelled something at him in Spanish.

  “I need to talk to Benito,” Tony said, but the men kept screaming. “Benito! I need to see Benito!”

  “Who says I want to talk to you, puto!” Benito said from behind his men. He stepped through and glared at Tony. “You got a lot of balls to come crashing into here like this. That, or you’re just stupid.”

  “I know it was your men who robbed me.”

  “And how are you so sure?”

  “It just makes sense. You guys are tired of being the middle men and want a bigger piece of the action. I have a proposal for you and your boss.”

  Benito stood and laughed. The rest of his men laughed along with him.

  “A proposal? What kind of proposal could you have? You’re a fucking driver.”

  “So you haven’t heard anything about what’s happened with Adams’ operation in the last twenty-four hours?”

  “No, I been kinda busy. Why don’t you enlighten me?”

  “I killed two of his best operators, including Slade. Then I blew up their main warehouse at Ramos Medical.”

  “How did your stupid ass do that? First time you came here, you were scared shitless.”

  “Things have changed a bit since then.”

  “All right. Come with me. We’ll talk.” Benito said.

  Tony walked toward him as Benito pointed toward the door of the building. Benito fell in behind Tony as they walked. Just before they got to the door, Benito struck Tony on the back of his head with the butt of his gun, knocking him to the ground.

  Freezing cold water woke Tony up. Everything was hazy as he tried to make sense of what was happening. Last thing he remembered, he was driving. Now he was hanging by his arms from a hook. His hands were bound together with a plastic zip tie, and his feet could barely touch the ground. Worst of all, he’d been stripped naked. Several men were standing in front of him. One had a bucket of water. Before Tony could register anything the man flung the ice cold water onto Tony’s naked body. He let out a gasp as it stung his flesh.

  “What’s going on? Where’s Benito?” Tony asked.

  “You stupid fucking gringo. You think our boss wants to talk to you?” The men laughed as one of them jammed a cattle prod into Tony’s stomach sending ten thousand volts through his body. Tony saw stars while he twitched and jerked helplessly as the men laughed. The man with the cattle prod was a large Mexican with gold teeth. There was a shorter Mexican standing behind him.

  “Come on man. You got to play with the last one. It’s my turn!” The short one said.

  “It’s your turn when I say it is,” The big man said as he gave Tony another jolt. Spit and slobber flew out of Tony’s mouth as the electricity coursed through him. Tony began to realize he’d taken things a step or so too far. He should have just quit after blowing up Ramos. But he wanted them to pay, all of them. No one gets a pass. He was willing to use these guys as a means to an end, but that was now off the table. But first he had to get out of here.

  “Ok, you can try it,” the big man said as he handed the cattle prod to the little one.

  “Haha. All right. I’m gonna stick it up his ass!” The little one said.

  “You’re a sick fucker, homes.”

  “Yeah, I know!” The little one said as he circled around behind Tony. He jammed the prod in between his ass cheeks. Tony tried to struggle, but he was too weak. He couldn’t lift himself at all. The prod went off sending the powerful jolt through his behind causing Tony to jerk backward. He felt like his spine would snap, he jerked so hard. Once he pulled the prod out, Tony’s bowels let loose as shit sprayed out of his ass. The little Mexican didn’t get the cattle prod clear on time.

  “Oh! You asshole! You got shit all over this man!”

  “Well what did you expect when you shove it up his ass?” The big one said.

  “I don’t know man. I didn’t think he’d shit all over it. Here.” The little man held the shitty end up to Tony’s mouth. Tony pinched his mouth shut and pulled his face away. “Come on man, open your mouth. I want you to suck the end of this. Suck it like you’re suckin’ a dick. I bet you like to suck dicks.”

  He smeared it all over Tony’s face, but Tony wouldn’t open his mouth. He could feel the warm feces against his lips and beard. The last thing he wanted to do was let that thing into his mouth, with or without shit on it. The little man kept taunting Tony with the prod. Taking a deep breath, Tony mustered enough strength to lift his legs and kick the little man across the room. The guy almost left his feet as he flew backward, dropping the cattle prod as he fell back several feet and flopped onto his back. His head hit the floor with a loud Thud! And he stopped moving.

  The big man walked over to him and bent down.

  “Holy shit, dude,” the man said.

  “Is he dead?” Tony asked.

  “No. You knocked him out man.” The big man stood. “You shouldn’t have done that. You thought it was bad before. Now we really gonna play.” He raised the cattle prod and walked toward him. Tony took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

  Chapter 29

  Krautenhammer watched the police and firefighters sifting through the rubble that once was Ramos medical. He had gotten the call less than an hour ago. By all accounts, this should be an easy job. Some middle aged guy who decided to play gangster too late in life and bit off more than he could chew. Somehow, this guy managed to nearly take down an entire operation. This was why Krautenhammer worked alone. There was no one to drag him down with them.

  He had already checked Tony Ray’s house, and there was no sign of him. His phone buzzed with a text message. It was from his associate. The client had called them. Tony Ray was in Mexico. Some cartel guys had him down there. It was no problem. Krautenhammer had gone head to head with the cartel before. They did not frighten him.

  As he started the car, another text came through. This one saying the client wants to cancel the job. Krautenhammer replied with one word. “No.” The drive took several hours, but it was not a problem.

  Krautenhammer began killing as a boy at the age of thirteen in the city of Cologne, Germany. His father died when he was an infant. His mother had trouble making ends meet, so in his teens he took to the streets. He’d first stumbled across the man he knew as Uncle Dieter. Uncle Dieter took better care of him than his mother ever could. He bought him food and other needs. All the boy had to do for Uncle Dieter was deliver envelopes of cash each week. There were a few dozen of them he dropped off. Young Krautenhammer didn’t know what the money was for and didn’t ask.

  All was fine the first f
ew months, until on one delivery, some guy tried to rob him. At first he’d thought it was a joke. Everyone around town knew who Uncle Dieter was and wouldn’t dare cross him. But this guy stuck a knife in Krautenhammer’s face and demanded his knapsack full of envelopes. At first he turned and ran, but the man caught up to him and tackled him.

  The man was bigger and stronger than the boy, but Krautenhammer wouldn’t give up. The boy bit the man hard on the arm, drawing blood and forcing him to drop the knife. The boy picked up the knife and thrust it into the man’s neck. He’d never seen so much blood in his life. It sprayed everywhere. It got onto the boy’s clothes, in his hair, on his shoes, and everywhere else. He grabbed his knapsack and ran back to Uncle Dieter’s pub.

  “What happened to you?” Uncle Dieter asked.

  “Some man jumped me. He had a knife. I bit him and stabbed him with his knife Uncle.”

  “Did he get any of the money?”

  “No Uncle. I got away with all of it.”

  Uncle Dieter stroked his beard and patted the boy on the head.

  “Good. You did good. I gave you this job as I figured no one would suspect a boy with so much cash. I suspected wrong. But you are still of use to me.” Uncle Dieter took him upstairs and gave him a change of clothes. Over the next few weeks, he found out who the man he’d killed was. It was a man from a rival gang who had been looking to move in on Uncle Dieter’s territory. It was then he received his new assignment.

  “You will go to this man, his name is Kristof. He’s at the address on this paper. You go see him and tell him you have message from Dieter. He will trust you because you’re a boy. Tell him you need to see him alone. You get close to him, and shoot him, then you run out the back door. Do not stand around or wait for his men to come in. You understand?”

  “Yes Uncle,” the boy said as he nodded.

  “Good. Now go.”

  The address was a restaurant. Krautenhammer stepped inside.

  “Can I see Kristof?” He asked the man at the counter. “I have message from Dieter.”

  The man nodded and walked him into the back room. Kristof was a fat, old man sitting at a table eating a large steak.

  “What is this?” Kristof said. “Dieter sends a child to do his business? I guess that makes sense. Taking him out will be like child’s play,” Kristof and his men burst out laughing.

  The boy held firm and tried not to let his nerves show. It would be years later before he realized just how much danger he had been in during this meeting.

  “Dieter said for me to give you message in private.”

  “Oh he did, did he?” Kristof said.

  “You can give him message in front of me, boy.” Kristof’s henchman said. Kristof waved him off.

  “It’s ok. What is the boy going to do? Beat me with his stamp collection?” The men laughed again as the henchman stepped outside. “Ok. We’re alone boy. What is this important message?”

  The boy took a few steps closer, so he was now just feet from Kristof, pulled the gun from his knapsack and shot Kristof between the eyes. He fired two more shots for good measure and ran out the back door, just like he’d been instructed. He ran all the way back to the pub without ever looking back. He ran inside and slammed the door shut. He turned and saw Uncle Dieter sitting at a table with a group of men playing cards. They all looked up at him in surprise.

  “Uncle Dieter,” Young Krautenhammer said. “It’s done.”

  The thoughts faded as he arrived in Monterrey. As the compound came into site, he parked far enough away not to be seen. He grabbed his binoculars and rifle and climbed a nearby hill. From that vantage point, he could see everything at the compound. There was a car there matching the description of Tony Ray’s car. He was in the right place. Now he just had to wait for the right time.

  Chapter 30

  Adams’ caravan pulled through the front gates. There were armed guards there waiting for them. One of the guards pointed toward a small road that wound around the back of the building. They followed the road to a small shack sitting a few hundred yards away from everything. Coming down here hadn’t been Adams’ first choice, but he couldn’t hardly risk escorting a bunch of drug lords around South Texas and being seen with them.

  He insisted on bringing his security detail along, which Esteban had granted. They arrived outside the small building and were greeted by more men with guns. One of his security guards stepped out and let him out of the SUV. Adams climbed out and adjusted his suit and walked toward the shack. As he stepped inside, Esteban was seated behind a table. He stood and walked over to greet Adams.

  “Jonathan. So good to see you old friend,” Esteban said as they shook hands. In all the years Adams had known Esteban, the man hadn’t aged a day. His hair was still jet black and he appeared to have no wrinkles. Adams was fifty-eight and Esteban was close to him in age. He was tempted to ask him his secret, but there were more pressing issues.

  “Hello, Esteban. Good seeing you as well. It’s unfortunate it’s under these circumstances.”

  “That is true. So what can we do to resolve this?”

  “You can stop hijacking my trucks for one. Though after yesterday, I’ll be out of business for a while.” Adams said.

  “Yes, that is very unfortunate. I do apologize for the way I’ve initiated this whole transaction. I should have come to you first.”

  “That would have been nice.”

  “You see, I have other businesses as well. This is the only one in which I am the middle man. I do not like that. It’s too easy to be cut out down the road, and my piece of the take is just too small. It’s simply not worth it for me. As you know, quitting isn’t an option. So I figured we simply move into the supply side.”

  “And you planned on doing this by stealing from me.”

  “It was a risk, yes, and a foolish one. So instead, I’d like to buy you out.” Esteban said.

  “Buy me out? Who says I’m selling?”

  “Oh, come on, Jonathan. You’re running for governor, maybe even president in a few years. Why would you want to still do this? Especially now? You have to rebuild. I already have the facilities. I’ll give you fair value for your trouble and you can move on with your political career.”

  Adams sat and considered it for a moment. It would be one less thing he had to worry about. He could use the cash from the sale toward his campaign. Though, he did like to borrow one of the girls from time to time. He could always take care of that some other way. But he knew another thing that appealed to him about this line of work that he would miss was the danger. Part of him felt like an old west outlaw. That thrill wasn’t something he could obtain running for office.

  “Just what do you consider to be fair value?”

  Esteban took a piece of paper and wrote on it. He folded the paper and slid it across the table to Adams. Adams unfolded it and looked it over. His blood boiled the instant he read it. It was a large zero.

  “Is this a fucking joke?”

  “No my friend. No joke.”

  “You call me all the way down here to insult me? You don’t know who you are fucking with!”

  “I’m afraid I do.” Esteban held up a flash drive. “On here, is a recording of every single phone conversation we have had. Every piece of correspondence and your own security videos, since some of your men will flip for a few dollars. You take my offer, or one of these gets sent to every media outlet from here to Dallas.”

  “You fucking cocksucking, bean eating bitch!” Adams yelled as he stood, pounding his fist on the table. One of Esteban’s men took a few steps closer, causing Adam’s men to encroach as well.

  “Now, now, no need for insults. Please, sit down.”

  Adams looked around at the confrontation about to take place and sat back down.

  “Look, I might just send this to the media anyway. You’ll be ruined. Federal investigations and all sorts of fun stuff,” Esteban said.

  “And you don’t think they’ll come after you too?”<
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  “So what if they do? They can’t touch me down here. I own the police here.”

  Adams could feel the blood rushing to his face.

  “What do you want?” He asked.

  “I want you to go back to Austin and never come back here again. You’re done with this business. Run your other legitimate companies, run your politics, whatever it is you do. I’m doing you a favor. But I’m not paying you a nickel to walk out of here. Just get up and walk away. I know many in this business who would have loved that opportunity. I’m offering it to you.”

  Before Adams could respond, one of his security guards ran into the room.

  “Sir, we need to get you to a secure location now,” he said.

  “What is going on?” Esteban asked. “What’s the meaning of this?”

  Some of Esteban’s men came charging in as well.

  “We need to get you to the bunker sir. Something is going on,” one of them said.

  “What’s happening?” Adams asked.

  Several security men grabbed both of them and dragged them out to the SUV’s and threw them inside. The SUV’s peeled out, kicked a huge dust cloud into the air as they headed for Esteban’s bunker. In the distance, the sound of automatic gunfire echoed through the compound.

  Chapter 31

  Krautenhammer returned to his car and popped the trunk. He slid his large flack vest over his head, and swung a heavy backpack over his shoulders. In the middle of the trunk sat his minigun. He had personally modified it. It was a short barrel, but normally too bulky for practical use. He’d rigged a smaller power supply to the base and set up the ammo to feed from the backpack. It had worked wonders on the firing range. Now was a good time to see how it worked on human targets.

  He walked up to the front gate, with the gun slung over his right side. The man at the gate had was holding a rifle at the ready. Before he said anything, the man saw the gun at Krautenhammer’s side. As he tried to move into position, Krautenhammer fired a short burst into the man’s torso. The gun made a sound like paper tearing extremely loudly. The gun fired around four thousand rounds per minute. With that short burst, the man’s upper body was ripped to shreds.