by Matt Rogers
When Raul and José separated, King thrust out a hand and pointed at the wooden boxes.
‘Where the fuck did you get these?’ he said, his tone incredulous.
José peered past King and noted the crates of weapons intended for delivery to the United States Special Forces.
‘Ah,’ he said. ‘That’s right. You’re ex-U.S. military.’
‘I am. How’d you get them?’
José raised both eyebrows and scoffed. ‘You honestly expect me to tell you? You could have me arrested and extradited by dialling a number. I’ll spend the rest of my life in Guantanamo Bay for that.’
King let out a wry smile. ‘Trust me, I won’t be dialling any numbers in the foreseeable future. I’ve had enough of that life. At least for now.’
‘You don’t want anything to do with the government?’
King shrugged. ‘Not so much that. I just want to move on.’
‘You’re probably telling the truth,’ José said. ‘But out of principle, I’d be the worst arms dealer on the planet if I even considered trusting you.’
‘Well, do you mind if I make some selections?’ King said.
‘Rico specifically requested those. He offered me double the asking price.’
King took his time to respond, letting the idiocy of José’s statement hang in the air. ‘You’re sending me to kill him.’
José shrugged. ‘Yeah, whatever. Point taken. Choose whatever you want. Fuck, man, I can’t believe I’m doing this…’
‘I don’t understand the hesitation,’ King said. ‘You just agreed to help us.’
‘Because if you take guns out of those crates and head off, it becomes real,’ José said. ‘I’ve built a stable business here. As soon as you leave, shit hits the fan. I’m still in disbelief that this is all happening.’
‘Where will you go?’
The man checked his watch. ‘First flight out of here. I can choose where I’m headed at the airport.’
‘Just like that? You’ll drop everything and leave?’
‘I’ve been considering it for months. If I don’t make my mind up now, it’ll never happen. Time to move on.’
King approached the first crate. It contained orderly rows of brand new weaponry, intended for use by elite infantry. He stared at Heckler and Koch HK416 assault rifles, HK MP7 sub-machine guns, and a pristine row of M32 6-shot grenade launchers. Just the sight of the weapons brought back a swarm of memories.
Body parts flying in all directions.
Thousands of rounds of ammunition tearing his cover to shreds.
The punch of explosives detonating nearby, resonating through his chest wall, shaking him to his core.
The savage violence of the battlefield.
The lack of mercy.
The flow-state he entered where killing became second nature, something primal and animalistic, when he transformed into a rabid animal demolishing everything in his path.
Those times had killed some part of him. That much he knew. He’d ignored it for years, suppressing the things he’d seen, the things he’d done.
He grimaced and battled the memories away. It took a good few minutes to squash them back down within himself, and by the time he did so a cold sweat had broken out across his brow. His hands shook, suddenly clammy. He rested a palm on the lip of the crate and took a deep breath.
Raul watched with hesitation. ‘What’s wrong?’
King looked at him, still sweating. ‘I might need to go to a dark place soon. I want you to be ready for that. If this goes according to plan, I’m going to kill a lot of people today. It might shock you. I want to warn you before it all kicks off.’
‘Obviously…’ Raul said. ‘We’re going there to save—’
King shook his head vigorously. ‘No, Raul. You don’t get it. You probably have an idea of what this will be like. All noble and honourable. Fighting for the greater good, that sort of thing. It doesn’t work that way. You might have seen some shit in El Infierno, but this is going to be on another level. Don’t take it lightly.’
Raul nodded. ‘Understood.’
King motioned to the crate and turned to José. ‘This will be very useful. Thank you.’
José shrugged. ‘We’re both helping each other. I actually have something to show you. It took me almost three months to secure one. Rico requested it. I think for high-security transportation. You might want to use it. I don’t have use for it anymore.’
‘What — like an armoured truck?’ King said.
José smiled. ‘A little better.’
He led King between two rows of shelving, guiding him to a secluded corner of the warehouse.
CHAPTER 38
They rounded a corner and King laid his eyes on the vehicle parked in a designated bay against one wall.
He whistled softly. He knew exactly what it was.
‘What kind of an arms dealer are you?’ he said. ‘How the hell did you manage to get access to that?’
‘A contact in the Turkish military,’ José said. ‘They had a surplus. I paid double what it’s worth. Rico’s paying double that.’
‘Not anymore he’s not.’
During his time in Black Force, King had seen a couple of Otokar Cobras. None quite like this.
‘Is it a Cobra II?’ he said.
José nodded. ‘Almost double the weight. Rico said he’d pay me a couple of million for it.’
Another low whistle. ‘And you’re willing to give it to me?’
‘I’ve made more than a couple of million doing this. I don’t need the money. I need the security.’
‘And I’d very much like to kill Rico.’
‘So we both come out on top.’
‘I hope so, José. I hope so.’
The Otokar Cobra was a 25,000-pound armoured vehicle, almost the same size as a tank. Its enormous heavy-duty tyres almost reached King’s chest, and its steel hull would protect them from any small-arms fire the Movers could throw at them. They were developed and manufactured by a Turkish firm. He’d used one to storm a compound manufacturing biological weapons in Kuwait almost a year ago. The operation hadn’t quite gone according to plan.
‘If I use this, it will change my tactics considerably,’ King said. ‘We’ll have to use it as a battering ram.’
‘That’s what I would advise you to do,’ José said. ‘Smash the gate in, find cover somewhere in the shipyard, and work your way through from there. There’s no way you’ll be able to sneak in undetected.’
‘Overwhelming force.’
‘Yes.’
‘That works for me.’
Raul caught up to them and King saw his eyes widen at the sight of the Cobra. ‘We can’t be using that! We’ll draw every Mover in the shipyard to us.’
‘That’s the point,’ King said. ‘More effective than trying to carry out a slow burn. I’d rather this.’
‘I—’
‘You don’t have to come with me, Raul. I never said you had to. I’m doing this mainly for myself. It’s not your responsibility to get wrapped up in it.’
Raul stared at him. ‘You know I can’t do that. What if you die? Then I’ll have to sit back and watch as Rico slaughters my family.’
‘Suit yourself. But it’s on you.’
‘What are we waiting for? We’ve got less than an hour.’
With that, the decision was made. King didn’t prod the man any further. He was clearly desperate, and King had enough experience to know there was no reasoning with desperate men. It would be against Raul’s better judgment to willingly dive into a war, but it seemed that was inevitable. He wanted his family back.
King didn’t dare let him know that in all likelihood they would never find them. He’d seen the shipyard from a distance. His mother and sister could be anywhere amongst the desolate shipwrecks. It was a barren wasteland that would take months to search from top to bottom.
They didn’t have months.
José helped him cart a trolley full of guns to the Cob
ra. Four assault rifles, four sub-machine guns and four grenade launchers, along with a few thousand rounds of ammunition. If they needed more than that, they would never make it out of the shipyard alive. He tugged open the rear door, feeling the weight of the frame. José and Raul got to work hauling the weapons into the back of the Cobra, where there was space for four or five soldiers. King glanced into the interior of the vehicle, noting that the gunner’s perch had no turret attached. From experience, he knew the Cobra usually came equipped with a 12.7mm machine gun with a mounted shield.
‘Where’s the turret?’ he said. ‘That could be useful.’
‘Afraid you’re out of luck,’ José said, hauling the last grenade launcher into the vehicle. ‘That was the one condition of the exchange. The Turks kept the big gun. Needed it for their armed forces, or something along those lines.’
‘Or had their own self-interests in mind.’
‘More than likely,’ José said. ‘But I’m not one to complain. Especially when Rico couldn’t give a shit about the lack of a turret. He just wanted it for intimidation purposes, I assume.’
King nodded. ‘I thought so.’
It meant there was nothing but a circular hole in the roof of the Cobra. It left them awfully exposed.
‘One of the Movers can lob a grenade straight through that when we slow down,’ he said.
‘So keep your foot on the accelerator,’ José said. ‘Throw their aim off.’
‘Right.’
‘Hey, you asked to do this.’
‘And I’m sticking to it.’
Raul slammed the rear door closed. The noise echoed off the aluminium walls. It rang out across the open space. King felt his heart race increase. The sound had a ring of finality to it. They had committed to the task at hand. There was nothing left to wait for. Soon they would be on their way to Rico’s stronghold.
Just like that, he found himself in the exact situation that he’d left Black Force to avoid.
He rested a hand against the hull of the Cobra. Breathed deep. Channelling the inner hum that signalled approaching combat. Nothing masked the feeling of complete terror before throwing yourself into the line of fire. Not much could. He’d experienced the same sensation a hundred times over, but it didn’t seem to grow any easier.
King turned to José and the two shook hands. He knew it would be the last time they’d ever see him again. Whether they died or not, the man would be halfway across the planet by the time the day had drawn to a close.
Sometimes crime pays, he thought to himself.
‘Good luck, my friend,’ José said. ‘You’re not quite right in the head for doing what you’re about to do, but you’re doing me a favour — so I won’t protest.’
‘You’re doing me a favour, too,’ King said. ‘Without this we’d still be scurrying from building to building, scrounging whatever we could. We’d probably be dead.’
‘You’ll be dead in an hour. I think I just hurried the end result along. But that’s not my concern.’
‘You’re right, it’s not. And I’ll try my hardest not to be.’
He popped open the driver’s door of the Cobra and climbed into the seat. It felt like he was sitting in a cockpit. He stared out at the industrial complex ahead through the open warehouse door. A sheet of bulletproof glass gave the view a slight tint. Raul climbed into the passenger’s seat, shaking with adrenalin. It would be uncontrollable until they got there — King knew that much. Raul had lived a hard life, with a sizeable chunk of it spent inside the walls of a brutal third-world prison, but that got nowhere close to making him adept at handling this sort of scenario.
King had seen many so-called tough guys break over the years. It didn’t take much.
Hopefully the man could preserve his sanity during the chaos that inevitably lay ahead.
‘King,’ José said as he reached out and snatched the door handle, a second away from pulling it shut.
King looked across.
‘I’ve been supplying the Movers for a year. They’re all horrible people. Trust me when I tell you Raul and Luis were a once-off. That’s why Rico threw them in jail. Because they’re good people. I’ve seen the Movers rape, torture and kill more innocent people than I can count. Rico especially.’
‘And you helped them.’
José shrugged. ‘It’s a cruel world. But please don’t show mercy. They don’t deserve it.’
King let the request hang in the air for a moment before responding. ‘I never do.’
He swung the Cobra’s door closed, sealing them into a vehicular battering ram. Then he fired it up and touched the accelerator.
The gargantuan vehicle rumbled out of the warehouse.
He turned out of the lot and gunned the engine.
They shot off the mark, roaring towards the shipyard.
Towards war.
CHAPTER 39
The sealed interior of the Cobra created a bubble of nervous energy. King had long ago worked out how to control it. He still felt just as terrified as ever, but he’d learnt ways to suppress it, to keep the fear in check, to concentrate on the task at hand with laser focus.
Raul had learnt none of these things.
He shifted every couple of seconds in his seat, unable to stay still. Every now and then he glanced back at the arsenal of weaponry behind them. Perhaps reassuring himself. Perhaps making himself even more terrified.
Whatever the case, the terror would only continue to escalate until conflict broke out.
‘I don’t think you’re ready for this,’ King said finally, breaking the silence.
‘I am,’ he said. ‘Just struggling to process it.’
‘So am I.’
‘Bullshit. You look completely calm. This is second nature to you.’
‘I’m scared out of my mind. I just know how to hide it.’
‘You enjoy this, don’t you?’
King looked across. ‘Enjoy what? Killing?’
Gunfights and fighting and violence. You thrive on it. I can tell.’
‘I don’t enjoy it,’ King said. ‘But it makes me feel normal.’
‘There’s still time for you to leave.’
‘Yeah, right.’
‘I’m serious.’
‘Every decision I’ve ever made has been final,’ King said. ‘I don’t change my mind. When I told you I would help in the hotel, I’d spent a long period of time weighing everything up. Nothing you say is going to stop me entering that shipyard. Okay?’
‘Okay.’
King gripped the wheel and looked around at the Cobra’s interior. ‘Something’s not right here, Raul.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘How well do you know José?’
‘I told you. Like a brother.’
‘He’s a good man?’
‘I think so. I mean, he’s an arms dealer … but I think he has good intentions.’
‘I don’t know,’ King said. ‘Something’s off.’
‘You keep saying that.’
‘When I have a hunch, I’m not wrong often.’
‘What makes you so sure?’
‘He didn’t hesitate to give us all of this shit. This is millions of dollars worth of equipment. And he just threw it away, and told us he was leaving this life behind. We were there for less than twenty minutes.’
‘That’s what he’s like. He doesn’t spend much time considering his actions. He just does things … and thinks about them later.’
‘You sure? It doesn’t feel right.’
‘I’m sure.’
King shrugged. ‘Whatever. His intentions aren’t our concern any longer. We have all of this. I’ll forget he ever existed.’
‘You don’t like him.’
‘He seems slimy. Like he had ulterior motives.’
‘I won’t bother trying to convince you,’ Raul said. ‘Like you said, it seems you’ve made up your mind. I won’t change your opinion.’
King smiled. ‘You’re catching on.’
He turned the Cobra out of the industrial zone and onto a long, twisting road that descended down to the ocean. Now surrounded by traffic, he kept his gaze fixed firmly ahead and tried to draw the least amount of attention he could. It proved useless, given the fact that he was behind the wheel of an enormous armoured vehicle.
They were both still wanted men.
‘You think the police will catch us on the way there?’ Raul said, seemingly reading his mind.
‘I hope not. If they do, I’m not stopping.’
‘That’ll cause more problems than it solves.’
‘If we get arrested again, they’ll either execute us and bury the bodies or lock us in solitary confinement for the rest of our lives. We had one chance to get out, and we took it. There won’t be another one.’
Raul breathed out. ‘Okay. So between law enforcement and the Movers, I’d say most of Maiquetía’s population wants us dead.’
‘You’re probably right.’
‘Where do I go from here? I mean, if I’m alive in an hour…’
‘Wherever you want,’ King said. ‘I can give you money.’
‘What if my family die…?’ He trailed off.
King didn’t answer that, for he had no magical solution to that question. If they stumbled upon the corpses of Raul’s mother and sister, he feared the man would never recover from such a brutal and unforgiving chain of events. And as the seconds ticked away he found it increasingly likely that said outcome was inevitable.
‘You said you’ve been in the shipyard?’ King said.
‘Yes. A few times. But it was a while ago.’
‘Where is Rico likely to be? I’d like at least a little intel before we do this.’
‘The cruise ship,’ Raul said. ‘The one in the port, resting in the water. Did you see it from our window?’
King recalled the ominous structure looming in an inlet. It had been one of the only distinguishable features in the place from their vantage point in the hotel. He nodded.
