The Spirit Survives (25 page)

Bastone handed the man an envelope filled with cash. “Thanks, I’ll take it from here and if I need you again, I’ll call. Give my regards to your family.”
 

Esponsito grabbed the cash, nodded and cranked his car to leave.
 

Bastone got out of the car and watched as the man drove away. He settled back in his car and waited for Lopez to move again.

The boredom of the stakeout was interrupted by his cell phone ringing. “Hello Bastone,” the familiar voice of the Benefactor said. Bastone had known for some time that this man had his voice altered through some sort of device when making calls on the phone. Bastone had never heard the sound of his natural voice.” I’ve got some news for you, which will change our plans. Do you have anything to report before I tell you?”

“Nothing of significance,” Bastone replied, “There has been minor activity here.”

“Well I’ve just been informed that Petrov was killed. His body was found on Lookout Mountain along with another body. That second man’s name was Francis Stephen Harris. Do you know him?”

As usual, Bastone exhibited and expressed no emotion. He thought about lying to the Benefactor but figured thought that the devious man might be testing him. “I know who he was,” Bastone said. “Francis Stephen Harris, that’s the real name of the Fixer. I found that out just today.”

There was a short silence on the other end of the phone. “Thanks for being honest with me,” the Benefactor replied. “It appears that the two bastards killed each other. One other thing, the ex-cop Ben Harris was at the scene. That’s the man who witnessed Sergey’s daughter’s killing. Things are getting too hot to handle. I want you to move forward and take Bo Lopez. Tell Sergey that he confessed to you and told you that he was hired by the Salazar cartel with the blessings of the Flores cartel. Take him to Ivanova, collect your million, and let’s get this war started.”

“I’ll get right on it sir,” Bastone replied. “I’ll make all the arrangements and should be able to have it done by tomorrow.”

There was a click on the other end of the phone. The Benefactor was through talking.

Bastone snapped his phone shut and sat there a few minutes thinking. He opened it and pushed the button for speed dial to Sergey Ivanova.

* * *

On the second ring, an annoyed Sergey grumbled, “What do you want, Bastone?”

Sergey dismounted his lovely southern mistress. “What are you doing?” she panted.
 

“Shut the hell up,” was Sergey’s response as he rolled over to talk to Bastone.

“Listen Sergey, Petrov has been killed, but more importantly, I’ve uncovered without doubt who killed your daughter, and I have the explicit details of the murder.
 

“What happened to Petrov?” Sergey demanded.

“He was shot by a man named the Fixer. I think the drug cartels hired him to silence Petrov about who hired your daughter killed. I have all the details, and I’ll share them with you when I get there with the killer. It’s Bo Lopez, without doubt.

“Bring the son of a bitch to me now,” Sergey snarled. “I want his sorry ass here now!”
 

“Sergey can you send a private jet to the Green Bay executive airport tomorrow night. I’ll bring him to you and give you all the details.”

“I’ll send my private plane. It will be there at 8:00 p.m.” Sergey retorted. “You better have your ass there with Lopez, or you’re a dead man to.”

“I’ll be there,” Bastone replied emotionlessly.

Bastone felt no remorse for the Fixer. The only inconvenience it presented was that he thought the Fixer could lead him to the identity of the Benefactor. He and Macy would just have to find another way.

He opened his cell again and called Macy. “Get Esponsito on the phone, he just left here, and I want him back. My plans have changed and I want you and him here, straight away. And we need a van.”

Chapter 58

Bo Lopez was at the end of his rope. He didn’t trust Harris, especially when he saw the cop cars entering Lookout Mountain. He was tired of babysitting the bitch, Leah, who was getting more and more troublesome. He still needed her to get to Harris, but he was ready to rape her and then kill her for being so difficult. He had still heard nothing reported about Ms. Strawberry Shortcake, but sooner or later she would be discovered, and he wanted to be far away from the Residence Inn when that happened.
 

Additionally, he hadn’t heard from Elesar Fernandez of the Salazar cartel and this silence concerned him. He tried to call the man several times but always got voice mail and no return call. Bo felt as if he was being hung out to dry for some reason. He just needed to talk to Harris and find out what the man knew about Cherokee’s death, which had been reported in the media, and then kill him and the girl and dispose of the bodies. He was very anxious to get back to Chicago and get out of this God-forsaken place.

Initially, he thought that he and Cherokee would just kill the Inavona girl and immediately leave Green Bay. The world had twisted itself into a pretzel since then, and he needed to get out.

His backup plan was simple. When Harris arrived at the parking lot of the Residence Inn, he would call his cell phone, let him speak to Leah and then instruct him to come immediately to room 101. He would find out about Cherokee and then kill the man and the girl. He screwed on his gun silencer as he peered out the window, awaiting his prey’s car. He had transferred Leah to the living area and had tied her to a dining room chair with duct tape over her mouth. He looked out the window and saw the Ben’s rental car enter the lot and park. Bo pulled out Leah’s cell and pushed the speed dial for Ben.

After only one ring Ben answered. “This is Harris. Is Leah okay?”

“Listen asshole, she’s fine and if you follow my instructions, she’ll stay okay,” Bo lied.

“I want to hear her voice now!” Ben demanded.

Bo had anticipated this, so he walked over to Leah and said, “I’m going to take the tape off your mouth. If you scream, I’ll punch you out, understand?” Leah nodded. “I’ve got Ben on the phone now, and I want you to tell him you’re okay and then we can end this thing. Do you agree?” Leah nodded again.
 

Bo ripped the tape from her mouth leaving Leah momentarily breathless. He waited for a moment and then put the phone to her ear. “Talk.”
 

To his amazement Leah shrieked into the phone, “Get away, Ben. He’s crazy and is going to kill us both. Go now, please!”

Bo yanked the phone from her ear and slapped her hard. He put the duct tape back over her mouth as tears streamed down her face.

“Okay Harris, you heard her. Now do exactly what I tell you,” Bo said.

“Just tell me what to do,” Ben said in a calm voice.
 

“I can see you right now,” Bo answered, “keep the cell phone to your ear and walk slowly to room 101. Do it now or she’s dead.”
 

Ben got out of the car and started walking. He knew that 101 was directly across from the suite that he and Leah had been staying in. As he approached the suite, he noticed a man standing in front of the window watching him. He walked to the door and knocked. When the door opened, he was facing a pistol with a silencer screwed on the end. The man holding the gun was the man he had witnessed killing the girl on Lookout Mountain. He held his hands up and walked into the room. Ben looked around and saw Leah tied to a chair with blood on the side of her mouth leaking from under the duct tape. Anger flashed again but he controlled it. “What do you want me to do?”
 

“I need to know if you talked to Cherokee and what he said before he died, and how exactly did he die?”
Bo asked “I need to know now.”

Ben understood that as soon as the man got what he wanted, he would kill both Leah and him. This big guy was certainly a professional and looked mean as hell.

“What do you mean?” Ben asked as he moved closer to the man.

“Don’t play with me shitface, and stay where you are.”

Ben halted and unexpectedly fell to one knee. He placed his hands on his head and started violently shaking. “What in the hell are you doing?” Bo yelled as he walked closer to get a better look. Ben heard the heavy foot steps getting near. He stopped trembling, looked up and suddenly pivoted on his left foot and swept his right leg forward, with all his strength. His foot landed solidly on Bo’s ankle. Ben followed through on the sweep and knocked the big man’s feet from under him. Bo hit the floor with a resounding crash. Ben was instantly on him, kicking his ribs and trying to shatter them.
 

With incredible resilience, Bo rolled to his back and fired his pistol twice. The gun spat the bullets almost silently as the silencer performed its magic and muffled the noise.
 

Blood spurted from Ben’s temple as he crumbled to the floor. Bo gasped for breath, laid the gun on the end table, and got to his feet. Leah was struggling violently in the chair. Bo walked to the sink in the kitchen, scooped water, and splashed it on his face to gather his wits. Suddenly the door slammed open, and he heard a voice say, “Stay exactly where you are, Lopez.” Bo heard the familiar sound of hammers being cocked on two pistols. He raised his hands and turned around.

Chapter 59

Bastone, Macy, and Esponsito stood looking at Bo Lopez with Macy and Bastone pointing their guns at him. There wasn’t a lock manufactured that Macy couldn’t pick, and she had quietly picked the lock of the hotel door. She was pleased that the dead bolt hadn’t been engaged from the inside.

What they saw surprised even the unflappable Bastone. Lopez was holding his ribs with his face as white as a sheet. A dead man lay in the middle of the room with a pool of blood under his head. There was a woman tied to a chair wearing only bra and panties. Her eyes were wild with fear.
 

“Get your ass on the floor now,” Bastone ordered, “Hands behind your neck.”

Bo recognized Bastone and knew that he was La Costa Nostra. He hit the floor without a word, as he knew this man would kill him at the drop of a hat. Macy walked over and cuffed his hands behind his head.
 

“Who are the man and woman?” Macy asked.

“He’s a man I wanted dead and that’s his girlfriend,” Bo replied.

When he completed the last word, Macy took a dishcloth from the sink and stuffed it in his mouth.

“I don’t give a shit who they are,” Bastone retorted “Kill her, Esponsito, and get rid of the bodies. All we want is Lopez. I need for you to stay here and clean up this mess. Macy and I are taking Lopez now, do you understand? It’s worth twenty thousand dollars to you.”

“I’ll handle it.,” Esponsito responded.

Macy took Bastone’s arm and pulled him to the side. “I think you’re leaving a lot of money on the table not taking her with us,” she said. “Sergey is Russian Mafia. They make a lot of money on the sex slave traffic. In Saudi Arabia, there are men who will pay big bucks for a pretty white woman and you’ll also get favor from Sergey. Think about it.”

“Thanks Macy, let’s go with it.” Bastone dragged Bo to his feet, taped his hands behind his back with the duct tape. He also taped his eyes shut. As a precaution he stuffed wads of paper towels in both ears and taped over it. He didn’t want Bo to see or hear anything he said to Macy. “Macy, get a couple of blankets from the bed. We’ll put it around him and get him to the van.” He spoke firmly to Lopez, “I’ll have the gun in your ribs the entire way, so if you feel brave and try anything, I’ll be pleased to kill you.”

Macy got the blankets and gave one to Bastone and put the other one around Leah’s shoulders. She untied Leah’s feet from the chair and taped her eyes shut. Leah attempted to scream but the duct tape reduced it to just a grunt.

Bastone said, “I’ve got a plane waiting at the airport to take us to Chicago to Sergey. We need to get this bastard and the girl there now, and I’ll need for you to fly to Chicago with me. Any problems with that?

“None,” Macy replied, “As long as you pay me well.”

“Let’s get out of here. Esponsito make sure you do a clean job. I don’t want anything to look out of order.”

Macy opened the door and looked outside. “It’s clear, Mario. Let’s go.”

They left the suite with Macy holding Leah’s arm and Bastone guiding Bo.
 

Esponsito proceeded to his car and grabbed two large black garbage bags, a sheet of plastic and duct tape. He re-entered the room, locked the door, and walked to the body. He laid out the plastic sheet on the carpet and reached for the legs of the body to drag it on the plastic. As he grasped the left leg, the right leg shot forward and struck him in the temple. He fell unconscious to the floor.

Chapter 60

My head throbbed as I lay semi-conscious on the floor. I thought I overhead someone saying something about a plane to Chicago and something I didn’t hear clearly about merging. I tried to move, but darkness overwhelmed me again. When I regained consciousness the second time, I sensed my feet being lifted. I looked up and vaguely saw a man grabbing my legs. I abruptly remembered being shot, and instinctively I kicked the man in the head as hard as I could. I heard him fall to the floor. As my vision cleared, I put my hand on the area of my head that was aching and felt the dampness of blood. The bullet must have just grazed my head.