Warriors in Paradise (17 page)

***

It was 5:00 p.m.

The heavy rain gradually turned into a light drizzle, and the sky cleared for the first time in the day. If we were going to fly to Mexico City, the time was now.

Charlie and Caleb brought the maids in and asked them to sit down. They did not tape them. I freed the pilot and asked him if he wanted anything. He asked for a beer. I opened the fridge and got him a Corona. As he was drinking it, I asked him, “Do you think you can fly us to Mexico City now?”

He looked through the window to the sky and said, “Yes, I can, but we will have to leave right now. The bad weather is on the coast, and it can change at a moment’s notice. So we have a window of opportunity of about ten to twenty minutes.”

“Ramon,” I said, “can I trust you to be in charge here?”

“Of course,
joven
,” he said to me.

Charlie, Caleb, and I walked out of the kitchen, and Charlie asked me, “Can you trust him?”

“I think we can. He just shot the bodyguard who put his brother into an early grave. He is now bound to us. Furthermore, we will need his help in Mexico City.”

“What did you find out about Toro?” asked Charlie.

“His greatest loves are power, money, and hurting people. His greatest dislike is to be seen naked,” I said. “What about you? What did you find out?”

“Both maids said the same thing about him not liking to swim with the others or to wear a swimming suit or walk about without a shirt. He also doesn’t like it when people challenge him or question him,” answered Charlie.

“Well, we know now what to do,” I said.

“What is that?” asked Caleb.

I answered, “He suffers from gymnophobia, fear of being naked in public. If his condition is extreme, then by undressing him and ridiculing him, we can cause him to experience anxiety, cloud his judgment, and weaken his resolve. By working on his phobia, we can make him become more vulnerable and more likely to answer our questions.”

“Well, what are we waiting for?” said Caleb. “Let us go and work on his gymno-fucking-phobia!”

Helicoptering to Mexico City

We went back upstairs and seized Toro. We undressed him until he was completely naked and barefoot. He fought us every inch of the way. His only cover was the duct tape over his mouth. I looped a belt around his neck and held the front end ahead of him. Charlie and Caleb grabbed him each above the elbow. We walked him to the kitchen. He tried to resist, but there was nothing he could do. We went into the kitchen, to the astonishment of everybody. Ramon looked at Toro’s nakedness and, unable to help himself, started laughing. The maids also started giggling. Only the pilot kept his composure.

“Captain,” I said to the pilot, “we are ready when you are.”

“Well, let’s go,” he said.

I looked at Ramon and said, “We would like you to come with us to help us in Mexico City. But if you want to stay here, you’re welcome to do so.”

He answered, “I think we have to play this one all the way through. But before I go, there is some unfinished business that the maids and I need to take care of. Could I please borrow the gun?”

I looked at him and after a brief pause, I said, “Fine,” giving him my gun to the disapproving eyes of Charlie and adding firmly, “We will wait for you in the helicopter.”

As we were leaving the house and walking toward heliport, we heard three distinct gunshots.

Soon after, Ramon came to the helicopter and jumped in. He quietly gave me back my gun. Nobody said anything.

***

The pilot took the chopper up and started toward Mexico City. He turned around and told us that we should be arriving in about two hours if the weather window remained open.

I looked at Ramon and told him closely to his ear, “I need Toro alive until he tells us what we need to know. Is that all right with you?”

Ramon look at me and said, “
Joven
, our destinies have been bound together. Yes, I will do what you ask of me.”

“Can you tell me what happened back there?” I asked him.

He responded, “Mr. Toro’s bodyguards have been raping and beating those maids for several years. They would get drunk, go to their rooms, and abuse them. They tried to leave on several occasions only to be brought back and severely beaten. Mr. Toro’s household employees only leave his employment one way: feet first.”

“What about the bodies?” I asked him.

“Those maids are from the Costa Chica. They have seen dead bodies all of their lives. They know how to dispose of them, especially when they are so close to the sea. Nobody will ever find them.”

“What is going to happen to the house?” I asked.

“Nothing will happen to the house; everything will continue as normal. The other two maids and the gardener will return after the passing of the storm. They will continue as if nothing has happened. His family does not know about this house. There is enough money in the house to keep it going for several months. If they run out of money, they can always rent rooms. They will be fine, and nobody will miss Mr. Toro or his bodyguards.

“Actually, after we finish what we have to do in Mexico City, and if I am still alive, I am planning to come back and marry one of the house cleaners. We are having a child together.”

“Ramon, please don’t doubt that you will be coming back,” I said to him.

The noise inside the helicopter was loud. Nobody could hear our conversation, least of all Toro.

I saw him sitting quiet and demure, with his knees closed together and his hands crossed upon his lap. I looked at Caleb and Charlie, and they nodded imperceptibly. We understood what needed to be done.

The Mexican Bull

The three of us got close to Toro. Caleb said, “Hey, brown sugar, are you a woman or a man? Where is your pecker?”

Charlie and I started to laugh loudly, and Caleb pinched one of his tits, saying, “Do you like that, honey?”

All fight and defiance had left Toro. He shut his eyes. White spit formed at the corners of his mouth. He was shivering.

Caleb and Charlie grabbed an arm each and started pulling them away from his body. He opened his eyes and shouted, “No, please, no!”

I told Caleb and Charlie, “Hey, he just said the magic word:
please
.” I turned to Toro and said, “Fine, we’ll stop. But remember that you are now our little bitch to do as we please with. If you answer all of our questions, we will let you dress again. If you do not, we will spread-eagle you wide open and do to you as we please.”

He was looking at me with dread and panic. His flinty little eyes had lost their defiance. I said to him, “Look at me! Nicanor,” I said while smacking him across the face. “Look at me and tell me that you understand!”

He nodded and said while looking at me, “I understand.”

I said, “Here is your first question, and please answer truthfully. Where are the Canadian and the Russian girls?”

He said, “With Mr. Carson in Washington, DC.”

“Good. That’s good. Keep it up like that, and you will be dressed in no time,” I said. “Nicanor, tell us the whole story. Why did you abduct them? What is going to happen to them? How can we get them back?”

He told us what we already knew. He didn’t know what the girls were needed for. He had always assumed some powerful people in the States would use them as sex objects in some extreme sex games.

He said, “Mr. Carson has never told me, and I have never asked. Whatever he does to them, it is not my business. He asked me to get him five young, pretty tourists, non-American and non-Mexican. And I have done that every year for the past seven years as a favor.

“I get most of my income from the sale of drugs to the US East Coast through Mr. Carson. This includes marijuana and cocaine, plus around two hundred new designer drugs. Mr. Carson even supplies me with the formulas for the new-age drugs. I am the exclusive supplier of drugs to the East Coast. Nina Scott and Aaron Carson provide me protection from both the American and the Mexican authorities. This allows me to be a bigger supplier than all of the other Mexican drug lords that you see being paraded in front of the press or named on the most-wanted lists. I launder my drug income by extending my business interests into several legitimate companies—real estate, restaurants, nightclubs, and whorehouses in Mexico and elsewhere in Latin America. I am one of the richest men in Latin America, and nobody knows about me. Therefore, if Carson asks me to kidnap five beautiful young tourists every year, I do it happily. No questions asked.”

***

“Why did you want us dead?” I asked.

He responded, “Because you had seen the two Americans, Scott and Carson. It is essential that they remain anonymous. They cannot be linked to me or to the kidnapped tourists. Their good names and reputation are of paramount importance to the ongoing success of our operations.

“You were a calculated risk. Because of the storm, we couldn’t fulfill our annual quota of five tourists. We only had the three Russians. They were thus willing to run the risk and invite you to the party, where you three hombres would be made to disappear and be disposed of in a manner that would make the media believe that you had been partying and drinking a little too hard and unfortunately had accidentally drowned. Nobody would have questioned that you were victims of the storm Manuel.”

“Who are really the two Americans? What are their real names? And how can we find them?” I asked.

He responded, “Nina Scott is the trade attaché of the American embassy in Mexico City. Her real name is Nancy Smith. She is a spook and works for the CIA. Aaron Carson works in the US government in Washington, DC. I don’t know his real name.”

“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.”