White Cargo (31 page)

C
AT THOUGHT HE HAD NEVER SEEN SUCH A LOOK.
D
ELL STOOD
, his face contorted into a hatred of which Cat would never have thought him capable. Even before Dell moved, Cat knew it was over. Within seconds Prince would know who he was and why he was there. There would be no way to get to Jinx. His and Meg's only hope would be to run for the jungle. Cat didn't think they could even make the door.

A man standing next to Dell put a hand on his shoulder, obviously wondering what was wrong. Dell shook off the hand, turned, and started across the room toward where Prince stood. Cat took Meg's arm and began to move her toward the front door of the house.

“Keep moving, and listen to me,” he said, steering her through the crowd. “Someone here knows me. We've got to run for it. As soon as we make the door, run for the airstrip, and don't slow down for anything. Go straight across into the jungle, and stay with me. It's the only chance we have.” He wished he were armed; he wished he had a map, food and water; he wished he had as much as a pocket knife; he wished he had a five-minute head start. He had none of these things.

Cat glanced back toward Dell and stopped. Dell was standing stock still in the middle of the room, looking toward Prince's group, perhaps fifteen feet away from where he stood. Cat could not see his face, but he knew that Dell had seen Jinx, and for the first time. He could not have known his sister was here. Cat squeezed Meg's hand. “Wait near the door. If a commotion breaks out, run for it.” He left her and started toward Dell, his eyes darting from him to Jinx and back. She had not yet seen him.

He picked his way through the crowd as quickly as he could without exciting attention, excusing himself as he pushed past people, fixing a smile on his face to hide his fear. Jinx seemed to be staring past Prince into the middle distance. Please, honey, don't see Dell, don't see me, he prayed to her.

He reached Dell and took his arm, turning him away from Jinx. “Don't say anything, just smile, and come with me.”

“What . . .” Dell began.

“Be quiet, and smile.” Cat began steering him through the crowd toward some French doors at the rear of the room. “Just keep moving, and don't say anything,” he said again. Cat got the door open and pushed Dell ahead of him. They were in a courtyard with a fountain, surrounded on all four sides by the house.

“She's dead,” Dell said. “Isn't she dead?”

“No, she's not dead. It's Jinx.” Cat led him to the fountain and sat him down on the edge.

“What's happening?” Dell asked in a small, frightened voice. “Why are you here? Why is Jinx here?”

“Listen to me,” Cat said. “Jinx didn't die on the boat; it was another girl. She was taken off the boat while I was unconscious. I didn't find out until a few weeks ago. I've
been looking for her ever since. I didn't see her until about a minute before you did.” He stopped and waited for a reaction.

There were tears on Dell's face, and he was taking deep breaths.

“Just take it easy and relax,” Cat said. “Just get your breath.”

“I don't understand any of this,” Dell said. “I break my ass to get a million bucks together, and I get down here to this unbelievable fucking place, and I find my dead sister and you, for Christ's sake!” He turned and looked at Cat for the first time. “Where's Mom?”

“She died on the boat,” Cat said. “There was no mistake about that.” He looked at Dell closely. The boy seemed to be rational, now. “I'm going to get Jinx out of here, and it's important that you don't do anything to screw it up.”

“Screw it up?” Dell almost shouted.
“You're
the one who's screwing it up! I'm not going to let you screw it up. I've paid a million dollars and only two hundred thousand was mine, and I'm going to get what I came for. I can't go back to Miami without it. They'll cut me into tiny pieces.”

“That's not important anymore,” Cat said. “All that's important is getting Jinx out of here.”

“Are you out of your fucking mind?” Dell asked. “Do you know where the fuck you are? You're in the middle of the jungle, and the only way out of here is by the helicopter that brought you in here!”

“You can't turn me in to Prince,” Cat said.

“Who?”

“The man with the ponytail.”

“The Anaconda? Sure, I can turn you in to him. I
would have a minute ago, but when I saw Jinx I got confused. What is she doing with the Anaconda?”

“His name is Prince. He kidnapped her, or had her kidnapped, or bought her, or something—I'm not sure. All I know is that she's here against her will.”

“No, no, that can't be; she's standing in there talking to people like she owned the place. She's gotta be here because she wants to be. She'd be screaming her head off, otherwise.”

“Screaming? She's in the middle of the jungle with a bunch of drug dealers. What's she supposed to do, call the police?”

“I don't understand how you could have known she was here.”

“She was being held at a hotel in Cartagena, and she got to a telephone and called me. I got some help, and I finally tracked her down.”

Dell stood up and started pacing back and forth by the fountain. “And I'm supposed to believe all that? I think you're here because
I'm
here. You found out I got this deal together, and you're trying to fuck me again.”

“Dell, I promise you I hadn't the slightest idea you were here until I saw you walk into the room. I don't care what you're doing here, and I'm not trying to screw it up for you, I just want to get Jinx out of here, and to do that, I need your help.”

Dell whirled on him. “You bastard, you've got a lot of balls asking for my help.”

“It's Jinx who needs your help. Do you hate her, too?”

“Of course not!”

“Then just do this—stay out of my way, and keep your mouth shut. Can you do that much, at least?”

“What are you going to do?”

“I don't know, and I need time to figure it out. Prince—the Anaconda—thinks I'm here for the same reason you are. I had to come up with a million bucks, too.” Cat took a deep breath. “Look, I've got to trust you with something. Can I do that?”

“Probably not.”

“You're in almost as much danger as Jinx is.”

“Yeah, how? It feels pretty safe to me around here.”

“It's not. This place is going to be raided by the Colombian army shortly.”

“Bullshit! You expect me to believe that?”

“You've got to believe it. I've been in on the planning. They're going to hit this place with everything they've got—helicopters, paratroopers, heavy weapons—the works. They're going to come in here and turn this place into a war zone.”

“How can they even know where it is?” Dell demanded. “We're completely lost out here.”

“They already know exactly where it is,” Cat lied. “There was an informer. They're grouping their forces less than two hundred miles from here, in a place just across the Brazilian border, and when they hit, they're going to shoot at anything that moves.”

“I don't believe you. How can I believe you?”

“You don't have to take my word for all this. Think about what you already know to be true. One of Prince's right-hand men murdered your mother and kidnapped your sister. God only knows what they've been doing to her. Your sister's life depends on what you do next. If that's not important enough for you,
your
life depends on it.”

Dell walked back and forth a few times without speaking. Then he turned to Cat. “What is it you want me to do?” he asked, warily.

“First, stay away from Jinx. Don't let her see you. We can't surprise her while she's in the middle of this crowd. If she does spot you, tell her to be quiet and stay away from her. I'll find a way to get word to her that we're here. There's a woman named Meg with me. She's helping.”

“This is crazy,” Dell said, shaking his head.

“I know it's crazy, but you're stuck with it—all of us are stuck with it. What I've got to do is to get Jinx away from these people and hide her until the raid is over. We'll probably have to take to the jungle until the shooting stops, and I'd like you to come with us. Your chances are not very good here.”

Dell was standing still, glaring at him. “What I'm going to do is to go back in there and tell the Anaconda about this raid. He'll know what to do about it.”

“What can he do?” Cat demanded. “As far as I can tell, everybody at this meeting was brought here in one six-passenger helicopter—there wasn't another one at the Leticia Airport. You tell the Anaconda about this, you know what he'll do? He'll climb aboard that chopper and get out of here, and the hell with anybody else. It'll be the Colombian troops or the jungle—take your pick.”

Dell laughed. “You really think he'd just walk away from this place and leave it to be destroyed? Can't you see how much money and work have gone into it?”

“Dell, this place represents only a fraction of the man's wealth. He's got an office building and a house in Cali that are worth more than this, and a network of businesses all over this country and God knows where else, and he didn't get them by being nice to people. He'll fly out of here and never look back.”

“Fuck you,” Dell said. He turned and strode back toward the French doors.

Cat moved to go after him, but he was already opening the door. By the time Cat reached the door, Dell was standing in the middle of the large hall, alone. Someone had opened a pair of large doors, and the crowd had moved into another room. Dell followed them, and Cat followed Dell. He had to try and talk to him again before he got to prince.

But Dell had stopped again, distracted by something. Cat joined him at the edge of the group and followed his gaze. At the center of the room were two large, round tables. One of them was piled high with an enormous stack of money, bundles of one-hundred-dollar bills. The other was piled with an equally high stack of clear plastic bags, each filled with a white powder. Cat glanced at Dell. Dell seemed stunned.

There was a tug at Cat's sleeve, and Meg said, “What's happening? Are we all right?”

“I don't know,” Cat replied, keeping his eyes on Dell. “We're—”

“Gentlemen!” The voice came from the other end of the room. “Gentlemen, may I have your attention!”

Cat followed the voice and came to Vargas.

“Gentlemen, it is now my pleasure to introduce you to the man who has brought you here, who has made all of this”—he spread his hands to indicate the money and the cocaine—“possible. Gentlemen—and ladies—the Anaconda!”

There was a round of enthusiastic applause, and Prince stepped between the tables. “Good evening, gentlemen,” he said, smiling. He waved a hand at the table of money. “Here we have the fruits of your efforts,” he said. “Fifty million dollars.” Then he waved another hand at the table of cocaine. “And here we have the fruits of mine. Fifty
million dollars' worth of the finest cocaine. We have come together here to combine our efforts, to our mutual profit.”

It was the first time Cat had heard Prince speak, and he was impressed. His voice was rich and pleasant, his manner confident. He might have been the chairman of some Fortune 500 company addressing his sales force. In fact, Cat thought, he probably is.

Prince continued. “This merchandise is only a tiny fraction of what I will produce here, and this money is an even smaller fraction of what you and I, together, will generate. A few hundred yards from this spot, back in the jungle, is the largest and most modern cocaine factory ever built, nearing completion. Next week we will abandon the crude and cumbersome methods which produced the product you see before you, and we will move into a new era of production. Within a month, after we have gotten the bugs out of the system, we will have increased our output by a factor of eight, and that is why you are here.

“You gentlemen, most of you chosen carefully for your success in legitimate business, will form the basis of a new distribution and sales system that will, in very short order, cover the world. We will, of course, supply you with the finest, purest product available, but we will do much more than that. During the course of your week's stay here, my people and I will be instructing you in our proven methods—management; the hiring of salespeople; the security of your network; the buying of key law-enforcement officials; your own insulation from unlawful activity, and—when necessary—the protection and defense of your operations.

“We have a busy week planned for you, but half of each day and all of each evening will be set aside for
leisure activities. We can offer you everything a good resort hotel can—and, perhaps, a bit more. There is a large library of books and videocassettes available; there are swimming and tennis; there is a small casino, and there is quite a good discotheque. There will also be female companionship, although I must apologize for the short supply. Our facilities here are in full use, and we could not import extra ladies for this occasion.” He smiled. “But our ladies are
very
willing, and you may be sure that none of you will have to go the whole week without company.”

Cat's insides twitched. The young women he had seen were here to entertain the visiting firemen, and Jinx was among them.

“Finally,” Prince said, “before we go in to dinner, let me mention one or two rules we have here. You may have the run of the place, explore all you like, except for the factory and the jungle. You will see the factory on guided tours, but we do not wish the work disturbed by unscheduled visits. Do not go into the jungle, for you are unlikely to return. It is denser than you can imagine, and it is all too easy to lose your bearings and head away from our camp when you believe you are heading toward it. And there are, of course, beasts which enjoy human flesh. I must ask you, also, to be in your quarters by midnight and not to venture out until daylight. We double the guard here at night, and my people are instructed to shoot first and ask questions later.