Vice(26)

“I think you are forgetting something,” Fernando says quietly. “Your apology?”

“Oh. Of course.” I can’t remember the last time I apologized to anyone, let alone for something like this. Do I feel bad that I killed that sick f*cker? Nope. Do I feel like I should be scraping and bowing because he’s dead? Abso-f*cking-lutely not. But the situation will spiral out of control if I don’t. I angle my head to the floor, averting my eyes. “I’m sorry, Fernando. Please accept my humble apologies. I should have respected your hospitality, and I let my own anger get the better of me. I promise, it won’t happen again.”

With cold, dead eyes Fernando stares straight through me for a moment. “Your apology is accepted, Mr. Garrett. I’ll be will you shortly. For now, Ocho will show you where to wait for me.”

And just like that, I am dismissed.





CHAPTER SIX





BEND OVER





“One hundred kilos. That is the smallest amount that we deal in, Mr. Garrett. We find this sorts the chaff from the wheat. Only serious buyers come to us, and buying our cocaine in these quantities demonstrates your intent.”

We’re sitting in a poorly lit, barely furnished office much like the one back at the bunker, and I’m beginning to feel like I’m in way over my head. There’s a large, round, black button mounted on the wall behind his head; will I be ditched out of my chair, through a trapdoor, into a tank of shark infested water below, à la James Bond, if he hits the thing?

“In case you were wondering, that is a cost to you of two million American dollars. Do you have that amount with you?” He knows I don’t have two million dollars just sitting in my back pocket. He’s being an *, but I can’t call him out on it. I have to play ball. I smile confidently.

“Carrying that amount of money around with me in a foreign country wouldn’t be very smart now, would it? I have fifty thousand. That’s what I can give you as a show of good faith.”

I don’t want to buy any coke, but if I don’t keep up this pretence, I’m gonna be in serious shit. If handing over every single last dollar I have with me means I buy his trust, even for a couple of days, then it will be worth it, though. Despite my apology, Fernando is obviously still not happy with me. He sits back in his chair, his face falling into shadow, and for the first time he looks sinister and evil enough to be the head of this cartel. “Fifty thousand. Okay. And you will have the rest of the money for me in three days’ time. And your boss will bring it here, yes? You are his right hand man, but I would prefer to forge our business deal with the man in charge.”

“That won’t be a problem.” It will be a problem. It’s gonna be a huge problem. Jamie knows I’m probably going to be using his New York cover, but he has no idea that I’m promising away two million f*cking dollars, or that he is now expected to show up. Nothing to be done about it now, though; the lie will have to hold water for the time being.

“Okay, Mr. Garrett.” Fernando holds out his hand for me to shake. “We have ourselves a deal. But know this. I am still waiting to hear from my friends in America. If they tell me anything about you or your employer that might give me cause for concern, there will be consequences. I will leave that to your imagination.”

He gets up, splaying his fingers out on his desk as he leans forward on it. “Now. My rules. If you go through the blue door, you may not leave that room until I give my express permission. We both know you have discovered this rule already, so there will be no excuses now. Second rule. You may not kill any of my guests without my express permission. Lucky for you, the man you killed, William, owed me a great deal of money and wasn’t planning on paying it to me any time soon. If you had killed one of my wealthier clients who pay on time, I would not have been so lenient.”

“I understand. No more killing people. Promise.”

Fernando shakes his head slowly. “There is only one more rule, Mr. Garrett, and it’s a simple one to follow. I do not allow anybody in this household to interact with my daughter on a romantic, flirtatious or sexual level. She is a brilliant and smart woman, but she is not worldly wise. She does not realize people here would take advantage of her given half the chance. This is why I must insist that you only speak with her if Ocho is present, or some other member of the household staff.”

Damn. No speaking to Natalia without a chaperone? I mean, he’s filled this bizarre mansion out in the middle of the forest with twenty to thirty sexual deviants and criminals. He needs to warn them off his daughter, especially when those motherf*ckers are the kind of guys to take what they want without asking. I get that. But she’s a grown-ass woman. She’s twenty-six or twenty-seven. She should be able to make her own decisions for herself. This is my liberal American brain talking, though. And Natalia has not grown up in a liberal American environment.

“I won’t talk to her without someone present,” I tell him.

“Good. And try not to curse in front of her, Mr. Garrett. The last man who used profanity in front of Natalia was severely punished.”

“Oh?”

“Yes. I cut out his tongue with a blunt knife. Now he can never make that mistake again.”

On the other side of the open office door, Ocho shifts uncomfortably from one foot to the other. So that explains that, then.