Luis pulled out a small notebook and a cell phone. “You give me the names and details and I’ll have your son back in thirty minutes!”
“I need to see James. Once he’s here, you’ll get what you want,” replied Sean with some force.
“Maybe in your world but not in mine. Details, then boy!” countered Luis making it clear there was no room for discussion.
Sean looked at Katie as he tried desperately to think of a way to stall Luis. The look of hope in her face just added to his dismay. He was royally screwed. Offering the leads had seemed the right thing to do at the time, not so much any more.
“Well!” prompted Luis, a slight irritation had crept back into his voice after his initial elation at the prospect of getting what his uncle so desperately wanted.
Sean looked back at Luis, desperately trying to think of something that would allow him to stall just a little longer.
“What the fuck?!” Luis jumped from his seat and rushed towards the TV screen that was mounted on the central wall of the living room and turned up the volume.
“…It’s like a war zone here!” shouted the reporter, gunfire and explosions drowned out the reporter’s words.
The picture jumped back to the newsroom.
“If you have just joined us, the war zone pictures you have just witnessed are not from Iraq or Afghanistan, they are in fact from just across the border, in Nuevo Laredo. Running battles in the streets have left scores dead and hundreds wounded as Los Zetas and the Gulf cartels battle for control. Concern continues to rise as the violence edges ever closer to the US border and Laredo…”
“Shit!” exclaimed Luis. “What the hell has he done?!”
It seemed Sean’s prayers had been answered. He had his reason to stall.
“Obviously, we will need to work something out. With the border closed, you can’t get our son back to us and I am not giving you anything before I get him back!” said Sean, taking advantage of the situation and playing hardball.
Luis ignored Sean as he watched the events unfold on the screen. His uncle had obviously decided to create so much devastation that nobody in their right mind would visit Nuevo Laredo. Luis had to hand it to him, he had set out to stop the meeting and that was in all likelihood exactly what his plan had achieved but at what cost?
“I need those names and details,” Luis finally said as the news moved on to another topic.
“Not without getting my son!” demanded Sean.
“Shoot her!” said Luis angrily, pointing to one of his men. Fortunately he had left his pistol on the sofa and was spared the embarrassment of being unable to pull the trigger himself.
Sean jumped from his seat and blocked the gunman’s view of the terrified Katie.
“I promise you’ll get nothing if you do that!”
As the other gunman positioned himself to take the shot Luis raised his hand to stop him. “Enough.” The red mist that had descended had receded and rational thought had returned. “Just give me the details and everybody will walk out of here alive and I promise you will get your son back.”
Katie’s tearful eyes pleaded with Sean to give the men what they wanted.
Sean wished he could. He was at an impasse. There was nothing he could do other than lie and he had a distinct feeling that was going to achieve the young boy’s death much quicker than the truth. Sean considered those thoughts as they went through his mind. The truth.
“I need to speak to you in private!” he said with some sincerity to Luis.
Luis considered the request and looked at the two bodies of his men that littered the house thanks to Sean.
Sean could see the indecision on Luis’ face and the thought of being left alone with a very experienced killer was not an inviting one.
“I promise, I will not try anything stupid, you have my wife and son at gun point!”
“My men can hear whatever you have to say.”
“You don’t know what I have to say and I can assure you your uncle would not thank them for knowing what I am going to tell you.” Sean could see the use of his uncle was working. For good measure, he added. “In fact, I’d be surprised if he let them live.” Just to ensure neither of Luis’ men tried to talk him out of a one to one with Sean.
It had worked. He could see both gunmen motioning for Luis to go with Sean. They would cover Katie while Sean and Luis talked.
“OK but you try anything and you all die,” promised Luis, retrieving his desert eagle from the sofa and pointing it at Sean and motioned him towards the hallway.
“I won’t be long,” offered Sean to Katie as he rose from the sofa.
Her eyes spoke volumes, pleading, that, whatever happened, she wanted her boy back home safe.
Sean squeezed her shoulder as he followed Luis’ instructions and walked into the hallway. Luis followed a few steps behind, the desert eagle remaining firmly aimed at the back of Sean’s head.
Sean turned and entered the kitchen.
“That’s far enough, take a seat at the table over there,” instructed Luis, stopping Sean short of the kitchen cabinets and drawers.
Sean pulled out a chair and sat down. The table, he noted, was one massive chunk of oak. Very nice, he thought, running his fingers across the perfectly smooth surface and definitely not cheap.
Luis took a seat on the other side, well out of Sean’s reach. The gun although resting on the table, was still aimed at Sean and Luis’ finger was firmly fixed to the trigger.
“Well?” asked Luis.
Sean continued to rub the table’s surface; it really was remarkable how smooth it was. One piece, that could, he calculated, easily seat twelve and it was at least 5 inches thick.
“Seriously,” asked Sean. “How much would one of these run you, do you think?”
Luis looked at him with some confusion. “What?”
“This table, how much?”
“I don’t know, it’s your table, you tell me!” replied Luis, a little off-guard.
“You see, that’s just it, it’s not mine!”
“I thought you were Sean Fox?”
“Oh, I am, just not the one you think I am.”
Luis lifted the desert eagle and aimed it more precisely. “You said you had the leads.”
“I said I would give you them!”
“So do you have them?”
“I can get them.”
Luis stood up. “What the fuck do you mean you can get them?”
“Just that. I can get them.”
“So you don’t have them?” Luis cocked the pistol and pointed it at Sean’s head.
“Not at this moment but I will have them very soon,” replied Sean quickly. He could see Luis was beginning to lose it.
“How soon?” Luis’ arm began to shake under the weight of the pistol. He was going to have to use it or bring it down very soon.
“Please sit and I’ll explain everything!” pleaded Sean holding his hands in surrender. He had noticed Luis’ shaking arm and figured he had to give him a reason to put the gun down before he used it.
“No more bullshit!” exclaimed Luis, forcefully retaking his seat and laying the gun on the tabletop.
Sean winced as the gun clattered into the solid oak surface and left a noticeable dent. Jesus you’d think it was mine, he thought.
“Where to start,” thought Sean aloud. He had wondered what he would tell Luis and then decided, what the hell, tell him the truth which is exactly what he did up to and including awaiting a phone call from the head of the CIA’s special operations division to tell him who the leads were.
Luis fidgeted more and more as the story was laid out before him and when Sean finished talking, Luis sat speechless. His mind was working overtime trying to compute how best to use the information he had just received and more importantly how his uncle would react.
“So where do we go now?” asked Sean, prompting Luis for a response.
Luis shook his head, he needed more time. His uncle would not react well. The man he thought he had killed was the man in front of Luis now but he had never worked for a drug dealer. The man who worked for the drug dealer was just pretending to be the man sitting in front of him now. Whatever the case, the first thing his uncle would want to do would be to kill the man, with or without the leads. However, they needed the leads more than his uncle would ever know. Without the East coast distribution, they’d be out of cash in a matter of months and out of power about two seconds after that. There was only one solution.
“You want your son…” started Luis.
“He’s not my son!” interrupted Sean with some frustration.
“You know what I mean, you want her son and I want my leads.”
“OK?” Sean began to see some light. The boy was smart, he had to give him that.
“That leaves us two problems, my uncle and the Gulf Cartel. My uncle I can deal with, the Gulf Cartel is a bigger problem.”
Sean looked quizzical enough for Luis to explain further. “ The little war playing out in Nuevo Laredo is to stop a meeting scheduled between the East coast distributors and the Gulf Cartel. If that meeting goes ahead, they’ll steal our business and your…” He corrected himself. “Her son, will be of no use to my uncle and he will be killed.”
“So we need to stop that meeting and get one for you guys!” offered Sean.
“Exactly. Can you do that?”
Sean was now in a place where he was offering to assist a drug cartel to make a deal to gain the distribution rights for the American East coast, all to save a boy’s life who up until a few hours ago, he never knew existed and had in fact never met.
“Yes,” he responded with some conviction, surprising even himself.
“Excellent. Although there is one other problem,” Luis continued awkwardly.
Sean nodded for him to go on.
“My uncle. He cannot know you’re alive. If he did, he would have to kill you, leads or not!”
“I understand,” replied Sean, not understanding at all. His uncle was obviously a fucking psycho and seriously unstable.
Luis nodded towards the living room. Sean looked at him and wondered what was wrong.
“Are you OK?” he asked, as Luis continued to nod towards the living room.
“The men!” he whispered.
Sean looked at him with some confusion. “The men?” he shrugged.
Luis leant forward conspiratorially. “They are my uncle’s men,” he said, smiling and pushing the Desert Eagle towards him.
Sean suddenly realized what Luis was asking of him. “Shit, I can’t just walk in and kill them!”
“You already killed two of my men!”
“Your uncle’s men,” corrected Sean “And they were trying to kill me! I don’t do cold blooded murder!”
Luis smiled. “It won’t be cold blooded!”
Sean grabbed the gun and ran.
“Shoot her!” shouted Luis.