Forever solo, p.10
FOREVER SOLO, page 10
Christos chuckled and said “you shouldn’t speak English to me, wetback. You sound like you were raised in a Mexican whorehouse.”
Santo stared at him for a long moment before saying “manos arriba.”
Christos put his hands in the air and Santo carefully patted him down.
When he straightened back up, a voice from across the room asked “is he carrying a gun or any electronic devices?”
When Santo shook his head, the voice said “good. He may now enter this fine establishment.”
The fine establishment had a scarred wooden floor that had a dozen wooden tables and chairs scattered about and a short wooden bar with 4 stools. There was a small stage next to the bar for live music. The place was now empty, but Christos knew after the sun had set it would be packed full of drug dealers and prostitutes.
The voice from across the room came from Hector Sanchez who was seated at a table near the bar with a man named Miguel. Christos knew Miguel to be 5’5 or 5’6 and nearly 200 pounds of mostly fat. He also knew Miguel to be a vicious killer who liked to slice men and women, especially women, to pieces. Miguel was dressed in black shorts which came down to his calves and a large white tee shirt which fit him like a tent. Hector Sanchez was a Mexican-American born on the US side of the border. He was in his early thirties, medium height and build with a shaved head. He was wearing blue jeans and a white tank top tee shirt so all his gang tattoos that covered his arms and neck were visible.
Christos walked over to the table with Santo following him and said to Miguel “hola, El Gordo.”
Miguel’s face got red and Hector busted out laughing and said “you tell Santo he was raised in a whorehouse and call Miguel a fat boy. You really are loco, Apollyon. Maybe you are tired of living, no?”
Christos sat down and picked up a pack of cigarettes from the table. He lit one and put the match in the ashtray then shook his head as he blew smoke towards the ceiling saying “one of the great joys of life is making fun of the people who work for you, Hector.”
“You think the people who work for me won’t end your life?”
Christos shook his head and said “no.”
“Why not?”
Christos took a drag off the cigarette before saying “two reasons. Number one is we’re doing business which involves a great deal of money and number two is that if I don’t walk out of this bar, Jimmy the Angel will kill all of you.”
Hector stared at him for a long moment before he smiled and said “your right, business comes first and then maybe someday we cut the skin off your body and roast you over an open fire.”
“Excellent. Let’s drink a toast to that.”
Christos looked up at Santo and said “go fetch us some beers, Pedro.”
When Santo didn’t move, Christos gestured towards the bar and said “hop, hop, quick like a bunny.”
Both of Santo’s hands clenched into fists, but relaxed when Hector said “go get us some beers, Santo.”
Hector then asked “how’s business been lately.”
“Good.”
“So, your business associates are satisfied with the product I have been supplying to you?”
Apollyon chuckled as he smoked his cigarette then said “you could say they’re so happy with it they’re willing to kill each other to get exclusive rights to the product.”
Santo came back to the table with three bottles of beer. He set a bottle of Pacifico in front of Hector and Miguel then set a bottle of Budweiser in front of Christos.
Hector chuckled as he raised his bottle and said “a bottle of Bud for the gringo.”
Christos raised his bottle and took a drink before saying “let’s talk business, El Jefe.”
Hector took a drink from his bottle and said “you’re right to call me the boss, Apollyon. You should never forget it.”
Christos took a final drag off his cigarette and crushed it out in the ashtray before saying “I’ve never thought of you as anything else, Hector. Your product is some of the best quality I’ve ever seen and I’ve made a great deal of money selling it to my business associates. Now I need to know if you’re willing to supply me with the other merchandise I need.”
Hector drank some beer and studied Apollyon for a few moments before saying “I’m not sure I trust you that much.”
Christos nodded his understanding then said “I appreciate being cautious, but we have been doing business for six months. Am I supposed to marry your sister?”
Hector laughed and said “you can’t marry my sister, but you can marry C.C. if you like.”
“Are you sure? Didn’t you send her to spy on me?”
Hector stopped laughing and said “I did send her to spy on you. Do you have a problem with that, gringo?”
Christos shook his head and said “I have nothing to hide from you.”
“Good.”
“So, what about the merchandise? Do we have a deal?”
“It is meant for south of the border, not north of the border.”
“Can you get a better price than I’m willing to pay south of the border?”
Hector ignored the question and asked “what do you intend to do with the merchandise?”
“Sell it.”
“Are you trying to start a war?”
Apollyon gave him an evil smile and said “yes.”
“And which side will you sell to?”
Christos chuckled and said “I sell to all sides.”
“You enjoy death and destruction?”
Apollyon nodded and said “it’s the reason I’m on this earth.”
Hector slapped the table hard startling Santo and Miguel then said “I like you very much, gringo! We have a deal.”
“When and where?”
“You know the Home Depot on South Pecos Road in Las Vegas?”
“Sure.”
“Tuesday at 9:00am in the parking lot. When you see me, Miguel and Santo loading building supplies into a moving van, you and Jimmy the Angel will get in the back to inspect the merchandise while we count the money. If both sides are satisfied, you drive away in the van.”
Christos was silent for a moment before saying “that’s pure genius. Nobody will look twice at some Mexicans loading a moving van in the Home Depot parking lot.”
Hector nodded in agreement and said “it’s why I’m El Jefe.”
Apollyon stood up and said “I’ll see you Tuesday.”
Apollyon started for the door but paused when Hector said “I’m taking C.C. back after this deal. I need her for other things.”
“Whatever you say, boss.”
Chapter 18
“What do you think, Apollyon?”
Christos drummed his fingers on the steering wheel of the black Ford F150 as he looked around the parking lot at the Home Depot located on South Pecos Road in Las Vegas. The lot was full of cars and work trucks and there was a steady stream of people pushing shopping carts in and out of the automatic sliding doors of the store. The Ford F150 was parked about 50 yards away from a 24-foot moving van that had to belong to Sanchez and his men.
He glanced at Jimmy the Angel and said “I think it’s about ten minutes to game time, partner.”
James Angelos was dressed in blue jeans, grey tee shirt and scuffed work boots. He had a painter’s hat on and his clothes were spotted with old paint stains. He would blend perfectly into the crowd of people in and around the Home Depot. Christos was dressed in blue jeans with a blue short-sleeve Dickey work shirt.
Jimmy gestured to the large canvas tool bag on the seat between them and asked “what do you think the odds are that Sanchez and his men will just kill us for the money?”
Christos considered it for a few moments before smiling and said “about 50/50.”
Jimmy muttered “awesome.”
“The game hasn’t started yet, Jimmy. It’s not too late to back out. We can drive away from here right now.”
Jimmy grinned and said “big time players make big time plays. Besides, I got nothing better to do today.”
“Good man.”
About 5 minutes later, Jimmy said “here they come.”
Hector, Santo and Miguel came out of the Home Depot pushing a shopping cart full of boxes and headed towards the moving van.
Christos opened the door and as he got out of the truck said “take it slow and easy, Jimmy.”
Jimmy grabbed the canvas tool bag and got out of the truck then he and Christos began walking slowly towards the moving van. Sanchez and his men reached the van first and opened the double doors on the back then began unloading the shopping cart. When Christos and Jimmy reached the van, Christos got in the back first and Jimmy handed up the tool bag. Jimmy then helped load the boxes into the van. Once everything was loaded, Jimmy, Hector and Santo got into the back of the van with Christos while Miguel closed the double doors and stayed outside to stand watch.
Hector switched on a battery powered lantern which filled the van with bright light and said “I’m glad you gringos decided to show up.”
Christos looked at the fifty rifle cases and twenty-five ammo boxes stacked up against the wall just behind the cab of the van and said “we wouldn’t miss this for the world.”
Jimmy the Angel pulled down one of the rifle cases and opened it to reveal a Colt M4 carbine mounted with a M203 grenade launcher. He pulled the rifle out of the case and inspected it saying “this baby fires semi-automatic, three round burst and full auto. If that doesn’t kill what you want dead, you can fire a grenade.”
Christos opened one of the wooden ammo boxes and pulled out a grenade that had an olive drab aluminum skirt with a steel cup attached, white markings and a gold head. He hefted the grenade and said with a smile on his face “this is the M406 High-Explosive Dual-Purpose Round. The HEDP penetrates at least 2 inches when fired at steel armor at 150 meters or less and arms between 14 and 27 meters. It causes causalities within a 130 meters radius and has a kill radius of 5 meters. It’s a real crowd pleaser.”
Hector nodded his head saying “you have 50 brand new rifles and 25 boxes of grenades. Each box holds 24, so you have a total of 600 grenades.”
He then said “these are military grade weapons you can’t get anywhere else so the price is very high.”
Christos gestured to the canvas bag and said “$250,000 for the rifles and $50,000 for the grenades.”
Santo put a bill counter down on the floor of the van next to the bag and Hector said “you and Jimmy can inspect the weapons while we count the money.”
It took nearly an hour to inspect all the weapons and ammo while Hector put all the bills through the counter. He and Santo banded the bills in $5,000 stacks and stuffed them back in the canvas bag.
Hector looked to Christos and asked “are we good?”
Christos nodded and said “yeah, we’re good.”
Hector pulled a set of keys from his front pants pocket and tossed them to Christos saying “give us ten minutes to get clear with the money then you and Jimmy can drive away in the van.”
Christos put the keys in his pocket and said “a pleasure doing business with you, Hector.”
Hector then banged on the van doors and waited for Miguel to open them. When the doors swung open, there were ten federal agents dressed in tactical gear pointing automatic weapons at them.
The lead federal agent lowered his weapon to the high-ready position and shouted “come out of the van with your hands up! One false move and we’ll use deadly force!”
Hector, Santo, Jimmy and Christos put their hands up then one by one they carefully got out of the van. Once they were on the ground, they could see there had to be at least fifty more agents surrounding the van. They were cuffed behind their backs then roughly pushed against the side of the van to be searched.
One of the agents grabbed Christos by the hair and pulled his head back saying “I’ve been waiting a long time for this day, dirtbag.”
When he let go of his hair, Christos headbutted the agent across the bridge of his nose knocking him to the ground. Christos raised his foot to stomp on his face but was knocked to the ground by two agents who began pounding on him with their fists. Christos had his hands cuffed behind his back and couldn’t fight back so he brought his knees up and tucked his chin against his chest trying to protect himself. The two agents kept hitting him until Jimmy the Angel rammed his body into them like a charging rhino. The two agents were knocked clear of Christos, but ten more took their place ready to continue the beat down until the agent in charge shouted for them to stop.
When the agents backed away, Christos rolled over on his back and looked at Jimmy who was face down on the pavement and said “thanks, buddy.”
Jimmy lifted his head and looked at him saying “maybe we should save this fight for another time. I think we’re a little outnumbered.”
Christos chuckled saying “I bet General Custer said the same thing at the battle of Little Big Horn.”
The agent in charge stood over them and asked “are you two morons done or would you like to fight the rest of my agents?”
Christos got himself in a sitting position and spit out some blood before saying “if you care to take the cuffs off, I wouldn’t mind going a few rounds with you, tough guy.”
“You want assault on a federal officer added to your list of charges?”
Christos shrugged and said “doesn’t make a difference to me considering I’m looking at about a million years for the guns and explosives.”
“Is that a confession?”
Jimmy worked himself into a sitting position and said “you tricked us into a confession, you clever bastard.”
Christos laughed and said “he’s too smart for us, Jimmy. We better hire a lawyer.”
The agent sighed as he looked to his men and said “put these two comedians in the back of the prisoner van while we process the scene.”
As they were being led away, Jimmy blew the agent a kiss and said “I’ll miss you, big boy.”
About ten minutes later, Christos and Jimmy were sitting on the wooden bench on the right side of the prisoner van when the back doors opened. Two agents helped Hector Sanchez inside then closed and locked the doors.
Hector had a seat on the bench across from Christos and Jimmy then said “you two gringos sold me out.”
Christos shook his head and said “it wasn’t us.”
Hector studied Christos’ bloody face for a moment before asking “you think it was C.C.?”
Christos shrugged and said “she didn’t know anything about this deal unless you told her.”
“I didn’t tell her anything.”
Jimmy the Angel said “I’d break your neck if my hands weren’t cuffed behind my back.”
Hector looked at him in surprise and asked “why?”
“Where are Miguel and Santo?”
“What?”
“When the van doors opened, we were surrounded by federal agents. Where the hell was Miguel?”
When Hector didn’t respond, Christos asked “why isn’t Santo in the van with us?”
Hector was silent for a moment before shaking his head and saying “that’s impossible. My men would never sell me out.”
Christos shook his head in disgust when he said “you’re an idiot, Hector and you’re going to spend the rest of your life in federal prison.”
“So will the both of you.”
“Not a chance. Jimmy and I are going to make a deal.”
Hector stared at Christos for a moment before asking “you two are going to testify against me?”
Christos laughed and said “you really are a moron, Hector. They got us with automatic weapons and explosives. They don’t need us to testify against you.”
Hector looked confused when he asked “then how are you going to make a deal?”
Jimmy said “me and Christos know where a lot of bodies are buried. We can give up big people wanted by the feds.”
Christos nodded and said “it’s like having money in the bank. We knew this day would come eventually, Hector. Jimmy and I will trade our information then serve a few years in protective custody before disappearing from this country.”
Hector nodded in understanding and asked “how long have you had this plan?”
“Many years, amigo.”
Jimmy looked at Hector with a smile on his face and asked “you don’t have a plan, do you?”
Hector just shook his head.
At that moment, they heard the engine start and the van shift into gear. As they began moving forward Christos said “you better come up with a plan quickly, Hector or you’re going to spend the rest of your life in a cage like an animal.
Chapter 19
Chief Deputy Marshal Joseph Fernandez walked into the Marshals Service cellblock at the U.S. Courthouse in downtown Las Vegas with a grim look on his face. Fernandez was a powerfully built man with thick shoulders and a head full of black hair. He was wearing a navy-blue suit, white shirt and red tie which he straightened as he stepped over to a cell which contained two prisoners wearing waist chains and leg irons.
Fernandez stared at Christos Apollyon and James Angelos who were sitting on a metal bench for several moments before barking “on your feet!”
James Angelos stood up and faced Chief Fernandez with a smile on his face. Both his wrists were cuffed in front of him to the chain that was wrapped around his waist and he flexed his massive arms to show off the tattoos on his biceps.
Fernandez studied him for a moment before asking “what does an angel wing on one arm and a devil wing on the other supposed to represent?”
Christos was still seated on the bench with his head hanging down and his long black hair covering his face said “Jimmy thinks he represents the perfect balance between good and evil.”
Chief Fernandez considered that for a moment before saying “I think he represents the perfect balance between a horse and a mule.”
Christos chuckled and said “hey Jimmy, he just called you a jackass.”
Jimmy shook his head and said “he’s a player hater.”
