Road to Darkness (5 page)

Chapter 12

     The men with rifles were waiting for him when Tony pulled into the lot. It was late, but they had some flood lights around the lot lighting the grounds. He stopped the truck and climbed out, only to be struck in the stomach with the butt of one of the rifles.

     “We heard you had some problems,” one of the men said. The same one who did all the talking last time.

     “I took care of it.” Tony grunted from his knees. “Jesus. You guys gonna beat on me every time I come down here?”

     “There may not be a next time. Slade called us. He thinks you brought cops with you.”

     “What the fuck? No! Look in the back.”

     “Tell me what happened,” the man said
, as one of the men with rifles stuck the barrel of the rifle to his forehead. “Or I paint the truck with your blood.”

     “Can you put the fucking guns down?” Tony said as he went to one knee. “Open the truck and it will explain everything. I promise no one is going to jump out and arrest you.”

     “Keep the gun on him,” the man said as he gestured to the other man. “Open the back of the truck.”

     The other man climbed up and pulled the tailgate open. He climbed in back and looked between the crates.

     “Holy shit! Man there’s two dead cops up here. They stink!” He said.

     The man in charge walked toward the back of the truck and looked at
it as well. The third man still had the rifle trained on Tony’s head. As their boss looked around, the man with the rifle turned his head toward the back of the truck.

     “So everything cool?” The man called. Tony noticed he was relaxed and not looking at him, so decided to act. He grabbed the barrel of the rifle, and pulled it toward himself while shifting his body to the left. The man’s eyes widened as he turned back to Tony who with both hands, thrust the butt of the rifle into the man’s stomach which doubled him over. Tony stood with the gun and slammed the butt into the back of the man’s head, sending him face down into the ground.

     He shouldered the rifle and spun toward the back of the truck where. as he suspected, the other gunman was just raising his gun at Tony. Without hesitation, Tony fired a volley of shots into the man’s chest sending him to the ground. He then trained the gun onto the boss.

     “Whoa, whoa, easy amigo
,” the man said.

     “In both my trips down here, you guys have hit me and pointed guns at me. This is the last time that will happen. Do you understand?” Tony said.

     “Sure man. It’s nothing personal. Just how we break in new people to make sure you don’t crack up. You killed one of my men. Slade’s not gonna like that.”

     “Slade isn’t gonna like a lot of things. For now let’s worry about what I don’t like. I don’t like being ordered to do a run in the middle of the night. I don’t like be ratted out to the cops. I don’t like assholes putting their hands on me and shoving guns in my face. So give me one reason why I shouldn’t fucking waste you right now?”

     “Slade will kill you. Plus you’d be starting a cross-border gang war.”

     “So, you’d still be dead. Slade kills me, what do I give a fuck if they all want to kill each other. Do you want to be dead?” Tony asked.

     “It’s gonna happen sooner or later. Part of this job, man.”

     “Unload the truck.”

     Tony stepped back while the two men unloaded the bodies from the truck, and then the crates. They got extra crates and stuffed the police officers’ bodies into them.

     “Is that my return truck?” Tony asked pointing at an empty box truck.

     “That’s it. So you gonna shoot us or what? You know if you don’t, I’m calling Slade as soon as you leave here.”

     Tony lowered the rifle and fired a shot into the man’s ankle. He topple
d to the ground screaming.

     “Fuck! You motherfucker! You fucking shot me!”

     “I sure did. So go call Slade.” Tony turned and walked to the truck, started it up and pulled out. He purposely raced toward both men, forcing them to dive out of the way before he hit them. He raced through the gates and toward the border. As he drove, he pounded the steering wheel and screamed. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d actually screamed or showed any kind of emotion to that extent. The scream became more of a primal howl the longer it went. For the first time in decades, Tony felt alive.

Chapter 13

     The sun was coming up by the time Tony pulled into Ramos Medical Supplies. He should have been exhausted, but he was so wired he didn’t think he could sleep again. When he shut off the truck, a large man came walking out carrying a duffel bag. Tony climbed out of the truck as the man glared at him. Tony was only five foot seven inches tall and this guy towered over him.
In addition to his height, the guy looked like he was solid muscle.

     “I’m Slade,” the man said. “I’m your boss.”

     “Well hi, I guess. I’m not sure if it’s nice to meet you just yet.”

     “Benito called me.”

     “Who is Benito?”

     “He’s the guy you shot in the leg last night. You really did kill those cops.”

     “Yeah. Apparently you all didn’t believe me. Maybe from now on you will,” Tony said.

     “Maybe you’re right. You killed one of Benito’s men.”

     “They were pointing guns at me. I don’t like guns pointed at me.”

     “Those are our business associates. They want me to kill you. Blood for blood.”

     “Look,” Tony said. “I’m not gonna sit here and bullshit you and act all badass. You know I’m new to all of this. I drive a Volkswagen. Up until last week, my life was incredibly boring and uneventful. The most dangerous thing I did all day was eating the churros from the snack bar at work. So I’m not totally familiar with whatever street rule or whatever the hell it is you guys live buy. It wasn’t exactly covered in my new employee orientation. I’ve done everything you guys have wanted me to do. My reward for that has been money yes, but also being beaten, having guns shoved in my face and having cops called on me. So based on what little I know of this way of life; now mind you my knowledge of this sort of thing comes from shit like ‘Scarface’ and ‘Goodfellas’. Based on that little knowledge you people seem to be all about respect. Respect is based on strength in this world. So, when that asshole with the gun in my face thought I was too scared and weak to pay attention to, I took the gun away and shot his partner. They may be angry, but I’m betting I earned their respect.”

     Slade looked at him and began laughing.

     “Holy shit. Dude, you are fucking insane!”

     Tony watched him laugh, not sure if he was about to kill him or what.

     “Ok,” Slade said. “Here is your money. I’ll tell Benito tough shit. He likes to fuck with new drivers. I guess he pushed you too far. I like that. We’ve had too many spineless pussies come through here. Domingo said he had a good feeling about you.”

     “So we’re good then?”

     “Yeah. We’re good,” Slade said as he handed Tony the bag. “One hundred thousand cash is in the bag, just like I promised. Come back tomorrow morning. I might have more work for you. Something besides just driving.”

     “Really? Like what?”

     “I’ve got some things to work out. Just get back here.”

     Tony took the bag and walked back to his car. When he arrived home, Kim’s car was still in the driveway. She was sitting in the living room drinking a cup of coffee glaring at him when he came inside.

     “Why aren’t you at work?” He asked.

     “What? Are you fucking kidding me?” She stood and walked toward him. “Where have you been? I tried calling you all night but your phone was off.”

     “I had something come up at work. I got called in. Some wildfire in California. They were short one people taking claims calls so they asked me to come in. You know I keep my phone off at work.”

     “Wildfire in California huh?” She was wearing a bath
robe, standing with her arms crossed.

     “Yes! They get them every year and we get thousands of claims.”

     “So what is in the bag?”

     “Nothing.”

     “Nothing? Let me see.”

     “It’s just stuff I had in the car, it’s nothing important.”

     He tried to walk past her, but she grabbed at the bag.

     “I said let me see. I want to see what is in there. You seeing someone? Did you take a change of clothes with you?”

     “No! I told you, it’s nothing. You’re being ridiculous.”

     He had expected her to be at work when he got home, or still asleep at least. The last thing he’d expected was this crazy confrontation. He tried to pull away as she grabbed the bag.

     “Let me see it! What are you hiding?” She screamed as she tugged on it. He pulled back, but not with any real force. Finally he just let go.

     “Fine. Take it
,” he said.

     She sat it on the ground and unzipped it, stepping back as she looked at the contents.

     “Jesus Christ Tony.” She looked up at him, her mouth hanging wide open. “How much is this? Is it real?”

     “Yes, it’s very real.”

     “Are you sure? How much is it?”

     “This is a hundred thousand. And I earned it.”

     “Earned it? How? Not as an insurance adjuster!”

     “Look, it’s complicated. Ok?”

     “You didn’t really get a promotion did you?”

     “Can you just trust me?”

     “Do you even still work at United? Did they fire you? What is going on?”

     “It’s hard to explain. I have it all worked out.”

     “Are you doing something illegal?”

     “No! Look. I make deliveries. A few times a week, I drop these trucks off in Mexico and drive back. That’s it.”

     “Deliveries? What is in the trucks?” She asked.

     This was getting frustrating. She was not going to let this go.

     “I don’t know. They don’t tell me and I don’t ask.”

     “So it could be what? Drugs? Weapons? What if you get stopped and searched? You’ll go to prison. Will they take care of you then?”

     “No one is getting arrested. God! Just let me take care of us. There’s enough money there to pay for all our bills and then some. Just try to enjoy it,” he said as he walked toward the bedroom. The past night’s events almost seemed a distant haze at this point. The fact that he’d killed two police officers in cold blood and Benito’s man, it felt like some weird dream. As distressing as it was at the time, it was barely an afterthought by now.

     “Where are you going? We need to talk about this!”

     “I’m going to bed. It was a long night.”

Chapter 14

     Tony arrived at Ramos the following morning. Kim was already at work and had taken Taylor to daycare by the time he woke up. Slade was there when he came into the office. Domingo was standing next to him.

     “So what’s going on?” Tony asked.

     “So despite all that chaos the other night, you did a good job. I know I wasn’t happy about you killing Benito’s guy. Not thrilled about you killing two cops for that matter, it was all over the news.”

     A lump settled in Tony’s stomach. He was so worked up and exhausted the other night, it hadn’t even registered to him they’d be on a manhunt for a
cop killer. That was sure one title he never thought would apply to him.

     “Do they have any suspects?”

     “Doesn’t sound like it. You did good, took the camera and everything.”

     “Yeah, it all happened so fast. I just didn’t want to go to prison
,” Tony said.

     “That’s good,” Slade said. “It’s that desire to stay alive and stay out of jail that will take you far in this business.”

     “I don’t want to go far in this business. I just want to make enough to take care of my family.”

     Slade began to laugh and stood.

     “You’ll make plenty. You have already. I called you here because I had a proposal for you. As you know, Jose is gone. He is the one who ratted you to the cops, and he’s been taken care of. Domingo will be helping me run things from here for the time being. You did so well on that run, you’re going to help me step up our operation.”

     “Step up how?”

     “Instead of one run a week, we’re going to do three a week. There’s a bit of a situation, and we need to make up some ground. It has nothing to do with you, you’ve done great. But you’re going to help me get things back on track.”

     “Three runs a week? The agreement was one
,” Tony said.

     “I’m changing the agreement. And you’re not gonna fight you way out of this one. Its three runs a week. Unfortunately the pay stays the same for now.”

     “What do you mean pay stays the same?”

     “It’s still twenty grand a week, but you’ll be doing three runs instead of one. Right now I can’t pay you any
more, especially after the other night. It will cost a ton to clean all this shit up and keep the old man out of it.”

     “That sounds like your problem, not mine
,” Tony said.

     “Something you are going to learn really quickly man, is my problems are your problems. You got it? If the cops are messing with me, that is a problem for you. If the boss is unhappy with me, he’s unhappy with you. If the boss is unhappy, people get hurt. People you care about, and I don’t think you want that.”

     Tony considered this for a moment. Once again he was left without much choice. It was hard to believe just over a week ago he was answering phones in a call center. In that time he’d killed three men and was at the center of an elaborate human trafficking operation. The only good thing he could say was that it paid well.

     “I guess I don’t have much choice.”

     “Good.”

     “Tell Benito there will be no retaliation, retribution or so much as a word said about my last visit. I don’t want him or any of his goons to so much as lay a hand on me this time.”

     “You got it. Anything else?”

     “Nope, that’s it I guess.”

     “Good. Your first load will be ready in a few minutes. Just so you know, you’ll be taking anywhere from five to eight girls per run. Depending on their ages and race, they are worth anywhere from fifty to a hundred grand each. As you know, if you get caught you go to jail for a long time. If you decide to rat us out, you may get a deal, but we will find you and kill you and your family.”

     “Just curious,” Tony interrupted
, “Does every single thing you tell me have to be followed with a threat to kill my family? I mean, is that just a regular thing for you?”

     “It’s just a way to drive the point home. And yes, you’ll be hearing it a lot until we are sure we can trust you.”

     “After everything I’ve done for you so far, you still can’t trust me?”

     “Sorry. It’s not something we give away in this business. Your truck should be ready.”

     Tony walked over, climbed into the cab and headed out yet again on another Mexico trip. When he took the job he hadn’t realized how tiring of a drive it was. Now he was doing it three times a week. At least the money was good. He hadn’t spoken to Kim since he came home the other night. He had no idea if she was going to stay with him after learning what he was doing. Though, he saw the way she was looking at the money. He had no doubt that if she did stay, it would be the money that saved their marriage.

     As he headed south, he tried to drive as casually as possible. After the last run, it was hard for him not to freak out every time he saw a police car. After this run, he would have a longer talk with
Kim and figure out where she stood with things. They’d been getting gradually more distant over the past few months and this situation wasn’t helping. Maybe he’d send her on a nice vacation. That might ease her mind. As he drove he tried to think of more positive things and fun things he’d like to do with the money he was earning. Lost in his daydreams, he didn’t notice the eighteen wheeler closing in behind him.