AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Why not just use Mexicans?”
“What?”
“The factories are near Tijuana, right? There must be hundreds of people nearby you could sweep up and dump inside the factory lots. Dormitory in the roofspace, factory floor below. Keep them locked up. Why ship Americans that far? Why take the risk?”
“Vested interest,” he says with a laugh. “You put one of them in their own factories and locals whine. Ooh, give us our pappy back, gringo, we need him to harvest the beans or whatever the fuck it is they eat down there. But I take some poor dumb fellow citizens and ship them a thousand miles from home? They’re not getting back. They don’t even know where they are.
“They spend the rest of their lives working and then they drop dead and get dumped in the chemical waste with the other shit I don’t need anymore. Best of all, in your trucks, no one will stop to check them. You’re trusted, Marco. The venture only works if I can use your trucks.
“Now, I’m getting tired of asking, so I’ll make this the last time. You’ve seen what I do when you turn me down. What do you need? A horse’s head in your bed? Say yes and we’ll put this whole sorry mess behind us. Split the profits fifty-fifty. How’s them apples sound? A lot of money when you don’t have to pay wages or taxes.
“I’ll even find you a nice girl out of my stock for you to marry. Your line doesn’t have to end with you, Marco. You can have an heir. Keep that family name alive. Forget what’s done. Don’t let emotions control your decision making here. Keep business business and personal personal. Come on, be a man. Say yes.”
I take a deep breath. This will be the last time I speak to him before I kill him, so I want to make every word count. “You made a mistake when you murdered my family,” I tell him.
“Oh, yeah, how?”
“You’ve nothing left to threaten me with. Your leverage is gone. You should have kidnapped them and held them for ransom instead. Dead, they’re useless to you or me.”
He laughs. “Damn, they said you were cold, and they weren’t kidding. I don’t hear a hint of grief in your voice. You are one icy son of a bitch, aren’t you? But you’re wrong about one thing.”
“About what?”
“I have plenty left to threaten you with.”
“I’m all ears.”
“I could kill you.”
“Good luck finding me.”
“Yeah, I heard you left the city. Encrypted untraceable lines might protect you right now but you’ll slip up sooner or later. Then I’ll whack you and simply take your trucking business. How’s them apples sound?”
“Piper.”
“What?”
“You know that daughter of yours?”
I hear him take a sharp inhalation. “I don’t have a daughter.”
“Sure you do. I mean, I know you’ve not been keeping in touch with her but maybe I can help with that.”
He doesn’t say anything. It feels good to have him on the back foot, where he belongs. I continue talking. “I hear you’ve been having some problems becoming a grandfather, that right?”
Another inhalation from him. The lightness has gone from his voice when he finally speaks. “How did you know about that?”
“George finally told you, then?”
“You keep your fucking mouth shut, Marco.”
“Only with him firing blanks, I fear your line ends with you. Unless, of course, you can get lovely little innocent Anna married off and up the duff, that right? Take the virgin and give her purity to the Mexicans. But hey, that’s business, right?”
“I swear to God, Marco, I’ll kill you if you keep talking.”
“Business and personal, Piper. Keep them separate, right? You’re letting your emotions control you here.”
“You’re a dead man, Marco.”
