LITMIR.BIZ

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can be more persuasive.”

      Natasha looked up at Jack’s face, then replied, “Oh ... I see.”

      chapter twenty-one

      It was seven-thirty on Friday night before The Toad and two underlings showed up at the Spotted Owl. Jack was parked in a lot across the street and watched the motel through binoculars. He had seen The Toad last year when he interrupted an executive meeting at Damien’s house, but he glanced at a photo just to be sure.

      Jack smiled as he recalled the event. He had intentionally interrupted the meeting on the pretext of returning some colours that had belonged to some bikers who had been killed. Damien was cordial and offered him a beer. The Toad was not pleased and voiced his objection in a thick French accent. An accent that Jack soon hoped to mimic.

      Jack now saw that the two underlings each carried a sports bag.

      Jack smiled. Very expensive sports bags.

      The Toad entered one room while his two cohorts entered the room beside it. Moments later, The Toad opened his door and Jack saw one of the other two bikers behind him. It was obvious that their rooms had an inside adjoining door.

      Two hours later, Jack saw an old beat-up white van with tinted rear windows slowly drive through the motel parking lot. The curtains moved slightly in The Toad’s room as someone peeked out.

      The two men inside the van paid close attention to all the other parked cars. Eventually the van parked. Jack steadied the binoculars on the top of his steering wheel and watched. The two men talked with each other for a moment, then the passenger bent over out of sight. Seconds later, both men got out of the van. Their complexions told Jack that they were the Colombians. The driver then opened the rear door to the van and removed an object wrapped in a garbage bag.

       Scales! Lance was right. This is going to be fast.

      Both men then walked over to The Toad’s room and knocked on the door. Seconds later, they disappeared inside. Jack threw the binoculars down and grabbed a roll of duct tape and his balaclava.

      Moments later, Jack was inside the van. A quick search under the dash located two handguns. Each with a silencer. Jack put them back, then squatted on the floor in front of the passenger seat and peeked past the seat to the rear. It gave him a view of the motel through the back windows of the van. He gripped his 9mm and waited as the seconds slowly ticked by. He was conscious of a strong odour of coffee in the van. As if my nerves aren’t frayed enough!

      Jack hadn’t needed to hurry. Almost forty-five minutes passed before the door to The Toad’s room opened again. One Colombian carried the scales and a sports bag, while his friend carried the other sports bag. They paused at the door and the driver shook hands with The Toad.

      Sweat dripping from Jack’s face made a wet spot on the vinyl cover of the seat and he wiped it off with his sleeve as the two Colombians approached the van and opened the rear door. Jack ducked down and heard the sports bags and scales slide across the van floor. He waited until the door slammed shut before quickly making his way into the back of the van and hiding behind the passenger seat.

      The passenger door then opened, but the man didn’t get in. Jack heard the sound of numbers being pushed on the man’s cellphone. The driver’s door then opened and the driver stood looking across the seats at his partner.

      Panic gripped Jack’s brain. He had hoped the two would quickly enter the van and drive away. His hiding spot behind the passenger’s seat was not large enough to conceal him completely. He had purposely picked the passenger’s seat believing that the driver would be focused on his keys and the ignition upon entering the van. Not standing there with the door open staring in!

      Jack held his breath but was conscious of the noise his heart made. It seemed loud inside the metal walls of the van. He stared at the driver’s face, waiting for his eyes to wander to his location. It was dark, but not so dark that he couldn’t be noticed. Outside, he heard the passenger talking in Spanish.

      The passenger then yelled, “Okay, amigo! I see you!”

      Jack sucked in a mouthful of air and his grip tightened on his gun before he realized that the man, in his broken English, was saying good bye to The Toad.

      Seconds later, both men got inside and the driver quickly drove out of the lot. They were barely out on the street when Jack saw the passenger bend over to reach under the dash.

      “Okay shit-heads! Don’t move!” screamed Jack, while leaping forward and sticking the barrel of his pistol into the passenger’s ear.

      The driver panicked, hitting his brakes and causing his passenger to slam face first into the dash. The movement threw Jack off balance and he waved his pistol back and forth at both their faces while regaining his footing.

      The driver started yelling at his passenger in Spanish but stopped when Jack yelled, “Shut up or die! Keep both your hands on the steering wheel!”

      Jack grabbed the passenger by the back of his collar and jerked him back into his seat. “Hands behind your head! Now!”

      “Señor! No understand!”

      Jack made a motion with his own hand behind his head and the passenger clued in.

      Jack pointed to a side street and said, “Drive!” The driver made the turn and then pulled over to the curb as directed. Jack held the roll of duct tape between his knees and peeled off a pre-cut strip and handed it to the passenger with his free hand.

      “Do it yourself! Over your eyes! Now!”

      Moments later, Jack ensured that both Colombians were securely blindfolded. He then took out his cell and punched several numbers, pretending to make a call.

      “Hey, Toad! Worked just like you said! We’re just down the street. Hurry up.”

      The driver muttered something under his breath. Jack didn’t know much Spanish, but he heard The Toad’s name being used. Questioning the legitimacy of The Toad’s parentage, no doubt.

      “Shut the fuck up!” Jack ordered, before allowing himself a moment to take a few slow deep breaths.

      Jack then guided the men to the rear compartment of the van and made them sit on the floor. He taped their hands behind their backs and their ankles together, before knocking on the rear window.

      Jack opened the rear door of the van and said, “Hey, Toad. What took you so long? Look at this ... I did good, yes?”

      Jack then stuck his head around the back of the van door and lowered his voice and put his hand over his mouth and gave a guttural, “Oui!” He then leaned back inside the van and said in his normal voice, “Here, I’ll pass you the money.”

      Jack slid the sports bags across the floor of the van, then gently lowered them to the ground outside where they could not be seen from within. He then said, “Yeah, I’ll sit with ’em for ten minutes just in case they get a call. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure they say the right thing! If they don’t, I’ll see it in their eyes. Besides, mia hablo Espanol!”

      Jack then closed the rear door and ripped the tape off the men’s eyes and mouths. He took the cellphone out of the passenger’s pocket and held it close to the man’s face. “If this rings, amigo, you say everything is okay ... or else you die!”

      The men stared back at him. The driver’s wide eyes and the sweat glistening on his forehead revealed his fear. The passenger was different. His eyes looked dark and angry.

      Jack put their phone in his jacket pocket and sat on the floor of the van. He frequently looked at his watch while he waited, ignoring the stares from his captives. After ten minutes he used his own cell to place another fake call.

      “Toad ... what’s taking you so long? Thought you would have called by now.”

      Jack pretended to listen for a moment, then said, “The ship’s unloaded?” He

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