Three

When the morning would come, the whispers in his head would go away. The mirror in front of him had revealed hideous parts of his soul as if he was staring directly at it. The man in the mirror was Don Isagise, his alter ego. He refused to believe that this was him, a murderer and so came the whispers.

He pulled a stool and placed it before the mirror. There was a table there and a blunt knife that kept begging him to sit down next to it. He paced here and there around the room trying to avoid eye contact with the man in the mirror. There was this thing in his head that kept burning, nonstop, a madness that had finally caught up with him. He raked his fingers through his hair, he took another quick look at the man in the mirror, and realized how distressed he seemed, how weary his features had become.

With all his willpower, he drew closer to the stool, to the mirror and he sat down, afraid of his reflection now more than ever. I am not a murderer. His hand reached for the knife and ever so gently his finger ran down the sharp edges. He could use that same knife to serve his veins. No one would miss him. Memories of bad people are always short-lived.

The man in the mirror was a bad man and a lot of people were going to die because of him. He watched himself lift the knife higher to his neck until it was right there where he could just tug it violently to the side to end it all. This decision was a result of the many years he had failed to fulfill the promises he had made to the people he loved. No one would have to die in his stead.

The door opened. His brother, Maximus broke in unannounced and he had to hide the knife with urgency. Don got up, and shrugged into a clean shirt, for a moment oblivious to the voice of his brother. His only concern now was that the morning had come and the whispers had gone away.

“Are you even listening!” his brother screamed at him.

“Yes Max, what bothers you?” he answered back nonchalantly. He paced to the window and drew away the shades to reassure himself that his alter ego had gone with the night.

“We need to get to the harbor. We are supposed to leave in half an hour”

 “Why can‟t you just go alone and handle the Gringo brothers. I trust that you can handle the situation without me, little brother.”

“The last time I made a deal with them, they wanted to see the man in the shadows. Trust me, they won‟t do business with us if you don‟t show your face”

“Then I‟ll have to take my business somewhere else. They aren't the only ones with explosives”

Frustration was building with Max. “ I've told you before if you keep up with this, you are going to get yourself killed. I think it's best if I do the talking, like the last hundred times.”

“Am doing this to protect you. It will be much safer for you if our enemies don‟t know my identity”

*****

The cars lined up outside, ready to transport a dozen men. The morning was distinctly cold. The rays of light strained to escape through the hazy clouds but eventually spread across the ambiance of the camp like a velvet robe. Maximus came out first then his brother. Both had decided to dress aggressively for this event. A technique that had worked in the past to intimidate the enemies. Maximus would have to negotiate with them first. The Gringo brothers were venomous snakes. Nothing about them could be trusted but desperation had led to this unlikely alliance.

Two cars took the lead, followed by Donatello‟s Cadillac where he was together with his brother, then the rest of the cars. Security was necessary. Four of the cars would lag before reaching the harbor and some of the men would surround the whole area in case things went south.

The harbor was the most unassailable location for the Gringo brothers. There they posed the greatest danger. They had built a reputation for the drug as well as human trafficking. The entire area was filled with shipment containers to their advantage. It only appeared as a maze when viewed from afar. A calm sea lapped against the harbor, periodically sending waves that rocked the ships that waited there.

In a while, at a great distance, Don‟s convoy approached. Only three cars could be seen now. The other cars had done as instructed. The tinted glass had offered additional protection and the Cadillac itself had been fitted with bulletproofs. Slowly they maneuvered the cars through the

 entrance. All the shipment containers had code labels. M105 for cocaine in breakable artifacts to R321 and codes AB42 for human cargo.

They drove through the maze of containers and then spotted a seating of cars in an open space and a party of armed gentlemen waiting there.

The cars stopped. A few daring seconds of quietness went by and then the Cadillac door opened. Maximus stepped out and six of his men in the other cars accompanied him. By now he already knew that they were already disadvantaged. They were outnumbered ten to one but most of the danger was posed by the snipers hiding in the shipment containers.

Two males pulled away from the other party to meet Maximus mid-way. The first one was a tall, well-built figure in a Hawaiian shirt and brown pants. The other was a slim averaged size male that had a spitting resemblance to the other tall fellow. These were the Gringo brothers.

“You are late” the slim one spoke first. “We had to make sure we weren't followed.”

The slim one studied him piercingly, then turned to his men as if to discredit their relevance. He looked back at him and said,

“Do you have the payments?”

“As soon as I see the merchandise” he answered back. A few large cases of the explosives were brought as per instruction from the other party and a briefcase of the case was presented as requested.

There was that searching look from the slim one. “How much is in there?” he asked him. “Five million.......”

“We agreed on seven”

“No, we agreed on five million” his voice went up a level.

“Oh, yes” he agreed, rubbing the bridge of his nose mockingly. “It was five million. But you see, we ran into an issue preparing the merchandise and the price just went up”

“That‟s not my problem” he answered back in a steady voice.

The man thought for a moment, then turned to his mute brother for confirmation.” I think it kinda is” he replied with a grin.

“Then am afraid I‟ll have to take my business elsewhere.”

The slim one turned to his brother again and then back to him. “I think we‟ll take the money.......and keep the merchandise”

 Everyone tensed at the mention of those words. “Then we are going to have a problem.........”

“Yeah but you aren't going to do anything about that now will you?” he pointed out as if to insult his men and him.

 “ You see, we ran into a buddy of yours a week ago who offered us a handsome amount of cash just to have a word with the man behind the tinted glass. I wonder why he never shows his face? Am guessing he‟s just ugly, but that‟s beside the point. What am trying to say is, you‟re not leaving with the money and we need to deliver your employer to our business partner” he spoke casually.

There was a sudden hand movement and Maximus‟ hand shot out with a gun. His aim was directed at one of the cars belonging to the other party. An explosion would scatter the crowd and allow them a quick exit. When he shot, the projectile‟s impact was felt by one of the men in the line of fire and immediately guns were blazing with bullets flying everywhere.

The Cadillac came forward with speed and in a few eering seconds reached Maximus and made a skidding U-turn around him. Maximus jumped in in a flash with bullets barely missing him. Most of his men had been taken out by the snipers and his backup was nowhere to be seen.

Only the driver, Don and Maximus were in the car. Bullets were bouncing off the tinted glass at the time when they raced for the exit. An ear-splitting noise was heard all at once and the Cadillac was tossed a few feet in the air when something touched the boot. The car landed on its hood and a fire ignited at the same time. The driver, unconscious, was hanging loosely from the seat belt. Don crawled out. Something must have been broken inside of him. His brother, Maximus, was gasping for breath. Don reached out and pulled his brother out first.

The driver was injured, badly. Don managed to get to his feet and he trudged to the smoking car once more. The car was about to explode. Two strong arms grabbed him from behind suddenly. Another gentleman appeared in front of him and swung a clenched fist into his midsection. Another one landed on his right eye and the final blow almost knocked him unconscious. Drowsily he could hear Maximus screaming behind him.

They dragged him away. Blood was leaking from his temple causing a painful pulsation in his veins. There were footsteps all around him but he couldn't see over the fog in his eyes. The shooting stopped and the voices around him became plainer. It was something about the human cargo.

 “We can‟t risk transporting so many by sea without attracting attention. You‟ll have to dispose of them” one of the voices instructed. Probably the smaller of the Gringo brothers. The same voice leaned over and said, “You hear that El Moruno? You just cost us precious cargo today. Because of you, we are losing control of our shipment rights. Not good man-”

A few of the shipment container doors opened somewhere around the area and dozens of weak screams broke free. The human cargo was led behind the containers near the docks and they were disposed of.