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71 The Real Face (Flashback)
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Shadow of Yesterday 72 Lesson Well Learned
Present day…Hugo sat in the dark hotel room. Juan was at the window talking on the phone nonstop. He was answering all the calls received on Gabriels phone. Those calls mostly dealt with the cartel businesses and problems. Juan was equipped to deal with most of them. As long as Gabriel was in the hospital, Juan was responsible for everything that he managed and he was doing it well. Hugo had nothing but admiration for him. Juan Varga was young and not even of the same nationality. He had lost everything in Mexico and came to the US with nothing but dreams and the gigantic balls to achieve them. His father had the bright idea to run for mayor against the ruling party and it ended up costing him his life. The family scattered across the country trying to save their lives while Juan decided to escape the country entirely. He had killed and had almost been killed several times to get where he was. Hugo needed men like him in his inner circle. Juan was a dying breed and Gabriel was gettin
Shadow of Yesterday 73 Crossfire
It had started to drizzle and silence dominated the neighborhood. The abundance of houses with turned off interior lights indicated that most of the neighborhood preferred to sleep in early. It had something to do with the next day being a working day as well. There were no cars on the road. It was almost midnight. A lone car entered the neighborhood and slowly approached the other end of the street. The car abruptly stopped at the corner of the street and Hugo Ortiz stepped out of the vehicle. He wanted this to go as smoothly as possible. The car drove away as instructed. Hugo walked towards the house where he had received the bullet. It almost made him smile. So much had happened in the past few days. He walked through the neighborhood without sparing a glance to the surrounding houses. He didn't like this kind of neighborhood. They seemed too artificial to him. Too square. There was no room for creativity or culture. Just queues of identical cubes of concrete that looked devoid of
Shadow of Yesterday 74 The Price
Carl hastily started the vehicle and floored the accelerator. The car came to life and screeched out of the neighborhood. The road was like the surface of an ice cap and it was a miracle how they didn't crash into a tree. They were out of sight in no time. The car raced through the long empty road with open fields on either side. The drizzle had become heavier and the drops on the windshield weren't making Carl's job any easier. Hugo kept on yelling and shouting in the back of the vehicle but his expressions had shifted more towards sadness than fury. Wade had his eyes on the barely visible road and beads of sweat formed on his forehead. He felt like a dog that had finally managed to catch up with the truck. He had never even thought of his plan of action afterwards. Now that it was finally done, he was stumped. The risk of repeating the same mistake loomed in front of him and the irony wasn't lost on Wade. The car had been on the move for a while and other than an odd groan or two, H
Shadow of Yesterday 75 Regroup
The black car sped through the deserted road, back into the city. It had been an eventful night for Hugo Ortiz. Wade had just become the first person in Hugo’s life who managed to walk away after threatening him. Gabriel sat beside him with a brace on his arm. His face was riddled with stitches and bandages. They all were silent. “I was at the house fire when you called. The gringo architect is in the hospital. He took a bullet to his shoulder. He’ll live if he wasn't on blood thinners. They found another man in the house burnt to a crisp. But there was no sign of any woman,” Juan said.“Volkov took my Camila!” Hugo said without taking his eyes off the window. Juan was in a deep thought.“That explains the dead mercenary,” Gabriel said. “How the hell did he get my number?” Hugo asked. The question had been pricking at him for a while. “The same way he found out about Camila. We’ve got a rat,” said Gabriel. “Vladimir?” “Not possible. We’ve been watching him. He didn't even call hi
Shadow of Yesterday 76 The Motel
In the darkness and eerie silence of the night, Crescent Motel stood like a beacon with all its neon lights and out of order billboards. The place was a haven for all sorts of criminals. Police had been so accustomed to the area being through hell that they had stopped trying to make it a better place. They had started using the place to scout for informants. A refuge for criminals secluded from the civilized demographics was not all bad news. At least they would let the innocent people be. Police had decided long ago that they were better off not messing with the hornet’s nest. Usually, the neon boards had one or two hookers smoking cheap cigarettes under them. But tonight, it was different but only a trained eye could catch it. There was no usual crowd outside. Hidden in plain sight were over a dozen trained mercenaries. Four on the roof, four in the building and the rest scattered around in obscured spots. An SUV stopped in front of the building and Ivan Volkov emerged from it wear
Shadow of Yesterday 77 Rescue
The convoy of mercenaries drove swiftly through the streets of Bassett. The roads were completely deserted and wet due to the rain that had stopped just an hour ago. The vehicles splashed through the puddles and the sound of the engines and splashes were the only sound strong enough to be heard. Juan had preferred to take the lead for this mission but he knew better than to argue with his boss who had a reputation for having a volatile temper. Juan had been operating in the area since forever so he knew all the obscured paths and dead ends of the city. Hugo had never been in the city before. Hell, he couldn't even tell the FBI from the cops. Juan just hoped that he wasn't walking into his own doom. He checked on Bethany and gave a thumbs up. “Stop right here,” Hugo ordered and the convoy stopped. Juan looked at him, awaiting an explanation. “We go on foot from here. We move as soon as the snipers find a high vantage point,” Hugo said. Juan nodded and conveyed the order to the rest o
Shadow of Yesterday 78 Am I a Monster?
The gunshots were closing in and Ivan’s men yelled and cursed. There was no doubt the motel was under attack and Ivan was sure it was the expected rescue attempt. He had some expectations for a hand of negotiation from Hugo but it seemed off the table. The man was going for the kill. The entire building rumbled under the gunfire. Jessica was neither shocked nor scared. She just awaited what was coming her way. Ivan was double minded if he should aim at the door or at Jessica. The gazes of both of them were stuck like flies on the door when the window shattered and a tall figure swiftly rolled into the room. Before Ivan could react, the masked figure aimed his gun at his head. The figure pulled off his mask and revealed his identity and Ivan was not amused at all. Ivan’s words echoed in Hugo’s mind and he saw red. “We don't go after the wives of our enemies! What kind of lawless bastard are you? I thought we had some principles!” Hugo yelled at Ivan. He was shaking with rage. Ivan sta
Shadow of Yesterday 79 Aftermath
A week later…The police in the city had been on high alert. There had been no more incidents of violence since the fire and the motel shootout. The federal government had gotten involved since the past two weeks had been the most bloody in the history of the city. It made the people skeptical of each other. There were more checks at the airports and border control was more strict. The government got wind of who the seafood businessman Marko Juarez was in reality. Linda Schmidt was under inquiry for Professional Misconduct. Her client had jumped bail under a false alias and there was suspicion that she knew more than she shared. Ivan Volkov was found in the chewed up motel along with a dozen armed dead bodies. Ivan had no outstanding warrants on him in the US and there was nothing that connected him to the cartel big shot who had wreaked havoc in the city. Hugo Ortiz had vanished like the silver dollar. Every department and agency tried their hand but got nothing. People wondered if t
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