Authors: Declan Conner
Deadly Journey (36 page)
Leandra swung her arms around me and we
shared a kiss. Leandra drew her head back.
‘Promise me you’ll never leave me alone
again.’
‘I promise.’
Epilogue
Four years later at a location in Bolivia
Who am I? Good question, and one I often
ask myself. I used to be Kurt Rawlings, a citizen of the United States of
America and a DEA agent. A loving husband, and father to two wonderful
children, Craig and Claire. Often, I think of the times I had with my children,
and those special memories will stay with me always.
I’m lucky I came across a true friend in
Surfer. He never did open a surfboard business, but instead, opened a business
selling, repairing, and giving desert sailboat lessons. Since that night at the
industrial complex, he went on to marry his girlfriend and they’ve had another
two children, so he’s turned out to be quite the family man. He sends me
photographs and details of how my kids are progressing. It’s not the same as
holding them in my arms, but at least it keeps the memories alive, with the
hope that one day, we will meet again.
Rob is still battling and appealing his
capital murder sentence, while stewing on death row. The cell phone recording
was enough for Jeff to get a search warrant. Like many murderers, Rob stupidly
kept trophies. They found the chocolate box in his garage, together with my
service revolver and watch
–
and believe it or not, my
shoes. I guess he was thinking of stepping into them after all. However, those
things aside, the forensics taken from his assault rifle clinched his fate. The
casings and bullets matched those at what they thought had been a gangland
slaughter back at the RV.
Mary? Well, she’s married again, this time
to a doctor, but I don’t dwell on that.
Angelina is still my attorney and trying to
negotiate on my behalf. We haven’t passed on all the contents of the computer,
but we’ve given some of the information to the authorities to secure some
concessions. You won’t find me on any Most Wanted lists, but then neither side
will give up on wanting prosecution and jail time of some description.
Especially FBI agent Walters, who seems hell-bent on carrying on with his feud.
I have a team of private detectives chasing
up leads to get corroboration affidavits for my story, but with most of the
witnesses being criminals, it may never happen.
All I’m left with is my book, the story of
my deadly journey. Only the names and places have been changed. Surfer is going
to arrange for it to be printed up as a print-on-demand novel, and I’ll send
copies to all the government agencies and the presidents, north and south, in
the hope of a pardon. Rich really, when you consider that I’ve done nothing
wrong. The kids will get copies when they get old enough, but other than them
still considering me guilty I’m happy with my life.
Pedro? Well, Pedro is Pedro, if that’s his
real name. He has a farmhouse down the road from us and goes on his travels for
months at a time. The last time he returned he was badly injured and it took two
months for us to nurse him back to health, before he set off on his travels
once again. We never ask what he’s up to on these excursions, but then you
wouldn’t if you knew him personally.
I’m now married to Leandra. Andreas Jiménez
de Silva is my name, loving husband and father to a girl and a boy, Maria and
Alphonse. I found the new career I was looking for as sugar cane farmer and a
citizen of Bolivia.
Leandra, bless her; she put her business
studies to good use. She opened investment companies on her visit to Panama,
transferring sizeable chunks to her accounts from Perez’s offshore bank
accounts as compensation for both our incarcerations. The money is put to good
use. Some of it she invests with farmers to steer them away from making cocaine
and some of it we’ve donated to drug rehab centres. It won’t end the drug wars,
but at least we’re happy that any small
–
though not
insignificant
–
contribution we may make, is creating a
positive difference in someone’s life. After all, to answer the question,
that’s who I am, with whatever name I use; who we are is defined by our deeds.
What would I say to the guy with the “death
and ingratitude” saying if I met him now?
I think I’d tell him my first instincts
were correct and that he was full of crap. I’d also tell him that whatever life
throws at you
–
and forgive the cliché
–
there’s always light at the end of the tunnel of adversity on the
journey we take through life, deadly or not. It just takes faith, hope, a will
to live, and a little nudge from Lady Luck.
The End
Dear reader
I would like to take this
opportunity to thank you for reading my story.
If you liked it please
tell a friend - or better yet, tell the world by writing a review on the book
page of
Deadly Journey
on Amazon. A few short sentences are helpful. As an independently published
author, I don’t have a marketing department behind me. I only have you, the
reader. So please spread the word!
If you have any thoughts you
wish to share with me on my work in confidence, please feel free to email me
at, [email protected]. For a list of my other work, please visit my
author page on Amazon.
Kind regards
Declan Conner
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