Mega #02 Baja Blood (2 page)

“Lucky you,” Kinsey said and pointed to the bathroom. “Get showered and dressed. No way I’m handling my cousins on my own.”

Gunnar Peterson was of Scandinavian descent and had blond/red hair with a strong build, but he was a John Hopkins trained physician, not a Navy trained killer. Trying to fight off Kinsey Thorne was like a kid fighting an angry parent: a couple good hits may happen, but in the end the kid goes where the parent wants. He walked into the bathroom and shut the door then looked into the mirror and frowned.

“Lookin’ good,” Gunnar laughed then started the shower.

Best friend to Kinsey’s ex-husband Darren Chambers, Gunnar had known Kinsey and Darren since they were kids, growing up in the same San Diego military dominated neighborhood. While Darren and Kinsey had pursued a life in the military (Darren as a SEAL and Kinsey as a Marine before trying out and washing out of BUD/S), Gunnar had always been the intellectual. He got his medical degree, but when Darren came to him with a wild story of a giant whale he’d seen, Gunnar dropped medicine and got a second degree in marine biology.

The two men had embarked on a wild whale chase, and were ridiculed for it, until they found the thing. And so much more.

Part of Team Grendel also, Gunnar offered for Kinsey to live with him in his trust fund paid for condo. Sometimes Gunnar wondered if he hadn’t been insane when he made the offer. But most of the time he loved having an anchor like Kinsey around. It connected him to his past and gave him history to hang onto when things got crazy. Which they always did.

Such was the life on a Team.

***

“Ricardo,” McCarthy said, forcing the smile back on his face. The smile was lost again quickly as the man frowned at McCarthy. “Uh, Mr. Espanoza, I mean.”

“Are they ready, James?” Ricardo Espanoza asked, his voice smooth and completely void of any accent. He sounded like an American, and with his light skin and blue eyes, could have passed for a beach boy in any Southern Californian city. “As promised?”

McCarthy looked at Dr. Morganton and she shook her head.

“Not yet,” McCarthy responded. “We need maybe a day or two to go over the latest test results. If they look as good as we think they will then the subs will be ready for you to use immediately.”

Espanoza cocked his head and stared at McCarthy. He looked the man up and down then shook his head.

“A promise is a promise,” Espanoza said, pointing at one of the techs that were busy securing the subs to the docks.

An armed man walked over to the tech, raised his AK-47 sub-machine gun, and put three bullets in the tech’s back. The tech screamed and fell forward, plunging into the water between two of the subs. The man fired again and again, peppering the floating body with bullets before it slowly sank below the surface.

“Let me ask again,” Espanoza said, his face passive, the complete opposite of everyone else’s faces in the marina hangar. “Are they ready as promised, James?”

McCarthy looked back at Dr. Morganton, his eyes pleading with her. She took a deep breath and finally nodded.

“Yeah, they’re ready,” McCarthy said. “We can deliver them to you tomorrow.”

“No, I don’t think so, James,” Espanoza said. “I am in need of them today. You said ready today so I made plans for today.”

He waved a hand and one of the men stepped forward and leaned in close as Espanoza whispered to him. After some brief instructions, the man hurried off out of the hangar while the other men remained where they stood, sub-machine guns at the ready.

“Jimmy?” John asked, taking a step closer to McCarthy. Guns were turned on him instantly. “What the fuck is going on? Who is this psycho asshole?”

There were intakes of breath from several of the armed men and they moved forward, but Espanoza held up his hand and they stopped in place.

“Ricardo Espanoza at your service, Mr. Sherman,” Espanoza said, walking over and offering his hand. “You may call me Mr. Espanoza. I am not fond of being called asshole. However, I do not mind psycho. It has flair.”

John looked at where the body had just sunk then at the armed men. He reluctantly shook Espanoza’s hand.

“Okay, Mr. Espanoza, who the fuck are you?” John asked.

“John, not now,” McCarthy warned. “Just hang tight, okay? I’ll explain later.”

“You keep your men in the dark?” Espanoza asked McCarthy. “Good practice, James. Never give out information unless you absolutely have to. Information is currency in this world.”

A large cargo door began to roll up into the top of the hangar and a truck beeped shrilly as it backed into the space, headed for the dock everyone stood upon.

“But there are many types of currencies,” Espanoza laughed. “Some more valuable than others.”

The truck stopped and Espanoza snapped his fingers. Half his men hurried to the truck, lifting the back door to reveal several white bundles wrapped in heavy-duty plastic. Each bundle was the size of a large barrel and it took two men each to pull the bundles out of the truck and onto the dock. When they were finished, there were a total of sixty bundles waiting by the water.

“Jesus,” Bart said. “Is that…?”

“It is,” Espanoza smiled. “Never seen that much coca before, Mr. Stern?”

“How do you know my name?” Bart asked, looking over at McCarthy. “How does he know my name?”

“I know all of your names,” Espanoza said. “Information as currency, remember?”

“But I don’t know you,” John said, his face scrunched up in anger. “How about you tell us who you are?”

“John!” McCarthy snapped. “Clam it!”

“No, no, no, that’s fine, James,” Espanoza said. “I have already said my name, but I assume you want to know what I do since that truly defines a man.” With barely a movement, he had a 9mm pistol in his hand, pointed at a spot right between John’s eyes. “I am the man in charge. There is no disputing that. And I am the man that holds your life in my hands. Would you like to live, Mr. Sherman?”

“Yeah, I would,” John replied, not impressed with the pistol pointed at him. “But that’s not up to me, is it?”

“No, it is not,” Espanoza replied. “I am very glad you are realizing that. Do you need me to explain myself more, Mr. Sherman? Or can you infer from what is happening around you what it is I really am?”

“I’m getting the picture,” John said, his eyes glancing at the bales of wrapped cocaine kilos. “Loud and clear.”

The 9mm was gone as quickly as it had appeared and Espanoza clapped his hands together.

“Have your people load the cargo,” Espanoza said to McCarthy. “You have practiced the routes I gave you?”

“They have,” McCarthy replied, looking at the three sub pilots. “They just finished a run a few minutes ago.”

“Good,” Espanoza nodded. “I would like the submarines to depart within the hour. There is a fishing vessel waiting within US waters, just off the coast of San Diego. They expect delivery by 5pm this evening.”

McCarthy quickly checked his watch and blanched. “That’s cutting it close.”

“Is it a problem?” Espanoza asked.

“No,” Dr. Morganton said, stepping up. “Let me make some adjustments and they can be ready for service.”

“Dr. Morganton, right?” Espanoza asked.

“Yes, sir,” Dr. Morganton replied.

Espanoza looked her up and down. “Your career is impressive. Why are you working with James? I’d think you’d have a better future elsewhere.”

“Money provides whatever future I want it to,” Dr. Morganton said. “Don’t you think, sir?”

Espanoza laughed. “That it does, doctor!”

***

“Really?” Kinsey said, her phone to her ear as she talked to her cousin Max. “I thought you were coming here first?”

She looked down at the pancakes she was busy scorching, then over at the pile of pancakes that looked even less appetizing.

“There’s breakfast, Max,” she said.

“Yeah, sorry, Sis,” Max replied over the phone. Not having a sister of their own, the Reynolds always called their cousin Sis. It was endearing, but unfortunately, it seemed to give them license to pester her like a little sister. “Wait…breakfast? It’s like noon, dude. You gotta get a regular schedule, Sis.”

“You saying you won’t eat pancakes after a certain time?” Kinsey asked.

Gunnar walked into the kitchen, a towel wrapped around his waist, and squinted against the bright Southern California sun that streamed in through the many windows of the open floor condo. He watched as she mangled the food, shook his head, then went into the living room and turned on the TV.

“
-that officials are calling the most addictive form of cocaine they’ve ever see
n
,” an anchorwoman reported.
“
911 calls of overdoses and drug induced psychotic breaks have almost doubled in areas such as La Jolla, and other affluent areas, puzzling police
-
”

“What was that, Max?” Kinsey asked then pulled the phone from her mouth. “Gun! Can you turn that off or turn that down?”

“Fine,” Gunnar said as he switched off the TV and walked back to the kitchen.

“I said I have no time limit on pancakes, and could totally go for some now, but we’re hitting the VA first,” Max said. “Tell Gunnar we’re sorry we missed his cooking.”

“Gun didn’t cook,” Kinsey said. “I did. It’s my new thing.”

“Oh,” Max said. “Uh…great?”

“Fuck you, cuz,” Kinsey said.

Gunnar picked up a pancake from the plate of “done” ones, looked at the almost white side, flipped it over and stared at the pitch black side for a second before looking at Kinsey.

“Fuck you too, Gun,” Kinsey snapped.

“Yeah, so I love you and will see you soon,” Max said. “Totally stoked to hang with my cousin and her gay roommate.”

“That’s Dr. Gay Roommate, assmuncher,” Gunnar said, leaning into the phone. Kinsey shoved him away. “You should really turn the volume down. Or just put it on speaker.”

“Oh, shit!” Kinsey shouted as one of her pancakes burst into flames. “How the fuck is that even possible?”

Gunnar took the phone from her as a second pancake caught fire.

“Um, Kinsey is busy burning my condo down, can I take a message?” Gunnar laughed then winced as Kinsey grabbed the flaming pancakes with her bare hands and threw them into the sink. “Jesus, Kins…”

“How’s the roomy sitch going, dude?” Max laughed. “Out of the honeymoon phase yet?”

“Oh, we left the honeymoon phase the first time Kins didn’t shut the bathroom door to take a shit,” Gunnar replied.

“Nice,” Max laughed. “It’ll be good to see you.”

“You too, Max,” Gunnar replied. “How’s Shane?”

“He’s about to go in and get his eyehole probed,” Max said. “He’s looking forward to it.”

The voice of Shane saying, “Fuck that” could be heard easily.

“Sounds like it,” Gunnar laughed. “Oh, shit! Kins! The drapes are on fire now!”

“You better go,” Max said and hung up.

“Sorry,” Kinsey said, hosing down the drapes with the kitchen sink’s spray nozzle. “There. All fixed.”

***

“You’ll have to push the subs at speeds we haven’t tested yet to make your deadline,” McCarthy said.

“Do what you must,” Espanoza said.

“What I must? How do you mean?” McCarthy asked, pointing at the subs. “You want delivery, here is delivery. Once these subs leave this hangar I’ve done my part.”

“Oh, no, I am sorry for not being clear,” Espanoza said. “Since I have not had time to train pilots, I will need yours to make the deliveries.”

McCarthy blanched. “You can’t be serious? My guys didn’t sign up for this. They’re here to test the subs only, not be a part of your drug trafficking.”

“Their roles have changed,” Espanoza replied. “They will be compensated, of course.”

“I’m out,” John said, throwing his hands in the air. “I didn’t agree to run drugs for some cartel fuck!” He pointed a finger at Espanoza. “You gonna shoot me? Then shoot me! I could give a fuck, asshole! At least I die with my honor!”

“Will Carli die with her honor, Mr. Sherman?” Espanoza asked. “Or what about little Jack? Will he die with honor too?”

John stumbled a bit at the mention of his children’s names. He was able to keep his balance, but he didn’t know for how long.

“What do you know about them?” John asked. He glared at McCarthy. “What did you tell him about my kids, Jimmy?”

“Nothing, John,” McCarthy said. “The guy does his homework.”

“Which will be something your eight year old daughter will never do again if you do not get into your submarine, Mr. Sherman,” Espanoza smiled. “And little Jack is what? Five? He will never get to do homework at all. Not when my men are through with him.”

***

“Shane Reynolds?” a nurse called as two double doors swung open.

“That’s me,” Shane said, jumping to his feet. He smiled at the nurse, looking her up and down. “And who are you?”