Breaking Creed

65

Falco waited in the SUV at the end of the driveway, exactly like he was told to do. But he wasn’t happy about it. He was getting tired of being bossed around by Leandro.

As an apprentice to the Iceman, Falco knew that he needed to stand back and be ready for when the hit squad captured the dog handler. And he actually looked forward to what the Iceman had planned — a brilliant combination of insect bites and stings in an arena-style setting of challenges that the Iceman promised would be worthy of the ex-marine.

Still, Falco longed to be a part of the men who were now sneaking through the woods like savages hunting prey. He was reminded again of those stray dogs in his hometown. The mayor had hired his own hit squad to round up the mutts. He even gave permission to shoot them in the street, although that plan backfired. No matter how much the people of the village wanted the dogs gone, they did not want to witness such savagery — or be caught in the line of fire.

Falco had volunteered for the mayor’s hit squad, and the man laughed at him.

“You’re not big enough to even hold a rifle,” the mayor told him, and then laughed again, humiliating Falco in front of the others.

He felt like Leandro was always trying to do the same thing to him. Always pointing out to the others how young and inexperienced Falco was. Not that Falco wanted to shoot dogs. He actually felt sorry for the beasts. They didn’t stand a chance against the weapons these men had chosen to bring. It was a bit ridiculous.

When Falco had helped recruit these men for this mission, he left it up to each man to bring the weapon or weapons of his choice. Leandro said that was best. Make them account for their own weapons. Ex-military guys never seemed to have a problem getting their hands on a wide assortment of firepower.

Leandro had even insisted that this be part of the contract. That way, if any of the men were caught by law enforcement during any part of the operation, the weapons could never be traced back to Choque Azul, and instead, made each man look responsible.

Okay, so sometimes Leandro could be smart. Although many of the men Falco worked with said that Leandro’s father was still the mastermind, even from behind prison bars. There was even talk that the Iceman might be taking over.

Falco tapped out another cigarette, impatient and wanting to calm his nerves. He’d need to turn the engine on soon and cool off, again. He didn’t dare open the car windows because he knew he’d have more mosquitoes than he would have breeze.

He had pulled the vehicle off the main road and onto a patch of dirt that connected the neighboring pasture to the road. Trees and shrubs gave him cover on one side. He could still easily see the long driveway, but he had given up trying to see the men through the woods.

He was about to light the cigarette when he thought he saw a flash of light in the rearview mirror. That was impossible. He was backed up to the pasture. Nothing but cows, and even they had left. The dark and the quiet were starting to make him imagine things.

Then suddenly someone knocked on the passenger-side window. Falco startled with a manic jerk that banged his knee into the steering wheel. He fumbled for the revolver under the seat but stopped when he recognized the face — the scarred face — staring in at him with a crooked smile.

He turned the switch and hit the button to lower the window. He remembered the guy from Segway House — Colfax was his name.

“Did you decide you wanted to be a part of the action after all?” Falco asked him.

“Something like that.”

A flood of light hit Falco in the face. This time when he reached for his weapon, Colfax shoved the barrel of his handgun through the open window.

“Might not be such a good idea.”

The floodlight shut off, and it took Falco’s eyes a few seconds to adjust to the dark. When they did, he could see a strange contraption five feet in front of his SUV. It resembled a wheelchair, only with caterpillar tracks that made it an all-terrain vehicle. In the raised seat was the crippled guy also from Segway House. He had a rifle pointed directly at Falco’s head, and he was grinning.