Rodriguez Series

1. The King is Dead

Jorge Delacruz sat on the terrace of his hacienda on the outskirts of Medellin, Colombia. The death of his nephew and the imprisonment of his niece had changed him. The leader of the most powerful d**g cartel in South America, went from being a charismatic, level-headed businessman who ran his empire like a corporation to a paranoid and unreasonable man, quick to anger and violence. Most of his cartel associates had abandoned him to join other gangs and some he killed thinking they were stealing his merchandise or betraying him. The rain forest just outside his hacienda was a burial ground for people who ran afoul of Jorge Delacruz. He stared at the jungle as if expecting the spirits of the people he killed and buried there to rise and seek revenge. The only people who remained loyal to him and were still at the hacienda were his manservant, his staff, and his bodyguard, Carlos.

The silence was broken by his manservant yelling his name. "Mr. Delacruz, Mr. Delacruz, come quickly. There"s a big fire across the river."" Carlos and his manservant were already at the rear of the hacienda when Delacruz arrived. Black smoke and flames were visible through the jungle growth.

"Go and get the binoculars, the powerful ones we use for hunting," Delacruz instructed his manservant. After doing so, he handed them to Delacruz. "Are my eyes deceiving me or is that El Moreno"s Palacio on fire?” He let out a loud laugh and handed the binoculars to Carlos. "Here, look, isn"t that the cabron’s hacienda? Die you putto, die!"

His manservant asked, "Padrone, may I see?" He looked through the binoculars as the faint sound of sirens pierced the jungle. “It seems the fire brigade has arrived. I see lots of flashing lights."

Delacruz replied, "They won’t save it. It will crumble to the ground along with his merchandise. The flames are too high. I hope he burns along with it.”

His manservant, still looking at the fire through the binoculars, saw two cars approaching. "Padrone, two cars are approaching from the south at high speed."

Delacruz grabbed the binoculars and observed two black SUVs coming towards his hacienda. He turned to Carlos and said, "Bring the weapons and hurry. Let’s greet them properly.” He turned to his manservant, “Go home to your family. This is not your war.”

"No, padrone, give me a weapon. I’ll stand with you."

Delacruz replied, “If we all die here, who will take care of your family?"

His manservant replied, “I’ll make sure we don"t die here.”

"Carlos, give him the pump shotgun. There’s no need to aim; just fire in their direction. Good luck, amigos.” The cars were only about fifty feet away. The men aimed as they came to a screeching halt. The lead car driver’s side window quickly rolled down, and a white handkerchief was waved frantically in the air. "It seems they want to talk, not fight."

A voice from the car called out, "Jorge, it"s me, Miguel. I brought you some men."

Delacruz turned to Carlos. "What do you think, do we let them come in?" Without waiting for an answer, he yells, "Miguel, show yourself. Let me see it"s you."

Miguel stepped out of the car with his hands up. "See, it"s me. I have men who want to join us."

"Get back in the car and drive forward slowly,” weapons still trained on them with caution. "Okay, all of you come out of the cars and let me see you."

The men exited the cars with their hands in plain sight. Miguel replied, "See, Jorge, I"ve come with men who are willing to fight and restore power to your family.”

Delacruz walked up and down, inspecting the seven men standing before him. "What did you bring me? Farmers and peasants?” He turned to one of the men, "You, have you ever killed a man?"

The man looked down at the ground. "No, Mr. Delacruz, just goats and chickens."

Delacruz looked at Miguel and shouted, "Well, if I’m hungry I know who to call. After you kill them, do you know how to cook them?" Carlos let out a laugh as Delacruz continued to look at the men. He noticed three standing together dressed in suits, the telltale sign of a weapon in a shoulder holster apparent to him. He approached them. "What about you? You have the look of killers, but are you?"

One of the men replied, “We used to work for El Moreno, but he is no longer with us."

"Really? And where is he?"

“Right now he"s floating down the Medellin River. He should be in Medellin in about half an hour,” one of the men answered. They all laughed.

"You three are the only men that worked for El Moreno?" inquired Delacruz.

“No. There were more; but they, too, are no longer with us."

"What happened to them?”

One of the men answered, "I killed them."

"You killed them? How many and why?"

"There were six. They refused to join us, said they wanted to go home to their families, the putos. So, I forced them into a room, locked the door, and burned them alive." There was a long silence as the men glanced at each other.

Finally, Delacruz spoke. "You burned six men alive because they wanted to go home to their families? Delacruz grabbed the shotgun from his manservant and aimed it at the men. "If any of you move, I"ll kill all of you. Carlos, take their weapons and search them."

The men looked at Miguel nervously as Carlos removed guns and knives from the men and placed them on the table by the pool. “So, did you bring me any money? I heard that there were many millions of dollars in that hacienda hidden away. Perhaps you brought me jewelry or artwork. What did you bring me?” The men were silent. “Nothing. You stupid f***s killed six men, burned down a hacienda worth millions, and you have nothing to give me. Do you smell that? That’s the smell of millions of dollars going up in smoke. I need men, or I would send you all to hell. So, you want to join me? Let’s see if you’re worthy of my time. Now, let"s sit down. We have a lot to discuss. When I"m satisfied that you mean me no harm, I"ll return your weapons." The men sat around the table and Delacruz continued. "I had a nephew. His name was Diego. He was my dead brother’s son. I raised him from the age of ten and taught him everything I know. In the beginning, I taught him how to kill; and he was good at it. He killed when he had to, but he would never lock unarmed men in a room and burn them alive for the sin of wanting to go to their families. Unlike you,” pointing to the man, “he wasn"t a coward. Later, he studied finance and became my financial counselor. He was one of the smartest men I knew, and my money was always safe and never traceable.” Delacruz turned to the man. "You, what do you bring to the table?"

The man nervously replied, "I was El Moreno’s bodyguard and his closest confidant. I did everything for him."

"Are you the one that killed him or was it you three together?"

"Jorge, what does it matter? We"re here now," asked Miguel.

"It matters, Miguel, because perhaps one day they"ll do it to me. So, answer me. Who killed El Moreno?""

The man answered, " I did it alone."

Delacruz sat quietly as the manservant brought trays of food, snifters of brandy, and bottles of wine to the table. Delacruz whispered something to his manservant; and he hurried off, returning a short time later with a newspaper clipping in his hand. Delacruz asked the killer his name.

The man answered, “Santiago Molina."

Delacruz handed him the clipping. "I have a job for you, Santiago Molina. Look at that page. Do you see the cop there, Rodriguez? I want you to kill him. Show me you can kill someone armed and capable of killing you. Believe me, do not underestimate this man." Molina looked at Miguel and back at Delacruz, not sure what to say.

Delacruz continued, "Well, do you think you can do it? He"s a policeman in the United States, surrounded by other policemen. He was there when my nephew was murdered; and one at a time, they will pay."

Molina wasn"t expecting to be tested so early on, and he was not sure what to say. Delacruz spoke again, "Okay, okay, I see that you have no words so I will speak. If you do this for me, I"ll pay you half a million American dollars upon proof of his death."

“What kind of proof do you want?”

"I want to know that he is dead. How you do it is up to you. Bring me his f*****g head. I don"t care—just prove to me that he"s dead. I"ll want your answer after lunch.” The men smoked cigars as the table was cleared. Delacruz waited for the staff to leave then asked Molina for his decision. Molina, still nervous, looked to Miguel for a lifeline.

Miguel said, "Jorge I’ll go with him, you know, to cover his back."

"Cover his back!” Delacruz let out a laugh. “This man just single-handedly killed El Moreno and burned six men to death. No, Miguel. Let me tell you what"s going to happen. I"m going to give Mr. Molina here money for plane tickets and expenses. He"s going to New York, Long Island to be exact, to find this Rodriguez and kill him.” Delacruz turned to Molina and warned, "If you fail, don"t come back to Medellin because I"ll kill you myself. If you succeed, bring me the proof and I"ll give you the money. If Rodriguez kills you, I don’t care. I"ll send another one of you three. I"ll send all of Medellin if I must until this man is dead.”