Page 35 of Invincible
CHAPTER11
Andreas could alreadysense trouble brewing.It wasn’t anything that he could put his finger on, but he always listened to his hunches.Something about this shipment made the hair on the back of his neck rise.
Cristiano had informed him this morning that he had already made contact with the men from the ship who would help load and oversee the merchandise until it arrived at its final destination.
“Tell me about the ship,” Andreas said.
“It is one of Señor Silva’s larger ships.It travels mostly between here and Rio,” Cristiano answered.
The Silvas owned one of the largest shipping companies in South America.They also were one of the largest human smugglers in the world, with Andreas being one of their suppliers.Once it cleared into international waters, he would not have to worry about anything happening to it.Even the pirates that ran off the coast of Mexico knew to leave the Silvas alone.
“When do we load?”
“According to my sources, The Mariposa should begin unloading in three days, it will take most of a day to unload her, then they will be ready to reload.We’ll be ready to go by then,” Cristiano said.They were standing near the water, Andreas looking through a high-powered scope at the boat in question anchored to the side of the channel.
“Have you finished the arrangements?”he asked.Andreas took care of the more delicate parts of the operation, but he left it to his men to handle the other details.He could not be expected to deal with everything.
Cristiano would pay off the inspector, hire the truck driver, arrange for the extra sailors and load the girls when the time came.Andreas had other things to deal with, like finally settling on twenty-seven hundred dollars per girl.Tomás had contacted him yesterday to accept the offer.
“Yes, sir,” Cristiano answered.They stood for a few more minutes, watching the ship before he spoke again.“There was one small problem.”Andreas cut his eyes quickly to his second-in-command.“I’ll handle it, but I thought you should know,” Cristiano added quickly.“The sailors showed up at the warehouse when I was at the docks.According to the man I left to watch the cargo, one of them was too rough with one of the girls.”
“Did he damage the property?”Andreas should not have to explain what damage to one of them would do to their value.If the damage was too great, he would have to replace her with a local girl.Something that was an unnecessary risk in this area.But Tomás had contracted for twenty-four total, so that was what he would get.Any variation could cause Andreas to lose the years of respect he had built with the smugglers.
“No, no.She scratched him and my man was able to stop him from doing anything more.There is no damage to her.”Andreas thought about it for just long enough to make Cristiano squirm.There could be no room for error.Especially with this feeling of unrest settling into his brain.
“You will handle the situation.”It wasn’t a question.Andreas expected his men to be ruthless in protecting his business.If he could not count on the man to deal with one sailor, he would find someone who would.
“Y-yes, sir,” the man stammered.Good.He needed to remind them why he was not to be fucked with.
Handing Cristiano the scope, Andreas started back to the car.When he reached the door, he turned around, spearing the man with what had been described as a glare that could bring giants to their knees.
“Make sure you do,” he said before gracefully sliding into the car, Turner closed the door with a resounding click.He climbed into his seat and slipped the car in drive.As they pulled away, Andreas smiled, watching a terrified Cristiano stare after the car.“Take me back to the hotel.”
“Yes, sir,” Turner answered.
“And Turner, find that pretty receptionist and bring her to my room.I could use a diversion for a little while before my next meeting.”
“Yes, sir.”Andreas watched Turner’s normally stoic face stretch into a wicked smile in the rearview mirror.There was no doubt in his mind that his trusted chauffeur loved this game as much as he did.
Dex smiled at Tyler when the door of the diner opened to the sound of bickering.He had suggested they meet for lunch today to catch up on what the other group had discovered, if anything.He had explained that with Knox crawling into bed around three in the morning and Dex leaving at five, even staying in the same room they hadn’t had a chance to speak much.Tyler just hoped they had more information than she and Dex had managed to find out.
“And I told you the answer is no.Now get in the booth,” Knox growled when they stopped at their seats.
“You get in the booth,” Greer snarled back.Knox crossed his arms over his chest, looking down at her.After a brief stare down, she huffed out a breath before sliding into the inside of the booth.Folding himself into the seat next to her, Knox glared across at Dex.
“Her cornbread ain’t done in the middle,” he said.
“I know what that means, jerk.”Greer slapped Knox in the chest with her hand, almost knocking over her water glass.He was saved from another smack when the waitress walked up to take their order.
Tyler watched as Knox ordered a breakfast meal that she doubted even two men could finish before handing the menus to the waitress.With her eyebrows raised in question, she looked over at the two across from her, waiting to see if they would fill her in on what their latest squabble was about.
“Last night, Greer overheard a table of men talking about a load of special merchandise they were supposed to leave with next week.”Dex sat up straighter at Knox’s words.Could this be the break they had been waiting on?
“One of the men had a scratch on his face that he said one of the ‘cargo’ gave him.I called Memphis a little while ago to see if Mia knows anything about it.If one of the girls says she scratched one of the men, we’ll have somewhere to start.”
“So, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to flirt with them a little to see what else I could find out,” Greer continued.“I did find out a couple of things before Popeye here ripped me away.”
“Hey,” Knox growled.
