“Not bang the redhead doctor?”Ghost laughs.“I thought you’d use a wish for that.”
I slam my beer down, lean forward, and point my finger at him.“You want a bullet in your guts to match mine?Because one more fucking word like that and—”
“Come on, cut it out.”Jock curls his lips in a snarl.“I need you to concentrate.The Hyenas are gaining territory, our forefathers would turn in their graves, and we need to stop them.”He looks at me.“Stay on topic, man.”
“I am.”I scowl.“But it’s hard to take them out when we don’t know how they’re operating, I mean, have we seen any of them around?”
“Copper Mountain was the last sighting.They were heading west, fully loaded most likely and off to make a packet.”Jock shakes his head.
“So, how are they getting the drugs into the city?Through the airport now?”
“As good a guess as any.”Tank nods.
“Mules?”I say, feeling sick as I utter the word.Hiding vast amounts of drugs internally is as dangerous as it is stupid.“Likely unwilling mules.”
“Fuck,” Ghost mutters and rubs the ink on his cheek.“Low-life scum.”
“We’ll kill all those motherfuckers when we catch them.”Jock plonks his gun on the table.
“No goddamn mercy,” I say, a need for our brand of justice gnawing at me.“Not one drop.”
****
Scarlet
The next night is another wildly busy shift but when it’s over one patient is playing on my mind, so instead of going home, I go up to the ward to check on her status.
Her name is Consuela, no surname, and she’s from Bogota.When she was admitted, she was unconscious and foaming at the mouth.A full epileptic seizure quickly followed and it took vast quantities of naloxone, the antidote to opioids, to get her stable.
An ultrasound had revealed three condoms full of cocaine shoved into various orifices.One had burst and the contents being absorbed into her bloodstream had caused her acute and potentially fatal condition.
“Hey,” I say, pulling up a chair and sitting at her bedside.“How are you feeling?”
She studies me for a moment.“Like shit.”
“I was the doctor who looked after you when you came in.Can you remember?”
She shakes her head.“I can’t remember anything after the plane landed.”
“The plane from Columbia?”
She swallows and grimaces.
I help her have a drink of water through a straw.
“You were very sick.Those drugs inside you had given you one of the biggest overdoses I’ve ever seen anyone survive.”
“Shh.”She scowls and looks around the ward.“I can’t let anyone know about that.”
“I’m afraid the hospital staff caring for you know, how could we treat you if we didn’t know the cause of your illness?”
“Fuck,” she mutters and her eyes dart to the entrance to the ward.“I need those drugs back, what’s left of them.”
“They’re gone.”
“Mierda.I’ve got to get out of here.Now.”
“Why?”
