“Or,” said Taylor, “Luis is brave and loyal.”
“Or he just needs the money. Or he’s reporting to Worley.”
“How did you become so cynical?”
“It’s an act.”
“Had me fooled.”
The doorman opened the rear door and Taylor got in. Brodie climbed into the front passenger seat. Luis greeted him with a strained smile. There was no Joropo music playing.
Brodie gave Luis a rundown of their plan to drive by the Marriott and then through the old quarter of Petare before heading into the July 24th neighborhood.
Luis asked, “Are you armed today?”
Brodie replied, “We are. And you?”
“Sí. Always.”
They drove out of the security gate and down the leafy streets of Altamira.
Luis informed his passengers, “The National Guard sets up checkpoints around the slums, and sometimes you do not see them until it is too late. They are mostly looking for guns and drugs brought in by locals. But they also stop foreigners, so we must hide our weapons.” He assured them, “I have a special compartment for this.”
“If we’re stopped, we’ll bribe them,” said Brodie.
Luis shook his head. “They will possibly not be bribed. A few of them are not corrupted, and the ones who are would probably choose to put you in jail until your embassy pays a big fine.”
Brodie didn’t think Worley had that in his budget. So… should they keep their guns on them? Or try to hide them in Luis’ special compartment which was probably not so special? He wished Luis had mentioned this last night. In any case, they had to avoid a stop-and-search. “We’ll keep our guns, but you need to avoid the checkpoints.”
Taylor said, “Scott, we have no right to expose Luis to this.”
Brodie asked Luis, “Are you okay with this?”
Luis didn’t reply, and clearly he was conflicted.
Taylor said to him, “Pull over.”
Luis pulled to the side of the road.
Taylor said, “Thank you, Luis.” She asked, “Can we get a taxi to Petare?”
“In the day, yes.”
Brodie asked, “Can we get a taxioutof Petare?”
“No.” He added, “And a car and driver to Petare is difficult.”
“Okay,” said Brodie, “take us to a car rental agency.”
Luis did not reply, but pulled his gun and said to Brodie, “Please open the glove compartment.”
Brodie looked at him, then opened the glove compartment.
Luis leaned over, dropped his gun into the black, felt-lined compartment, and closed the door—then reopened it, revealing that the gun was gone. He said, “Just like in a magic show. Yes?”
“You are truly a magician,” said Brodie. He unhooked his pancake holster and Glock and took the spare mag out of his pocket, and repeated the trick. Taylor handed Brodie her holster, gun, and mag, along with the Taser and zip ties. “Now you see it…,” said Brodie as he put Taylor’s stuff in the compartment and closed it, then opened it. “Now you don’t.”
Luis forced a smile. “A good trick. Yes?”
