BooksBarbecue
Back The Counterfeit Candidate Save as PDF
Chapters (61)
  1. Prologue
  2. Chapter One
  3. Chapter Two
  4. Chapter Three
  5. Chapter Four
  6. Chapter Five
  7. Chapter Six
  8. Chapter Seven
  9. Chapter Eight
  10. Chapter Nine
  11. Chapter Ten
  12. Chapter Eleven
  13. Chapter Twelve
  14. Chapter Thirteen
  15. Chapter Fourteen
  16. Chapter Fifteen
  17. Chapter Sixteen
  18. Chapter Seventeen
  19. Chapter Eighteen
  20. Chapter Nineteen
  21. Chapter Twenty
  22. Chapter Twenty-One
  23. Chapter Twenty-Two
  24. Chapter Twenty-Three
  25. Chapter Twenty-Four
  26. Chapter Twenty-Five
  27. Chapter Twenty-Six
  28. Chapter Twenty-Seven
  29. Chapter Twenty-Eight
  30. Chapter Twenty-Nine
  31. Chapter Thirty
  32. Chapter Thirty-One
  33. Chapter Thirty-Two
  34. Chapter Thirty-Three
  35. Chapter Thirty-Four
  36. Chapter Thirty-Five
  37. Chapter Thirty-Six
  38. Chapter Thirty-Seven
  39. Chapter Thirty-Eight
  40. Chapter Thirty-Nine
  41. Chapter Forty
  42. Chapter Forty-One
  43. Chapter Forty-Two
  44. Chapter Forty-Three
  45. Chapter Forty-Four
  46. Chapter Forty-Five
  47. Chapter Forty-Six
  48. Chapter Forty-Seven
  49. Chapter Forty-Eight
  50. Chapter Forty-Nine
  51. Chapter Fifty
  52. Chapter Fifty-One
  53. Chapter Fifty-Two
  54. Chapter Fifty-Three
  55. Chapter Fifty-Four
  56. Chapter Fifty-Five
  57. Chapter Fifty-Six
  58. Epilogue
  59. Author’s Note
  60. Acknowledgements
  61. About the Author

Pedro’s face was now frozen with fear. He looked up from the pictures and glared at his two interrogators before speaking for the first time.

“Who did this and why?”

Vargas picked up the photos and placed them back in the folder.

“Two very good questions, Pedro. Questions we don’t yet have an answer to. But we do know one thing – you and your friends have seriously pissed off some very powerful people who appear as if they will stop at nothing to retrieve whatever’s in their stolen box. It seems that whatever they are looking for must be in your share of the haul. So, I’ll ask you again, where have you hidden it?”

Pedro was clearly stunned by the revelations but decided that for now his best chance of survival was to say nothing. He needed some thinking time and, at least for the moment, he was safe from whoever was out there looking for him. After two minutes of total silence, Vargas collected the folder and stood up from the table.

“Señor Pedro García, you leave us with no choice but to charge you with the unlawful entry and robbery of the safe depository at the Banco Estero on Avenida Cabildo in the Belgrano district. As it’s Friday, you will remain in custody over the weekend and then, on Monday, you will be taken to the federal courthouse in Morón, where you will be formally charged.”

Vargas and Torres made their way to the door while Pedro sat quietly in his chair, contemplating his fate. The chief inspector turned to look back at García.

“You seem an intelligent man, Señor García. Hopefully, a couple of nights’ sleep in a cell will help you to remember what you did with your cut.”

Chapter Twenty-One

13 January 2012

Buenos Aires

Matias Paz had summoned his key men to another emergency board meeting. He sensed the sombre mood in the room and chose his opening words carefully.

“Gentlemen, sadly we’ve lost two of our brothers and, while we mourn them, we all know the risks involved in what we do. The success of this operation is key to the survival of our company and, right now, we are failing badly. I can’t accept that. Failure is not a fucking option.”

After Paz and Herrera, Hugo Otero was the longest-serving employee in the company, holding the title head of operations. Like most of the men in the room, in a previous life, he had served with Paz as a mercenary and knew the prospect of an untimely death came with the territory.