Читать книгу The Foreign Girls - Sergio Olguin - Страница 19

Five drove him to the apartment where he’d be staying for the time being. It was where Calle Brasil crosses Matheu, in one of those run-down buildings subdivided into many units. The building was located just a few blocks from the old Caseros prison, an irony not lost on Three, who had done time there at the end of the 1990s, not long before it closed down.

He couldn’t go back to his old apartment because a prosecutor or judge might just turn up there accompanied by police. But Doctor Zero’s people had made sure his belongings were brought to the new place. Clothes, shoes, what little crockery he had, a CD player he didn’t use, an electric shaver, a fake ID that might be useful for some transactions but which would never pass muster with the police. Not much more. And the apartment was partly furnished: a table, two chairs, a mattress, a pillow, some blankets. They had also left him a bag containing maté, coffee, crackers, toilet paper, soap and a bottle of Bols gin. He opened the bottle and took a swig from it.

Five had also given him a mobile with the number written on the back. There was a missed call on it, from Five, in case Three needed to contact him or Doctor Zero. He went out for a walk even though he wasn’t sure how far he could go without attracting attention. Feeling hungry and thirsty, he decided to walk to Calle San Juan and found a pizzeria where he ordered a small mozzarella pizza and half a bottle of Moscato. Now that he was free again he would have to go back to taking care of himself. He had started getting fat in prison. The exercises he was doing there weren’t the same as intensive training in the gym. The television in the pizzeria was tuned to a news channel, but there was nothing about a prisoner having escaped during a hospital transfer. Three 57returned to the building complex that housed his apartment. Nobody paid him any attention. A new neighbour wasn’t noteworthy. He plugged in the CD player to see if the radio worked, then threw himself down on the mattress with the bottle of gin beside him.

The next morning Three went early to El Turco Elías’ gym on Flores Sur. El Turco greeted him with a hug. He was in a safe space: the police never went to the gym except to deliver Christmas greetings. El Turco also worked for Doctor Zero, keeping an eye out for promising thuggishness among the boys who went there to pump iron or to take part in more rigorous training.

They sat down in the gym bar and El Turco ordered Three a protein shake he brought in specially from the United States: it nourished while at the same time burning fat and building muscle. Then he took him through to the offices. At the back was a room that seemed built to withstand a nuclear attack. There was a safe in it, where Three kept his savings and something else: a Glock 39 and four six-bullet loaders, .45 GAP calibre. But El Turco Elías had taken him there to give him two envelopes from Doctor Zero. One contained money: payment for the work he was going to do the following day. In the other was a gun, a 9 mm Sig Sauer with silencer, photos and details of the target. He put everything into the safe and went to the main gym room to start his routine. At midday, Five and Six turned up. They all went to the grill on the corner and ate sweetbreads with fries. Five explained the job to him. All very straightforward.

After lunch, Five stayed with him to do weights. Three took a shower after his routine and then put his savings, the Glock, the loaders, the Sig Sauer and information about the target in his gym bag. Five offered to drive him to the apartment and left him on the corner of San Juan and Matheu. 58They agreed Five would come by to pick him up at half past eight in the morning.

Three put the bag in the bottom of the closet and covered it with an old bedspread. As he had slept well the previous night and the exercise had filled him with energy, he decided to go out to a whisky bar on Avenida Garay, a little before Calle Boedo. He had been there a couple of times, but nobody knew him. Three picked out a girl with dyed blonde hair, small tits and a nice ass. She was wearing hot pants and a top that exposed her stomach. She was called Luli. They went to one of the rooms at the back of the building. He spent fifty minutes with her and came twice. Between one screw and the next, she told him all about her life, but Three wasn’t all that interested in the girl’s story. When he went, he left her a hundred-peso tip.

He walked back to the apartment. Brought out the weapons. He cleaned the Glock and put it away again. He counted the money. He thought that he shouldn’t have taken out all his savings. Even though he had a job the next day, he couldn’t stop thinking about his revenge plan.

When Three woke up at six o’clock in the morning, he drank a few matés and ate a few crackers. At eight o’clock he went downstairs. The same type of Audi that One and Two used to drive was parked across the road. Inside, Five was smoking with the window down.

They had to get to Calle Moreno, in La Tablada, before ten o’clock and wait a few yards from a lottery kiosk called San Cono. At quarter past nine they were there. It was still early, so they drove around the area for a while. At quarter to ten they were back on Calle Moreno. They parked about thirty yards away, on the other side of the road.

At exactly ten o’clock they saw the owner of the kiosk walk past, unaware he was being watched. He arrived at the kiosk, 59lifted up the shutter and went inside. Five and Three got out of the Audi and headed for the kiosk. When he saw them walk in, the owner knew straightaway that these guys hadn’t come to pick a lucky lottery number or place a bet on the horses.

“Lads, I’m just opening. There’s nothing in the till.”

Three took out his gun and stepped closer.

“If Tito sent you, I can explain —”

The first shot hit him in the forehead. Three finished him off with two shots to the chest. Thanks to the silencer, the bullets made more noise as they ripped into the tissue of the man’s body than when they were discharged. His body lay splayed behind the counter. As the lottery seller had grasped just before they killed him, the men weren’t there to rob him, but now they needed to simulate a robbery. They opened the till, which contained only a few pesos in change, and took the owner’s phone and his wallet. Job done, in under thirty seconds. They strolled back to the car then drove away. Once they were on Route 3, Five called Doctor Zero to let him know everything had gone as planned.

Three gave the weapon they had used to Five, who also kept hold of the stolen items and the photos of the target. He would be responsible for ensuring there was no trace left of compromising evidence. Neither of the men knew who the Tito named by the dead man was, but he must be the one who had paid for their services.

Even though it was early for lunch, on the way back they stopped at a grill beside the road. They ate tenderloin sandwiches and drank a bottle of Vasco Viejo, the best wine on offer. Then Five dropped him off at the gym and Three did a workout. When he finally left the gym that evening it was with the thought that now he could start putting into action the plan he had been hatching since he was first admitted to hospital.60