Chapter Twenty

 

Mose and Bucky had kept their date with the two women that Errol, one of the trainees, had set up for them. They were now at the dance with both of them. They had plenty of money to spend and their accent was particularly pleasing to the women. The liquor like the money had flowed and now both men were being rewarded by their respective woman for the night.

Bucky was glad that Mose had asked Errol to set up the dates for them.

He hadn’t wanted to risk it, but when he saw Leta he knew that he had to have her. She was of medium height, but well rounded with good breasts and legs.

They made love two times that night and she told him how good he was as both times he made her climax. It was about two o’clock when he left the guesthouse.

In the adjoining room Mose was ready for a third session, but Tena pushed him away.

“Mose, why are you so greedy, you’ve worn me out already. Why don’t you stay until the morning?”

“I have to be back on the base by two thirty.”

“Come and get some sleep, Sunday night we can go to a club in Ocho Rios.”

But he was insistent on a third session of lovemaking. He was just buttoning his shirt when Bucky knocked. Tena was still asleep; he didn’t wake her up as he had paid for the room for the entire night.

Jacob had seen the two men at the dance. What alerted him to them was their accent. He guessed that they were Jamaican born Americans. Their accent was deep, which meant that they must have gone to the States since they were very young. On the other hand, they could be African-Americans. And if that was the case, what were they doing in this lonely part of St. Ann? He wondered. The two women, who were with them, were Leta and Tena. He knew that both women’s boyfriends were in America on the farm-work program.

Were these men here to buy weed? He remembered what had happened to his field and the losses he had suffered. He would stick around. He had attended Rattigan’s courses and had been told not to miss anything that looked important. If anything suspicious caught your attention follow it. He went up to the bar to buy a beer and then drifted off into the darkness to watch the two men. He had left Pearline with the kids, telling her that he wouldn’t be long and was only going to greet some friends. During this time he had bought only one more beer, but plenty of soup, as he didn’t want to get tipsy. There were quite a few women at the dance. He had danced with some of them and would have gone away with two, but for his self-appointed mission. The two men were big spenders. He wondered if it was weed money. Jacob waited, finally both men left with their respective woman and he followed them down to the Grove Guesthouse. He decided to wait it out in some trees, as he doubted that the men would stay all night.

He was rewarded two hours later when both men emerged from the guesthouse minus the two women and headed up the road. He crept silently behind them. He saw when they climbed a hill and wondered where the hell they were going. He was still on the trail and had come to a clump of trees now, but he couldn’t see any of them.

Where were the men, had they slipped away from him? He walked on and saw one of them stumbling on ahead of him, obviously tipsy from the liquor and the woman he had just made love to. Where was the other one, he wondered? He was just about to dip his hand into his pocket for his gun when someone shouted from behind him.

“Don’t move, just put your hands in the air,” Mose ordered, pointing his gun at Jacob’s head.

Bucky had turned around and was hurrying towards them.

“Who are you and why have you been following us?” Mose demanded.

“I wasn’t following you, I was going to my house,” Jacob stammered out.

“Where do you live?” Mose asked.

Jacob didn’t reply. He was still shocked at being so easily tricked by the two men.

“There are no houses around here. You had better talk up fast or else I’m going to shoot you,” Mose warned as Bucky joined them.

“Search him, Bucky.”

Bucky’s search revealed the man’s gun and knife, his wallet with over three hundred Jamaican dollars. He had one hundred American dollars and some contraceptives all of which Bucky pocketed, to be shared with Mose later on.

“Let’s take him to the house, Mose. We’ll make him tell us why he was following us.”

“It’s my house, I’m going to.”

“Move, man and walk fast too,” Mose ordered.

Jacob had no option but to do as he was ordered.

He was surprised at the path the two men were taking. It would lead to an old house down in the valley below. As they reached the entrance to the valley, the guards shouted, “Who are you?”

“Bucky and Mose. We caught this guy sneaking around,” Bucky replied.

“What! It’s Jacob,” Churchill, who was on guard duty shouted.

“What are you going to do with him?” Errol, the other guard, asked.

“He’ll have to tell us why he was following us,” Mose replied.

“Some of the guys have gone to a dance. We couldn’t do anything about it, as they said you were gone out too,” Churchill revealed.

“What the hell, those guys will have to be disciplined,” Mose tried to choke back his anger as he pushed his prisoner before him.

“Nothing we can do,” Bucky said. “If it gets out that we were out we might find ourselves out of a job.”

“I’d like to see the man who’s going to leak that information to the boss to blow his damn brains out.”

Mose shook with anger. He turned in Churchill’s direction.

“You give us the names of those guys, Churchill and we’ll have a talk with them,” he demanded.

“I’m not an informer,” Churchill warned. “You want that information you’d better get it from somebody else.”

“What the hell’s gotten into you guys, anyway,” Mose fumed.

Despite their own hardcore experience as frontline gunmen, they knew it would be unwise to press Churchill. The man was short and thick and had New York experience. He was primed to become one of Gaskell Burke’s frontline warriors.

Errol, the other guard, sat on the bamboo bench, cradling the AK-47 assault rifle. He could have volunteered the information to the two Americans as it was he, who had set them up on Leta and Tena for a cool fifty American dollars from Mose but they didn’t ask him. He smiled to himself at how easily these two guys were falling into his well laid trap.

“Move man, move,” Mose shouted at Jacob. “If things continue like this we’ll soon have the whole of the Jamaican security forces down on us.”

“Where do we put this guy?” Bucky asked.

“We’ll lock him up in the boss’ office. Tomorrow he can tell us why he was following us,” Mose replied as Jacob stepped up the wooden steps to the room that would be his prison for the night.

Mose opened the door and they went in. He struck a match and lit a candle. It was a very small room with board windows. A big wooden table and some benches occupied it.

“We’ll have to tie him up, Mose.”

“Shouldn’t be hard to find a rope,” Mose replied. “We’d better post one of the recruits to guard him.”

“I have some rope in my bag, I’ll go and get it,” Bucky said stepping through the wooden doorway.

Mose was alone with the prisoner. He pocketed his gun, rolled some marijuana leaves and lit it.

“When are you going to tell us why you were following us, Jacob?”

Jacob grunted; he knew what his fate would be.

“You, guys had better let me go because if by tomorrow I don’t turn up they’re going to start searching for me and they’re bound to find your camp.”

“Anybody, who comes sneaking around here gets a bellyful of lead. That goes for you too, if you don’t tell us what we want to know by tomorrow,” Mose threatened, turning his back for an instant to Jacob.

“I don’t know anything,” Jacob replied as he swung a piece of board at Moses’ unguarded back. As he swung, Mose spun around catching hold of the piece of board with his left hand and jerking the surprise marijuana farmer towards him. A chop to the back of his neck had him out cold.

Bucky’s hurried footsteps could be heard.

“Heard a struggle inside,” he panted. “You all right, Mose?”

“Yeah, sure, Bucky. This guy tried something and I had to knock him out cold.”

“Well, so long as he’s in one piece, it’s all right with me,” Bucky said as he stepped into the room with the rope and saw Jacob fully stretched out on his back.

“Sure you haven’t broken his back, Mose?” he asked, kneeling down to feel the fallen man’s pulse.

“It’s beating,” he told his companion.

“Let’s tie him to the table. Even if he wants to move, it’s pretty heavy for him alone to move it,” Bucky stated.

They tied Jacob’s hands and feet to the table with the rope. The two trainers then surveyed their work.

“He won’t be escaping tonight for sure. Tomorrow we can tie him out in the sun to refresh his memory,” Mose declared.

“I feel sleepy,” Bucky declared.

“Same here,” Mose chipped in. “Well, let’s go,” he said as they departed for their sleeping quarters.

            ***

Joey stood behind the big guango tree and saw the two men march Jacob off into the darkness. They had captured him, but why? At first following Jacob, he had been certain that he was in league with the two men. But this was now shown to be not so with his capture.

He continued to follow from a distance, his gun drawn and making sure to keep in the darkness and not to step on any dry twigs. What he saw next surprised him even more. The men were leading their prisoner down to an abandoned old house, which must be their hideout. He went further up the hill until he came to a tree that was overlooking the valley in which the house was situated. Once in the tree he had a good view of the house, which was in total darkness. He picked out the figures of the three men as they came down to the entrance leading to the house. They stopped now and from his observation point, he saw that some more men were down there with them. They must be the guards. He soon lost them in the darkness. He sat in the tree and pondered what to do next. Maybe they had a camp down there, hence the need for guards. But a camp for what? Marijuana was the most obvious answer. But where would they get it? The night was cold, he wanted a smoke, but the guards down there might see the light and turn their guns in his direction. His chances of rescuing Jacob were slim, as he would be up against several obviously well armed men. The best solution would be to go to the Factory and notify the boss.

Then he remembered about Niah’s death and the shooting of Shower and Gungoo.The gunmen had gone into hiding. Could this be them? He wondered. He had better let the boss know about his discovery fast. It was about three o’clock now. He would need time to take a nap before going into Kingston in the morning. So thinking, he carefully descended the tree and retraced his steps back out to the road before hurrying home for his nap.

            ***

Ardez listened to Joey’s account of Jacob’s capture and then hung up. He told him not to leave, but to have a meal and some sleep. The boss would certainly want to talk to him. Mc Creed wasn’t home and neither was Fred Billings. He left a message with Caslyn that whichever one of them got home first to get in touch with him urgently.

Meanwhile, he sat down to consider over what Joey had just told him. Two African-Americans, maybe there wasn’t much to it anyway, but it would be good to investigate the incident plus there was the freeing of Jacob. The man had done yeoman service for the organization. He hoped that the boss would be home shortly to get his message from Caslyn.

            ***

Bendoo sat in his cell, it was his second day and as yet he hadn’t heard what his fate was to be. It was hard living; his only ration was bread and bush tea in the mornings and bread with lemonade in the evenings. He knew that guards were being posted. So far he hadn’t heard anything about McCreed or Fred. Wood must be wondering what had happened to him. Two more days or a week would send jitters through Special Branch. He knew that they might try something, he was eager to hear if anything was breaking. He doubted it very much. It was hot inside and he judged the time to be about noon. He didn’t get anything to eat at this time.

Obviously Fred was very close to McCreed having been brought up by Mc Creed. From the talk he had heard from the men, although he and Lorena had grown up like siblings, Fred being ambitious was more than overprotective of her and several would be suitors had gotten the message and had moved on. He wondered if the girl was in danger, because if McCreed died, then he would take over.

***

Lorena drove her Mazda 323 through Ocho Rios towards Paul’s house. He had told her of his encounter with Fred and of the threatening phone calls he had been receiving. She knew that they originated from Fred and she had confronted him about it. He had vigorously denied her accusations. Now, as she lay in Paul’s arms in the afterglow of their lovemaking she wondered if Fred was telling the truth.

“That guy, Fred Billings, is a creep.”

“Don’t worry about him, when I see him again, I’m going to warn him to leave you alone.”

“I’m not afraid of any man, and if that guy doesn’t change his behavior I’m going to beat him up.”

“Don’t bother doing him anything, Paul. If he doesn’t have anything positive to tell me, I’m going to talk to daddy about him.”

Secretly though she was worried as she didn’t know how he would fare against Fred’s volatile temper.

“Why don’t we get married?” he asked.

“Look how many times I’ve told you that I need some more time.”

“You’ve told me that I’m a good lover. We love each other and have spent a lot of time together. I don’t see what we’re waiting for.”

Lorena burst out laughing.

“You can go on, Paul. Anytime I get married, I don’t want to make any mistakes.”

“Okay, baby, if you say so,” he said and rolled on top of her.

“You ready already?” she asked and kissed him and their lovemaking started again.

***

Gus McCreed sat at the head of the table around which sat Fred Billings, Ardez, Premba and Grosset.

“Two African-Americans, are you sure about that, Joey? It could be two local guys, who went to the States, picked up the slang and are now showing off,”Mc Creed stated.

“I’ve gone to the States several times, boss and I know how they speak. Their accent is much deeper than our people, who go over there and pick it up.”

“They were at a dance near to my house. They had two local women with them. They had plenty of money and were buying loads of liquor and food. Then they went to sleep down at a guesthouse.”

“You followed them, Joey?” Gus asked.

“No boss, I saw Jacob following them and I got suspicious and followed him. I was hiding in some bushes, when I saw them stick him up and took him down to their hideout. It seems as if a lot of them are down there.”

“It puzzles me what two Americans would be doing down here and in that part of the country, except they are on a mission,” Ardez suggested.

“What kind of mission, that’s the big question? We know that Jack Marriot and Brad Elliot are in jail. Danny King is also in jail. I think all of them were in this together. There are still others out there fighting against us,” McCreed declared.

“Their last strike was pretty expensive, it cost us one man. Shower and Gungoo are still in hospital,” Premba declared.

“We have to find out about those two men. It could be that they were brought down here to fight against us,” Fred opined.

“We aren’t going to sit down and do nothing,” McCreed said. “They have Jacob and we have to get him away from them. He’s one of our best growers, we can’t let those men do him any harm.”

“We have to get those two women to help us. We’ll give them some money to make them talk. After we find out about those two men we can spy on their camp to find out what they’re doing. How come they have a big camp like that and the police don’t know anything about it?” McCreed finished.

“Our security forces are useless, they couldn’t work anywhere else but out here,” Premba stated.

“We’ll soon know what those men are doing down here. Premba, you take Lance and two other men and go down there with Joey. You get to those two women and find out more about those two Americans.”

“Once they see me they’ll know that they can trust you. They’ll talk, but the money will come in handy because they’re not working. Both of their boyfriends ran off on the farm-work program.”

“Can we trust them to keep their mouths shut? They might just tell those two men about us,” Fred warned.

“Tena will keep her mouth shut, but I’m not too sure about Leta.”

McCreed considered for a moment.

“We’ll try money first, if they refuse, Lance can go to work. If they cooperate, you make sure to tell them that if they tell those two men about us, Lance will be coming after them for sure.”

“Why don’t you send Butler and Grosset too,” Fred suggested.

“We’re going to need them for the heavier action. Ardez, I’m advising you to put all the units in training for a possible assault on that camp. If we have to attack them, you’ll brief the men further. Bendoo’s group will be merged with the other groups.”

“You think the security forces will attack Wareika again?” Joey asked.

“Not for now, but we’re ready for them anytime they come again,” Ardez boasted.

Fred Billings looked at his watch.

“Hell, it’s nearly one o’clock. I have an appointment at two.”

“You can wait for me, Fred,” Mc Creed told him.

“What am I to say about Jacob’s disappearance, boss?” Joey inquired.

“Just keep your mouth shut and let Premba and the team stay at your house tonight.”

“If you destroy the camp, when you’re returning, just empty out your guns into Bendoo, I’m not stopping you. K’s still trying to find out what he told them about us. He has activated all of his people to find out everything about him.”

“What happened to Bendoo?” Joey asked.

“He was passing information to our enemies. We locked him up at Wareika,” Gus told him.

“Damn the traitor, he could have set us up. He knows where some of our fields are located,” Joey said.

“We’re going to take care of him Joey,” Mc Creed reassured him.

“We found the information on him, he never had time to pass it,” Ardez chipped in.

“He was writing a whole book about our organization, but we caught him in time,” he added.

“I hope he doesn’t escape before you kill him,” Joey remarked.

“Don’t worry Joey, he’s going to get what he deserves on Wednesday night. But tell us more about those two women,” Mc Creed requested.

“As I said before, they have two children each. I’ve heard that their men have run off on the farm work program.”

Mc Creed digested it and didn’t comment.

Fred Billings stood up.

“You ready, boss?”

“I guess so, well, I’ll be seeing you men,” he said, easing out of his chair and following Fred out of the room.