Chapter 31

I stumbled as I got down from the helicopter, I was tired and to be honest stunned at where I was. That Isai had brought me here troubled me no end. I had no idea what he hoped to achieve or find out. That I was now well and truly in the middle of this didn't bode well, I had to try and get a message to Ranger. He would know what to do, he always did. I stood next to the helicopter and waited, I must have looked a sight, bedraggled and hesitant. Then it struck me, Les was going to come here and check out the area, he was going to see whether or not any of the mines showed any activity. With that thought I took off the cap and ran my hands through my hair, praying that maybe someone was watching from a distance and that they were my Merry Men and not the bad guys. Surely the arrival of a helicopter in this area of Colombia wouldn't go unnoticed.

A truck was making its way across to us, an old looking flat back with a large cabin. As it stopped in front of Isai he turned and looked at me. I wasn't going to move until he made me. He took me by my elbow and guided me to the truck, helping me into the back seat. It was very different on the inside, the leather seats were clean but worn and I could see that it was equipped with a radio of some sort. Isai sat in the front next to a man dressed in dark brown cargos and a T-shirt, but the gun he was carrying wasn't hidden. It was in a holster at his hip, obviously there were no issues here regarding carrying weapons. The vehicle drove fast through the small streets, though there were very few other cars about and from what I could see not many people either. We were soon on a long straight stretch of road with the occasional dirt track leading from it. Eventually we turned down one of the tracks, the dust billowing behind us. There were no signs of any other houses that I could see. The track ended at a set of tall solid metal gates that were slid to the side to let the truck through. As I turned to look back, I could see two men with rifles across their backs stood on either side of the gate. Ahead was what looked like a single story house with a verandah running across the front, but we didn't stop there. Instead we drove further into the compound, until at last, the truck stopped in front of another similar looking building that was maybe smaller than the first one.

Isai opened my door for me to slide from the seat onto the gritty ground and led me to the front door. Once inside I was surprised at what I saw. The room we were in was large with an area with couches in, another area had a large wooden table and chairs. I assumed a kitchen would be through one of doors beyond the dining area. The room was bright and clean with colored cushions and throws. The floor was a a shiny dark wood with rugs made from different colored material. I followed Isai to the right where there was a corridor with two doors leading from it. Isai went to the second door and opened it, allowing me to pass into a bedroom. There was a large wooden bed and matching wooden cupboards and drawers and then in the corner was a bathroom with a shower, toilet and basin. It was weird to me that the bathroom had no door, but if there was only me in here then I would make it do.

"This house was originally used for workers but I decided to use it instead"
"What about the large house?"
"My mother lives there with her carers, she has dementia so never leaves the building"
"Where do the workers live now?"
"There's a bunk house further into the wooded area but most travel from their homes here"
"So what happens here?"
"Nothing, it's kept clean and maintained. It's usually a lot quieter but I've brought in some men for security"
"Why are we here?"
"I said we'd go back to the beginning, I was born here"

"Have you always lived here?"
"Until I was old enough to leave, the place holds lots of memories"
"This place, the helicopter, do you have money?"
I watched as he sat down on the bed so went and sat next to him, somehow I had a feeling that whatever he was about to say saddened him.

"This property has been in my mother's family for years. When my parents married my father worked with my grandfather so he could take over the business"

"What business?"
"The family owned several mines in the area"

That had the gears in my mind working, and for once he was telling me something that I felt was going to be very important.

"What do they mine?"
"Did. They mined for gold and precious minerals"
"What happened to the mines?"
"There was a serious accident in one of them, a lot of men died and more were injured. The damage made it impossible to reopen it. My father was wracked with guilt, he lost a lot of friends that day. His moods became worse and there wasn't anything anyone could do. In the end he committed suicide"

"I'm so sorry Isai"

"I was made to start working with him just before the accident, but I didn't want to. I had ideas of going to university and that led to us arguing a lot. My mother didn't dare go against him so in the end I just left"
"So you could have died had you done what he'd wanted?"
"I suppose. I came home for my mother, but not often, and he was never the same. After his death I separated my life form here, I wanted nothing to do with it"
"So you inherited money you never used?"
"I suppose. Family money and money from the government after the accident"
"Sorry, why did the government give your family money?"
"The politicians at the time thought they could profit from owning the mines, it never came to anything though. They weren't in office long enough"

I was deep in thought after what he'd told me, somehow, I felt that his family history was important. There had to be a reason why someone was targeting him.

"Estefania, you were miles away, what were you thinking?"
"How you were right, that maybe your past can give us some answers"

"How about we think it over while we eat?"
"Yeah, I do feel hungry"

We walked back and through to the dining table which now had plates set out on the table. I had to say I was curious as to what I would be eating.

"It's called bandeja paisa. You'll find steak, ground beef, chicharrones, rice, beans, an egg, avocado, an arepa, and plantains"

"It smells good and looks extremely bad for you"

"It probably is. You won't find a lot of vegetables being used at the moment, and they tend to prepare food that is filling"

I really enjoyed the combination of food. From the rice to the meat and no veg in sight. I have to admit though that even I couldn't eat everything. Once finished, I took my lead from Isai and picked up my plate and cutlery then followed him through a door into a kitchen. There was an older woman in there who was busy pouring water into a pot. She smiled at Isai and took the plates from us, a constant stream of Spanish coming from her. I smiled at her but had no idea what she was saying. In some ways she reminded me of Ella with her mannerisms. She was probably a similar age to Ella with a face that was warm and friendly. Unlike Ella who ensured her looks were neat and tidy, this woman had her grey tinged hair pulled back into an untidy bun and wore clothes that hung from her frame. Clothes that just didn't fit her, but I suppose were the norm for women around here. As we made to leave, she stood in front of me and placed a hand on my cheek.

"Ella es muy bonita"

"Ella pertenece a otro hombre

"Entonces asegúrese de que ella regrese a él. Ella es especial Isai"
I just knew she was talking about me but wasn't sure of what she said. She handed me two old mugs and a metal pot to Isai then shoed us from the kitchen. Isai led the way out onto the verandah and set the pot onto a table. As he went back inside, I poured us both a mug of strong hot coffee, pleased when he returned with cream and sugar.

"What were you thinking about before?"
"That there has to be a reason why someone hates you so much"
"Go on"
"What if this is to do with the accident at the mine. I mean there has to be a reason for using the name Fábrega"

"All I know is what Ali told me, that he died in the accident"
"Was she close to him as a father?"
"No, he barely spoke to her. In fact, he was barely there with them. I'm not even sure why he married her mother"

"Did he know about . . ?

"I don't know"
"You know about that then?"
"Yes, Ali told me. We'd worked it out together, she was doing so much better on the new medication"

"So did she say if he had any other relatives or maybe children?"
"No and I remember my father saying the only family he had were a daughter and wife"

Hell, I was no closer to finding out who Fábrega was, but I knew I was on the right track.

"Do you want to call Ranger?"
I nodded my head barely able to keep the smile from my face, I really hoped Ranger had found something out. The more time I spent with Isai the more I was believing him, and damn it, I liked him. I took the phone as he passed it to me, knowing he wouldn't leave while I talked. I dialed the number that was always imprinted in my mind and waited as the call connected. It happened almost immediately, the sound of his voice bringing tears to my eyes.

"Babe, are you okay?"
"I'm okay"
"Are you safe?"

"Les would smile if he could see me"
"Babe?"
"Did you find out anything?"
"No. There's next to nothing to be found about a man called Isai Falla, it's as if everything about him has been erased or he isn't who he said he is"
"I have another lead to follow up on, hold on while I ask Isai"
I cupped my hand over the phone and turned to Isai hoping he'd give me the information I needed.

"Isai, what's the name of your mother's family, the name that would have been the owners of the mine?"

I could see he was struggling with deciding what to do, he would have to trust us with that information. He sighed as he looked back to me.

"Suárez, my grandfather was called Jose Suárez"

"Thank you, Isai"

"Did you hear that Ranger?"
"I did. Babe?"
"Yeah"

"I'll see you soon. Para siempre, como mi pareja, amante y esposa. Mi alma gemela"

"Te amo con todo mi corazón Carlos" I finished the call and returned the phone to Isai, I felt edgy following that call, hoping Ranger had understood what I was trying to tell him. I needed to do something because there was no way I could just sit around waiting, doing nothing. I also wanted to take a look outside and try to assess just how many armed guards there were here. I wasn't thinking of trying to escape at the moment, I mean where the hell would I escape to? No, I had to trust that Ranger would find me or that Isai decided we needed to return home. "Isai, I need to be doing something. Do you have any of the records your father kept from the mines?"
"How would that help"
"I don't know till I see it, maybe a name or place"
"They're probably in the main house. There's an office there and I'm sure nothing would have been thrown out or destroyed"
"Can we go in there?"
"I suppose, there's an outer door that leads into it. Father would often spend hours in there without disturbing us"
"Is there paper and pens I can use"
"Probably in the office"
I finished my coffee and followed Isai as he walked toward the big house. I hadn't really had chance to look around, so as I walked, I tried to take in my surroundings. There was a high wall that seemed to surround all of the buildings with the only obvious entrance through the gates we'd come in through. There were men still at the gate and as I looked around, I automatically started to count how many armed men there were. My focus was interrupted by the sound of children laughing, turning I saw two young girls playing with a skipping rope. "Some of the carers and kitchen staff bring their children with them, though maybe with me here I need to reduce that number"
"It works both ways Isai, a compound with women and children may distract attention away from you"
"Maybe" By now we'd reached the side of the house and I could see a set of doors ahead of us. I was surprised that they were open and just followed Isai inside. I slowly turned around taking in the room. The walls were covered in shelves which were filled with books. There was a desk and chair that allowed someone to look out through the doors while they worked. No computers were in sight, so it looked like we'd have a lot of reading to do if what we needed was here. "Any idea where to start?" "He was a very organized man, so we look for the last ledgers that he was using" As I moved toward one of the walls and the books, I noticed just how dirty and dusty the place was, I also realized that I would have to wipe the dust from the spines to read the titles. The first book I looked at had a date in the 30's so I moved further around the room and started again. I was really pleased when Isai called out my name because my nose was itching to the point that I was going to start sneezing. "I've found the books from the year before the accident"
"Okay I'll start going through that while you collect the rest together"
As Isai handed me the books I sat in the chair at the desk. There was nothing on the desk accept dust. I started looking through the books relieved that the writing was in English, everything was handwritten in small neat script writing and looked to have been done in ink. It took me reading the first page a few times to fully understand what was being recorded. "Isai, I could do with a plan of the mine that shows where these numbers are referring to"
"Okay I'll take a look around" I looked up from reading the first book as Isai handed me a pen and paper and went back to reading. There seemed to be an entry for each day giving the quantity of rock removed, where it came from and then the percentage of each mineral that was eventually processed from the rock. The last column looked to have been filled in at a later date. I glanced through a few more pages and saw they were the same but was attracted to the mention of gold on the third page. I left the book open at that page and started on the second book that Isai had left for me. This book obviously paired up with the last one except this gave information on the men who were doing the work and the time they labored for with, I presume, a value for their wages. I went to the third page and cross referenced the two books and discovered the names of the men who had been responsible for extracting the rocks that would eventually yield the gold. "Isai what does a rock that has gold in it look like?"
"I suppose it would be a grey color with some white quartz running through it and a rusty sprinkling through it. Sometimes you can actually see specks of shiny gold in it"
"So the men working the mines wouldn't know which rocks actually gave up gold?"
"Not really, the tunnels were dark, and conditions were poor. They simply dug the rocks from the earth for it to be transported for processing" I wasn't surprised when I found the name Fábrega in the books or that he seemed to work with a team in areas of the mine where gold was eventually extracted. I started to make notes of when Fábrega was mentioned, the time he worked for and the quantity of ore he extracted and where. The first two books covered a month and were records from ten months before the accident. I then went back to the beginning of the first book and found another name that looked to work the opposite shift to Fábrega. I made similar notes for this man as well and then compared my results. For some reason whilst both men's teams seemed to extract the same amount of rock, the yield of gold from Fábrega's rocks was a lot less. That didn't make sense. If they worked the same rock face, then why was Fábrega down with the yield of gold?
I jumped ahead and found the two books from a month before the accident and wrote down the same information. The pattern was the same as before. I turned one of the sheets over and started to write down some possible answers. I sat there with the pen in my mouth thinking of explanations. The only answer I could come up seemed stupid. If Fábrega and his team were stealing gold ore where did they hide it? If the team still handed over the same quantity of rock where did they get it from? "Estefania, I think I found a plan of the tunnels"
"Do you know where the accident happened?"
"I'm not really sure. I know it was in one of the lower sections, maybe just beyond the elevator that went down"
"Were there a lot of men down there?" "If you look you can see that there were five arms that were being worked. Three mid level and two at the lower level. Most men from the teams on the middle level were rescued but the damage was too extensive to save those on the lower level"
"So they never recovered the bodies?"
"Some yes" "Do you know who?" "I don't know. There were maybe eighty men down there, I think only thirty survived. I don't know anymore"
I looked at the plans that were now spread across the table. All together the area of mining was vast, but each area was meticulously labelled with a reference number. It took me ages to finally find the area that matched to the sections that Fábrega had worked in. It was on the last plan that I looked at and was in the lower level.

"Isai what are these lines?"
"Common features in a mine include drifts or horizontal tunnels, colored blue, shafts or vertical tunnels, colored green and winzes or air vents, colored red that are much smaller and can be at any angle underground"

"Did they use dynamite?"
"No, too dangerous. They would have used basic equipment like jack hammers and picks and then have rails in the tunnels to run the ore out to the elevator for it to be taken up to the surface"

I studied the plans more carefully seeing other words written down, one such word was adit, so I would need to find out what that was. I really needed access to a computer and Google.

"Isai, can I take these books back to my room?"
"Sure, what else do you need?"

"A list of men whose bodies weren't found"

I collected my papers together along with the plans and headed out of the door. I suddenly felt so tired probably due to not really sleeping very well on the helicopter. We walked back to the house where I was staying and telling Isai my intention to head to bed, I went straight to the bedroom. Having turned the lock on the door I stripped the clothes I was wearing and went in to try the shower. I was thankful that the water was hot even though the pressure was low. It was enough to wash and rinse my hair and clean every inch of my skin. Wrapped in a towel I looked around for the bag that had come with us from New York but didn't see it anywhere. There was a small closet with a single door and there inside hanging up were some of the clothes. A look in one of the drawers revealed some underwear and a nightdress. I slipped the towel off and pulled the nightdress over my head and down. It seemed to be made from cotton, had thin straps, and fell to the middle of my thighs. The bed was calling my name so without another thought I was soon fast asleep.

I should have known that dreams wouldn't stay away. The sound of gunshots invaded my mind and with that came the image of Lula as she had laid bleeding beside me. There seemed so much blood pooled underneath her and my hands were covered as I tried to stop the bleeding. Then suddenly it wasn't Lula laid there it was Ranger, as he'd fallen in my hallway in my apartment the night that Scrogg had shot him. I woke suddenly with my hand on my shoulder, over the scar that was now healed from that night in Miami. This was why I hated guns, not because of any injury I suffered from, but from seeing other people being hurt. As I lay there thinking through the dreams that I'd had I was aware that something seemed wrong. For some reason I stayed very still, something definitely didn't feel right. The room was still dark but with a hint of the impending sunrise that would bring a new day breaking in through the edges of the drapes. What I did know without a shadow of a doubt was that I wasn't alone in the room.