Chapter 16: Dusk
It was relatively easy, even for a clean-cut foreigner, to make connections with the Filipino underworld. There were many ways one could infiltrate the local crime syndicate, but the quickest and easiest way was quite sordid. Drugs and money were well guarded and controlled. That left women. Aaron would've preferred the hard path to exploiting this avenue, but they couldn't spare the time and he couldn't save the world. He'd done worse. A few off-color comments in the right places and a call girl arrived at the hotel room, as requested, within an hour.
A German college student considered himself very lucky when an American man renting the adjacent room knocked on his door with an offer he couldn't refuse. The man had prepaid for a visit with the hot little prostitute that stood, eyeing the young German with obvious interest. Apparently, the American's wife had grown suspicious and he felt he better get home right away. He asked the German if he could leave the girl with him as she wouldn't be picked up for another hour and a half.
The prostitute said something to the man in Filipino and winked at the student. "She says she'll make it worth your while," the American told him. "I'll pay her extra for the trouble, but she's all yours if you agree to let her stay."
"What's the catch?" the young German asked. All the man wanted in return was a promise to tip the girl well and the student's ratty straw cowboy hat 'to sneak out of the hotel, in case his wife had a private investigator tailing him'.
"Deal!" the student replied. He would miss his favorite open-weave hat; it was perfect for the sultry Manila climate. But, the exotic heat he indulged in that afternoon, he decided later, was absolutely worth it.
When the handler picked up the young woman, Aaron tracked him to a nondescript store in a busy market area. It took another two tails to find the main compound. Running behind schedule, Aaron figured he had no choice but to snatch the man he determined was second in charge. The right hand man of the top dog always had the same intel of the leader, but was never as tough to nap. Avoiding most of the gang, he did just that and it wasn't long before he extracted details on the group's smuggling network. Aaron was able to get all the information he needed, plus bonus guns, money, and drugs, with only four casualties. One was the driver of a van Aaron calmly drove away in, the rim of his new hat low on his brow. He placated his conscience with reasoning that the city was better off without the men whose bodies lay in his wake.
Aaron sat concealed on a vacant floor of an old building, watching the morgue from a dusty window. The van sat parked in reverse; its rear doors blocked against the cement wall in the underground parking lot. The place looked like it was in enough use that the van's appearance wouldn't be questioned, at least for a couple of days. Aaron observed the activity for about an hour, looking for the best means in. Train and bus schedules, newspapers, car rental brochures and scribbled notes from a quick search at an internet cafe littered the area around him.
As the sun was setting, the last of the employees filtered out of the morgue. Aaron honed in on a trendy-looking younger woman who hung back to dig in her purse. She wore her hair spiky and short on one side; the other was longer and hung in a wedge over her left eye. Eventually she pulled out a set of keys and locked the building. Then she dug out a cell phone, hit a button and held it to her ear with her shoulder as she continued to rifle through her bag. She was pulling out a lone smoke and trying to light it when she dropped her bag. She swore loudly as she bent down to pick it up then exclaimed into the phone in an animated conversation.
Aaron wouldn't have needed his enhanced hearing to listen to her side of the call through the open window. She was asking someone how close they were, who they had with them, and if they had time to stop for drinks. Suddenly a horn sounded from down the road and she shouted out and waved her arm. She shoved the phone back in her bag and neared the curb as a car swung in next to her. She laughed with excitement when a young man, who looked like a Filipino rock star, emerged and rounded the vehicle to reach her. She jumped onto him, wrapping her legs around him. He stumbled to the passenger side of the car as they kissed, all tongues and groping hands. Their friends in the back got impatient and began hollering and pounding on the windows.
The couple broke apart laughing. He opened the passenger door for her to get in but stole the joint from her hand as he did so. He closed the door as she protested playfully and jumped around the front end to slide into the driver seat. With a screech of the tires, the group was off to a long night of revelry and fun.
Aaron smiled from his perch at the antics, yes, but primarily because he had found their in. This just might work.