Notes
Soundtrack suggestions:
The Athene:
- The Card Game - Bear McCreary, Battlestar Galactica: Season 1.
Torres and Bonel:
- Jaws of the Viper - Ramin Djawadi, Game of Thrones: Season 5 (starting from 01:02).
-o-
I just saw Claire Dearing and Owen Grady in the company of a strange man at the Laden Mule inn, in Burgo Nuevo. My suspicions are confirmed: they're spies! Please do something about them before something bad happens!
June 29. 2019 09:45 pm
From: Jocelyn
Having just read the message, Edward Torres turned off his phone, put it in his pocket and watched the street go by outside the taxi's window.
I'm already on it, Jocelyn. Already on it...
Torres had decided to take action against the couple even before Site D's manager sent him that message. The spy camera he had left at the abandoned house in Burgo Nuevo had taken footage of the couple in the clandestine laboratory and transmitted them back to the Alajuela base, where he had viewed them on his laptop. Confident that the couple would investigate as soon as rumours of secret research would reach their ears, that they would not give up and do their best to find the house before they left, Torres just waited patiently for them to take the bait and to his great satisfaction, they had. He had even left on purpose a photocopy from the health record of the Indoraptor born there, a photocopy that Claire Dearing had of course picked up and shown to their mysterious contact at the Laden Mule. That poor and naive Jocelyn believed he was an agent of one of their rivals but the director of the security division would have rather bet that he was one of the government, who had been sticking to them like glue since the Fall and sent spies in Burgo Nuevo's area.
The cab slowed down and pulled up next to the sidewalk a little further on, near a nightclub whose purple neon sign depicted an owl: The Athene.
Located near the Obrero cemetery, in the Hospital district, it was one of the busiest nightclubs in the urban area of San José and the director of InGen's security division had an appointment with its owner, a local businessman named Sebastián Bonel.
Torres paid the driver and got out of the vehicle, heading for the nightclub's entrance. A long line, mostly made up of young people, stretched out on the sidewalk but Torres did not enter it and walked past it, raising some protests among those waiting. Seeing him heading in his direction, the bouncer posted at the entrance frowned.
"Señor?"
"I have an appointment with Mr. Bonel," the director of InGen's security division answered in Spanish.
"Wait a moment, sir. What's your name?"
"Torres. Edward Torres," he replied. "InGen," he added quietly.
The bouncer activated his ear piece and asked if his boss was expecting someone with that name. When that was confirmed, he nodded and looked at Torres.
"It's okay. You can come in."
No sooner had he moved away than Torres entered the nightclub. He walked past the reception desk and quickly stepped into the main room, which was crowded and very noisy. The dance floor in the centre had disappeared under the countless dancing bodies of patrons who moved according to the techno music chosen by the disc jockey, posted on a platform in a corner. But Torres was not there to have fun. He headed to the back of the nightclub, where Sebastián Bonel's office could be found. This made him bypass the dance floor and the surrounding furniture and as he made his way through the clientele, heedless of his presence, he saw several of the customers, including teenagers barely over the age of majority, swallowing some sort of violet pills. Unicorn Candy, the latest drug in the country and a potential future scourge among Costa Rican youth according to the police.
Passing by an octagonal bar, Torres took a short flight of stairs and came to a part of the club that was quieter than the dance floor below, with long sofas and small tables. Most were occupied by small groups or couples busy drinking, chatting or just slouching with a dazed look.
They're really stoned.
In one of the sofas, a young man in his twenties took a Unicorn Candy from his pocket and gently put it in the parted mouth of his girlfriend, who was at least a few years younger than him. Then they kissed, languorously, passing the candy from one mouth to the other with their tongues, wishing to share together the sensations provided by that drug.
At the entrance to a small hallway a few meters away, a burly man in a singlet with a rattlesnake tattoo on his shoulder and an earpiece was waiting for Torres. The latter recognized him.
"Good evening… Bruno, is that right?"
"Mmh…," he growled.
Bruno invited him to follow him with a hand gesture and he opened a door on their right. They entered a long room with two desks, a long sofa, a coffee table, several shelves, as well as a series of chairs lined up in front of curtains that hid a bay window which overlooked the Athene's main room.
"Mr. Bonel will see you in a moment."
Torres sat on one of them and lifted his polo shirt a little to unbuckle the pouch he had hidden under it, in order to avoid having it stolen in the crowded nightclub. He buckled it back, this time over his polo shirt, and felt it, as if to check that its precious content was still there. Looking up, he noticed that Bruno had a bandage on his right index finger.
"Have you done any DIY recently?" he asked.
"What do you think, sir?" Bruno replied in a slightly mysteriously tone which confirmed Torres' suspicions.
"Oh, I see."
The door to the office opened soon after and two men appeared in the doorway. The first was a skinny thirtyish young man with stubble and wearing a T-shirt, and the second was a fat middle-aged man dressed in a shirt and pants, with long curly hair tied in a ponytail and a neatly trimmed beard: Sebastián Bonel.
"Drive carefully, Luca," he told the other man in a soft, friendly voice. "The road between here and Jacó is dangerous at night. Contact me shortly to inform me of business developments."
"It will be done. Good evening, sir."
"Have a good evening. Exit through the back door. Bruno will show you the way… He will escort you to your car."
Luca nodded slightly and then left, following Bruno while rolling a large suitcase on the floor. Torres was sure of one thing: The suitcase carried everything but clothes.
"Ah, Mr. Torres," Sebastián Bonel greeted him in English. "Please come in."
They went into the office and after closing the door, the owner invited him to sit on one of the two armchairs facing his.
"How is business going?" The director of InGen's security division asked
"Good. Our small business is growing and destined for a bright future despite some... negativity in the media. Our product is a great success in the Central Valley and soon, the merchandise will be sold throughout the country and even beyond. All thanks to you and InGen. How can I return the favour to you? I've heard that InGen will soon leave the country."
"It will. But before returning to the United States, I have one last thing to ask you. A commission."
"A commission? Of what kind?"
Torres crossed his fingers and leaned forward slightly.
"There are two ex-company employees involved in the ongoing operation in Burgo Nuevo," he told Bonel.
He then took out some pictures and put them on the desk. Sebastián Bonel picked them up and looked at them. They were photos of Claire and Owen, taken without their knowledge at Site D.
"Isn't she the former director of Jurassic World?" he asked Torres. "She was fired from InGen. How is she involved in your operation?"
"She and her boyfriend are here on behalf of one of our partners, but they got snoopy and found things they shouldn't have."
"What kind of things?"
Torres then put a wad of cash on the table. He let Bonel take it and inspect it.
"Oh, my question was indiscreet," the latter said. "Your secret business has nothing to do with the Cascabels. You want me to send my people to pay them a visit?"
Torres took another wad from his pocket, thicker than the first.
"Before Monday at sunset. The boat leaves in the evening."
The gangster picked up that second wad and leafed through it.
"That's all?" he asked once he was done.
"The rest will come once I have confirmation that they have been... dealt with."
"Mr. Torres. I must inform you of recent changes in the company's policies. From now on, we ask our customers to pay the full amount before we can accomplish the requested service. I'm sorry, but too many unpaid commissions forced us to adopt this change."
"Alright. Take the rest from the royalties you owe me for this quarter. Is it possible?"
"It should be."
"So it's a deal?"
"It's a deal."
They shook hands, stood up and headed for the door.
"You have my number, Sebastián. Give it to those who will be tasked with this mission. I'll give them the green light when the time comes."
"Very well."
"Have a good evening."
"Good evening, Mr Torres. And good luck with the operation."
Bonel watched Torres walk past Bruno and out of the room that acted as the waiting room and an office for the employees. Bruno closed the door behind the InGen executive and the leader of the Cascabels gang approached the curtains which he moved aside a bit so his eyes could follow Torres amidst the Athene's clientele. When he was sure that the director of InGen's security division was indeed leaving, he closed the curtain.
"Bruno?" he asked over his shoulder.
"Sir?"
"Call Jesse and Mateo."
"Jesse and Mateo? But we have more experienced men for this kind of missions. They're juvenile delinquents, not professionals."
"Certainly Bruno, but the time has come for them to prove their worth if they want to be part of the family in the long term. A crippled former white-collar and a zookeeper shouldn't be much of a problem for them..."
"Very good sir."
Complying, Bruno left the room and Bonel returned to his office, where he sat down in front of his laptop. After a few clicks, CCTV footage popped up on his screen, showing a clandestine lab where several of his men were busy making Unicorn Candy. In one corner of the lab, there were several rows of cages containing Compsognathus, whose venom was a key ingredient in the Unicorn Candy's recipe. The leader of the Cascabels sketched a smile.
I'm making a huge fortune with those animals.