I watched Raimundo lay the pistol on the parapet by his side. I decided he was too fast, even slowed down by a swollen throat, for me to jump him.
'It won't be long, soldier, before they come here and find us,' he said. 'Then there will be some shooting. Then you and I will be dropped into the sea. Then they will go after Timoteo and your wife and there will be more shooting and they will be dropped into the swamp.'
I regarded him. His face was glistening with sweat. He looked like a man waiting to die.
'Are you telling me Savanto would have his own son murdered?'
Raimundo wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
'He has to. The word has gone out that his son has walked over his father's face. That's the way these people talk. No one walks across the face of the Boss and survives, even if he is the Boss's son. If the old man is to remain Boss, Timoteo will have to go, and the old man is going to remain Boss, make no mistake about that.'
'Boss of what? Boss of a lot of peasants? Is that all that important to him?'
Raimundo hesitated, then shrugged.
'Why shouldn't you know? I'm out of the deal now. Savanto thinks big, makes big plans and makes big promises. All these goddam peasants he talks about look on him as God. So to stay God, he must have money : the kind of money you and I can't even imagine. His brother runs the Red Dragon organisation and this organisation has the money Savanto needs because they control the gambling and the drug traffic in Venezuela and that's where the big money is. Toni Savanto, the brother, is dying of cancer of the liver. He can't last much more than a couple of weeks . . . if that. Diaz, his son, is a very smart cookie and his heir. So long as he is alive, Savanto hasn't a hope of taking over the Red Dragons. You would imagine nothing could be more simple than to knock Diaz off. The old man has only to tell me and I'd do it, but that's not the way he works. Because a quarter of a million, simple-minded, starving peasants look on him as God, and because he is also beginning to think he is God, he doesn't want it known he has blood on his hands. There are ten men known as the Elders who do the administrative work of the Little Brothers and Savanto is scared of them. They have the power, if they gang up on him, to ease him into retirement. These men would never go along with a killing, but they would go along with a vendetta. That's part of their tradition.' Raimundo paused as he stared out to sea, then he went on, 'So the old man's problem was how to get rid of Diaz. With Diaz out of the way, the Red Dragons would be like a fat, sleek body without a head. The old man has only to reach out and stick his head on the headless body to have all the money he needs to make good his promises. So he cooks up this idea of getting rid of Diaz and establishing Timoteo, who is his heir, as a guy to be taken seriously. Timoteo was told what to do. When Savanto tells anyone what to do, he does it. So Savanto found a girl and Timoteo took her around until the Elders were sold on the idea he was in love with her. I know Timoteo couldn't stand the sight of her, but he did what he was told. When the background was killed her. Just before she died, Carlo branded her face with the Red Dragon symbol which was stolen from the old man's brother. Savanto called the Elders and showed them the girl's body. He told them Diaz had raped and branded her as a challenge to Timoteo. The Elders fell for it. They said Timoteo had to kill Diaz. They knew Savanto had only to give the sign and Diaz would be dead, but that would he murder. But if Timoteo killed him, that would be justice. So Savanto had to put on a show. He knew he couldn't force Timoteo to kill Diaz. Timoteo was a yesman to a point, but he stopped at murder. So you got involved, I got involved, and now Timoteo has fouled it up by running away. That puts him in trouble. The Elders know by now what he has done and they have turned their thumbs down. If Savanto wants to remain boss, he has to turn his thumb down too. So Diaz gets a new lease of life and Timoteo is marked to be hit. Later, Savanto will cook up another idea to get rid of Diaz. He's full of those kind of ideas. So Savanto's button men are after Timoteo. They will knock off your wife, you and me because we know too much. We are all dead bodies . . . make no mistake about that, soldier. The word has gone out.'
What happens if Savanto drops dead?' I asked, flicking the butt of my cigarette into the darkness.
'He won't drop dead. He's built to last.'
'But suppose he does drop dead. What happens?'
Raimundo stiffened. He got the message.
'Timoteo would take over. The peasants wouldn't do so well but they would survive. But Savanto isn't going to drop dead.'
I lit another cigarette.
'I think it's time he did.'
We looked at each other.
'It can't be done, soldier,' Raimundo said, shaking his head. 'The red light has gone up. This is the first thing Savanto would think of now he knows the operation has turned sour. By now he is surrounded by his button men : men trained for just this job. Get that idea out of your mind.'
'Do you want to be in on this?' I asked. 'Or are you chickening out and sitting here waiting to be slaughtered?'
'You don't know what you're up against, soldier.'
'Haven't you the guts to try? What have you to lose?'
He hesitated.
'What do I do?'
'I'm going to kill this man,' I said. 'He came into my life with promises. Now you tell me he is going to kill my wife and kill me. Okay, I believe you. He branded me.' I put my fingers through my shirt opening and felt the scar on my chest. 'No man can regard himself as God. I don't give a damn if he is the father of a lot of starving peasants if this is the way he works. I don't believe these peasants would think anything of him if they knew the kind of animal he is. There is a hell of a lot of talk about tradition. Well, I have traditions too. No one brands me or threatens me and gets away with it. He called me a professional killer. I am just that.' I got to my feet. 'You tell me I'll be dead, but I tell you Savanto will be dead before me. I'm going to kill him!'
Raimundo shook his head.
'I go along with all you say, soldier, but you won't kill him. He is organised. Getting a shot at Diaz is kid's stuff to getting a shot at Savanto.'
I crossed the roof to where I had left the rifle and I picked it up.
'Listen to me, soldier,' Raimundo went on. 'No one can hope to knock off Savanto when he is alert, and
