115
No shit it’s been done.
To Chon, for example.
When Chon was ten, his father’s partners kidnapped and held him for almost four months until Dad came up with the jack he owed them on a major marijuana shipment.
It wasn’t so bad. They took him to some ranch they had way the hell out near Hemet and he watched television and played video games all day and most of the night. Let him shovel down Cap’n Crunch and Coca-Cola. They even let him drive around on this ATV they had until he went Steve McQueen on it and nearly plowed down a barbed-wire fence in an escape attempt.
They took
Anyway, Big John coughed the cash and got Little Johnny back. With the words “See how much I love you? Four hundred K.”
Always nice to know your worth.
116
Ben, because he’s Ben, comes up with another option.
(Ben is a big believer in Win-Win negotiations.)
He says, “Figure out the profit you would realize over those three years, come up with a number, and we’ll pay it for her immediate release.”
117
“It’s an interesting offer,” Elena says.
“He’s no dummy,” Jaime observes.
Elena says—
“We’ll get back to you.”
118
Because at the end of the day that’s what it’s all about.
The numbers.
They pencil or they don’t.
Jaime gets on it. Very simple projection to make, based on present sales, market predictions, adjust for inflation, mix in a float for currency variations …
Anyone want to play
Come on down!
The price of three years of indentured servitude plus the life of one slightly messed up Laguna girl … without going over … is …
119
Twenty million dollars.
120
“It’s a deal.”
“I want to be sure we understand each other—you will work for us, and the girl will be our guest for three years or until you remit a flat payment of twenty million dollars. Correct?”
“Yes.”
“Deal?”
“Deal,” Ben says.
“And how about Mr. Fuck You?”
Chon nods.
“I want to hear you say it.”
It’s on the tip of his tongue
It is, it is.
He tries to control it, tries to stop it but
Chon says …
121
We have a deal.
122
A new vid-clip runs through O’s head.
A continuous loop—she can’t stop it, can’t shut the auto-replay off. Can’t change the settings.
It replays and replays and replays.
In the vid-clip she sees herself
Tied to a chair—
A chain saw at her neck
She feels the terror, the pure fear
She sees
The blade come toward her
She knows
Her own death
She hears
Herself scream.
Replay.
Blindfolded, it’s worse because she can
One thought keeps her half sane.
Her men are coming for her.
She knows they are.
123
His baditude tamed
Chon nevertheless has a gun in his hand as he stands on the deck, looks out at the ocean, and doesn’t really
