DOPE Season 2 Episode 2 by Erasmus Ugochukwu Okafor
**Mistério**
Hugo took his private jet back to Brazil. He was so worried and felt tired of having Larissa being used the second time to lure him out. He found it hard thinking that he could lose the girl to the unknown rival whose name remained anonymous to him. He was filled with rage and anger without even knowing who the recipient of his anger was.
He took a chopper to the plantation site in Copacabana and discovered that it wasn’t destroyed as Bret made him believe. He hovered in the air as he observed that work was seriously in progress in the plantation using his magnifying glasses. He was then convinced that something must have gone wrong, even though Bret got a promise from his D.E.A friend that the plantation was destroyed. Either Mark Brendan lied or the enemy murdered him and took over the business.
When Hugo carried out further investigation in Brazil, he discovered that the plantation was taken over by Mark Brendan; meaning he was a spy acting in D.E.A. in the capacity of an anti-drug agent. Brendan was a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
Hugo had no choice than to make plans to do anything humanly possible to take back what belongs to him and start the business all over again.
Hugo stayed about three days without hearing from Larissa’s abductors who he expected to come up with a demand or terms and conditions for her release but none came forth, making him so afraid that the poor girl may have been murdered.
Hugo rented a private apartment in a lowly street so that he could get his strategies ready before launching an attack. He disguised himself as a beggar on the street just to be covert in his daily operations. He knew that whoever took Larissa must be in Brazil and not in the US. He spent much time in his investigation just to get it right, even though his phone lines remained open and available to avoid missing a call from the abductor.
One evening, when he left for his usual investigations dressed like a street beggar, he saw a very pretty girl of about twenty-five years old standing by the street as a street hooker. He felt bad seeing the innocent looking girl in such kind of business which made him approach the girl.
“Hey, ma’am,” he called out, “can you help me out?”
The girl looked at him with pity and checked through her purse and found some bucks, “Here, take,” she said and thrust the money to his palm but instead of collecting the money, he dragged her to a corner where he parked his Rolls Royce Phantom and opened the car for her.
“Hop in,” he said and smiled, “we have something to talk about,”
The lady felt so confused because she couldn’t imagine how a street beggar wearing tattered rags could own such exotic car.
“Who are you and what are you doing on the streets as a beggar,” she asked as she entered the car and sat but didn’t want the door to be closed because she was yet to understand what was going on. At this point, she was more afraid than confused.
“I need your help but I must tell you the risks first,” Hugo said sharply and nodded, to be sure that the girl concurred with his proposal.
“Okay, I’m here. Talk,” she said and still held the door to make it easy for her to dive out in case Hugo tries hurting her.
“Can you shut the door, please,” Hugo solicited even though he didn’t expect her to yield to the request.
“How am I to trust you?” she asked unequivocally still looking unnerved.
“There is no how you can trust me except following your instincts,” he replied and shut the door for her.
The engine of the car kept steaming while the air conditioner got the car chilly.
“Now, you have my attention,” she said and checked on the door one more time to know if she could open it and run for her life if anything unusual starts happening.
Hugo was glad for that attention accorded him, so he smiled. “Being in this line of duty as a hooker assures me that you already know about drug business and the deals,” he asked, trying to be sure before he could continue.
“Well, you may not believe me,” she said and crossed her fingers on her lap, “This is my first time on the streets and you’re the first man I’m accepting tonight. I have been rejecting many of them, even though some are rich and cute but I kept being discouraged. Well, I didn’t accept you but you dragged me into the car forcefully. Not just that, I was moved by pity to give you money without knowing you weren’t who you made me think you were. If not, I’d have rejected you even with this exotic car of yours,”
That sounded amazing and incredible to Hugo but that wasn’t the kind of candidate he was looking for.
“No wonder you look so innocent and cultured, not like the professional hookers that are always nasty and saucy when dealing with a man,”
“Is that supposed to be a compliment or mockery for my naivety?” she asked rolling her eyes as she dimpled a smile.
“Maybe a compliment,” he replied, “meanwhile, I’m Edwardo Rio,” he lied.
“I’m Belle Ramon,” she replied.
“Oh, that’s a sweet one,” Hugo said with a cheerful smile as he parted his lips, “Your surname just reminded me of my late dad. His name was Ramon. Belle means beautiful, wow. The beauty is written all over you,”
“Is that a compliment too?” she asked with a blush.
“I really don’t know but it’s unfortunate that you’re not the person I’m looking for,” he said and sighed, “You can alight now,” he said and dipped his hand into his wallet and brought out some money huge enough to take care of the girl for one week, “This is for your time. Thanks,”
The girl was shocked by that gesture because she didn’t expect such amount from him just for wasting his time without being the right candidate he was looking for.
“This is damn too much, Sir,” she said with surprises.” This is three thousand Dollars,”
“In addition to that, I want to buy your time and make you stop being a hooker,” he said.
“How are you planning to do that?” she asked with an expectant hush.
“I’ll have your account number and be paying you one thousand dollars daily so that you won’t sleep with any other man, not even me because I don’t need a hooker right now,” he said even without knowing why he said that.
“OMG! Just like that?” She exclaimed with great ecstasy, “but you just called me a hooker,”
“Are you not? Oh! It’s your first night, right?” Hugo said and smiled, “well, you’re not used to the word I guess and I don’t want you, hence the daily payment,” he added with a sense of humour.
“Wow, I’ve never seen a drug dealer with a kind heart like you,” she exclaimed hilariously, “thanks for being there, but, no, thank you,”
“You don’t have to turn down the offer,” he said and opened the door for her, “you can go down now,”
The girl remained seated and unwilling to go which got Hugo confused because she seemed to be wasting his investigation time as she spent more time in his car.
After a long silence, she cleared her throat and smiled. “Tell me what you need to know about drug business,” she said with a resolution to help in any way she could.
That statement seemed like a thunderbolt to Hugo because he was shocked to get such statement from the innocent looking girl.
“Are you saying that you know so much about this?” he asked with curiosity.
“I know more than you think,” she said with full assurance and placed her left hand on his shoulder, “I’ve been in the drug business and I know who you are. Who doesn’t know you?” she asked waving her hand in the air, “The faceoff between you and Mr. Stone isn’t something new anymore. A little bird told me, though” she said.
Hugo was shocked to hear that, making him look around to ensure that no one saw him or was around.
“This is interesting,” Hugo said and shut the door back, “can I have the name of the little bird?” he asked, willing to pay or to kill just to have it but he still remained calm, not to make mistakes trying to get the information by force.
“Lucas Antonio has taken over from his father, Stone,” she said and kept calm, feeling afraid to divulge more information, “And I know that you’re Hugo Fuentes. You lied earlier but I understand,”
“Whoa…whoa…are you saying that Stone Antonio has a son?” Hugo asked looking grimaced.
“Yes, he has but his father left him to remain out of the picture but secretly trained him to be the perfect fit for the business,” she answered audaciously.
Hugo really doubted the authenticity of that information, especially coming from such a girl who didn’t even look like someone who knew a lot as she claimed. The veracity of the information wasn’t clear to him which made him remain in doubts about her claims.
“How did you get to know all these?” Hugo asked looking more serious while keeping his eyes fixed to the glove compartment where he kept his gun. He was ready to use it once the girl tries to be a hero.
“Lucas and I dated until it was obvious that he lost his mind when he got the news of the death of his father,” she said looking melancholic, “he almost strangled me to death when he was informed about his dad’s death, as if I was the cause of his predicament and misfortune. I fled for my life, even though he still contacts me but I don’t take his calls anymore,”
That information sounded so beneficial to Hugo because he’d have much use of the girl to know if Lucas was really the man behind the strange phone calls made to him but amid that, he had to be so careful because the same girl can decide going back to her guy while he ends up being used as an objection of reconciliation.
“You’re really an asset to me,” Hugo said but still found it hard to trust her especially since she had something to do with the Antonios. “But why are you telling me all these?” he asked, with the intention to really know what the girl wanted from him in exchange.
“I have met you once on your twentieth birthday even though Lucas was there but you never noticed that he was among the waiters. He was sent by his dad to poison you but I changed the wine. But even if I didn’t, you didn’t have time to drink even the good wine I changed it to, even to the point that you left the girl that came to visit you like a shot. Stone and his dad wondered why you were smart enough, but even if you weren’t, you would have taken the better wine and not the one with a potion,”
Hugo was greatly socked at this time because he never knew that the naive-looking girl knew more than he though she did.
“But why didn’t you expose them even after saving me?” Hugo asked feeling too eager for answers.
“I was told you’re a very wicked man just like your Dad,” she explained fluently without eating back his words, “but I still had to change the wine because I hate the incessant killings that characterised the Antonios, especially trying to discourage my boyfriend from his first kill which would have been you. If I had known you were the one that came to me for alms, I would have been afraid but when I realised it was you, I had already been shown the good part of you. The kind of personality you showed me tonight made me keep thinking if you were really the one that I’ve been hearing about. I thought you were in the US,”
“Why are you on the streets if you can have any amount of cash you need from Lucas?” Hugo asked, ignoring her last statement because they could make him soft and weak.
Hugo was nursing serious doubts about the girl’s sincerity especially after thinking about his meeting with the Mexican guy in the hotel. Trust became a luxury he couldn’t afford easily anymore. It was pretty obvious that he had stepped up his lucidity.
“Lucas didn’t just treat me bad, he never allowed me to have any savings,” she said tearfully, “he made my life luxurious with him, and without him, nothing. I could have anything but not save anything. He’s as mean as his dad was,”
Hugo kept thinking through her statements and discovered some traces of truthfulness from her but not too quick to believe her still.
“Where do you stay?” he asked, still trying to dig deeper to get what he wanted from the girl; her true identity.
“I stay in the woods,” she replied with dispiritedness. “Like I said, I’m nobody without Lucas which is the reason why I chose to whore myself into fame and riches since I couldn’t afford to put even two square meal on the table anymore,”
“That’s a pity,” Hugo said and stroked her lap gently, “do you know Mark Brendan?”
“No, I don’t,” she sincerely answered, “should I know him?”
“He’s a D.E.A agent,” he clued, “And the one that…”
“I think I know him,” she interjected cleverly having remembered him, “he’s second in command who worked for Stone Antonio when he was alive, but now, that loyalty to Stone is transferred to Lucas, the son,”
It was then that it became obvious to Hugo that the person who made the strange calls to him and sent men to abduct Larissa while in the hotel was Lucas
Antonio.
“Thanks for the info,” he said and kissed her on the cheek, “In appreciation, I can rent a house for you downtown but I won’t do that yet. Remain covert at the cabin but I’ll still be paying you daily as I promised so that you won’t engage in harlotry anymore,”
“Thanks for being there for me,” she said and looked lewdly at him.
“Hey, don’t do that,” he warned, “I am a married man,”
Her mood suddenly changed but she pretended to be cool with what he said. “Thanks for being sincere at least. I’ll be on my way now,” she said and dropped her phone number with him, “call me,”
“Of course, I will,” he said and opened the door for her.
Belle left immediately with a cab while Hugo left immediately to a hotel where he checked in for the night.
****
After taking his time to think through everything and the way to go about recovering his lost treasure at Copacabana cocoa and marijuana plantation, Hugo decided to adopt new strategies; he started training pretty girls known as the SUPER FALCONS who are to be his eyes and ears on the streets. A Falcon is a diurnal bird of prey having long pointed powerful wings adapted for swift flight. This is the reason why he chose that name in line with the drug business because the girls were trained to be so shrewd, wise, sleazy, sharp and willing to die just to ensure that they discharge their duties.
Belle was really helpful to Hugo; she was the one that handpicked the three Falcons and gave them the orientation and terms of service. The selected girls weren’t just street girls but girls of supermodel features; slim, curvaceous, shapely butts, perky breasts and inviting eyes. They were a mix of Mexicans, Brazilians, and Persians, with rough backgrounds but generally pure representations of ‘Femme Fatales, Enchantresses, The Succubus, and the seductresses, Mantraps, Delilahs or temptresses’.
Those girls had special high-heeled shoes, but specially forged weapons of mass destruction, containing both bullets for shooting and sharp heels for slitting throats. Their lipsticks were venomous which is specially used on men to give them a slow death without an antidote to revive them.
Hugo’s men known as the Hitmen were trained in a large camp known as the GLADIATORS’ MESS. This camp was located in a secluded environment so that no one could ever know the location in Brazil. It was strategically located inside Cacador forest in Santa Catarina state. It’s an Atlantic forest where he spent millions of USD; not just to set up the camp for training the Hitmen but to set up new cocoa and marijuana plantation to continue the extraction of narcotic alkaloid for the production of the cocaine which they popular nicknamed snow, the forbidden powder or the dust.
In the Cacador production site it’s called Dust; on the streets, it’s called Snow; while on phone if the caller wants to send a signal that there is a danger or his covert operation has been compromised, he’ll call it forbidden powder.
Hugo really stepped up his modus operandi, making sure that he got his business so fortified and ready for any rival. He was determined to fight with the last drop of his blood. He became ruthless like Ramon but still very astute and judicious to avoid making the kinds of mistakes that his father made.
He had issues with trusts; therefore he didn’t have to hire any computer programmer except his foster dad, Jose Fuentes, who was known as the ‘shadow’ or the ‘Invisible’ because he operates from the US.
Jose is a wizard in computer world; therefore his presence wasn’t even needed in Brazilian soil for the business to thrive or for him to efficiently discharge his duties. From Florida, he could make anything happen in Brazil.
In Florida, he moved the location of Veneno Rosa Deli to another street where it was being managed by Amanda, his wife. Jose had made up his mind to fully come back to the Drug business he was avoiding because he knew that his destiny is entwined with the drug business, even though he had to be aloof and cocooned in the limbo of solitude for many years.
When Hugo had set everything in place, with the business back and better, he named his own cartel ‘Mistério’, meaning ‘mystery’. The reason for the choice of this name was because he believed that life is a mystery which no human can solve. He also believed that there are more hidden truths about him and the drug business that he was yet to find out, hence the name ‘Mistério’.
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To be continued…
