Stephen Leather - Breakout

‘I had been told he would be carrying a lot of money. I found $500 in his back-pack and had him arrested by two policemen who were waiting nearby. They are also in the pay of the Brazilians. We took him into the interrogation room and I opened the flight case and found the money. As instructed, I gave the policemen the $500 from the backpack but I at once delivered the flight case with the rest of the money to a member of the Red Command, who was waiting in the arrivals hall. I did not see the Englishman again after I left the room.’

‘But you know what happened to him, don’t you? Was he killed?’

‘Please, if the Red Command find out that I have spoken to you, they will kill me.’

‘I’m sure they will,’ the man said, ‘but if you don’t tell us what you know right now, we will also kill you and, unlike the cartel, we’re in a position to do so immediately.’

Flores took a deep breath and then the words began to tumble out of him in a rush. ‘They beat him up but they didn’t kill him. They said he was worth more alive.’

‘But there’s been no ransom demand. Why would they keep him alive, if not for that?’

‘I don’t know. They said they had un destino especial - a special fate - in mind for him, but I don’t know what it was, I swear.’

‘And where did they take him?’

‘If they find out what I told you, I’m a dead man.’

‘You’re wasting our time, Señor Flores. You had better hope that they don’t find out but you are going to tell us what we want to know.’

Flores hesitated a few moments longer, then bowed his head. ‘They took him to San Pedro.’

‘What’s San Pedro?’ the man said, but the woman held up a hand. ‘Don’t worry, we’ll explain later.’

‘That is all I know,’ Flores said. ‘And I have told you the truth, I swear it.’

‘Let us hope so, Señor ,’ said the woman. ‘Or we will be paying you another visit and the next time there will not be a happy ending for you.’

They threw him back into the back seat of the car and began the drive out of the desert and back towards La Paz. When they pulled up near his house, the man pressed the barrel of his Colt against Flores’s neck as they cut the ties bindings his wrists and ankles. ‘You are nearly safe Señor Flores,’ he said. ‘Lie still and don’t do anything foolish now. After we get out of the car, you need to count to fifty before you sit up and remove the hood. Entiendes ?’

‘ Si. ’

The doors slammed and he was left alone. A few moments later he heard another engine start and a car drive off, but he remained flat on the back seat, counting silently to himself until he reached fifty. Only then did he sit up, remove the hood and wipe the sweat from his eyes. He looked around to make sure that his captors really had gone and only then, when he had done so, did he begin to shake and felt tears pouring down his cheeks. It was some minutes before he had enough of a grip on himself to drive the last few metres to his home.

CHAPTER 9

‘So, tell me, what is San Pedro?’ Harper said as Ricardo drove them away.

‘It’s a prison,’ Lupa said. ‘In Spanish it’s called El Penal de San Pedro , and it is the most notorious prison in South America.’

‘Bloody hell, so he’s in jail,’ Harper said, ‘which means I’m probably going to have to go in there to get him out. And I’ve heard of plenty of people breaking out of prison, but having to break into one? That’s going beyond weird.’

‘You won’t need to do that,’ Lupa said. ‘It’s not just a jail, it’s also a tourist attraction. They even run tours of San Pedro.’

Harper gave her an incredulous look. ‘You’re kidding me, aren’t you? Bloody hell, now I truly have heard everything.’

‘At one time the tours were official,’ she said. ‘And a few years back, visiting the prison used to be one of the most popular tourist attractions in La Paz - sixty or seventy people were going in every day on organised tours, with guides who’d been prisoners themselves to show them around and serving, long-term prisoners acting as security to make sure nothing bad happened to them while they were in there. For an extra payment, the tourists could even stay overnight, if they wanted to find out what it was like to spend a night there. They had some great travellers’ tales to entertain their friends when they went home and the guards got a bribe from everyone doing one of the tours, so everybody was happy.’

‘I can understand why people might be curious enough to see what it was really like on the inside of a prison,’ Harper said. ‘But why the hell would anyone want to stay the night?’

Lupa flashed him an amused look. ‘For the cocaine, of course. The best and purest you can get in South America is made in San Pedro. Western tourists stumbling out of the prison every morning, high as kites, weren’t the best advertisement for Bolivia, but the authorities turned a blind eye to the tours until two men were stabbed and a woman tourist was raped in San Pedro. The other inmates dealt with the perpetrator - he was beaten and then drowned- but because the victims were Yanquis it became a huge international incident and the bad publicity forced the government to intervene. They banned the official tours, but unofficial ones still go on. You just pay a guide to take you in and a bribe to the guards to allow it and that’s it - you’re in - though prices have gone up and there are still some risks.’

‘A little while ago two young American tourists went on a tour with a so-called guide who then did a runner,’ Ricardo said. ‘When they found their way back to the gates, the guards claimed they were prisoners trying to escape and they had to pay a thousand bucks each to get out. So anyone can walk in, but getting out can be more complicated. So if you want to see the prison and find out if your friend Scouse is there, taking a tour would definitely be an easier way than trying to break in. And if you want to know anything before then, you can ask me - when I was imprisoned for credit card fraud in La Paz, that’s where I was jailed.’

‘Are there many gringos in La Paz?’ Harper asked.

‘There were none when I was there. So if your friend is among them, don’t worry, we’ll find him.’

CHAPTER 10

Before they set off for the prison the next morning, Harper held a briefing session over coffee and empanadas at a street café they had used the previous day. ‘The first thing I need to do is walk round the place,’ he said. ‘So I can get a good look at it and check for any potential weak spots or dangers. Then, if you’re absolutely sure we can get in, Ricardo, let’s take a tour of the inside too, because until we know where Scouse is being held and how he’s being guarded, we can’t work out a plan of how to get him out of there.’ He paused. ‘I do have one worry, though. Correct me if I’m wrong, but my impression is that any Westerner is seen as a potential kidnap and ransom target. So I don’t understand why someone would be holding a man who came into the country with $50,000 in a flight case without trying to raise at least the same amount by ransoming him. It doesn’t make sense to me, unless they have another plan for him, and I’m at a loss to think what that could be.’

When they’d finished their coffees, Ricardo led the way through the centre of La Paz towards San Pedro. They crossed the busy Avenida América and soon afterwards Ricardo turned down a narrow alley. The sign hanging on the wall at the entrance read Calle Melchor Jimenez . The alley was lined with shops, many selling brilliantly coloured rugs, blankets and traditional clothes. ‘This place is known as Mercado de las Brujas - the Witches’ Market,’ Lupa said.