Failed State (A James Winchester Thriller Book 1) (James Winchester Series) James Samuel (best book clubs txt) 📖

Rosher reassured his wife in a low murmur and climbed over her to get out of the car. He took her by the hand and helped her out of the car. The state governor barely came up to James’ shoulders.

“Didn’t your secretary tell you about my visit?” asked Diego.

Rosher gulped and approached Diego. “It’s just business. Nothing personal.”

Diego gave him a disgusted look. “Take them to one of the rooms inside. I’ll be with you in a minute.”

James didn’t feel the need to guide the governor and his wife towards the bordello. They went of their own accord, finally accepting the situation they’d found themselves in. Rosher opened the door of the bordello and waited in reception.

“You got a room for us?” said James to the blonde bespectacled woman behind the desk.

“Francisco called,” she said. “First door on the left.”

James gestured at them. “Go.”

Rosher and his wife obeyed dutifully. James followed behind them. The room Francisco had allocated for their needs came with the burning stench of disinfectant. It had a single bed in the corner and a barred window.

“Wait here.” James closed the door behind them and locked it using the key stuck in the door on the outside.

Finally, James could relax. He wiped his brow and licked his lips, eager for a cigarette after the chaos of the day. He met Diego in the reception room. Diego’s hardened expression and the shaking of his head made James fear for the safety of Rosher’s wife.

“Don’t hurt her.” James gripped his elbow. “She hasn’t done anything wrong.”

Diego pulled his arm away. “That bitch needs to be put in line. She says one word and I’ll do what her husband should have done a long time ago.”

“Calm down, Diego. They’re locked in the room so they’re not going anywhere. Relax.”

“Relax,” Diego said from between gritted teeth. “Oh, I’ll relax.”

James watched Diego advance towards Rosher’s room. He paused for a second to consider whether he should follow Diego to make sure he didn’t hurt Rosher’s wife. Another dead body was the last thing they needed right now.

Chapter Fifteen

James leaned against the hood of the Land Rover. From the sounds coming from inside, James could tell his compatriot had just spent five minutes screaming obscenities into Rosher’s face for turning against him. He didn’t hear a peep from Rosher or his wife.

James looked up when Diego re-emerged. “So, how did it go?”

“Rosher is a pig. No honour and no respect.”

“Why do you say that?” James lit another cigarette and blew the smoke away from Diego.

“We made certain promises to support each other’s ventures. He didn’t even have the guts to tell me he didn’t want to continue our business together.”

“No, it’s almost like he thought you were going to overreact or something.”

“Don’t try me, Winchester. This isn’t the time.”

James ceased poking the bear. He took a long drag and stubbed out his cigarette under his foot. He heard the faint sound of helicopter blades somewhere in the distance.

“Get the car into the garage.” James looked to the sky and moved towards the safety of the bordello. “Let me talk to Rosher. If you can’t keep your temper, there’s no point.”

“It’s called interrogation.”

“Rosher isn’t a threat. This is a grown man who just pissed himself all over the backseat of your car. He’s not going to put up any resistance.”

James re-entered the bordello and unlocked the door of the governor’s prison. Rosher really did look like a pig, enormously obese with a tailored suit hugged tight around his fatty figure. His wife looked like a supermodel, with sculpted eyebrows and an imported designer dress. He found them in each other’s arms, propping themselves up on the bed with the wall at their backs. Yes, the reality of their situation had set in. They were terrified. They would squeal just to get out of here.

“You’re Rosher, the governor of Guanajuato, correct?” said James.

Rosher nodded. “Look, this has all been just a misunderstanding. I haven’t done anything to betray your friend Diego. I just decided to change our business arrangement. I wanted to move in another direction.”

“And didn’t have the balls to say something to my face,” Diego snarled behind James.

James put out a hand to stop Diego from blowing up again. “I didn’t bring you here to talk about you and Diego. I came to ask for information.”

Rosher looked surprised and released his wife. Scooting forward across the mattress, he leaned on his knees.

“You know the two cartels that dominate Guanajuato. Santa Maria and La Familia, right?”

He nodded.

“Do you know anything about the recent kidnap of Jessi Montoya, one of the sisters of Montoya Rodriguez?”

“I’ve heard about it, but we haven’t done anything about it. We don’t interfere in the wars between the cartels. What do we care if they want to tear each other to pieces?”

Diego stepped forward. “You’ve worked with them before, haven’t you, Alfredo?”

Rosher stopped at that. His lips moved but nothing came out.

“Haven’t you?”

“Yes, okay, yes. I have in the past. I’ve helped them when they needed something. In exchange, they’d hamstring the opposition during election campaigns. It was good business, nothing more than that.”

James sighed. Was there no end to the corruption in this country?

“Who bought you?” Diego pressed the attack. “I know how these things work. You didn’t suddenly decide that you didn’t like me anymore. Someone else paid you more than I did, and now you work for them.”

“It was a special job,” said Rosher. “Quezada approached me –”

“There we go.” Diego cut him off. “You’d sell your own mother if the price were high enough. So now you’re working with Quezada. What was he going to give you?”

Rosher gulped. “He made it clear he would support