Mr. Imperfectionist 1

32- Abduction

As our car reached near their rolled over car, Jorge and three other men came out leaping and injured. Jorge's forehead was bleeding and the other men had scratches over their faces and hands too. But none of them died.

Well, luck was with me because I wanted Jorge alive. Jorge pointed his gun at us, but right at that time Guzman took a shot at his leg with a gun that had a normal bullet while still driving. Jorge shrieked in pain as the bullet made a hole on his right leg and the blood started oozing out of the wound.

Guzman stopped the car and we three quickly jumped out. I shot at the fat man who was sitting next to Jorge and had pointed his gun at us. Polito killed the other two and Guzman quickly ran towards Jorge and pressed his rifle against Jorge's skull. He raised his hands in surrender. Polito got the small rope and I tied Jorge's wrists with the rope behind his back.

"You have no idea how badly I've waited for this day," I told him. Then I tore the hem of his purple shirt and tied around his wound and staunched the bleeding. He was too important to die. I held him by the collar and gagged him.

Guzman got off the call with Emilio."Señor three of them are dead and the rest of them ran away." Guzman said as I dragged Jorge towards our car by his collar.

"Cowards. Any of our men injured?" I asked and opened the rear passenger door and pushed Jorge inside.

"One of the new men was shot in the leg."

"Get him to the farmhouse. We'll have Dr Abascal come by and treat him." I then looked at Polito. "Sit with Guzman, I'll sit with this bastard," I ordered.

"Si Señor," Polito said and climbed in the front seat with his rifle.

The mission was a success. We had Jorge, but I couldn't triumph over it just yet. We still had a long way to go. We still had to catch Roberto and put an end to all this. Once Roberto and Jorge are dead, it won't be so difficult to take down their men. I won't have any nemesis anymore. And then maybe...Saanj could come back.

Jorge kept looking at me with smouldering eyes. I ignored him at first and looked out the window. But when he didn't stop staring, I scowled and made a tight fist. My lips pulled behind my teeth as I groaned and punched him hard on his cheek, which made his head jerk on the other side, the black cloth fell out of his mouth and he spat blood.

"Ohh-hoooo..." I heard Polito rejoice with a chuckle. I looked at him through the rearview mirror. He pursed his lips sheepishly and looked out the window.

There were a lot of head turns on the road because of our broken windshield. Guzman then took a longer route that goes through the thin lanes.

Jorge was unconscious throughout the ride. We reached the farmhouse after forty minutes. I pulled the unconscious Jorge out of the car. Guzman took Jorge's one arm around his neck and I took his other arm around mine as we dragged him towards the wooden barn opposite to my farmhouse, where Alberto had been kept. The other cars showed up near the farmhouse shortly. Francisco and Miguel were standing outside the barn with rifles in their hands. They greeted us and opened the door.

Alberto was sleeping on a mattress on the dry grass. A single bulb, two water bottles, one mattress, and a pillow was all that I provided to him. He really was in a bad shape. There were cuts near his lips, his right eye swollen with blackish purplish bruises around, his left thigh had a gauze tied around and his hands had many cuts. My men can get brutal sometimes.

We dropped Jorge on the ground near Alberto.

"He has to wake up. We don't have much time." I said to Guzman.

"Should I slap him?" Polito asked.

I grimaced. "That's not going to help." I looked at Guzman. "Call Dr Abascal and ask where he's reached."

"Right away," Guzman said & pulled out his cell phone.

"I spoke with Dr Abascal, he's reaching in ten minutes." I heard Emilio's voice and turned to look at him.

I nodded. "That's good. How's that new guy? Did you take him inside the farmhouse?"

"Si Señor. We've tied a cloth around his wound. He's in too much pain."

"Well, Dr Abascal will take care of him."

I asked Guzman to wait in the barn until Dr Abascal comes and treats Jorge. I went to my farmhouse, where everyone was sitting around and chatting. I had bought this farmhouse five years ago for my mother.

It was a dead place when I had bought it. I had got the interiors and paintings done. The outside of the farmhouse was painted beige and the roof was painted red. Four steps on the outside of the porch that led to the entrance door. The inside walls were painted white and there were brown furniture, four yellow and four white ceiling lights, wooden flooring, white drapes on the tall bulletproof windows.

I spoke to the injured man Octavio and assured him that he was going to be fine. Dr Abascal came after five minutes with his assistant and started treating Octavio first and then Jorge who was now conscious.

I asked Emilio and Miguel to get food for everyone from a restaurant. Jorge was not in a good condition but Dr Abascal said he will survive. I couldn't wait for him to get a little better so that he starts talking about Roberto. We all had lunch together. Jorge was sleeping because of the medications. I spoke to Octavio and his four other men to join us. They agreed when I offered them a handsome amount for their service.

It wasn't going to be easy to abduct Roberto and I still didn't have enough men.

During the night time Emilio, Guzman, and I took pints of beers and sat outside in the lawn on chairs.

"The sooner this bastard starts talking the better," Emilio said.

"I'm only going to wait till morning. If he doesn't start speaking up, you guys know what to do." I said and sipped my beer.

"Si," Emilio whispered.

I pulled out my phone from my pocket and hoped to see a message or a missed call from Saanj. There was none. She must have landed by now. She would call me at least once, right? I kept the phone back in my pocket and stared pensively at the dark meadow. There was rage burning inside me for what these Mexicans had been doing to me. There was also eagerness to swell Jorge's face because he won't be opening his mouth about Roberto so easily. But deep down the affliction of Saanj leaving still existed. Somehow more intense than all the other emotions.

My heart would accelerate its thumping every time Saanj's face flashed before my eyes. Her light brown almond-shaped eyes, her heart-shaped lips, her beautiful brown skin, her thickly lustrous dark hair, her infectious smile, and everything about her had made me weak at the knees. Her looks reminded me of those Indian Goddesses in red sarees that I'd seen many times on my official trips to India. I had never seen Saanj in an Indian attire but I could bet she looked as pious and as breathtaking in a saree as those Goddesses.

"Señor, should I say something?" Emilio asked and broke my reverie.

"Go ahead," I said glumly without looking at him.

"We have never seen you like this before."

My eyes immediately snapped towards Emilio the moment he said that. He looked down, embarrassed.

I creased my brows. "What do you mean?"

"Ummm..." He looked at me. "Don't get me wrong Señor. We've seen you with women before but you have never been so close to anyone. I've been noticing you since morning and it looks like something is bothering you. Is it because Saanj left?"

I sighed. "I don't know Emilio." My pint was over so I took another one from the chiller box.

"Saanj was not like other girls. I liked her."

Guzman said. I looked at him and he had a smile on his face.

"Careful," I warned and stared back at the dark meadow.

"No-no, don't get me wrong. I mean she was a great person. No one has ever bothered to talk to us before."

I hated that her memories had engulfed my mind. I wanted to focus only on Roberto's death now. Even though Saanj wasn't here, she was still a distraction.

"I don't want to hear that name again," I said firmly to Guzman.

He pressed his lips together and nodded.