Lando's attempt to spring his sister from prison careens madly off track, despite the mysterious new friend he brought with him.
Hi guys! As promised, here are episodes 91 thru 94.
Lando Cruz and the Coup Conspiracy
The United States is in slow-motion economic collapse. The Three Strikes Act funnels the unemployed masses into a national network of work camps for the most trivial of infractions.
Lando Cruz is a scrappy rebel who risks his final strike on the streets of Philadelphia by trading illegal currencies under cover of a burrito stand. He spends his days bribing dirty cops, fending off undercover federal agents and shepherding his little sister through adolescence.
Lando is getting by until beat cops seize his savings and kidnap his sister for ransom. He has thirty days to raise the hard cash he needs to free her before she is sold into sex slavery. His only chance is a lucrative job offer from the black market rebellion's paramilitary startup, the Core. He risks both his life and his principles to get his sister back before time runs out.
Episode 91: Marbuckle
Lando came out of the house with his hands in his pockets. He got into Marbuckle’s front passenger seat and passed him three one-ounce silver coins.
Marbuckle smiled. “You should have told me you had silver right off the top, Lando. I pay a premium for this stuff. So hard to get these days.” He examined the coins in the moonlight. “Gorgeous. Mint condition. Here, take one back.” He handed a coin back to Lando and looked at him. “Maybe you’ll connect me with your supplier.”
“Maybe,” said Lando. “Can you spring my sister now?”
“I hope you didn’t leave anything of value in the house. We might have been followed.”
Lando smiled. “That’s not even the place. I went through the backyard and hopped some fences.”
Marbuckle grinned. “You’ve got the makings of something, kid.” He offered Lando his hand and they shook. “A pleasure doing business with you.”
Lando suppressed a smile. “Now, my sister.”
“Time to work my magic, I suppose.” He extended his two hands in front of him, intertwined his fingers and cracked his knuckles. He pulled a device out of his breast pocket and dialed. “Ready,” he said. He turned to Lando. “Name.”
“Mariana Sophia Cruz.”
Marbuckle repeated the name.
Lando strained to hear something.
Marbuckle sighed. “Too high. Come down.”
The line clicked.
“Gotta be a hard-ass!” said Marbuckle. He redialed.
“What happened?” Lando whispered.
Marbuckle waved him off. “Terms accepted. Time and place requested.”
A tinny noise came from the device but Lando couldn’t make out the response.
Marbuckle put the device away. He looked forward for a moment.
“Well?”
Marbuckle turned to him. He looked him straight in the eye. “Are you carrying?”
Episode 92: Trust Me
Marbuckle stopped the car at the entrance to the junk yard. He opened the glove compartment and handed Lando a black handgun.
Lando took hold of it but Marbuckle didn’t release his grip.
“You know how to use this?”
“I’ve got some training,” Lando said. He examined the pistol.
Marbuckle smiled and let him have it. “Scoot down low in the seat. Have it ready but don’t fire the damned thing unless I tell you to, got it? And definitely don’t aim it anywhere near me.”
Lando settled the grip of the gun into the space between his thumb and index finger. He wrapped each finger into the right place. It felt good.
Marbuckle switched off the interior light, grabbed the bag of money and opened his door. “I’ll —“
“Hold on,” Lando said. He sat up straight. “Where the money goes, I go.”
Marbuckle frowned. “My contact is a very private person. He doesn’t want to meet you and, to be really frank with you, Lando, you don’t want to know who is selling people out of the camps. That’s a health hazard, buddy.” He moved to exit the car.
Lando grabbed the money bag. “I don’t want to point your own gun at you. You seem like a standup guy. But this is my little sister. I’m not taking risks with her.”
“If you don’t let me get up now, you’re going to screw the whole thing up. He’s probably surveilling us already. This guy is extra careful.” Marbuckle ripped his arm and the money bag away from Lando. “You’re going to have to trust me, chief.” His eyes met Lando’s. Lando looked away. “Now sit tight and cover me.”
Episode 93: Betrayed
“What do we do now?” asked Lando. He slouched in the back seat of the car, behind Marbuckle. They sat in a car outside the Eastern State Work Camp. The sun peeked over the horizon behind them. No other cars were in sight.
“What’s wrong, kid? Paranoid?”
Lando’s eyes got big. He broke out in a smile and looked down. “I’m fine. Just stressed.”
Marbuckle popped something into his mouth and started to chew. “Try to relax.” He turned halfway around in his seat. “Have you tried meditation?”
“No.”
“Give it a shot. It helps me out sometimes,” said Marbuckle.
Lando raised one eyebrow. “How much longer do you think?”
“He said anywhere between four and five-thirty.” Marbuckle looked at his watch. “Given that it is five-twenty-three right now, I don’t think we’ll be waiting much longer.”
“This guy ever let you down?” Lando asked.
Marbuckle said nothing.
“You sure she will come out the front door?”
A door opened and a man in uniform walked out to the sidewalk. He looked from one side to the other. Lando slouched way down in his seat. The man stared at their car. He took a step towards them.
The front door opened again. The man stopped and looked back.
Lando felt his adrenaline rising. He pulled the pistol out of his pocket and racked a round into the chamber.
Marbuckle grabbed Lando’s arm. “Cool it! We don’t know what we’re working with yet.”
Another uniformed man came out of the front door. He stopped and held the door open. A fast car, sound system blaring, rolled past theirs and screeched to a halt in front of them. The back door opened.
Marbuckle drew his firearm and held it in his lap.
“Now you see,” said Lando.
“Watch the door and get ready,” he said. “I’ll take the car if need be.”
Something flipped in Lando’s stomach. He had a sudden urge to empty his bowels. A shiver ran up and down him. He threw his shoulders back and grabbed the door handle.
The second man in uniform came out of the front door and down the steps with a girl. He held her by the arm. She struggled to get away.
“Hold!” said Marbuckle. “Is that your sister?”
Lando was confused. “About the right height but this girl is heavier and Mari doesn’t wear her hair that long. And she hates those huge sunglasses.”
“Nobody wears their hair that long on the inside. It’s a wig,” said Marbuckle.
Anger energized Lando’s limbs. “Anyway, who cares? We gotta save this girl.” Lando shifted his weight.
“If it’s not her and we go, then we lose any chance of getting your sister today. You okay with that?”
They sat tight and watched. Lando’s hands balled into fists and he sat on the edge of his seat.
The girl screamed and cried. “Help!” she yelled. She got free and ran back towards the work camp. But the doors were locked. The first uniformed man stared straight at their car. The second ran back and grabbed the girl so hard that her wig and sunglasses fell off.
“That’s her!” Lando whispered.
“What?” asked Marbuckle.
Lando threw open the door. He aimed at the first uniformed man and pulled the trigger. The second one pulled at his side but didn’t find a weapon. He held Mariana in front of him as a shield.
“Don’t —“ started the man.
Mariana kicked him between the legs and fell to the floor.
Lando fired three shots into him. He pivoted and aimed at the fast car. Three men were standing next to it. Each of them had a pistol trained on Lando.
“Just let us have the girl,” one of them said. “She’s not worth your life.”
“I paid for her!” Lando yelled. He searched his peripheral vision for Marbuckle.
“So did we,” the man said. “It seems we have both been betrayed. Come, let us give you another girl. We will work this out. There are plenty for all of us, right, boys?”
The other two men laughed.
Lando wanted to kill them all.
“Do something,” Mariana whispered.
“Really Mari,” he whispered without looking away from the men, “one against three? What do you think Dad would do to me if you got hurt?”
“Better to go out in a blaze of glory than let these animals get their way!” she yelled.
Lando raised an eyebrow.
“This one has too much fight in her for you, little man,” yelled the trafficker. “But we can break her in.” His face morphed from smile to intense determination in a heartbeat. He took a step towards Lando. “Enough fucking around! Hand over the girl or we kill you and take her anyway.”
Lando jolted the gun in his hand and pointed it at the lead trafficker. “I know how to use this!”
“Fuck this. Waste them,” said the lead trafficker. He turned his back on Lando as his two associates pulled pistols from their jackets.
Lando opened fire. He hit the first gunman in the chest. He fired again. The pistol jammed. A dozen bullets flew over his head.
Marbuckle popped up behind the traffickers’ car with a pistol in each hand. Lando grabbed Mariana and threw them both flat on the ground.
Another half-dozen shots went off behind them. Lando closed his eyes tight and wrapped his arm around Mariana’s head.
Episode 94: Chicago
Lando dialed Dad. The shop owner answered. “Miguel Cruz, quickly!”
“Too early. We’re not open yet,” the shop owner said.
“I’ll tip you some extra coin,” Lando said. He chewed on his fingernails.
The man yawned. There was silence on the line for a moment. “Yes?” It was Dad’s sleepy voice.
“Dad.”
He sighed. “What is wrong now? And —“
“I got her, Dad! She’s safe!” yelled Lando.
Mariana screamed with joy. She ripped the tablet from Lando’s hand. “Poppy!” Tears screamed down her face and her voice cracked. “Are you okay, Papito?”
Lando laid his ear against the tablet but heard nothing.
“Okay, Poppy. Yes, completely. Okay. Yes. We’re going to get you out. I don’t care what you say. But —. Okay. Okay. Talk to you soon. I love you, Poppy!” She handed the tablet back to Lando and wiped the tears from her eyes.
“What did he say?” Lando asked.
“This family reunion has my heart strings all tied in a knot,” said Marbuckle with a smile, “but after that whole craziness, I need to get home and crawl into bed, kids.”
“Thank you so much, Mr. Marbuckle. Did my brother pay you?” asked Mariana.
“Oh, yes, young lady, the bill has been paid and quite satisfactorily indeed.” He smiled a friendly smile. “I’m glad you two are safe now but where can I drop you?”
“The bus station,” said Lando.
“Skipping town? That’s a good idea.” Marbuckle put the car into gear and drove again.
“The bus station?” Mariana sat back. She scrunched up her nose at Lando.
Lando let his eyes relax. Everything became a blur. He stared at Mariana. He took her all in, in one view. She’s safe. It’s going to be alright. He thought about his mother looking down on them.
He saw the man he shot. The gangster’s face was vivid in his mind. Lando replayed the appearance of the red hole in his chest again and again. He remembered the cool feel of the plastic gun in his hand and the tripping of the trigger. I got him. I didn’t miss. But why did he have to draw on me?
He turned his head to look at Mariana. He thrust out his chest and put his arm around her. He visualized Dad’s face. I did it, Dad. She’s safe.
Dad’s face transformed from a broad smile to a glare. “Not from your friend Ryan or from the loan shark,” he said.
Lando’s shoulders sagged. “Damn,” he whispered.
Previous Episodes
- Episodes 1-3 of The Coup Conspiracy
- Episodes 4-5 of The Coup Conspiracy
- Episodes 6-8 of The Coup Conspiracy
- Episodes 9-20 of The Coup Conspiracy
- Episodes 21-24 of The Coup Conspiracy
- Episodes 25-28 of The Coup Conspiracy
- Episodes 29-38 of The Coup Conspiracy
- Episodes 39-50 of The Coup Conspiracy
- Episodes 51-54 of The Coup Conspiracy
- Episodes 55-59 of The Coup Conspiracy
- Episodes 60-63 of The Coup Conspiracy
- Episodes 64-80 of The Coup Conspiracy
- Episodes 81-90 of The Coup Conspiracy
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