Blood Runner Read online

  Issuing classic fiction from Yesterday and Today!

  They’re waiting for a man like Captain Gringo in Panama!

  In this soggy green hell where the French have lost a fortune in lives and francs trying to build a canal, the scum of the earth – and their scams – flourish.

  Every adventurer with a scheme, every rebel with a cause wants a man like Captain Gringo – running guns, unloosing a rain of death from his Maxim, fighting Yellow Jack, Indians, army ants, even the Devil himself if he stands in the way. And always persuading a beautiful woman wherever he finds her, that no one can love like Captain Gringo.

  BLOOD RUNNER

  RENEGADE 2

  By Lou Cameron, writing as Ramsay Thorne

  First Published by Warner Books in 1979

  Copyright © 1979, 2014 by Lou Cameron

  Published by Piccadilly Publishing at Smashwords: November 2014

  Names, characters and incidents in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons living or dead is purely coincidental.

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each Cover image © 2014 by Tony Masero

  This is a Piccadilly Publishing Book

  Series Editor: Mike Stotter

  Text © Piccadilly Publishing

  Published by Arrangement with the Author.

  Chapter One

  Its Spanish name was vomito negro. In English it was yellow jack. Both names described the fever well. The victims puked black bile and their skins turned mustard yellow. Under a good doctor’s care the survival rate was about twenty per cent. Flat on your back in a village jail, the odds of surviving Yellow Jack were grim indeed.

  Captain Gringo wasn’t too clear on how he’d wound up in the jail or what country it was in. He’d come down with yellow jack on a rusty freighter off the Mosquito Coast of Honduras. He vaguely remembered being, put ashore, soaked with sweat, covered with his own puke, and writhing in agony.

  After that, things had gone downhill.

  But all things must end in time, even a toothache in every bone, or a dark cell filled with gibbering ghosts of the past and the hateful hymns of hungry mosquitos. He knew he was going to make it when the mosquitos began to bite again. He’d been told they were repelled by a really deadly fever. He still didn’t know who’d arrested him or what he’d been charged with, this time.

  Once he’d decided the fever wasn’t going to kill him, it was time to figure out who was likely to. Still weak as a kitten and the color of stale vomit, Captain Gringo made himself sit up. He’d been sprawled on the dirt floor in a corner of a cinder-block cell too small for a living-room rug. He’d been laying in his own filth, so he moved a few feet along the gritty wall. He couldn’t move as far as he’d have liked to. His right ankle was chained to a large cast-iron cannon ball. He didn’t feel up to hefting it. Locked behind a massive door of mahogany and wrought-iron straps, he saw one tiny window near the beamed ceiling. There were no bars in it. No bars were called for. They’d simply left one cinder block out as a vent. It was daylight now, and the bugs had flown away or settled into the cracks for the time being. He had no idea what time it was or where he was. He figured someone would get around to telling him, sooner or later, so he took off his puke-encrusted shirt and tried to rub as much of the dry crud from his itching flesh as possible. He was thirsty, but he wasn’t hungry. He probably had a few more spells of vomiting to go. But while his head was clear, if only for the moment, he could try to consider his current options.

  They hadn’t killed him. That was something to think about. Few banana-republic officials would take the time to lock up a strange gringo raging with yellow jack unless, they had a reason. He felt in his pants and, yeah, they’d even robbed him of his penknife. So he was a broke sick stranger. That left the wanted posters. He was wanted in the States for murder. Mexico had charged him with everything but leprosy. It would depend on who’d posted the higher reward. No matter where they sent him, he’d hang. It was tedious to think about.

  He tried to stand up. He couldn’t. His mind was once more clear, but his body was still sick as a dog. He held a hand out and watched his fingers tremble for a while. He tried to make a fist. But while the ringers would close, he knew he had barely enough strength in his hands to jerk off, and he wasn’t up to that, either.

  As time passed, the cell got warmer and smelled worse. The cobwebs were clearing from his mind, but his body felt even weaker than when he’d first come to his senses. He didn’t know if he was really getting weaker or if his new awareness was simply telling him how bad things were.

  There was a noise outside and the grate of a key in a lock. The door opened. A guard in white cottons and a straw sombrero let a visitor in and slammed the door shut again.

  The newcomer stood as far from the prisoner as possible as they regarded one another with mutual distaste. The stranger was dressed in white linen and sported a tropical helmet, a high starched collar, and a toothbrush mustache. He had to be English. Nobody but an English gentleman could look so sure of himself in such a ridiculous costume.

  As if to confirm Captain Gringo’s suspicion, the stranger said, “Greystoke here. British Consulate. You seem to be in a bit of a sticky, Lieutenant Walker.”

  “You know who I am, or used to be?”

  “Oh, quite. Her Majesty’s Service has been following your rather odd career with considerable amazement. I brought you a clean shirt.”

  The Englishman stepped gingerly forward and dropped the package in his hand near Captain Gringo. As the American opened it with a nod of thanks, Greystoke asked, “What are you doing in Panama, Walker?”

  “Am I in Panama?”

  “Come now, let’s not fence about like these Latin chaps. We’ve traced your confederate, Gaston Verrier, to Panama City, and Sir Basil just arrived at the mouth of the Gatun.”

  Captain Gringo slipped on the clean linen shirt, noting it was a bit too small and scented with lavender. He said, “I know who Gaston is. I don’t know what he’s doing in Panama City. I never heard of the other hairpin. I’ve been sort of out of my head for a few days.”

  “Quite. I had the fever last year. Every white man gets it sooner or later on this perishing coast. Since we’re both still alive, we can now forget it. Let’s get back to Sir Basil Hakim.”

  “You get back to him, Greystoke. I honest to God don’t know who you’re talking about!”

  “Oh, bother. I go through this all the time with you Soldier-of-fortune blokes. Don’t you think British Intelligence takes any interest in what’s going on in this part of the world? I have a complete dossier on you,’ Lieutenant Richard Walker, alias Captain Gringo.”

  “That’s nice. What does it say?”

  “That you broke out of a U. S. Army guardhouse just before you were to be hanged for murder. That you escaped to Mexico, where you joined a rebel army as a machine gunner. That after nearly wiping out the Mexican Federales, you and the few survivors of your lost cause made it out through the jungles of Tehuantepec and were last heard of looking for another revolution.”

  Greystoke sniffed and added, “So here you are in Panama with the bloody province about to explode any minute and any of a dozen sides hiring experienced soldiers. I know you’re not working for us. Since the Colombian Police have locked you up, one may assume you’re not working for the government, and I assume you’re no longer in the pay of the Yanks. Which of the rebel factions are you in with, or may we assume Sir Basil is once more fishing in troubled waters?”

  Captain Gringo shook his head and said, “You’re not going to buy thi
s, but I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about. First you say I’m in Panama, and then you tell me I’m in Colombia.”

  “Dash it, man. You know very well Panama belongs to Colombia, the local Independence Party to the contrary notwithstanding.”

  “I do now. They’ve been building a canal down here, right?”

  “Don’t play games. You know the French Suez Society has gone bankrupt after failing to live up to its contract with Colombia. You know Her Majesty’s Government, the Yanks, and God knows who else are interested in getting the rights and completing the canal. We can’t make the connection between your friend Gaston and Sir Basil, but—”

  “Back up. Who in the hell is this Basil you keep talking about?”

  “Damn it, Walker, I’m trying to help you. The local bigwigs mean to ship you back to Mexico for the hanging you no doubt justly deserve.”

  “It’s the States that wants to hang me. President Diaz uses his prisoners for target practice. What sort of a deal do you Limeys have in mind? Queen Victoria’s one of the few people I know of who’s not after me at the moment.”

  Greystoke smiled thinly and explained, “I just told the local police we have reason to believe you may be the notorious Jack the Ripper. It was the best I could come up with on such short notice.”

  “Kee-rist!”

  “Just a formality, I assure you. If we’re to claim you over Mexico we have to charge you with earlier crimes, what? Fortunately, our budget allows for more seemly rewards. El Presidente Diaz may be ruthless, but he’s quite stingy, considering how badly Mexico wants you.”

  “Oh, I get the picture. You’ll bail me out of here if I’ll tell you everything I know, right?”

  “I knew you’d see it our way, once it was explained properly.”

  Captain Gringo nodded as he tried to think up something. He really had no idea what Gaston was doing in Panama City and he’d never heard of Sir Basil Hakim. He didn’t understand the political situation in Panama. But he didn’t think Queen Victoria would pay for that. He knew Greystoke didn’t want to hear he’d been arrested in the States on a bum charge or that he’d simply fallen into this new career trying to survive. He had to come up with something, fast. Something worth money to British Intelligence.

  He said, “Get me out of here and we’ll talk about it.”

  Greystoke shook his head and said, “First we see what I’m buying. We’ll fill in the details after you’ve had a bath and a good meal at the consulate. But they want an awful lot of money, and if you really turn out to be just another drifting soldier of fortune.”

  “I didn’t know his name was Hakim. They just called him Mr. Big when they contacted me in Guatemala.”

  “Ah, you and that other professional, Gaston Verrier, right?”

  “Gaston’s not in on it. We had a parting of the ways after Mexico. I don’t know what he’s up to, now. I know he’s not in with … us.”

  “Ahah! Us would be Sir Basil’s international arms cartel, right?”

  “Well, you know I’m a weapons officer.”

  “And Sir Basil deals in small arms. Which faction is he running guns to, this time?”

  “I’m not sure. They were pretty cozy with me when I made the contract. Like I said, they didn’t even tell me the name of our backer.”

  “Hmm, let me fill you in a bit on the scoundrel and see if it jogs your memory. Sir Basil Hakim claims to be a member of the British peerage, albeit there are no Hakims in Burke’s. He travels on a Swiss passport. The name is Turkish but he might be a Russian or a Jew. It depends on whether the informant is anti-Turkish, anti-Slavic, or anti-Semitic. He has one office in Berkeley Square and another in Constantinople. He has friends in high places and every time we find something to charge him with the Court of Saint James’s or the Divine Port seems to want to let him go.”

  “That sounds like Mr. Big, all right. They told me he’d greased the right palms and that this deal was a safe one.”

  “What was your job? Demonstrating automatic weapons to the customers?”

  “Well, you know the machine gun is pretty new. Most of these banana guerrillas can barely handle a bolt-action Kragg.”

  “Quite. Who were you supposed to contact before the fever foiled your plans? Was it Lopez or Mendez?”

  “Lopez rings a bell. I was supposed to go to some town called Gatun and wait until somebody contacted me.”

  Greystoke smiled, stepped to the door, and rapped on it to be let out. As the door opened, he said, “You really are a facile liar, old boy.”

  “I should have said Mendez?”

  “I made both the names up. There is no town of Gatun, it’s a river, but a nice try. You really don’t know a bloody thing about Panama, do you?”

  “Hey, let’s go to your place and I’ll try to come up with something better.”

  “I’m sure you could. But we must be thrifty with Her Majesty’s petty cash. I can see you really did just wander down here, running as usual from the law. Please don’t take it personally, but I’m afraid you’re not worth bothering with.”

  “Come on, damn it. You can’t just leave another white man in a fix like this!”

  “If I were’ you, I’d try to get them to send me back to the States. If one must be executed, it’s such a comfort to be among one’s own at the end.”

  Captain Gringo tried to rise as he muttered, “You cocksucker—” But he couldn’t get to his feet before the door slammed in his face.

  At least he was on his feet again. That was some improvement. He took the chain in both hands and tried to lift the iron ball. He managed to slide it across the dirt as he tried to reach the window for a look outside. The tiny opening was too high. He could make out a palm frond against a patch of blue. That didn’t tell him a thing he didn’t already know.

  He willed himself to stay erect, shifting his weight to pump blood and strength along his aching bones. The goddamn Englishman had pumped him and all he had to show for it was a clean shirt. He was already starting to smell it up with his own sweat. He couldn’t tell if the fever was coming back or if it was just hot.

  A hundred years later the door opened again and the guard slid a tray in with his bare foot, then slammed the door again without a word.

  Captain Gringo dragged the ball across the cell and hunkered down. They’d issued him a couple of dry tortillas and a clay pot filled with tepid water. He dipped the rolled-up tortillas in the water and forced them down. They tasted like pasteboard and he wasn’t hungry, but he had to. restore his strength as much as he could. The water smelled like a cat had drowned in it, but he made himself drain the last drop. The porous clay wouldn’t hold the water long, and it was better in his gut than soaking into the floor.

  He got his back against the wall and forced himself to rise again. A wave of dizzy nausea shuddered through him and he knew he had to puke, but he didn’t. He swallowed hard and kept the little moisture and nourishment where it would do the most good.

  He passed the next hundred years dragging the ball and chain around the cell, willing strength back to his limbs as the light slowly began to dim. If he wasn’t blacking out again, it was later in the day than he’d thought.

  That tray had been his evening meal. Maybe when the guard came back for it, if he moved fast.

  But as evening filled the small cell with ever darker shadows he knew they’d forgotten or just didn’t care about the wooden tray and cheap clay pot. Somewhere outside a guitar was playing, and once he heard loud laughter. Like most places south of the border, the population came to life in the cool of evening after lazing the long, hot day away. He’d learned, the hard way, that Latin Americans were not the lazy good-for-nothings many gringos thought them. They made love as often and fought more than cooler Anglo-Saxons tended to. They sometimes worked as hard. But they did it after dark, like bats. They’d probably be singing out there all night.

  That was something to think about. He studied the crack under the door. There was no li
ght on the other side. The guards wouldn’t be sleeping. The mosquitos were starting to bite already and it would be more comfortable as well as more fun to join the party. What practical policeman would waste the cool of evening and a señorita smile on a sick prisoner locked securely behind a stout cell door?

  Taking a deep breath, Captain Gringo grabbed the chain again and put his back into it this time. He could lift the heavy ball, now.

  It was at least four times heavier than any sledgehammer. But, yeah, he could swing it. He pressed his ear to the door and strained to listen for the slightest sound on the other side. He couldn’t hear a thing. The music was coming from at least two hundred yards away. Would they notice one good thump above the guitar chords?

  “Careful,” he muttered aloud. “If you’re wrong and there’s a guard outside—”

  But then he shrugged and added, “What the fuck have we got to lose?” as he swung the ball and chain around a couple of times to get them moving, then let fly.

  The heavy ball smashed against the timbers near the lock and the door crashed open with a hell of a noise. He froze as he stared into the black square beyond. But somewhere music still played, so, holding the ball off the floor, he stepped out of the cell.

  He eased down the corridor to a guard room with an open doorway beyond. In the dim light, he could just make out a desk and a rack of, wonder of wonders, twenty-gauge Browning riot guns!

  He placed the iron ball on the desk and rummaged through the drawers. He found his own pistol and other belongings. He found a box of shotgun shells. Things were looking up.

  He tucked the pistol in his belt and stuffed his pockets. Then he loaded a riot gun. As he was about to turn from the desk, a figure appeared in the doorway and a voice muttered, “¡Nombre de Dios! ¿Quien es?”

  Captain Gringo swung the big iron ball off the desktop at waist level and folded the returning guard around thirty-odd pounds of moving metal. They both wound up in one corner, with Captain Gringo on top. He grabbed the guard’s head by both ears and slammed his head against the floor with a sickening thud. The guard wasn’t breathing as the tall American sat on him and went through his pockets for a key.