Pat was furious. Someone had breached his security and managed to get into his home. He demanded answers from his De La Rue associates, Gregorio and Echeverri, and from Carlos Escobar, who had provided the links to the gang in Medellín, and also of JB. Someone must know something.
The denials were as strenuous as they were expected. No one likes being associated with failure and there was no admission from anyone in Medellín of involvement in the kidnap attempt. Why would they arrange such a thing? Pat’s Colombian counterparts told him that it made no sense for them to double-cross him at the very time when trust and cooperation were what both sides were striving for. Was it not more likely that the home invasion was a manifestation of the protests and the anarchy on the streets? It had been a coincidence. It was surely just another example of the president’s allies being targeted, an illustration of how he could not even protect the friends who had helped put him in power. The bandages the intruder wore were evidence that he was not connected to the gang in Medellín. Many of the protesters donned similar makeshift hoods to avoid detection during the demonstrations. Pat was left to ask himself if it was really credible to suggest that a criminal gang had not tasked the gunman. Was it really only coincidence, or bad luck, that one lone protestor decided to mount a solo raid on a guarded house with the very specific goal of kidnap in mind?
Pat’s gut told him that Pablo Escobar was behind the night’s raid. It was proof that the young gangster could not be trusted. Even if this were true, his Colombian friends said, without solid evidence it was unwise to start attributing blame when both sides were trying to build trust. Amid the chaos Pat had to admit he no option but to carry on. The dust settled but in the course of doing so, it covered everything.
The unrest continued and Pat felt uneasy about his Colombian friends, but at least his son was safe. That was good. It was a terrible thing to happen but there were greater issues at stake. Gregorio’s great plan now seemed to be hanging in the balance as Pastrana battled to keep control. They couldn’t predict everything that was going to happen. It was the nature of the peculiar business they had entered into. If Operation Durazno was to succeed it didn’t pay to dwell on these incidents. There was a bigger picture to think of.
Pat could imagine that Pablo Escobar was also thinking of the bigger picture over in Medellín, where there had not been the same widespread lockdown as the capital had experienced. He would have figured, if it had indeed been a genuine kidnap attempt, that it was worth taking what was after all a free shot. Pat imagined that Escobar was like any criminal, whether a low-level crook or an organised gangster. He would never let an opportunity go to waste. The ongoing political situation had provided that opportunity. While people were already fighting fires, that was the time to throw a bomb, surely?
He wondered, would Pablo Escobar care if Pat suspected he was behind the kidnap attempt? Probably not. Did he even want custody of the boy? Pat didn’t know. He could imagine it was purely a matter of pride. What man liked to think that a foreigner was raising his first born child? That his boy should be calling Pat ‘Dad’ and was growing up believing some gringo was his father? Pat could understand that must be galling. But raise the boy? That was another matter. What would Escobar do with a young child? Probably farm him out to his mother, sister or aunt. Pat suspected that Escobar and his cronies had other problems to worry about, besides the fate of a young boy.
The curfew had suspended business. The unrest had affected the influence that foreign companies had on the economy. Pat could imagine Escobar and his ilk crowing, delighted that the rich foreigners were now finding out that it was one thing to have an ally in the Casa de Nariño – the presidential palace – but it meant nothing if the president was a lame duck. Unless Pastrana could get a grip on the country then, gang relations aside, it was going to be a difficult period for De La Rue. If nothing else, it would be interesting to see how the changed situation was going to affect their new friends. Rojas had called for a people’s army to rise up to fight what they felt was the injustice of the presidential election of 19 April. Now a guerrilla group was forming, calling itself the 19th of April Movement, or M-19. Pat couldn’t imagine that joining up or working with political revolutionaries would hold much attraction for drug-smugglers but he could not be too sure. The rise of M-19 could have significant implications for everyone – not just the politicians.
Pablo Escobar had shown himself to be an astute criminal. Pat wondered how much attention he paid to politics. Most young people he had encountered since arriving in Colombia took the view that politics was all about keeping the wrong people in power and keeping the poor people in their place. But now the country seemed to be at war with itself. As opportunities went, this could be a big one for an ambitious gangster. Escobar might not yet appreciate the political ramifications of the unrest but at the very least he might realise that it meant more space in which to operate. What, Pat wondered, were the limits to Escobar’s ambitions? Surely, he had already seen that money brought power? But what if Escobar realised what you could achieve if you combined money with political power? He might become unstoppable.