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unitedbydevils · 6 months

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Fixing United: FM24 vs Real Life

Once upon a time, playing as Manchester United on Football Manager would be seen as an easy save. The same went for Real, Barca, Bayern, Chelsea... it was just a load of cash, a load of rep, and a stroll in the park with any vaguely sensible tactics.

These days though the likes of United, Chelsea, Ajax, Valencia are in disappointing form. Big name sides lower down the table than before. The upside though is that suddenly it's more of a legitimate challenge to take over one of these clubs on Football Manager and restore former glories.

Fixing United:

I'm currently in my second season at United, having won the League Cup twice and the Premier League and the FA Cup in my previous season. We also did alright in the Champions League, though lost to Barcelona and they ultimately lost to City in the final - can't stop the Blue Moon entirely eh.

The big changes to my side were RCB, RW, and RB. Todibo in from Nice replaced the outgoing Varane (Saudi league), whilst Diogo Dalot jumped before being pushed (to Arsenal) allowing me to bag United fan Jeremie Frimpong from Leverkusen - and for less money than I sold Dalot for. Bargain!

United's right side is very feeble. The game treats Antony as a good winger and supplier, but reality is yet to prove that point. I kept the Brazilian for the season, and also played Sancho (who remains) but I've brought in much more talent.

Mohamed Daramy from Reims is in - the Dane linking up nicely with Højlund. Johan Bakayoko (PSV) and Roony Bardghji (FCK) are both in but back out on loan at their former clubs for one final season of development, giving me time to sell Amad, Pellistri, and maybe Sancho - should a PSG/Barca bid materialise.

As you can see, I'm working on Højlund and Evan Ferguson (both ardent United fans) to be all-out complete forwards. Man of the Moment types. They have the skill set to be all United need, and so far so good.

Rashford plays left and only left. If he has a form drop, like real life, then Garnacho/Sancho/Daramy get his spot. Simple as that.

Bruno is currently the top scorer at the club with 28 goals and 13 assists. This is Ballon d'Or form.

Sancho quietly gets on with his football. Sports Interactive clearly don't know ball.

Mount as a roaming playmaker or a box-to-box midfielder is where I find him strongest. He did take time to establish himself though, so fans should give him this time in real life. There's a good, clever player there, and United need brains on the field.

Tchouameni was a fluke signing, having already bagged Joao Gomes from Wolves to replace the despondent Casemiro and to allow a more tekkie Kobbie Mainoo to work his way in as a Herrera type of DM/ball winner. Still, we take it, he's class, and everyone gets rotated.

The back 5 is obvious, with Frimpong in for AWB more often than not but also more prone to injuries due to his athletic approach and the skillset drawing fouls.

Beyond this the academy is doing well. Dan Gore (on loan at West Brom) has had a season like Jimmy Garner did at Forest IRL, so he's possibly ready to squeeze into the first team squad - especially if I do sell a few people. Mount can then rotate more in CAM with Bruno, and that opens my LCM creative position for someone like a Gore.

The interesting thing for me has been realising that United does have issues, for sure. RW and RCB are the crucial two spots that if you fix, the team really clicks into place, but also it's the depth of talent and the specifics of deputies. In real life we have Lindelöf and Maguire; able EPL defenders but not the same playstyle as Martinez or Varane. Ten Hag can't achieve with these deputies. Variety between a Dalot/Frimpong offense and Wan Bissaka defence... sure, that makes sense, but the footballing culture shift of high line passing defenders versus bruisers who sit deep and battle constantly... it's not it.

For United to turn a new leaf and escape the Banter Era there has to be consistency in both recruitment and development. United's squad and academy need to be working to the same hymn sheet of what Ten Hag's first XI need and how to fit it. The right wing suits me as classic winger, but ETH will be happy having a winger, an inside forward, an inverted winger ala Antony - whoever. Options are a good thing when they can still adhere to the core principles or tenets of a manager's style. For me, I like having a Rashford/Garnacho swing in off the left to double up with the CF, and the LB/RW being wide support.

Maybe Erik wants this too, maybe not, but FM24 has me as Master and Commander in the Fergie role. Ten Hag isn't about that, nor should he be. Sir Jim Ratcliffe needs to come in and establish this setup with reputable, reliable professionals who can be held accountable. With these people in place, then United can begin a 5-year project of overhauling the squad bit by bit. This is where you'll see young, suitable talent brought in at fair prices on fair wages to serve as backup to the starting 11.

#manchester united #man u #man united #man utd #manchester reds #erik ten hag #casemiro #marcus rashford #football manager 2024 #aurelien tchouameni #jeremie frimpong

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foreverlogical · 2 years

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Threats directed toward election officials have increased after former President Donald Trump lied and claimed the election was stolen from him. The twice impeached one-term President sustained a massive public narcissistic injury that makes him incapable of admitting defeat. So, Americans have become victims of narcissistic abuse. Yay for us.

And all of this for a mentally ill septuagenarian who wears lifts in his shoes to appear taller. The damage this one man has done is incredible.

Via NPR:

In Texas, a county elections administrator and her two deputies have resigned, with at least one citing threats fueled by misinformation, as former President Donald Trump and his supporters continue to spread baseless claims about the 2020 election.

"The threats against election officials and my election staff, dangerous misinformation, lack of full-time personnel for the elections office, unpaid compensation, and absurd legislation have completely changed the job I initially accepted," now-former Gillespie County Elections Administrator Anissa Herrera reportedly wrote in her resignation letter, dated Aug. 2, 2022, according to the outlet.

She added: "The life commitment I have given to this job is unsustainable."

This is pretty crazy:

VISIT WEBSITE

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alexxmason · 2 years

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🥺✨⛔💖🦅💞⌛ for the fanfic writer asks!

💕💕💕💕💕💕💕

🥺 Is there a certain type of moment or common interaction between your characters that never fails to put you in your feels?

ANY INTERACTION WITH THOMAS AND TEAGAN. THE EMOTIONAL DAMAGE IT GIVES ME AND THE THOMAS STANS. But in all seriousness, (they are exs) their interactions are calm even when circumstances aren't the best, but they always have a level of peace anytime they get to interact. There's no hate or resentment, even if it's there on the inside; they both are so calm and understanding. Even when their lives move forward, they still show concern for each other.

✨ Give you and your writing a compliment. Go on now. You know you deserve it. 😉

It's good content 😭😭😭❤️❤️❤️ and not cringe.

⛔ Do you have a fic you started, but scrapped?

Answered here.

💖 What made you start writing?

Classic "catering to my own need for content." Plus I wanted to make some content for my own deputy and I needed some diverse oc/content.

🦅 Do you outline fics or fly by the seat of your pants?

Answered here.

💞 Who's your comfort character?

Jacob Seed and Blackwall/Thom Rainier 🙃 OC WISE: Ariel Herrera.

⌛ How long does it take you to write a fic, or a chapter?

Humbling, a few weeks and months even. Don't tell anyone that.🙃🙃😭😭 It depends on my schedule and just motivation honestly.

#thank you!#oc: thomas keller #oc: teagan reyes #oc: ariel herrera #answered #writer asks #marivenah #💕

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mystlnewsonline · 11 months

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1st Adult & Pediatrics Healthcare to Pay $1.6 in Back Wages

Court Requires Virginia Home Care Provider, 1st Adult & Pediatrics Healthcare Services and Owners, Carolyn Bryant-Taylor and Kafomdi Josephine Okocha to Pay About $1.6M in Back Wages, Liquidated Damages to 202 Employees Willfully Denied Overtime 1st Adult & Pediatrics Healthcare Services must also pay $48K in penalties for violations FAIRFAX, VA (STL.News) A federal court has directed a Fairfax home care agency, 1st Adult & Pediatrics Healthcare Services, and its owners, Carolyn Bryant-Taylor and Kafomdi Josephine Okocha, to pay more than $1.6 million in back wages and liquidated damages to 202 home health aides in a consent judgment obtained by the U.S. Department of Labor. The action by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia follows an investigation of 1st Adult & Pediatrics Healthcare Services Inc. by the department’s Wage and Hour Division that found the company and its owners, Carolyn Bryant-Taylor and Kafomdi Josephine Okocha, willfully denied the affected workers overtime wages by paying them straight-time rates of pay for all hours worked, including hours over 40 in a workweek. Investigators also learned the employers did not keep required payroll records, a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Despite the division’s findings, 1st Adult & Pediatrics Healthcare Services, Bryant-Taylor, and Okocha refused to pay the back wages and damages owed to the workers. In September 2022, the department’s Office of the Regional Solicitor filed suit to recover the monies owed. The court’s judgment required the employers to pay $834,782 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages to the affected workers. They must also pay $48,675 in civil money penalties to the department for their intentional violations and must not violate the FLSA in the future. “Hard-working home care aides provide essential services to people in need and deserve to be paid all their legally earned wages,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Nicholas Fiorello in Baltimore. “Our investigation found the employers willfully disregarded the law and used pay practices that harmed their own employees.” The division’s Baltimore District Office conducted the investigation. Senior Trial Attorney Alejandro Herrera in Region III’s Philadelphia office and Wage and Hour Counsel Angela France in the Arlington, Virginia, office litigated the case and secured the judgment. “The U.S. Department of Labor will hold employers who fail to comply willfully with the Fair Labor Standards Act legally accountable,” said Deputy Regional Solicitor Samantha Thomas in Philadelphia. “The outcome of this investigation and litigation should send a clear signal to other home healthcare industry employers that we will not tolerate employees being shortchanged by illegal pay practices.” Based in Fairfax, 1st Adult & Pediatrics Healthcare Services Inc. provides skilled nursing and pediatric care services in residential settings in Virginia. SOURCE: U.S. Department of Labor Read the full article

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writinglittlebeasts · 1 year

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a wolf's tooth for revenge - main cast

wolf's tooth has an incredibly large cast of characters, including named side characters, but it has five primary characters: 'the pod', or (because there are many pods) 'kirby's pod'

for reference, in a large werewolf pack like the pedersens, the word 'pod' describes a smaller unit within the pack that lives and works very closely together, and the pod's deputy answers to the pack's alpha

little character profiles under the cut!

RALEIGH NOY (PEDERSEN) - HE/HIM - 27

raleigh graduated college with a degree in literature-- specifically, poetry --and he's really quite dramatic. because he's so prone to melodrama, he tends to repress his emotions to avoid coming on too strong. he's never shaken the habit, even with his loved ones. raleigh has had difficulty finding a calling, fired from a handful of entry-level jobs for failure to impress, but when he falls in love with kirby-- a werewolf --he quickly sees his future with the pedersens. when raleigh is bitten by a warren werewolf during an attack, he doesn't transform, and the self worth that he's hinged on lycanthropy is threatened. unbeknownst to him, being bitten did change him, just not in a way that anybody foresaw.

KIRBY PEDERSEN (PEDERSEN) - HE/HIM - 30

kirby is the son of alpha lovise pedersen, and she expects him to succeed her when she can no longer perform her duties. he is extremely disinterested in this, and in fact actively resistant to the idea. he resents having been raised to fulfill a purpose and feels that he can never live up to her expectations. he's no leader; he's actually a very nervous person-- not that he could ever tell her that. he enjoys a simple life, working as the bike courier/delivery boy at a local sandwich shop (in a city hours from his mother's home and the base of pack operations) and sharing an apartment with his pod. brionna and her sister jacqueline are kirby's second cousins, and from a young age their mothers determined that they should be raised together and, eventually, form a pod together. this is the best thing that his mother could have done for him.

BRIONNA HERRERA - SHE/HER - 31

brionna has a very laid-back personality for such a busybody. it's rare that she isn't multitasking; reading and crocheting, talking on the phone and exercising, taking an online history course while cooking. she can compartmentalize. brionna is able to understand the pedersen pack in a way that kirby has never been able to; she knows all of its deputies and can pick any member out of a crowd, and she's in regular contact with other pods. she knows everything, but only gossips when it's extremely interesting-- like, unignorably interesting. with distance between the pod and the pedersen pack proper, brionna acts as the deputy of this pod in every tangible way. she aspires to be the alpha after lovise is ready to step down, but lovise's insistence that it be kirby-- up to the point of ignoring brionna's attempts to prove herself --makes her bitter towards the subject. this is still a point of contention between brionna and kirby, who won't stand up to his mother.

JACQUELINE HERRERA - SHE/HER - 25

jacqueline is the youngest of the pod, and they won't let her forget it. her sister is very protective of her, not only because of their age difference but also because jacqueline was born a human. this isn't uncommon in werewolf families, particularly if one of the parents is a human (as jacqueline's father is), but werewolf children are prone to accidents that can be dangerous to human companions. being coddled by her sister is a touchy subject that jacqueline pretends is not a touchy subject to avoid what could potentially be a tense conversation-- she and her sister are very close. jacqueline is a nursing student, but against all odds she's kept her bright demeanor. she's very outgoing and impulsive, and is a bit of a risk-taker. raleigh and jacqueline bonded over being human in a community of werewolves, and she's his closest friend. she anticipated taking the bite eventually, on her own terms, but is bitten during the warren attack.

MONIQUE FILO (WARREN) - SHE/HER - 22

monique joins the pod on their road trip on the orders of her pod's deputy, charlie piper-warren, who allies with the pedersens to overthrow his own alpha. monique is a bitten werewolf, and her time before she was taken in by the warrens was rife with insecurity, so she tends to follow charlie's orders without question. she's quiet and likes to keep to herself, out of the way of the others. she's in a nest of enemies, after all.

#my wip #awtfr

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unbiasedph · 2 years

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House leader wants CHR presence in police drug ops

House Bill 1011, House Deputy Minority Leader Bernadette Herrera said, 'aims to ensure the protection of human rights of drug suspects, as well ensuring that police officers conduct themselves in a proper manner, so as not to subject themselves to situations that would have them liable for violations of human rights' Read Full News @ Daily Tribune

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tenerifeweekly · 2 years

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Buenavista del Norte incorporates two new local police officers

The Municipality of Buenavista del Norte recently incorporated two new local police officers after concluding the opposition process. In that same act, medals were awarded for 20 years of service to Armando J. Herrera Martin Y Jorge D. Gonzalez Romeroand diplomas of recognition of their professionalism to the Chief Deputy Inspector and the retired officer, Conrado M. Dorta González and Antonio M.…

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firewomenweek · 2 years

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Welcome to Fire Women Week!

A week dedicated to all of our Fire Department women on tv. Running May 2nd to May 8th.

This event is open to all creator and can include any female characters who work for the Fire Department or Dispatch center in any show. Under the read more is a non-exhaustive list of characters from Chicago Fire, 911, Station 19, 911 Lone Star and Fire Country.

Themes and prompts are coming soon!

List of characters:

Firefighters: (PIC) Gabriela Dawson, Lieutenant Stella Kidd, Rebecca Jones, Sara McBride, Kim Rossi / Hen Wilson, Chief Miranda Williams, Lena Bosko, Lucy Donato / Lieutenant Andy Herrera, Vic Hughes, Lieutenant (Captain) Maya DeLuca-Bishop, Deja Duval, Lieutenant Charlotte Dearborn / Marjan Marwani / Eve Edwards, Gabriella Perez

Paramedics: Leslie Shay, PIC Sylvie Brett, Jessica Chilton, Emily Foster, Gianna Mackey, Violet Mikami, PIC Allison Rafferty, Tara Little, Emma Jacobs / Captain Michelle Blake, Captain Tommy Vega, Nancy Gillian

OFI: Lieutenant Wendy Seager, Captain Alexa Hubble, Suzie Wilder, Captain Lynette Cunnigham

Dispatch: Abby Clark, Stephanie Gaskins, Maddie Buckley, May Grant, Sue Blevins, Linda Bates, Claudette Collins / Grace Ryder

Other: Deputy Commissioner Gloria Hill / Diane Lewis, Chief Natasha Ross / Division Chief Sharon Leone

#firewomenweek #chicago fire #911 on fox #station 19 #911 lone star #911 fox #day 0 #op

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toxic-ship-tournament · 1 year

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ROUND 1 SIDE A WINNERS

Artekai x Fross ( @artekai )

Deputy Dean Sinclaire x Jacob Seed ( @derelictheretic )

CJ x Jack ( @sai-nt )

Rose Cortez x Joseph Seed ( @jinfromyarikawa )

Crowcaw x Leora ( @honeydoe12 )

Ariel Herrera x Edward Nashton ( @baldurrs )

Charlie Berger x John Seed ( @detectivelokis )

Lucille x Jo ( @radioactive-dragonlover )

congrats on advancing to the second round 💗

#I should have the second round matchups posted either tomorrow night or Tuesday #the second round will begin Wednesday since one of you thinks I take too long lol #toxic ship tournament #congrats 💗

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vomitdodger · 2 years

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https://rwmalonemd.substack.com/p/wef-graduates-in-the-usa-elected?r=11si4j&s=r&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email

From the newsletter:

I need your help. A new crop of elected officials or those running in November primaries were selected by United States citizens yesterday.

So here is the job: please compare the list of World Economic Forum Graduates below to any new elected official(s) that you are aware of from yesterday’s election. It there are any changes to the existing politicians careers or electoral status, please leave the changes in the comments also.

These WEF graduates have their primary alliances with a foreign entity, that being the WEF. They should register as foreign agents in my opinion. Are these the ones that “we the people” really want running OUR country?

If any of the people listed below are up for re-election in 2022, please also make note of that in the comments. Let’s see if we can’t generate an updated and complete list of those we need to work to ensure their electoral loss!

Thank you everyone for your help in this - it means a great deal to me.

List of US Politicians (please update in the comments):

Huma Abedin US Department of State Deputy chief of staff and aide to Hillary Clinton (2009– 2013) and vice chair of Hillary's presidential campaign

Penny Abeywardena Mayors office City of New York Mayors office City of New York

Robert E. Andrews United States House of Representatives Congressman from New Jersey (D), 1st District

Ruben Barrales Office of the President of the United States Assistant to the President and Director, Intergovernmental Affairs

Evan Bayh Senate of Indiana, USA Senator Indiana (1999–2011) Karan K. Bhatia Office of the US Trade Deputy Trade Representative

Matt Blunt State of Missouri Governor of Missouri

David A. Bray Atlantic Council GeoTech Center Federal Communications Commission

Aja Brown City of Compton, California Mayor of Compton

Carol M. Browner Office of the President of the United States Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change Policy (2009–2011)

George P. Bush Texas General Land Office Land Commissioner (2015–)

Pete Buttigieg Government of the United States Secretary of Transportation (2021–)

Julian Castro Government of the US US Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (2014 –2017)

David Chiu City of San Francisco City Attorney of San Francisco

Jim Cooper U.S. House of Representatives Democrat Congressman Tennessee 32 yrs

Tom Cotton U.S. Senate Senator from Arkansas (R)

Daniel Crenshaw United States Congress Rep. from Texas, 2nd District (2019–)

Artur Davis US Congress Congressman from Alabama, 7th District (D)

Brian Deese National Economic Council National Economic Council

Joshua DuBois White House Office of Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships Sophal Ear Crescenta Valley Town Council, California Council Member

Mike Espy Government of the US Secretary of Agriculture (1993–1994)

Daniel C. Esty State of Connecticut, USA Commissioner, Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (2011–2014)

Jon Favreau Office of the President of the United States Office of the President of the United States

Steven Fulop Jersey City, N.J. Mayor of Jersey City (2013–)

Tulsi Gabbard United States House of Representatives Congresswoman from Hawaii (D), 2nd District

Kate Gallego City of Phoenix, Arizona Mayor of Phoenix

Pete Geren Texas Cultural Trust Former congressman Texas

Gabrielle Giffords US Congress US Congressman (Dem) for Arizona (2007–2012)

Garlin II Gilchrist State of Michigan Lieutenant Governor

Cyrus Habib Society of Jesus (Jesuits) Lieutenant Governor of Washington State (2017–2021)

Nikki Haley US Government US Ambassador to the UN

Rachel Haot (Sterne) City of New York Executive Director of the Transit Innovation Partnership

Jaime Herrera Beutler US House of Representatives Congresswoman from Washington (R), 3rd District

Benjamin Jealous NAACP -

Bobby Jindal State of Louisiana Governor of Louisiana

Patrick J. Kennedy II US House of Representatives Representative for Rhode Island (1995–2011)

Joseph P. Kennedy III US House of Representatives Rep for the suburbs of Boston, Massachusetts

Kwame Kilpatrick City of Detroit Mayor of Dieroit (2002–2008)

Adam Kinzinger Illinois American Politician

Mark Lippert Boeing US Ambassador to South Korea 2014-2017

Kathleen McGinty Office of the Governor of Pennsylvania Chief of Staff (2015); Environmental advisor to VP Al Gore and President Clinton Kimberly A. Moore US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (2021–) Chief judge

Seth Moulton U.S. House of Representatives Democrat Rep. from Massachusetts's 6th district (2015–)

Vivek Murthy United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps

Nicole Nason National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Administrator

Michael R. Nelson City of Carrobro, North Carolina Mayor of Carrboro, NC

Gavin Newsom State of California Governor of California (2019–)

Jared Polis State of Colorado, USA Governor of Colorado (2019–)

Samantha Power National Security Council (NSC) Past US Ambassador to UN

Adam Putnam Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services

Luke Ravenstahl City of Pittsburgh Mayor, Pittsburgh 2006-2014

Julissa Reynoso US Embassy US Ambassador to Spain and Andorra (2022–)

Nilmini Rubin Meta US Senate Foreign Relations Committee

Richard L. Scott Columbia/HCA US Governor/Senator - Florida

Kunihiko Shimada KS International Strategies, Inc. Former UN mediator on peace and security issues

Kristen Silverberg US Government US Ambassador to the EU (2008–2009)

Edward Smith DLA Piper LLP Department of Commerce under Obama

Elise Stefanik US House of Representatives Congresswoman from New York, 21st District (R)

William Steiger USAID Director of the Office of Global Health Affairs at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Lawrence H. Summers Harvard University Under Secretary of the Treasury for International Affairs

John E. Sununu United States Institute of Peace (USIP) Congressman and Senator Lauren Underwood Representative for Illinois

Heather Zichal The White House Deputy assistant to President Barack Obama for Energy and Climate Change

Jeffrey Zients Advisory Board Company White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator since 2021

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pascalispretty · 3 years

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dial ‘n’ for narcos - one

The Colombian Correspondent

Javier Peña x Female Reader

Rating: Explicit

Warnings: Adult themes, references to death, references to violent crime, references to sex, swearing, smoking, drinking

Summary: A Narcos Film Noir AU. Javier Peña has returned to Colombia, and is determined to see justice handed down to the Godfathers of Cali. On his way, he meets a fresh-off-the-plane journalist with a tip burning her hole in her pocket that might just help him crack the Cali racket. (ao3)

¡Al Fin Cayó! The headline of El Tiempo declared, the blocky type seeping slightly into the thin paper where it had been exposed to the humidity.

Or perhaps it had gotten damp in transit. The papers could take days to arrive at best; the Argentine headlines were almost always weeks out of date by the time they reached the office.

With a sigh, you spread out the paper on your narrow desk, trying not to smudge the ink any further. Below the headline, with all the subtlety and grace of a sledgehammer, was a photo of Escobar laid out on a slab, his mother at his head.

It was nice to know that the news game was a crass one wherever you were in the world.

The reports of Pablo Escobar’s death had crackled over the airwaves well over a week ago, though stories were conflicting.

The police shot him. An American did it. He shot himself.

Either way, Escobar was dead.

To your annoyance, the article was also scanty on the details, barely more than four paragraphs long. Even the cables that Sierra had managed to get through had been sparse, especially on what would happen now that he was dead.

You rapped your knuckles on the walnut wood of the desk before yanking the drawer open. There’s a mess of paper inside, scraps of telegrams and envelopes, unsent memos, and unused stamps.

Somewhere in there was your ticket out of here.

Buried somewhere in there is a letter from Sierra, prematurely aged by how often you’ve looked it over in the last few days.

You found it underneath a receipt for a cab and pored over it once more. Sierra Nimri had been The Telegraph’s Colombian correspondent ever since Pablo Escobar had become an international news story.

Now that he was dead, Teddy James wanted to pull her out of Colombia and rotate her into Cuba, to replace Harry Johnson there. Officially, Harry was getting bumped up to the Brussels gig; unofficially, the higher-ups were getting twitched about how much time he was spending with the commies.

Either way, Teddy James, Latin American Editor and nephew of the publisher, wanted Sierra in Cuba, and so she was going to Cuba. To his mind, her gig in Colombia was over.

You disagreed.

Sierra wrote to you from time to time, handwritten letters accompanying the typed manuscript pages of her latest article. Usually, it was just trivial; notes asking for more of an allowance for bribes or passing on gossip that didn’t have a place in the paper proper.

You’d been working for the Latin American desk of The Telegraph for almost two years now, and nothing had made you sit bolt upright in your rickety chair the way the last paragraph of Sierra’s last letter had.

At the start of the missive, she’d acknowledged Teddy’s request to ship her off to Cuba, but she was adamant that she be replaced in Colombia by another reporter.

Cocaine shipments were up, she argued. The Godfathers of Cali were the new big racket in town, and the paper needed a newshawk on the ground to keep an eye on things.

There was also the sensational tip she had been given.

She had been told by Andrés Pastrana that he had listened to a series of tapes that he called ‘narco-cassettes’. She had been told that what was on them was explosive.

And then, before Pastrana could detonate whatever bombshell he had been about to drop, he’d vanished.

His left index finger had washed up in the Cauca river, where the rest of him had doubtless been tossed. Now he was having his bones bleached by the water, his secret gone into the river along with him.

Still, it was the break you had been waiting for. You had spent years, first in school and then in various news offices, working your way up the totem pole. You were tired of covering congressional campaign breakfasts and pet pageants.

Your time working the Latin American desk at The Telegraph had entailed little more than writing occasional updates on stories broken by the correspondents on the ground. From your tiny, cramped office by the stairs, you had read about assassinations and coups, about guerrillas in the jungles and juntas in the pampas.

You were determined to get the Colombian gig, no matter what Teddy thought about it being a waste of money.

With a long sigh, you ran your finger along the edge of the letter. Sierra’s writing looked like a spider had danced a jig in some ink, but you’re used to it by now. Holding the worn paper close to your heart, you pushed your chair back and stood up.

Teddy usually strolled back in from his liquid lunch with the sports editor around two; it was ten past now, and the best time you could think of to argue your case. Hoping the alcohol has done its job on your boss, you took a deep, steadying breath, and stepped out of the office.

Pastrana had been an important guy, a presidential candidate. Escobar was dead, and all of his men were either pinched or offed; it had to mean Pastrana had found out something serious about Cali. They were more or less the only narco game left in town, certainly the only ones with enough pull to murder a potential president.

There was a story in there somewhere, you could feel it. You needed to see for yourself if you could shake anything loose, and you were past positive that you could talk Teddy into letting you replace Sierra.

You just had to hope you didn’t end up dumped in the river yourself for your troubles.

* * *

Javier Peña tugged at the collar of his shirt with one hand as he drove, trying to loosen it slightly. Before starting his new job as the DEA attaché in Colombia, he had bought fresh clothes. It had seemed like a gig that required a little more formality than his usual jeans and short-sleeved shirts offered.

So, before he had left Laredo, he’d done a little shopping, feeling ridiculous as he trailed around the store and dodged men whose wives had clearly dragged them inside for fresh duds.

Still, he was glad to be back in Colombia. The idea of a few weeks at home had seemed tempting at first, especially after his brush with the DEA brass.

The wedding was what had made him come back to Colombia early. It had been a painfully awkward affair, people that Javi hadn’t seen in years rushing to shake his hand and call him a hero for helping win the War on Drugs.

They’d been wrong on both counts.

It almost felt like a relief to pull into the parking lot of the grey hunk of concrete that housed the US Embassy in Bogotá, where people were a little more in touch with the reality of what the US was doing in Colombia.

Stoddard, his new deputy, met him at the door and quickly shattered any hope Javier had that his staff was savvier than the general public. It was like being right back at the wedding; people were practically lining up to shake his hand and ask him about Escobar.

He got rid of them as quickly as he could without being openly rude, sending the kid off to find the boxes of files kept on the Cali cartel.

It was only when he was ensconced in his office, away from the whispers and stares of the new blood that had been rotated into his department, that he felt more at home. Once the door was closed, and the blinds were down, he was free to surround himself with paper, slip off his jacket, and settle down to work.

The glass of scotch he’d liberally poured for himself helped too.

From among the paper and photographs, a better image of the Cali cartel started to emerge.

They were a bunch of slick bastards, with carefully maintained fronts.

Gilberto and Miguel Rodríguez Orejuela were businessmen of renown in Cali, and Colombia more broadly. Gilberto had graduated from being chairman of the board for Banco de Trabajadores to setting up his own bank, First InterAmericas Bank.

Together, they also ran a chain of drugstores, donated handsomely to their favourite football team, owned a phone company based out of Cali, and still found the time to run the largest drug cartel in history.

They were slightly less brazen than Pablo Escobar had been; Pablo had claimed his immense wealth had originated in a firm that loaned out bicycles before he graduated up to a taxi firm. At least the brothers had more obvious sources of wealth

The brothers had two business partners; Chepe Santacruz Londoño, who handled New York operations, and Pacho Herrera, who officially helped run the drugstores, and unofficially ran security for the brothers. He also apparently owned nightclubs and bars all over, a gunsel who was drawn irrepressibly to the nightlife.

There was an op running in Cali tonight; they’d found a brother of a cartel dealer who’d been willing to cut a deal. Two agents had fitted him up for surveillance and sent him in as a waiter to some shindig the cartel was throwing.

It felt strange to Javier to not be there overseeing it personally. He was used to being on the ground, not up in some fancy, newly renovated office made almost entirely of glass.

“Stoddard!” Javi called, rubbing his eyes. The words were starting to swim on the pages, and he wasn’t entirely sure if that was down to the lateness of the hour or the amount of scotch he’d consumed.

When there was no answer, he stood and pulled the glass door of his office open, the blinds swinging violently at the motion.

“Stoddard?” He asked, but it was an empty gesture. The hallways beyond his office were dark; his staff had all left him for the night.

With a look back over his shoulder, Javi decided to call it a night as well. His new office was a mess of paperwork and boxes already, and now that he was up and shaking the stiffness from his legs, he couldn’t imagine sitting at the low, unforgiving couch in his office again. He itched for a cigarette, but he did his best to fight the urge.

Instead, he decided to indulge in his only remaining vice and headed for the nearest bar.

Not far from the embassy was La Social, its name broadcast in bright neon blue above the door. It was a frequent haunt of embassy staff; Javi could remember many hours spent in here with Murphy, talking theories over a cold beer.

Javier slipped the noose of the tie from around his throat as he walked in, and almost instantly wanted to walk back out. Clustered around a table by the window were his new team, Stoddard holding court at the head of the table.

Before Javi could make good his escape, Stoddard noticed him, and the cute brunette Javi had clocked earlier. Time was, Javi would have tried to get her into bed. But he was older now, and his run-in with Lorraine in Laredo had thrown him off his game.

Besides, too many of his mistakes in Colombia had been caused by his weakness for women. Better to avoid that temptation entirely than to risk another Helena, another Elisa, another Maritza. He didn’t need some pretty twist clouding his judgment this time around.

Instead, Javi shrugged his jacket off and took a seat at the bar. Whiskey would see him through, his most reliable partner.

“Hey, boss. Do you mind if we buy you a drink?” He offers, with an earnestness that Javi hasn’t seen in a long time. Was Murphy ever like that? Had Javi been, when he’d first stepped off the plane in Bogotá? The bartender set down the glass of whiskey Javi had ordered, and he took it gratefully.

“No, thanks.” They’re all too green; he wondered what Ivy League criminology course the DEA had recruited Stoddard from. The kid seemed a little deflated by Javi’s rejection. Perhaps he had hoped for stories of dramatic gunfights with Escobar’s men, of foiled car bombings and cocaine raids.

If Stoddard was going to survive down here, he had to get used to disappointment.

Javi finished his first whiskey and ordered another. That itch to smoke was back; he’d spent so many nights in here, with Murphy or Carrillo, smoking until his throat hurt and talking about La Catedral or how to force Escobar out of his hole.

Murphy was gone, playing happy families with Connie and Olivia in Miami.

Carrillo was dead, his widow back in Madrid with her son.

So Javier drank alone, and tried to ignore the desire for nicotine. A glance over his shoulder told him that the cute brunette from earlier was still sneaking peeks at him, and he tried to talk himself out of it. Sleeping with his staff would be a bad look for the new DEA attaché on his first day.

Just as he was about to slip off his barstool and talk to her, he found the seat beside him being pulled out and occupied.

Not by a cute brunette; by an overweight, balding man who looked fresh out of the jungle, still in khaki pants and heavy boots.

“Pretty girl. Poor taste in men though.” Stechner said, making himself comfortable in the seat beside Javier. “It’s nice to see you back, Agent Peña.” Javi very much doubted that. Ever since Stechner’s appointment as the CIA station chief down here, he’d rubbed Javi up the wrong way, and the feeling had apparently been mutual.

“Heard you signed off on me coming back.” Javi said, trying not to let his surprise show. It had taken him by surprise to hear it, especially after the CIA man had put the skids under Messina. Not that Javi had liked Messina, but there was something that rankled about the CIA being able to dispense with his former boss.

“Did indeed. You’re no sap, Peña; you know what the deal is down here. You know Escobar wasn’t a win, no matter how much the brass back home said it was. The same, please.” Stechner ordered his drink with the same casual tone as he spoke to Javi.

It was the tone of a man confident that he was always seven steps ahead of whoever he was talking to, and it made Javi grit his teeth.

“The fuck is that supposed to mean?” Javi would get into incalculable trouble for starting a barfight with the CIA station chief, but it was an enjoyable thought nevertheless. His steady calm was in direct opposition to the rising annoyance that was trying to crawl its way up Javi’s throat.

He almost missed the days when Steve had been the loose cannon; it had forced him to be more measured.

“What was accomplished, Javier? Thousands of Colombians died, and coke’s still flooding American streets by the ton.” Stechner took his drink from the bartender and took a slow sip.

“Oh, come on. You don’t care about American streets or dead Colombians.” Point of fact, Javi doubted Stechner cared much about anything. At that, Stechner gave a mirthless little chuckle.

“Point being, Peña, we can’t afford another bloodbath. No swallowing the spider to catch the fly this time. America has plans for Colombia; blood in the water will just gum up the works.” Stechner said this like it was the most obvious thing in the world, that somehow Javier had been responsible for the bloodbath and it had now fallen to William J. Stechner to tidy up after him.

“So what’s the play?”

“Surrender. The negotiations are all silk so far, and has the seal of approval from those muckety-mucks in DC.”

“And these fucking guys just breeze?”

“After handing over the keys to the biggest coke racket in history. Hell, the biggest racked in history full stop. Far as I’m concerned, the DEA can even take the credit.” As gestures go, it’s as hollow as a log, and it’s all Javier can do to stop himself from rolling his eyes.

“So what do you need me for?”

“The dashing DEA agent who took down Escobar? Helps to have a hero along for the ride. The godfathers’ will serve some time, most likely.” There was that word again, hero. Coming from Stechner, it just sounds like an insult, and Javi isn’t sure if that’s worse.

“And that’s enough for you? Sending them up the river for a spell?”

��If there were any justice in this world, Javier, you’d be in jail. That op your guys are running in Cali tonight? It’ll come up snake eyes. All you’ll get for the trouble of going after Cali are more stiffs.” With that, Stechner drained what was left of his drink and left, with a pat of Javi’s shoulder that smacked with condescension.

Javier had every intention of making tracks, the bar no longer feeling so welcoming. He truly meant to, finishing his own drink and tucking a few bills under the empty glass. But then, as he stood, he caught the eye of the cute brunette.

Fuck.

* * *

It had been a struggle for you not to press your nose up against the window of the cab as you were driven through Bogotá that first night that you arrived. On its high plateau in the Andes, Bogotá was cooler than you had anticipated, a look of rain in some of the clouds up above.

Part of you wanted to send the cab ahead with your luggage so you could roam the streets for yourself. Neon lights glittered everywhere, people spilled out of bars and night markets and onto the pavements, the whole city so vibrantly alive in front of you.

You had only read about it in Sierra’s dispatches; seeing it for yourself was another experience entirely, and you didn’t want to waste a single second of it.

The car paused in traffic, and you stared out of your window at the bar directly across from you. A neon blue sign flickering above the door revealed it as La Social. You wanted to climb out, to go to the bar and order yourself a drink and start exploring immediately.

But before you could work up the courage to jump out of the car, the traffic started moving again, carrying you closer to your destination.

The Telegraph had leased an apartment for Sierra not far from the US Embassy, a two-bedroom affair that sounded far nicer than your own tiny apartment that you barely afforded on your meagre salary. Still, the paper was footing the bills, so you were happy to take advantage while you could.

From the bag next to you, you pulled out the new leather notebook you had bought and squinted at the notes you had made in the light of the streetlamps you passed.

What was on the tapes worth killing Pastrana for?

Who has them now?

Why?

It wasn’t much. But it was a start.

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