Laughing Eyes: Bittersweet Familia (3) (22 page)

Danny

The car pulled to a stop, its occupants now inside a dingy bar. Dumb fucks. I spotted one taking a sip from his glass, his teeth bared like he couldn’t enjoy a good spirit even though I was sure he enjoyed them far too much. The other was exactly where I wanted.

It wasn’t a dignified way to die. It certainly wasn’t a story loved ones would want to retell. But scum didn’t deserve to be infamous.

He had his back to me, his dick in his hands. Silently closing the swinging door I was relieved to see that the target was too mesmerized by the flow of his urine to worry about who was sneaking up behind him.

I already had my Glock, pulled as my arm wrapped around his neck pulling him away from the urinal. “What would Hector say if he knew you two were at a bar instead of looking for your targets?”

“I don’t know what you are talking about!” Through the wheezing, I could tell his accent was thick. The man struggled against my hold only to find it tightening with each movement.

“Don’t bullshit me. You think Hector is stupid enough to think
you
are smart enough to carry out the deeds without encouragement?”

“I only deal with Juan, nobody else.”

“Good enough.” My silencer made a small pop, the noise not loud enough to be heard outside the toilets. The man slumped in my arms and I let him fall to the grimy floor, blood dripping from the small hole in his temple.

The door swung open only moments later, but I knew full well who it would be. The bar was empty beside me, my targets and the staff. My arm raised, my Glock aligned with the man’s head, his hands working furiously to do up his fly, horror twisting his face. His eyes left mine to meet the body of his colleague on the ground, then back to mine.

“Is he yours?” I asked flippantly.

The man shook his head in denial while his hand moved to his own weapon.

“Liar,” I said before squeezing the trigger. He fell on his knees, his face now void of all emotion and life. Did I feel bad killing men like them? Not at all. If they had their way, they would take the lives of both Aiden and Laila and anyone that came between. They were just henchmen working for all the wrong people.

Stepping over his body I dialed Jorge’s number. “You out yet?” I asked, starting the engine.

“We are, but I can’t get ahold of Aiden. I don’t know where the fuck he is.”

“Relax, amigo. Just keep your eye out for two more who are still on the loose.”

***

Car at the end of the street.

I sent the text to Jorge knowing that they would need to leave the area totally if they wanted to stay one step ahead of the Florez family.

Heard from Aiden. Safe. On their way to Marias.

Good. It still didn’t solve the problem of the two henchmen patrolling San Diego. I moved ahead of them all, my destination San Jose. Whatever happened on their travels they would deal with, I needed to secure their next port of call.

Once arriving at my destination, I was relieved to have a breather. Travel usually allowed far too much time for reflection and I was only too well aware that reflection ultimately meant an unravelling. Especially with this current situation. There were too many similarities, too many cases that reminded me of Anna and all that Nicolas did to her. I hadn’t been interested in any type of relationship once I had returned. Instead I drowned myself in further studies, then had my mind assaulted by the traumas of the war yet again, but from a different perspective. Now I felt like I had been gifted with a second chance. A chance to make thing right. A chance to bring some new purpose to my life that I had otherwise lost four years ago.

San Jose was one of my favorite towns. It was quaint and full of character. Now that I was here under different circumstances, it had lost its flavor. Instead I was holed up in an apartment that oversaw Aiden and Laila’s next pit stop and high enough to see the surrounding streets.

Two hours later, I watched as their car pulled into the alleyway that was lined to the right with other vehicles. They all climbed out, a look of relief on their faces. I zoomed in my lens to Laila, who with her short blonde hair looked nothing like my Anna, yet she reminded me so much of her in every way.

Aiden’s hand rested on the small of her back as he led her into the hotel. Not long after they arrived, Aiden and Laila hit the pavement in what looked to be more of a romantic stroll than anything. She was no longer mad, no longer desperate to escape. I smiled as I imagined just how Aiden would have attempted to reconcile. They disappeared into the sea of crowd down the main strip of markets, seemingly blissfully unaware of the possible dangers. I knew Aiden would be alert. He was trained for this and he was comfortable knowing that I was watching. I understood perfectly well his need to create some form of normalcy and Laila seemed to be thriving in it.

A few hours passed in unspectacular fashion. There had been nothing of interest after watching them disappear, so I concentrated my attention on any likely suspicious targets. I had my eye on two that just happened to be the remaining henchmen who had gone their separate ways in San Diego. From my birds eye view they stood out. While others were dressed in summery clothes, the two morons wore all black with leather jackets. You couldn’t give any credit to Juan for finding inconspicuous men to carry out criminal activities.

This time they were on foot keeping a few yards distance between each other. It was then that I noticed Juan. He was strutting his shit down the street talking on his cell, brazenly refusing to move out of the way for passersby, more than happy to knock shoulders.

“Fucking arrogant motherfuck!”

The three congregated at the entry to the alleyway where the car was parked, their gazes honed in on one particular set of wheels. Juan’s expression was hard, his eyes hidden behind his dark glasses. The henchmen gave a quick look around before heading into the deserted lot. Juan being the pussy he is, headed in the opposite direction, blending in with the rest of the crowd. One man flicked his pocket knife and proceeded to slash the two left hand side tires, while the other took it upon himself to use an extendable baton to smash in each window. Taking a moment to admire their destructive efforts, the taller of the two lit a cigarette before dropping a piece of paper on the driver’s side seat. And just as if they had played no part in the attack, they followed Juan’s trail and blended right back in with the crowd on the main street.

Dialing Jorge’s phone with one hand I kept my binoculars glued to the two who now acted like they weren’t on the same ‘find and destroy’ mission.

“Yes?”

“Why does it always sound you like are sleeping when I call you?”

“What else is there to do when you are locked in a room?”

“Well lucky for you, you are about to be on the move again.”

“Fucking hell, what now?”

“The car just got trashed, courtesy of Juan and his fellow douches.”

“How would they know which car is ours?”

“That I don’t know. These two who destroyed the car have been a few hours behind you so maybe there is someone travelling a little bit closer. Either way, it’s time to make a move. There is a grey Toyota parked at the end of Jacobs Street. Take that and make your way to Reno.” I gave Jorge the address to their first safe house. It was a good few hours away and I could only hope they would create some distance between them and their chasers. Ending the call, I packed my gear and made my way down to street level, my mind focused on two specific targets and one fucked up son of one even more fucked up cartel boss.

Danny

Lucky for me I wasn’t dealing with any genius’s. The leg of the journey was being made far too easy and a part of me couldn’t help but wonder just what kind of operation Juan and Hector were running. From what I had heard, they were the top dogs of trafficking and rarely dabbled in the drugs anymore. But chasing people down with the dumb fucks they had? I wasn’t impressed.

With Juan out of sight I knew he would be distancing himself from the situation. That left the two henchmen. One was on his cell talking a slow drawl of Spanish, spitting on the pavement every ten seconds. The other was leaning against the brick wall of the block building, one leg propped up, hands behind his back. The street was busy with tourists and locals going about their late afternoon, totally oblivious to the evil that walked amongst them.

Crossing the road to where they stood, I positioned myself to the side of a large flow of people making their way down the street. This way I could remain inconspicuous, minimizing the threat of eye witnesses.

Sidling up to the group, I walked next to a woman in her sixties, whose main aim was to emulate someone is their twenties. She had a stride that could challenge any model on a catwalk yet her leathery skin had been long abused by the sun. A gave the woman a wink and she returned a smile that shone perfectly white teeth framed by ballooned lips.

“Hello, darling,” she purred. Her husband who had decided to age naturally gave me a wry smile, seemingly used to his flirtatious wife.

“Ma’am,” I smiled back, giving a slight nod. I threw a look back to my targets who hadn’t moved since I last checked. Perfect.

One step away as if perfectly choreographed, the woman next to me tripped on my wayward foot, her stiletto heel causing a potentially dangerous imbalance. From the corner of my eye, I saw her fall, her arms flying out to meet my left. Bending down to grab her, not breaking my stride, I stood her safely on her feet again. In the commotion nobody noticed. With her scream, his deep grunt was drowned out. Looking back over my shoulder, I watched as the man who had been on the phone, now held his cell away as he studied he colleague with confusion. The man was on his knees frothing at the mouth, a poison coursing through his veins from a syringe to the thigh. We had collided a little while I helped the woman, the puncture of the needle softened by his frustration at being knocked.

He would die.

It wouldn’t be quick. But how were you supposed to kill a man in broad daylight surrounded by people, without drawing unwanted attention to yourself?

The woman still held tightly to my hand, her face a picture of embarrassment and of admiration. “Thank you honey, you are such a gentleman,”

“No, thank you.”

***

The foul stench of stale alcohol filtered through the AC, the strobe lights revealing the seedy patrons every split second. The naked women on stage worked their magic with the three poles on offer, spreading their glory to the eager men surrounding them. This place was busy for the time of day, which didn’t surprise me at all for one of Angelo’s clubs. He knew the ropes of the industry and was happy to spend his play money on creating these underground joints, fit for hungry executive types with stale marriages.

“Now here’s a handsome face I haven’t seen in a very long time,” a smooth and sugary sweet voice sounded to the side, “You come to play?”

I smiled at her teasing. She knew full well this wasn’t my idea of entertainment, but still insisted every time I saw her. “V! It’s always a pleasure.” I greeted her with a kiss on the cheek before taking in her appearance. She worked at the club managing the girls and ensuring all the patrons left happy.

“Still haven’t left yet?”

She threw her gaze around the room before shrugging her small shoulders. V was a beautiful and lively woman with large brown eyes loaded with personality.

“Still here,” she smiled gently, “You know Angelo is nothing without me,” she quipped. They weren’t together, but she certainly wore the pants in their friendship and mutual respect was evident.

“Speaking of which.”

V nodded up the stairs. “He’s up there. I’ll get you a drink.” I watched as she walked away, her smile dazzling those she passed on the way.

I found Angelo engaged in a tense conversation with a man far younger than he. They were up on the mezzanine floor sitting in a half booth. The obnoxious music drowned out their terse words, but their body language spoke volumes. Angelo looked sideways, sensing my stare. He smiled warmly before turning back to the other man, who stood and left unfazed by the whole interaction.

“Danny Peters, what the fuck are you doing here?” Angelo bellowed above the music his arms open wide in greeting. This man was notorious for a lot of reasons. I’d always remembered him as favoring the words “fucking” and “cunt” just a little too much. He embraced me the way a father would a son before leading me back to the booth. I noticed there were several men of bodyguard stature on both sides of us, their gazes curious but not threatening.

“Answer me damn it! What the fuck are you doing in my club?” His toothy smile was always warm but often I had seen his friendly eyes turn dark with a wrath that couldn’t be tamed. I, fortunately had never bore the brunt of it.

“I need your help with something.” I wasn’t planning on beating around the bush.

“Good business first, pleasantries later.”

“I need a tap put on a phone line and then have it extended out to all the sequential lines.”

“Easy! Who is your target?”

“Juan Florez.”

“Hector’s boy?”

I nodded, carefully watching the look on his face. This so-called “easy” favor suddenly didn’t look so hopeful.

“Why you fucking around with them?”

“I won’t tell you the whole story but they are chasing a friend of mine and a girl he is trying to save. Their minion’s just pop up everywhere, stopping us from getting a step ahead. I need to know who he talks to and where they are so I can secure a location.”

“You are not just playing with fire, son, you are drowning yourself in it. What dumb fuck friend of yours got caught up with the Florez family?”

“Hector’s other son,” I said, matter of fact.

“Aiden?” Angelo raised his thick eyebrows in question. “Aiden is fucking his father over? Kid’s got balls made of fucking steel.”

V appeared to my side and placed two fresh glasses on the table, filling them with bourbon.

“You took a risk coming here, Danny. The Florez family is the one fucked up family we want off our enemy list. Have you thought about if you get caught?”

“They don’t even know I exist.”

“You’re not that stupid that you actually believe that you are invisible to them?”

“Even if they did know which they don’t, I’ve dealt with worse.”

Angelo considered me for a while, his decision waging a war with the voice telling him not get involved. He slid his large tongue over his teeth, his eyes starting to turn beady. “I can do that for you,” he said, finally relenting, “Give me twenty-fours hours to have it fully working. But remember one thing.” I knew that tone in his voice. Just because he’d hugged me like a father earlier didn’t mean he would have me around for dinner if anyone found out. “Word spreads fast Danny. Watch your back and speak nothing of this. Those cunts will end you in a heartbeat.”

“Noted.”

“I’m only doing this cos I feel bad for you, Danny boy.” There was no hiding the care in his tone.

I looked at him confused. “Why?”

“I know what happened down south.”

I swallowed hard, my palms starting to sweat with the bank of memories flooding in.  “I don’t know what you mean.”

“To hell you don’t. I know about Nicolas Blanco.”

I hated that name. I despised it. If it were a tangible thing I would rip it shreds before setting it alight.

“I also know about the girl.”

That damn lump expanded in my throat.

“So I get why you are doing this.”

“It’s not the only reason. Aiden is a friend. He was fighting alongside me. I owe him. How do you even know about Nicolas Blanco?” It scorched my mouth just saying it.

“He was my arms supplier.”

My already sweaty palms were now dripping at this surprise admission. In all honesty I wasn’t sure what to say, the shock of the seemingly close connection throwing me off kilter.

“Before you say anything, I don’t care that you killed him. The fucking cunt was ripping me off and denying it every which way he could. So really, you did me a favor. What I do care about however, is your incessant ability to get yourself caught up in these shit storm fucked up situations.”

“Yeah, I guess I do have knack for them.”

Angelo moved in closer, his eyes now as dark as night.

“Don’t let that fucking family win, Danny.”