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Chapter 9
“Rocket launchers?” Oscar stared at Javier in disbelief.
“I swear it’s the truth.” Javier raised
his arm as if he was testifying under oath.
“For real?” Oscar’s gaze shifted from
Javier to Nicolas.
“For real,” Nicolas confirmed.
“You missed out, man.” Javier smirked.
“Somebody has to manage the business while
you’re out playing,” Oscar retorted.
“We got paid,” Javier shot back.
“Oh good, and when’s the next job?”
“In a month.”
“Wait.” Oscar furrowed his brow. “Really?”
“Yup,” Javier sneered.
“Aww, man!” Oscar smacked the arm of the
couch in frustration.
“Maybe I’ll take you instead of Nicolas
next time, if you can convince me you deserve it.”
“What?” Nicolas’s eyes went wide. “No way,
man, I’m gonna be there when they test the rocket. Besides, I’m making
connections, me and Benjamin are like that.” He held his hand up and twisted
his fingers together.
“Who’s Benjamin?” Oscar scowled.
“He’s the main bodyguard for the main
man.” Nicolas puffed out his chest. “Oh yeah, by the way, did you know Luis
isn’t the big boss?”
“Well, yeah.” Oscar wrinkled his nose in
thought. “I mean, the Templarios are all over Guerrero, right? But Luis just
handles Ixtapa, so obviously.”
“Anyway,” Nicolas tried to cover his
irritation that Oscar had worked it out for himself, “Benjamin is the bodyguard
for Gonzalo––he’s the real leader of the Templarios.”
Nicolas paused, waiting for Oscar to
express awe or admiration. To his annoyance, no such response came.
Nicolas continued, “he and I hung out—shot
guns together.”
“Cool,” Oscar offered, nodding his head. To
Nicolas, it looked more like he was being placatory, rather than truly
impressed.
“Well, I’m going next time,” Nicolas grumbled,
glaring at Javier. “Maybe Oscar can come with me, and you can stay and
watch the shop.”
“No way,” Javier objected, “this is my gig,
man. I set this up, don’t try and squeeze me out.”
“Oh, will you two stop bickering.” Oscar
rolled his eyes. “You were only gone for like, half the day, and in the middle
of the week. We can all go, and it won’t make a difference to business here.”
“Whatever. I gotta go.” Javier jumped up
and headed toward the door, then looked over his shoulder, a smug grin on his
face. “I’m hosting a party near the south beach tonight, gonna show up in a Porsche,
I gotta go pick it up.”
“Don’t crash the rental, man.” Oscar
didn’t even bother to look up.
Javier shot dagger eyes at Oscar, made a
gesture, then closed the door forcefully as he exited the apartment.
Oscar and Nicolas sat in silence for a
while, watching a show on the television.
“He’s hosting parties now?” Oscar shot an
incredulous look at Nicolas. “How’s he gonna pay for that?”
“He is getting paid to host the parties,”
Nicolas explained. “He told me a little bit about it while we were driving out
to the range. He’s like … catering or something for these super-rich Americans.
Like private birthday parties or bachelor parties or whatever. They’re here
with friends to have a really crazy time, and Javier acts as their contact. He
hooks them up with a place, food, drinks, drugs, girls …”
“You mean prostitutes?” Oscar queried.
“I don’t know, maybe. I bet there’s lots
of girls that would go, just to go to a fancy party. Just whatever the guys
want. Javier works with Luis, gets the right people and makes sure everything
runs smoothly, and that the guys have a great time, then he gets a big tip at
the end.”
Oscar snorted disapprovingly.
“What?” Nicolas defended Javier. “He’s got
a good face for it, he’s easy-going and fun. He’s getting pretty good money
throwing parties for people who are stupid-rich too. Nothing wrong with that.”
“Maybe.” Oscar’s eyes grew distant. He
opened his mouth as if to say more, faltered, then closed his mouth again, with
a shake of his head.
“What?”
“Nothing, man, forget it.” Oscar yawned, rising
from the couch. “I’m sleepy. I’m gonna call it a night.”
“Yeah, me too.” Nicolas flicked the television
off and went to his own room.
Nicolas was awakened at four in the
morning by the sound of giggling. Shaking sleep from his head, he pulled on his
pants and, opening the door to his room, he peered into the living area.
Nicolas rubbed his eyes and looked again. Javier
was standing between two girls, an arm around each. Both of the women were
extremely attractive, and both were wearing very expensive evening dresses.
Javier himself was wearing a tuxedo. The three seemed … very affectionate.
“Oh, Nicolas,” Javier gasped, “sorry, were
we too loud?”
Nicolas continued to stare, mouth agape.
“This is my partner, Nicolas.”
“Hi, Nicolas,” the two women sang in
unison, then broke into another giggling fit.
“Nicolas, this is Carmen.” Javier inclined
his head to the girl on his left, a slender blonde with pouty lips and sultry
eyes. “And this, is Daniella.” Javier indicated the doe-eyed brunette on his
right.
“Javier, can I speak with you privately
for a minute?”
“Oh, sure.” Javier’s eyes flicked from one
woman to the other. “Please excuse me for a minute, ladies. My partner and I
have some business to discuss.”
The women giggled again as Javier
extricated himself and sauntered over to Nicolas.
“What’s up?” Javier stared at Nicolas with
a jaunty expression.
“Who are they?”
Javier furrowed his brow. “Carmen and
Daniella.”
Nicolas closed his eyes and pinched the
bridge of his nose.
“What are they doing here?”
“I’m giving them a tour of my place.”
Javier turned to wave at the women, who were now standing arm in arm whispering
and giggling. They returned his wave.
“Why?” Nicolas fixed Javier with an
exasperated stare. “Who are they to you? Where do you know them from?”
“Oh, I met them at the party tonight, and
it was love at first sight. Isn’t it great?”
Nicolas cast a dubious glance at the two
girls.
“Which one?”
“Both,” Javier replied brightly.
Nicolas scowled, shaking his head slowly.
“No.”
“No what?”
“They’re not staying here.”
“What? Oh c’mon.”
“You know the rules.” Nicolas crossed his
arms.
“You said no parties. These are my
girlfriends.”
“Really?” Nicolas stared incredulously.
“Really. I love them.” Javier glanced over
his shoulder again, smiling at the women. “And they love me.”
“Fine,” Nicolas snarled, “but not here.
You can love them someplace else.”
“Oh really,” Javier hissed. “If Oscar
brings a girl home, are you going to kick her out? What happens when you meet a
girl? Will the same rule apply then?”
“Yes,” Nicolas growled, “it will.”
The two stared defiantly at each other for
several seconds.
“Fine.” Javier finally broke away. “Ladies,
my partner has just reminded me of some rather delicate business occurring here
later, so he needs us to postpone the tour to another day. It’s short notice,
but perhaps we can find an executive suite at one of the resorts.”
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