by Alexis Gold
Jenna remained a few steps behind Franco as she weaved in and out of people, trying to remain just another person in the background. Franco paused for a moment at a newspaper stand, and Jenna hid behind a rack of magazines and watched with a side eye as he purchased the last copy of the daily paper. He nodded to the owner and continued on his way. Jenna waited a moment and then continued to follow him.
Franco paused outside a small bar that wasn’t dazzled with lights but instead was low lit with candles and ambient lighting. The spot could be missed entirely if not for the door that was propped open to let the cool air in to bring relief to the stuffy hot room that had seared in the sun all day. He stepped in, and Jenna hung back to see if he turned around. After he didn’t return, Jenna took a deep breath and entered the bar. She felt for her pistol in the back of her shirt for good measure and squared her shoulders as she entered.
Franco had taken a large booth for himself in the corner. The newspaper was opened in front of him; the inside spread showed bold Spanish print that reported a local drug deal gone bad where twenty people had been killed.
Jenna approached silently and slid into the booth across from him. He looked up with a smooth gaze, not a hint of surprise in his eyes.
“How may I help you, Señora?” He flipped the page lazily.
Jenna looked him in the eye and studied him quickly, her gut twisting nervously. She could sense he was one of those men who was more snake than human: calm, cool, and collected, but ready to strike at any moment. Jenna knew she had to tread carefully. She felt instinct take over, and she relaxed back in the seat.
“Detective Jenna Lockley. I’m looking for a missing woman, heard you might have some info,” she replied as she flagged down the waitress for a drink.
The young woman stopped over, her eyes watching Franco nervously as they shifted between Jenna and Franco.
“House Tequila, por favor.” Jenna requested. The young woman scurried off, and Franco watched with a small twinkle in his eyes.
He slowly turned his gaze back to Jenna. “I know a lot of things about a lot of people, and not a lot of time. What are you really looking for, Señora?”
Jenna pulled out her phone and showed him a picture of Lia. He took it in his hands and held it a bit further to get a good look at it. He frowned and his brow furrowed.
“Sure, this girl came to my boat with my son a few days ago. He had met her at one of the bars and thought he would court her with a nice boat ride. But that was the last I saw of her. She returned to the marina and went off with my son. I’d be happy to supply you with his contact info, if you’d like.” Franco sipped his own drink, almost bored at the response.
Jenna could see through his response. She knew this was a lie, but she needed him to believe that she bought into it.
“That would be great, Mr. Garcia.” Jenna passed her notebook over, sure to slip her pages with his boat numbers in her pocket.
He began to jot down the information, and the waitress returned with Jenna’s drink.
“Gracias,” Jenna replied, and the girl scampered off again.
“I also heard that this girl may have been caught up with your boss. You know anything about that?” Jenna asked as she sipped her own drink; the warm burn fueled her adrenaline, while her senses were engulfed in his every movement.
Franco paused, his dark eyes looking up at Jenna.
“Now, who are you referring to? I fly solo, Señora.” He reached and grabbed his drink, his eyes locked onto hers.
Jenna gave a shrug. “You tell me, Mr. Garcia. I was just told you were his right-hand man.”
Franco chuckled and returned to jotting down his notes. “That’s funny.”
Jenna paused. “What would be funny, Señor?”
Franco pushed the notepad back and looked up at Jenna with a smile. “That anyone would spread rumors that I was working for the boss man. I’m sorry, Señora, but this is all I can provide you with. My son works at the fish market over on Marea Baja. Feel free to go talk to him tomorrow morning about if he is still in contact with this girl, but I believe she was supposed to return home a couple days ago… I’m guessing that wasn’t the case, Señora?”
Jenna nodded and knocked back the rest of her tequila. “That’s correct, Señor. Thank you for your time.” Jenna stood up and placed a bill on the table for her drink, but Franco held out a hand in protest.
“Please, Señora. It’s on me, and I didn't catch your first name?” Franco reached out a hand, gnarled from years spent with ropes at sea, from setting men straight with fists and strength, and Jenna could only imagine what else.
Jenna reached out her hand and shook his, which was rough and calloused and brushed against her soft skin. “I’m Jenna. Why don’t you give me a call if you hear anything else, Mr. Garcia?”
Jenna reached into her pocket and pulled out a card with her special number on it, a number to a phone that, thanks to Danielle, couldn’t be traced.
Franco took the card and read it slowly, then looked back at Jenna. “Will do, detective. You have a good rest of your evening.”
Jenna nodded. “Thank you, Señor. You too.”
She walked out of the bar, the chilly night air hitting her, and she felt the adrenaline begin to wane. Now she just had to find Lance and see what information he had. She pulled out her phone and pulled up her tracking app. They had synced up their devices before they left the house, just in case they got separated. Jenna gave a sigh of relief as she saw his green dot quickly moving just a few blocks away. With a hurried step, Jenna began to head towards him.
*
Lance trailed the man they had seen take the package from Franco. He hung back a bit, watching as he made his way down the marina and back toward a side street. He hummed cheerily to himself as he walked, the cooler clutched tightly in his hands.
Lance had no idea where this man was going as his steps led him further from the bustling downtown and closer to the shanty towns on the outskirts of the city. Lance hung back further and further as the streets became more desolate, his cover more easily revealed in the street lights as the people disappeared.
The man finally stopped in front of a stoop and sat down. He was a short man with a chubby build. He wiped the sweat from his brow and leaned back against the step. Lance looked around from the bus stop. He hid behind a few people who waited for a late ride. The man appeared to be waiting for someone, or something.
A few minutes passed. The man reached in his pocket and pulled out his phone. He smiled at the screen as he entertained himself with something amusing that Lance couldn’t see. He was growing impatient and felt that familiar fire at the base of his skull that he got sometimes. While usually cool and collected, his impatience and quick temper could get the best of him at times.
He thought of Jenna and immediately relaxed. He knew she wouldn’t want him to jump this guy with guns blazing; he needed to wait and see what happened. It was better to observe than disturb the natural events. Lance took slow, purposeful breaths and felt the rage subside, replaced with a calm, cool feeling.
Jenna did that to him. He smiled softly at the thought of her. Lance was certain he had never met a woman like her before. He had met many women, many of them incredible in every way, but he had never felt the connection that he did with Jenna. It was like he had found an old friend, someone who could almost read his mind and knew his every thought. And besides that, she was drop dead gorgeous. He felt his cock prick in his pants as the image of her naked body went through his mind.
Her lean figure, her body shaped and toned from years of training, complemented perfectly with her round, juicy ass and full breasts. Those curls swept around that sweet smile, her eyes always so expressive as they watched him with curiosity and a spark that Lance had never seen before.
He sighed and blinked. He needed to focus on the task at hand. The man was still sitting on the stoop as the bus rolled up, a few men stepped off, and the people who were sitting at the stop rose and
filed in. With a loud roar, the bus carried on its way into the night, and three men approached the short man on the stoop.
Lance watched curiously as he felt his muscles coil in anticipation. The short man on the stoop smiled and laughed at the other men. They were all younger than he was, but he seemed familiar with them. They all spoke in Spanish as they caught up on their day, each telling a quick story. Lance shifted from foot to foot. He was still behind the bus stop sign, but he didn’t know when to make his move. He wished Jenna was there to give some direction. He took a breath and decided to just wait and see if they opened the cooler; that was better than disrupting things for nothing.
The men spoke some more and then finally a young man stepped forward and patted the cooler. The old man nodded with a smile, said Franco’s name, and patted the cooler himself. Then he stood up, and he and the rest of the men began to walk down the street.
Lance panicked. While he knew it was a terrible idea, he had to know at this point what was in the damn cooler. He thought for a moment, a sudden stillness taking over him as he closed his eyes.
“This might be the dumbest thing I’ve ever done,” he whispered to himself.
Lance popped out from behind the bus stop and began to wave his arms, making as big of a scene as possible.
“Señors! Where are you going?! Didn’t you hear that package was for me?!” Lance shouted in Spanish.
The four men turned around quickly, faces scrunched in anger, frustration, and confusion. They looked at each other then back at Lance, and they began to move toward him as he stood under the streetlight by the bus stop.
“Yeah, that's for me. I know Franco gave it to you and everything, but that’s actually mine. And I’m going to have to take it,” Lance said casually as he crossed his arms.
The four men approached; two took out knives, which glinted in the yellowed light. Lance watched them carefully as the men circled him like a pack of thieves.
“Now guys, you must have heard this cliché a hundred times by now. We can do this the easy way…”
Lance sidestepped as one man lunged at him; he grabbed him quickly, spun the young man around and put him in a sleeper choke hold. His strong arms rendered the man unconscious in moments, and he held him there for a second.
“... or the hard way.”
The remaining three men looked at Lance in surprise. They paused for a moment as their friend slipped to the asphalt, unconscious. They looked at one another again and then, with furious yells, all rushed Lance at once.
Lance had spent years training with a Jiu-Jitsu master. While taking on four guys alone would be a terrible idea to most people, Lance had been trained, just like his sister, to take on multiple attackers at once. His father wasn’t a stupid man; he knew with their money, they would have targets on their heads more than once, and it would better if they were ready to defend themselves.
The world slowed and Lance watched in what seemed to be slow motion as each attacker came at him. The first was the short, chubby man with no weapon; he was simply running at Lance with fists ready. He felt bad for the man, really. As he neared, Lance grabbed him by the arm, swung him around, and slammed him into the streetlight pole. His nose began to gush with blood, and the clang of metal against his skull sent him sprawling to the ground, unconscious.
The second man who approached had a knife aimed right for Lance’s side. Lance stepped back and the man slashed at him furiously, but Lance launched into a backflip and dislodged the knife from the man’s swiping hand as he did so. He landed in a crouch and sprung at the man in a roundhouse kick, his toe connecting with the man’s temple. The man collapsed to the ground next to his fellow comrades.
The third man was the other knife holder. He was closer to Lance’s height and stature and seemed to know what he was doing with his weapon and body. He squared up with Lance and the two began to circle, locking eyes. The man watched Lance with a sneer and came at him with an uppercut. Lance dodged but was caught off guard when he threw a right hook with the other fist and sent Lance spinning. He went with the momentum, which carried him into another roundhouse kick, but the man stepped back on light toes and dodged the attack.
Lance scanned his surroundings and watched his opponent carefully, and an idea formed in his mind. The man came at him again with a jab. Lance danced away and back toward the bus stop, bouncing on quick feet as the other man threw another powerful punch. Lance sidestepped again. The man now had his back to the bus stop seat, the glass wall behind it.
Lance waited for the opening, and as the man went to punch again, Lance grabbed the bus stop pole and swung himself into a powerful kick, booted feet landing squarely on the man’s chest. The force sent him flying back into the glass wall behind him. The window shattered loudly as the man crashed through it, and blood splashed the signage as it tore out of its place and wrapped around the man.
Lance sighed and walked coolly around to the other side of the bus stop. The man was lying in a pile of blood and glass, unconscious. He looked around at the four men who were scattered across the street, all unmoving.
“Sorry.” Lance shrugged and moved toward the cooler, where he saw Jenna standing with a look of shock on her face.
He looked around and gave her an innocent look as he scratched his head.
“They were going to take the cooler.”
Jenna looked around at the scene. Her mouth opened and then closed as words escaped her.
“I really wanted to know what was in it,” he stated, as he stepped in front of her and reached down to grab it.
She crossed her arms. “And knocking them all unconscious was your first instinct.”
Lance paused. “I mean, it wasn’t my first instinct, but it was my best one.”
Jenna shook her head and motioned toward the cooler.
“Well, open your present, killer.”
Lance opened the cooler and the stench of fish reached his nostrils. He scrunched his nose and reached inside, picking up a slimy fish and sneering.
“Really, dude just gave him some fish?”
Jenna rolled her eyes and took the fish from Lance. She studied it briefly, then reached in her pocket for a small knife.
“Now, now is the time for fish fillets?” Lance deadpanned as he watched her kneel down, set the fish on the ground, and slice it open.
Neat little baggies fell out with fish guts, along with tightly wound rolls of money in plastic.
“Winner, winner, fish dinner.” Lance kneeled beside Jenna and picked up one of the baggies containing a fine white powder.
Jenna bit her lip. “So, Franco hasn’t changed a bit. Looks like he’s back in the drug ring.”
Lance paused. “Jenna, I’m not doubting your instinct, but what does this have to do with Lia?”
Jenna looked up at him and then glanced around the abandoned street. “I’ve got some info, but let’s head back to the house where we can talk in private.” Her senses tingled, and she suddenly felt like they were being watched.
Lance began to gather up the cooler, but Jenna shook her head, “Rookie move, leave it. We have what we need.”
Lance nodded and stood up beside her, and the two walked down the street until they were able to wave down a taxi and head back to the beach house.
Chapter5
Jenna laid in the king sized bed—the plushy bed and silky soft comforter a godsend to her tired muscles. Her shower had rinsed away the smell of the fish, the oil, and the ocean and replaced it with fresh water and bubbles of lavender. She felt herself relax as she listened to Lance step out of the shower and begin to towel off.
Her laptop was propped on her knees as she wrote a coded message to Danielle; not only did they speak their own friendship level, but the two had developed a way to communicate about cases that only they could decipher. She let her friend know what they had discovered, and she asked her to trace the boat numbers. She sent the name of the son and the fish market name as well, asking her to look into it and let
her know about any potential hazards.
Jenna closed her laptop as Lance entered the room. He was naked and stood with a half hard cock as he studied her bare breasts.
She gave him a coy smile. “Can I help you?” She set her laptop on the large nightstand and patted the spot next to her.
Lance slowly crawled into the bed, then reached up and pulled the blanket away from her to reveal the curves of her body. He bent down with tender lips and began to peck at her stomach before working his way up her chest and neck.
She laughed as his touch tickled her. “You know, you were pretty impressive out there.”
Lance looked up at her and grinned. “My fighting skills turn you on?”
