by Mima
An unexpected look of compassion was in Jorge’s eyes as they only briefly looked away from the road. “I know about it, yes.”
“Do you know who did it?” Chase asked in a quiet voice.
He didn’t answer, his solemn eyes glancing once again at Chase and looked away.
“Chase, its best to not think about the past,” Jorge sternly informed him. “Everything that falls behind us, should be left in its place. Does it matter who did it?”
Shaking his head, he didn’t know what to say.
“You know what is wrong with the world today, Chase?” Jorge replied as they pulled up in front of his building. “There’s no loyalty. People are fickle. They say they will do anything for those they love, for those who have shown them loyalty, they talk, talk, talk and yet, when needed, few stick around.”
Shifting the SUV into park, he turned toward Chase, his eyes watching him carefully. “You have two people who are very protective of you and at first, I wasn’t sure. I didn’t trust this kid that they had working for them, I was suspicious.”
“Of me?” Chase asked.
“Yeah, of you,” Jorge confirmed as he studied his face. “It’s amazing what someone can learn when they talk to the right people, ask the right questions. But that’s my thing, Chase, I’m really good with people.”
Chase briefly considered the episode with Deborah.
“Hennessey is an interesting little town,” Jorge said as he put out his cigarette and reached for another one. “Very colourful bunch but they sure love to talk. Especially that girl, Kelsey? The one with the tits?” He grinned and then in a sudden moment of mock seriousness added. “She liked you a lot Chase.”
Feeling slightly unnerved by the fact that Hernandez was in his former town and talking to people he knew, Chase didn’t say anything.
Laughing, Jorge turned back toward the steering wheel as if preparing to leave. “Don’t worry about the shooter that got Luke Prince. Just be glad that someone did.”
Chase took that as his warning to stop asking questions and got out of the SUV.
CHAPTER FORTY
It wasn’t until a breakfast meeting with Hernandez, Jolene, and Diego a couple of days later, that the topic of Deborah came up again. The four once again met in Jorge’s hotel room, where an array of sugary treats and traditional breakfast foods along with coffee awaited them when they arrived. Diego was on his second strawberry tart, cringing at the bland coffee while Jorge and Chase were finishing up a more traditional, Canadian breakfast of bacon and eggs and Jolene took a few bites of her whole grain toast, that they eased into the topic.
“So our lawyer, he contacted me yesterday and he say that Deborah is backing off,” Her eyes met with Jorge’s and he nodded, appearing intrigued and surprised, as if this were news to him. A fine actor, he raised an eyebrow as Jolene continued to speak. “Apparently, she had a little slip fall on the weekend and she now feels there’s a perspective on things.”
“She had a slip and fall and now has a new perspective on things,” Diego corrected her in between bites of his strawberry tart and cringed.
‘Do not correct me like a child!”
“Hey now,” Jorge butted into the conversation, a smile easing on his face. “Diego, she’s still learning English, let it go.”
“She’s been here long enough, she sounds like…like…”
“An idiot?” Jolene snapped. “An immigrant just learning the language?”
“Well, look at Jorge,” Diego pointed at the Mexican. “He doesn’t even live in Canada and his English is perfect, he barely has an accent.”
“I am not ashamed of my accent,” Jolene spoke defiantly. “If you are, that is too bad.”
“Hey, don’t get me in the middle,” Jorge cut in with a hand in the air. “I spend a lot of time in North America and made a point to perfect my English and downplay my accent. It helps me get mixed in the crowd easier and we know that in this line of work, that’s necessary. But I don’t see an issue with how Jolene speaks. Now, can we get back to the topic at hand?”
“As I was saying,” Jolene glared at her brother. “Her new perspective is very different and she does not feel that we are any longer at fault and maybe it is time to let it go. We send her flowers and hoped that she got well soon. I think that she see we hold compassion for her.”
Diego had a lopsided grin on his face as he raised one eyebrow while Jorge gave Jolene his full attention, his head leaned forward and eyes looking up, his head giving a slow nod. Had Chase not been there to witness the attack, there was nothing in his composure that suggested Jorge had anything to do with it.
“A broken arm? Leg?” Jorge asked as he reached for his coffee while making eye contact with Chase.
“A fractured arm and bruised ribs? I think?” Jolene replied and reached for a pastry. “I do not know. I think maybe some bruises and stuff? Especially around her neck area? I guess it is how she fall, no?”
Her innocent eyes met with Jorge’s equally innocent eyes and he merely shrugged.
“Some people bruise easily,” He cleared his throat, sniffed and reached for the pot of coffee. “Anyone want some more?”
Diego turned up his nose and shook his head while Jolene gave a tight smile and did the same.
“Ah Colombians! They think they have the best coffee, the best cocaine…” He teased.
“Your Mexican food, it is nice,” Jolene offered.
Jorge laughed and showed off his movie star smile and the four of them moved on to other business.
The meeting lasted a couple of hours before all four stood up and started toward the door. It was there that Hernandez commented on how he would be returning to Mexico but would be coming back soon.
“I’ve got some business to take care of at home but I’m thinking that we should look into a more permanent location and not go from venue to venue,” His comment created interest from both Jolene and Diego. “I have some leads on a few places but we won’t get into that until I have more details.”
“I like,” Jolene commented while Diego nodded. “We were discussing this just the other day how we need to consider such things.”
“I think it would make more sense to invest in a building and not give any of our profits away to the venue owners” Diego agreed and nodded.
“Good,” Jorge said and his eyes jumped back at Chase. “I have something important for you to help me with too. Now that I see what you are made of, I think there’s someone you need to take care of for me.”
Chase froze on the spot and couldn’t speak. Take care of?
“But I won’t get into that today,” Jorge casually commented with his usual, smooth voice, as if they were merely discussing the food selection for their next meeting, he showed no expression.
Chase didn’t respond while neither Jolene or Diego reacted.
If there was an awkwardness, only he noticed as everyone said their good-byes and the three of them exited the room, while Jorge went back inside.
It wasn’t until they were in Diego’s car that Chase expressed his concerns. “What did he mean back there?”
“What do you mean?” Jolene turned around in her seat while Diego stared ahead at the road, clearly in his own thoughts. “About looking for a location for our parties?”
“No, what he said to me…about taking care of someone?”
“Ah, I do not know,” Jolene replied and turned back in her seat and pointed at an abandoned building as they passed by. “What about that place, Diego? It’s pretty big, no?”
“It looks kind of scummy and plus, look at this neighborhood,” Diego gestured toward the street. “Not a good location for us. We’ll have to give it some more thought.”
“I guess he, Jorge, has something in mind,” Jolene replied.
“Hernandez always has something in mind,” Diego shook his head.<
br />
“Why do you not like?”
“I like Hernandez fine but I think he’s out for numero uno and no one else,” Diego replied.
“Hmm…maybe…” Jolene dreamily looked out the window, as if envisioning this new location while in the back of the car, Chase worried about his future.
Jorge’s words continued to haunt him for the next few days. He envisioned all kinds of scenarios including one where Hernandez insisted that he kill Deborah; although, that didn’t make sense considering she had completely backed off since her ‘fall’ the previous weekend. Regardless, his brain continually contemplated the possibilities and when he brought up the topic to Diego a few times, he merely made a face and grinned.
“Come on, Hernandez doesn’t tell other people to do his dirty work,” He shook his head as if Chase’s concerns were ridiculous. “Like he trust anyone else to do a thing. That’s why we weren’t allowed to even approach Deborah in this whole mess because he’s so arrogant, he thinks no one can fix a situation like him.”
Chase didn’t feel too assured and Jorge’s words continued to haunt him in both his sleep and waking life. The nightmares were plentiful while his fears were almost debilitating and although he wasn’t one to normally get too caught up in fear, he knew that if Jorge or either of his bosses asked, he had no choice but to do as they wished. They weren’t the kind of people you said no to and if he hadn’t known that before, the last few weeks had proven it.
As the month moved forward and February turned into March, Chase began to find some relief as time slipped away. Perhaps Jorge had changed his mind or maybe he wasn’t coming back to Canada for a few weeks or months. Maybe it was a misunderstanding? Perhaps he misunderstood what Jorge said and he needed Chase to take care of something for him. Maybe he needed help looking at locations?
The days moved forward and his birthday was quickly approaching and although this had no significance to Chase, it did to everyone else.
His boys were excited about it and asked him in their Skype conversations if he was having a party with balloons and cake. He continually said no and attempted to explain that adults didn’t do those kind of things until it became abundantly clear that this wasn’t the answer they wanted to hear, so he finally relented and said yes, that Jolene and Diego were having a party for him. The kids asked if they could come and didn’t understand why they couldn’t, even though their mother went to great efforts to explain that they were too far away.
The twins were getting close to the same age as Leland when he died and a fear crawled into his heart when he thought about it. Although it wasn’t logical to worry that something would happen to them, what if it did? Hernandez could turn on him and now that he knew where to find his family, would he ever threaten them to get what he wanted? There was no doubt that he was a dangerous man and who knew the lengths he would go to if he ever found himself in a bind.
Ironically, Jorge was returning to Toronto on Chase’s birthday. If he had ever wanted to proof that he was an unlucky person, this made for a compelling argument. So as much as Diego and Jolene rattled on about how they were going to take him out for a ‘family’ celebration that night, it was difficult to get too enthused knowing that Hernandez would probably show up and ask him to do something despicable that same day.
Chase started to go to the gym more often as he got closer to his birthday, spending hours a week pounding on a heavy bag while his mind raced in every direction. It had been an overwhelming year full of big opportunities and big heart breaks. How did people move ahead so casually, as if the past could not catch up to them? He still thought about his son and the gruesome way he died every day. The death of Luke Prince hadn’t taken that away. It gave him no relief. He would always wonder if it was Jolene who killed Prince or Hernandez?
On the morning of his birthday, Diego excitedly flew in his bedroom door just as Chase was waking up, half asleep, an enthused roommate sang him Happy Birthday, forgetting the lyrics halfway through and stopped.
“Ah, you know the rest,” He shrugged and stood at the end of his bed. “I would give you an early morning birthday present that would make you very happy but I somehow don’t think you want it from me.” He winked and let out a boisterous laugh as he headed back out the door and into the kitchen.
Chase couldn’t help but laugh and stretched. “Thank you anyway, Diego.”
“I would spoil you for women,” Diego called out and turned on the water and then suddenly turned it off and just as Chase was about to get out of bed and head for the bathroom, he heard the words that got his day off to a disturbing start.
“Hernandez wants us to meet him at his hotel before we go to the office,” Diego sang out. “A quick meeting? Hmmm…maybe he has a birthday gift for you, amigo. But I guarantee, it wouldn’t be as good as mine!”
With that, he let out another boisterous laugh and Chase froze in the spot.
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
“Please, come in,” Jorge stepped aside, his perfect movie star smile in place, he pointed across the room to the usual array of food and of course, coffee. Chase could hear the shower running and wonder if Jolene was his guest. If Diego was thinking the same thing, he didn’t show any signs but instead focused on the food.
“No strawberry tarts today?”
“Ah! I am sorry Diego but someone got to it before you arrived,” Jorge grinned and glanced toward the bathroom. “Who can say no to a beautiful señorita?”
Diego grimaced than shrugged, grabbing a pastry instead and pouring a cup of coffee. Chase hesitantly moved toward the tray and grabbed a muffin. Once the three sat at the table, Jorge immediately began to speak.
“Jolene will not be attending today,” Jorge announced as he poured himself a coffee and reached for a muffin. “I had a project for her to work on and the matter is quite urgent so I preferred that she get started right away.”
“Oh yeah?” Diego asked between bites while in the next room, the shower stopped. Chase glanced at the bathroom door and wondered who was on the other side.
“We may have found a venue,” Jorge grabbed his laptop and excitedly showed them a popular downtown location. It had once housed a well-known nightclub that had phased out over the years but remained opened, although stagnant in business, he explained. “Not that the guy really wanted to sell but I manage to persuade him.”
Diego merely nodded while Chase noted the devilish grin on Jorge’s face as he went on to explain the finer details of the building as he showed more images, commenting on changes he would like to make, things he felt were ideal for their parties and the timeline for this project.
“My goal is to open sooner than later,” Jorge commented as he shut the laptop and returned his attention to the muffin on his plate. “That is why Jolene is not here this morning, she’s doing some research for me, making some calls.”
“So, he didn’t want to sell?” Diego appeared confused as he took a drink of his coffee. “I mean, I know it’s not the hot spot they say it used to be but it’s still a pretty popular place.”
Jorge shrugged. “He recently had an accident and is unable to keep up with demands.”
Both Diego and Chase stopped and stared at Hernandez but neither said a word.
“I actually got it at a very fair price,” Hernandez continued with a lopsided grin on his face and shifted his attention to Chase, “You Canadians, always so accommodating.”
Chase didn’t respond. He had a feeling that it wasn’t a matter of choice in this situation.
“And so,” Jorge continued as Diego reached for another pastry. “That brings me to another piece of business. Chase, I need your help with something. Diego and me will be tied up most of the day sorting out a few details about this property, so I need you to take care of someone for me.”
Shit.
“She won’t give you a problem,” He spoke casually and took a drink of cof
fee. “But I know I can trust you and Chase, I don’t trust a lot of people.”
For the first time, Chase began to wonder if he meant the woman in the bathroom but he somehow doubted Jorge Hernandez wanted him anywhere near his girlfriend, so his thoughts returned to the original concern; he wanted him to attack or intimidate someone in the same way he would, in a way he clearly had normalized over time.
Diego glanced at Chase but didn’t appear worried. Continuing to eat, he seemed more interested in the food than the conversation.
“Ok,” Chase managed to say with some hesitation.
“Don’t worry, it will be fine,” Jorge casually assured him and moved on to Diego, discussing their agenda for the day regarding switching the property to the company, the details they would have to take care of immediately and a meeting with their lawyer later that morning.
Chase couldn’t focus on their words however, his mind was going in several directions, wondering if this had to do with Deborah. Was he planning to ask Chase to go hurt her again? Maybe she relented in her earlier decision to not go after Diego and Jolene inc. and he would have to persuade her in an unsavory way.
The sound of a hair dryer in the bathroom was a momentary distraction, as Diego and Jorge continued to talk about the day ahead. It was clear that violence and crime were part of a normal existence to Hernandez and Chase momentarily wondered if he would someday be the same. Was he in too deep? Should he get out now? Move back to Hennessey? Return to his old life? Was this a mistake?
The questions flowed through his mind until the bathroom door finally opened and a little girl stepped out. Chase assumed she was no more than 8 or 9, the child was undoubtedly Jorge’s daughter, with the same eyes and smile, she wore her hair back in a ponytail as she hesitantly wandered out wearing a little blue dress over her tiny frame. Although sheepish at first, her shyness didn’t last as she walked over and climbed up on Jorge’s lap and reached for a cookie on the tray.
“No mi querido,” Jorge spoke gently and she automatically pulled her hand back.
