Hearts in Jeopardy: The Third Sequel of the Trilogy of Love Series

By Alfonso Moret

Th is third book in the series deals with the extraordinary eff orts of individuals
in their attempt to conquer the perils of love. Th e stories deal with deceitfulness,
righteousness, and revenge.
Almas Azules (Blue Hearts)
Th is has us in a Baja peninsula nightclub owned by a former drug smuggler turned
lawful. All is well until a chance encounter connects two ex-lovers who had been
tricked into believing that the other was dead. An FBI agent is the culprit responsible,
and the lovers plan a revenge undertaking for a needed payback reprisal.
Fifty-Two
A Mr. Richard Cummings celebrating his fi fty-second birthday, drives to Palm
Springs for the weekend. As fate ascertains life, Richard meets a lovely lady and by
chance, she is selling a refurbished 1952 Pontiac, Richards past dream vehicle. As
their liaison begins to heighten, they become hostages in a tours stop restaurant by
bank robbers. To add to the confl ict, the lady is a distressed estranged woman whose
erratic police offi cer husband is attempting to foil her plans of a divorce and a new
life.
Toni Bates Montez
Th is tells the perils of a determined drug addict woman trying to control her
addiction and grasp a fi nal accolade in the drug trade so she can arrest her addiction
and seek recovery through a twelve-step fellowship and reunite with her recovering
husband and fi ve-year-old son

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: May 8, 2012
• ISBN: 9781469179407

Alfonso Moret

Alfonso was born and raised in East Los Angeles. He was a recipient of the Purple Heart and Bronze Star for wounds and service in Vietnam. He earned a counseling degree at Pacific Oaks College and was a director of a drug-treatment program in El Sereno, California. He is currently semiretired with grandfather and great-grandfather obligations and continues to write.

Book preview

Copyright © 2012 by Alfonso Moret.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012904163

ISBN: Hardcover 978-1-4691-7939-1

Softcover 978-1-4691-7938-4

Ebook 978-1-4691-7940-7

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

To order additional copies of this book, contact:

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111980

Contents

Almas Azules (Blue Hearts) 

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Fifty-two

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Toni Bates Montez

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Almas Azules

 (Blue Hearts) 

Alfonso Moret

Chapter 1

It was the year 2002, and down in the Baja peninsula of Mexico, there was a popular restaurant and entertainment club that had been operating for two years now. Thomas Steal had changed his name to Tomas Blades, and he also changed the name of the club from La Casa Azule (the Blue House) to Almas Azules (Blue Hearts) when he took over. The locals referred to it as Azules (Blues). Right from the beginning, the business did well. Tomas never revealed why he changed the name, and those who knew him were aware the name symbolized a most distressing incident that had happened in his past. After a while, they had stopped asking about it.

It was pretty much a fact that the steaks were the best steaks served in Baja, and that was primarily due to two reasons. First, Tomas Blades had a deal with the local farmers that brought in fresh beef; and number two, he had Joshua as his head cook. And as far as cooking went, it was also known that the Hispanic style of seafood was also superb there. This was partly due to the restaurant being next to the Sea of Cortez, and thus, the sea provisions were brought in daily. These waters were one of the best sport fishing areas in South America, and seafood is a notable unique experience in Baja. Tomas had promised Joshua the job when they were cell mates in Terminal Island when they were serving out their time for breaking the law. Tomas always kept his promises. Joshua had learned his cooking trade while being an ODR (officer dining room) cook for the officers and was taught by high-end cooks the government hired.

Living down here on the peninsula of Baja, especially San Jose, Mexico, well, life had taken a 180-degree turn for Tomas Blades and his crew. The local authorities got their free meals and gratuities and left Tomas to handle his business without many objections. San Jose was just twelve miles from the Baja airport and thirty miles east of Cabo San Lucas, that crazy nightlife tour town that is noted for its wild nightclubs’ exploits and performances along with the available indulgence of alcohol consumption and secret use of marijuana and cocaine.

San Jose was more of a subtle domestic community that catered to its locals with its schools, shops, businesses, restaurants, and a movie theater. It had its quaint nightclubs, tour trips, and souvenir shops too, and furthermore, it had their fishing fleets and sea excursions along with street vendor eating stands and a concert hall, but the zany party nightlife belonged to Cabo San Lucas.

The Almas Azules did not serve breakfast like most other eateries in Mexico did. Tomas wanted his crew to sleep late and work late. They opened at five in the afternoon daily and remained open until usually five in the morning. The alcohol was served vigilantly, and overindulged customers were treated with regard and care and put in taxis to get home safely.

Tomas was a recovering alcoholic. He stopped drinking after he was involved in a careless accident that changed his life. He ran into an eleven-year-old boy riding a bicycle as he was being pursued in a high-speed chase by authorities. The boy nearly died but survived. Tomas was charged with reckless drunk driving and for assault on a federal agent and served four years. On the day of the accident, he had been celebrating his engagement perhaps too much, and then running from the authorities, well, it all caught up with him. While being pursued by agent Maximilian Ramirez, Tomas was racing to meet his woman waiting for him at the airport. It turned out that Ramirez had dual motives in capturing Tomas. For one, Ramirez wanted to arrest Tomas for being a drug trafficker, and two, he wanted to steal the heart of Michelle Meredith Montel, Tomas’s girlfriend. Tomas ran into little Johnny Trujillo as he skidded around an S curve on a dirt road leaving San Luis, Mexico. He knew he was a little buzzed by the alcohol but tried to escape anyway. After that mishap, he pledged to stop drinking, and after the collision, he was arrested and taken into custody by Ramirez. During the apprehension, Tomas overpowered the abusive agent and broke two of Ramirez’s ribs but was finally overtaken by three other agents. All these agents were pursuing Tomas with arrest warrants due to Tomas’s affiliations in the marijuana and drug-trafficking enterprises in Southern California. The feds had witnesses and informers for evidence. These events occurred seven years ago.

The entertainment at the Almas Azules commenced nightly at seven o’clock. There was no arranged program of who or what was performing on any given night with the exception of one performer. Nightly, various trios, bands, singers, magicians, and comedians would get onstage and perform for the audience. Different celebrities and stars on vacation came by and willingly did a performance or sang a number; their egos seemed to always force them to perform. Azules was usually crowded, and most patrons enjoyed their meals and their playtime there. The waitresses were all tall attractive females that came from various parts of Mexico—blondes, brunettes, and redheads. They were labeled las caballeras (cowgirls).

The one performer who now seemed like a regular and who performed nightly was a songstress named Elizabeth Munoz. Many locals and vacationers showed up just to hear her sing. Usually her opening number was a popular rock number or a medley of old and new. Sometimes her numbers were jazzy and at times the blues and love songs. It seemed her favorite, which many believed was directed strictly for Tomas’s ears and heart, was an old Billie Holliday number, My Man. Tomas’s favorite was when she did the Fever number in her black tights and red scarf. It always took his breath away with arousing aftereffects.

Elizabeth landed in Baja mending a broken heart while she put a pause on her booming career. She had a difficult time dealing with her ill-fated marriage and lost love, but she wanted to put all that behind her. It had gotten better for her after she met Tomas, and then there was the basking in the sun, the soothing waters of the Sea of Cortez, and the magic atmosphere of the Baja. Currently, it could be stated that she was now somewhat infatuated with Tomas, and it was now going on six months since they first met. Elizabeth came from the Hollywood scene mainly to recover and was on a sabbatical retreat nursing a misfortunate and sad marriage. Elizabeth Munoz had been an up-and-coming superstar. She had won the American Idol competition and had two top-ten hits; she was extremely attractive and sexy with a powerful, beautiful voice. She had everything going for her. She had married her low-life agent, who turned out to be a conniver and hard-core drug addict. She came home one night and found him overdosed and dead. After a year of mourning and feeling sorry for herself, her aunt Helen encouraged her to come to Baja with her for her aunt’s bachelorette outing.

One day Tomas found her on the beach sunning and grieving, and it took Tomas a few tries to get her to pay any attention to him and talk. He continued to coax her, befriend her, and show her compassion and patience. One night she sang at the club, and she never left. After that week, her aunt went back to the States. Elizabeth’s physical attributes reminded Tomas of a young Rita Hayworth. Most people reminded Tomas of some celebrity character.

Chapter 2

The Almas Azules had a private room where invited private guests would be able to have privileged or restricted festivities when the occasions arose. Prior to the changeover, the room used to be for weddings and cumpleaños (a Mexican coming-out day for young girls turning fifteen). Now it’s where invited guests and friends met for private endeavors. Nothing illegal except a little gambling went on there. It inherited the name the Ante Room; it was roomy and equipped with a unique mini-bar, and the room was furnished with sofas and comfortable chairs from the Sears catalog.

It had large TVs on the walls that were projecting mostly sporting events. The mini-bar was claimed to have come from the old-time movie gangster character George Raft’s home in Hollywood. It had what seemed like George’s initials and other stars’ initials carved into the hardwood surface such as JC, HB, EGR, and others. The room also had a conventional pool table and a unique shuffleboard table next to the back wall. Usually, local vendors visited this room to discuss loss-and-profit days and Mexican politics. Many card games were situated here, but mainly hold ’em poker was played here. Tomas liked to play poker usually on Sunday and Monday nights. Elizabeth, as usual, would perform on those nights, and occasionally, she also helped tend bar or just waited for Tomas at his condo; it was by the cove down the outside stairway that led to the shore a short way from the club.

The officials/authorities in San Jose were not as needy as the ones in Cabo San Lucas, so there was hardly any occasions for the law enforcement to visit the restaurant facility for any legal or community problems. Tomas got along with the authorities but did not hang out with them. In fact, Tomas did not associate with anyone too much. Joshua, Conrad, Victor, Jimmy, and Ronnie were his closest amigos no matter what, and they were part of his crew that he brought down from the States. These were the comrades that wanted to change their lifestyle; they were tired of living that secret life of smugglers and the insanity that went with it. The change to live simple and honest sounded like the right thing to do for them. Habits, attitudes, and behaviors seemed to change here when given a chance. The group was still the guys from the hood, but there hasn’t been any occasion to have to display their hood side yet. What Tomas set up in his smuggling tactics was that before and after crossing the border, he would meet his buddies and transfer the shipment to another vehicle. This eliminated the possibility that he was set up. Most apprehensions and captures happened at the second checkpoint fifteen miles down Highway 101. Tomas would always drive the vehicle with the contraband through the checkpoints. So they would follow one another in a three-car caravan.

Tomas would have his fruit and coffee in the morning sometimes with Elizabeth, if she got up. She was a late sleeper. Not Tomas; he was in the ocean by eight each morning, keeping in shape, swimming with the sea life, and he was usually napping in the afternoon when Elizabeth wanted to play. Life had gotten into an uncomplicated, simple, assured routine. Business was good, his crew was satisfied and content, and he was gradually letting his guard down with Elizabeth. Tomas kept his lost past romance to himself and never wanted to go through anything like that again. In fact, he realized for that not to occur again, he vowed to keep his feelings guarded and not fall in love ever again. Joshua, Ronnie, and Conrad knew the story and knew not to bring it up.

Years ago, Tomas had stopped eating the special dish Joshua used to prepare for him and Michelle, which was eggs Benedict with that special guacamole sauce Joshua would cook. He grew irritated when anything happened that reminded him of her. But now, Tomas couldn’t help growing feelings for Elizabeth. She was sweet, talented, had her own bank accounts, plus she was very attractive. The only drawback was that she was fifteen years younger than him. Tomas hadn’t made up his mind if that was a plus thing or a minus thing yet.

Living near a resort town such as Cabo San Lucas, the restaurant/club would catch many tourists and celebrities as they dropped by on their way to their main location, Cabo. The notoriety of having a delightful and pleasing experience at the restaurant/club had spread, and since the club had to be passed coming from the airport on the way to San Lucas, it became an oasis stop for many, and the commerce was frequent. The new, the old, the welcome, and the unwelcome patrons constantly dropped in to have a drink, have a meal, and be entertained for the evening.

The employees at the club were a pretty tight clique of characters. Also from the States, there were the bartenders Victor and Ronnie, the guitarist Jimmie, and Conrad. They also came from Tomas’s old neighborhood. All five had met in grammar school; Victor was the biggest and toughest guy of the group. He was the mature type of guy. He had a dark tan complexion and thick dark black hair and, as they grew older, gained a reputation of being an ass kicker. Tomas had grateful memories he relished of Victor saving his ass in street fights. Ronnie was a smaller-in-physique-type guy. He had a light complexion with wavy brown hair always kept short. He was a brainy talkative one. He reminded Tomas of Dustin Hoffman, only good-looking. He always had an answer or comment on whatever was going on. Then there was Jimmy the guitar player; he was also Joshua’s younger brother and all-around errand man. Jimmy was reliable but drank too much. Jimmy looked like Sal Mineo, only taller. Now Conrad was a tall good-looking character with small shoulders. He was a couple years younger than the group and was always left behind when the guys were growing up. Now he tried to be loud and tough, trying to prove he’s a bad ass. Except for his physique, he resembled a young Robert Mitchum. He’s the maître d’ in the restaurant and sometimes the bouncer. Everyone tolerated and respected him. Back to Jimmy, he was a ladies’ man. In high school he was a top athlete. He would have gotten an athletic scholarship for Loyola College, but he got arrested again for assault, and a judge told him jail or the service. He went into the navy. Jimmy played hot guitar in the makeshift combo that played all the time. There were others from the boyhood clan; of course, some were dead, and some went way off and were now in prison. The rest could not see leaving the States and living in Mexico.

In their teens, the clique had grown notorious in their neighborhoods and later had gotten into drug dealing and trafficking. Tomas achieved status and notoriety in his slickness and luck to transport marijuana into the United States. Whatever it was, luck or skill, big-time dealers in Mexico wanted Tomas and his gang to work for them. Tomas kept the crew away from any cartel-oriented or Mafia family–oriented drugsters. Being that Tomas’s operation was doing well and was profitable for the Mexican mobsters, they left Tomas alone. Although there were some families that were irritated that Tomas’s gang would only transport marijuana and bennies and sometimes hallucinogens. The cartel knew there was so much money to be made in heroin and cocaine use, and so far, Tomas had made many runs and was never caught but never transporting illicit hard-core drugs. They needed a smooth operator such as Tomas. They continued to offer him deals.

As the economy began to strangle everyone and Tomas’s dream of getting out of the business and getting married and buying a farm grew stronger, he finally agreed. Tomas decided that he would make two runs for the Vargas people. The Vargas family was one of the largest drug-cartel people from Colombia in Mexico. Tomas regretted his commitment soon after he made the deal, but he made the deal, and there was no turning back. Well, he contemplated, after these two deals, he and Michelle would get married and move to Montana on a nice farm he had looked into.

Chapter 3

The first smuggling transaction took place in the middle of winter, and Tomas had convinced the headman he was dealing with, which was Marquis, a lieutenant in the Vargas organization. Marquise was a weasel-looking man with a thin mustache and a ruddy complexion, and his constant henchman, Bando, was six three, close to three hundred pounds, and a walrus kind of guy to use a different route. He looked like his name, Bando, whatever that is. Tomas had convinced them that a different smuggling point should be made. Tomas and his boys had visited San Luis, Mexico, when they were teens. They partied there dancing, drinking tequila, and whopping it up a few times. Late at night, after the boys partied at some event or festivity, they would drive down the I-10 freeway straight through Yuma, Arizona, and then into San Luis. The boys would wake up the town and party until the sun came up. Yes, Tomas figured this was a safer route then crossing the border at Tijuana. San Luis rather than Tijuana was a longer route for the drugsters to bring their hordes of dope, but it was safer for them in the back hills of Mexico to travel at night. Tomas assured them that San Luis was a lot quieter and had less traffic than Tijuana and that he knew off-road escape routes. The drug men he was dealing with now were only lieutenants in the cartel, and they had to get permission to alter the route process. The higher-ups were interested in finding other avenues of transporting and were willing to chance it.

The deal was set. First, Conrad would drive his vehicle to a low-rent motel just outside of Tijuana, and Ronnie and Victor would follow Tomas and park in a deserted backstreet of Tijuana, and Tomas would go to his destination point. After dropping his make-believe girlfriend Emily (a front) off at a safe location across the border, Tomas was to roll into San Luis at 10:00 p.m. in his rented Mustang that he leased using false IDs. He then would go to the Mermaids strip club and wait for Marquis and Bando. Then, all together, they would go to the guarded abandoned garage and inspect the loaded vehicle. Tomas would receive part of his payment, and the rest would be given when he delivered the vehicle to the appointed address in the East Los Angeles area.

Tomas had no problem getting into Mexico. The Mexican border guard asked him to put down his window and then said, Whas is your bizness in Mexico, senor?

Tomas had on a fake mustache and wore a Dodgers baseball cap; he smiled and said, Well, I have a few hours off work, and I thought I’d go to the Mermaids Club with my girl here. He raised and lowered his eyebrows a few times and smiled broadly. Maybe get married. Tomas winked his eye.

The guard bent down to look at Emily in her short skirt revealing nice legs and thighs. He slightly grinned and said, "Eh, yu wash it, man. Dun spend all yu dinero. Go on, cabron!"

Cruising down the road slowly, he saw various carnival street hawkers standing in front of their clubs, calling to everyone walking by. Amigos, come in. plenty of naked girls just for you. Come in, good drinks. Come in. This went on both sides of the street.

Tomas dropped Emily off at the Travelers Motel restaurant on Canales Road and continued to his rendezvous and into the streets of San Luis. Letting out his breath slowly, Tomas made his way down the road. He had dropped off Emily to keep her safe and told her to eat something. He drove down the street and saw the lights of the main boulevards and headed that way. On Calle Nationale, he saw there were plenty of souvenir stores, lots of liquor stores, and plenty of clubs, but the traffic was light. Tomas saw the green-and-red neon lights blinking Mermaids, and then in blue-and-yellow neon, an outline of shapely legs would start to glow at the bottom, and the lighting would travel up, revealing a dancing girl. Tomas looked for parking and parked in front of a market close to the club and gave five dollars to a young kid selling Mexican candy on the street and asked him to watch the car and pointed to another five dollar bill. The kid’s eyes brightened, and he smiled as he nodded his head up and down.

I’m here, he thought. Tomas walked across the street to the Mermaids. There was a tall evil-looking bouncer standing in front; he was waving at customers to come in while he checked out anyone walking by. He never smiled and looked annoyed.

Tomas walked toward the entrance, and the bouncer became somewhat animated and said, "Yes, senor, come in. Mucho pretty girls. You like ’um. Come in, come in."

The bouncer went to the door and opened it for Tomas. Tomas nodded his head at the man and walked in. Immediately, he was hit with loud music, darkness, and warm air that was saturated with alcohol, body odor, cigarette smoke, and cheap perfume. As he adjusted his eyes to the darkness, he observed a long bar to his right that was cluttered with men and meagerly dressed women sitting on stools. Everyone was chatting, smoking, drinking, and bouncing with the loud music. Private Dancer was blaring. It was too dark to see if the women were attractive, old, young, or happy.

He looked to his left, and there was a multicolored lighted stage and a slim attractive female scantily dressed who was humping and gyrating to the music. In front of the stage were tables and chairs filled with men gawking and screaming at the dancer and tossing her dollar bills. There were a couple of bikini-dressed waitresses walking through the crowd, slapping men’s hands away from their bodies. Tomas looked for two men wearing New York baseball caps. At the far end near the caballeros’ restroom, he spotted them. They were smoking and had mugs of beer in their hands, baseball caps pulled low over their brows. Even in the dark they looked sinister.

He walked over to them and asked, You guys play with Fernando Valenzuela?

They looked at each other, and the slender one asked, You Tomas, the catcher?

Thomas took out the picture of Fernando and gave it to them.

They got off their seats and began walking toward the doorway; the slender one motioned with his head, insinuating Tomas to follow them. They went down the street and turned into an alleyway and walked for two blocks to a residential area. Streets were dark and spooky; all was quiet. The quarter moon was high, and scraggy clouds cluttered parts of the horizon. Tomas felt jittery but followed them. Dogs could be heard barking in the distance. And occasional Cayate (Spanish for Shut up) would be heard. They turned right and walked toward an old-looking fenced-in house that had a large garage next to it. The big guy beamed a flashlight ray toward the house, and a large reddish-brown dog in the yard raced back and forth along the fence but did not bark at them.

Muy bueno, Diablo, the heavier of the two stated. The dog stopped and began wagging his tail.

The big guy stepped forward to open the garage doors just as two men on either side of the garage stepped out carrying M-16 rifles with banana clips and watched them as the slim guy asked them, Todo esta bien? They both nodded their heads as they put down their M-16 rifles.

The big guy insinuated with his head for Tomas to follow. Tomas looked around and went into the dark garage and stood in front of the 1995 dark-blue Chevy Malibu sitting innocently under a single dangling light bulb.

Marquis walked by him and said in a heavy accent, "Bonita, eh? It even hos a Just Married sign on thee back vindow like you vanted. Yo me llamo Marquis, mi amigo se lama Bando."

Tomas opened the door and looked inside. It was newly upholstered and pretty much spotless. He nodded his head in approval and went to the trunk and unlocked it. It was neat with a new spare tire, a toolbox, and some cleaning equipment.

Nodding his head slightly to the side, he asked, Is the dope in double plastic so the dogs can’t smell it in the tire?

"Oh si, Tomas. Nosotros dun vant you to get boosted. Too mucho dinero here. Here." He handed Thomas a legal-size manila envelope containing his down payment.

Tomas quickly shuffled through it and slipped it in his inside jacket pocket. He got in the driver’s seat and lit a cigarette. For a moment, he imagined the doors being kicked in and police running in everywhere. That feeling passed. He felt nervous, and butterflies were in his stomach. Tomas checked the glove box for the registration and looked around the car real quick.

He now took a deep breath and said, "Okay, you should hear from your people in LA in four hours. Ay te watcho, amigos."

"Vaya con Dios, you pocho."

Tomas started up the Chevy and drove out of the garage and onto the main street and went to pick up Emily. He figured he would make the trip back in about three and a half hours. If everything went right, he might be home by four in the morning. Cool.

In the late eighties and early nineties, the border crossing at Yuma/Mexico wasn’t that crucial. Tomas would always bring a trusted female he knew from the crowd he hung with. He would give her five thousand dollars to ride with him and play the part that they were newlyweds if stopped and questioned. He would tell her that he was just bringing over a stolen vehicle, and if they were caught, he would tell authorities she knew nothing of the ordeal.

He got to the hotel in ten minutes, and Emily was waiting outside, drinking a Pepsi and smoking a cigarette. She walked over to the car and said, Hi, handsome, you looking for a date? She giggled.

What’s a nice girl like you doing in a dump like this? Tomas said jokingly. Come on, get in, beautiful.

With a hand on her hip, she stated, Wow, great-looking car. Can I drive it?

Get in, woman. Let’s go home.

She got in and turned on the radio. Louie Louie was playing; she put it a little louder and began dancing in her seat. Tomas found Ronnie and Victor down on the street they agreed on. They switched the spare tires because that’s where the heroin was stashed, placed the Just Married sign in the switched car’s back window, and then switched cars. Tomas and Emily were now in a white Ford Torino and drove off while the guys followed them.

When they got to the border checkpoint, she lowered the radio just a little and sat back and lit a cigarette. Thomas pulled her over next to him, and she put her arm around his neck. They looked lovey-dovey.

The United States officer motioned them to pull over and asked Tomas, Where were you born? as he flashed a flashlight across his face.

Tomas replied, Los Angeles, sir.

How about you, ma’am?

Emily giggled and said, I was born in LA too, officer."

As the officer swished his flashlight throughout the car, he asked, What were you doing in Mexico?

Thomas smiled widely and said, Hey, we went to have some fun, and you know what happened?

The officer nodded to him implying what.

Thomas said, We got married.

Emily leaned forward and showed the officer her ring on her finger.

The officer smiled and noticed the white painted sign on the back window that stated Just Married. He smiled at them again and said, Whoa, you been drinking?

Tomas raised his right hand and said, I swear, officer, two beers. I’ll take a Breathalyzer test right now, sir.

The officer leaned in to take a whiff of Tomas’s breathe; he pulled back and said, You seem all right. Good luck, kids. Hope it works out.

Simultaneously, they said, Thanks.

He waved them on.

Emily nudged herself onto Thomas and said, Oh, that was heavy. I’m excited, Tommy. Can we park and fuck around?

It was tempting. Tomas adjusted his body and looked at Emily’s thighs and wanted to reach out and rub them, but he knew he wouldn’t, he couldn’t; he was getting married, and he loved Michelle. He said, We need to get another twenty miles down the freeway. After that far down, they usually don’t stop you anymore.

Emily wiggled her body into Tomas and said, Oh hell. Damn.

She then lay down on the seat and put her head on Tomas’s lap and drifted off to sleep. At three fifteen in the morning, Tomas was waking her up in front of her house and telling her thanks and gave her an envelope with her pay. She sprang up, kissed him on the cheek, got out of the car, and ran into her house. The transaction went smoothly. Now he just had to take the loaded vehicle to the drop-off location and get the rest of his money. Tomas first went home and picked up his pistol; it made him feel more secure. He went to the address on Floral Drive in the Belvedere district of East LA and dropped off the vehicle. He was paid, and all went well; he left and went home, called the guys. Everything went well with them, and then he went to sleep.

Chapter 4

Today is Monday, and Tomas is in the Ante Room playing with seven of the regular card players. The stakes here were not real high, and no one was winning or losing too much tonight. Usually two or three hundred dollars could keep you playing the night. Most players were not extremely wealthy individuals, and most of the players knew one another. There was the hip good-looking middle-aged gentleman, one of the regular players. It was Henry the Hawk, and he had just asked for a change in decks. His luck had been running poor. While Brenda, the dealer, spread the new deck and inspected the cards, Tomas looked around the table as he assessed the players here tonight.