Double Your Pleasure

Chapter Ten

"Get to the Point"

Rita made sure the house was locked up tight and all the doors and windows were checked and rechecked. All the curtains and blinds were shut and all the lights were on. She made some chocolate chip cookies with Astor and Cody then they all went into the bedroom that grandpa CJ had set up for the kids. They each had a nice cold glass of milk and a small plate with their own batch of warm cookies, and of course mom made sure they each had a couple of paper towels. Each had changed into their PJ's. Rita had her cell phone in the charger in the kid's room along with her dad's house phone. They put on their favorite movie, The Long Shot, and settled in for a nice family time together. It was 10:15 pm.

Dexter took a chance and went to JJ's first. He figured that Emmanuel was the hot item at least in their minds and he probably went to his brother's for refuge. He went to the block where JJ's house was but on the next street over. He parked and made his way through the yard behind JJ's and over the fence into JJ's back yard. He didn't want to run into the surveillance team out front. He hoped JJ and EL Cuchillo would be home and this would be quick and easy.

There were lights on inside and no outside lighting at all; this was in Dexter's favor which made it easier to move around the house on the outside without being seen. He waited by one of the back windows looking in to see if there was any movement or any noises from inside. He waited several minutes and heard nothing. It was 10:30 pm.

CJ had thought about which house to go to first but really had no idea which one to pick so he used his GPS navigation system in his van and found that JJ's house was the closest one so he went there first. He parked around the corner a half block down after driving past the house to make sure he knew which one it was. He hadn't noticed any surveillance parked on the street but took a detour on foot, around the corner anyway and came through the back yard from the house behind JJ's. The lighting in the neighborhood was almost nonexistent which made his job a lot easier He went over the back fence and made his way to the back of the house. He saw lights on inside and made his way to one of the back windows. It was 10:30 pm.

JJ told Emmanuel that he had to leave to meet Escobar, it was time and he didn't want to be late He would be back after the meet and they could go out and get some ladies for the night. Emmanuel was okay with this because he wanted to take care of a certain blonde bitch as him and JJ had already talked about. They decided that she would most likely be at her dad's place so Emmanuel should go there first. Emmanuel had his knife and JJ had his semi. Both were ready to finish up their business then go out and get laid. They had it all figured out, the plan was set in motion. They left the house at 10:00 pm.

The team monitoring the phones picked up a call at 9:50 pm from Escobar's home phone that they passed on to Lt. LaGuerta. It was a little cryptic but it gave them enough of what they needed to set a group in motion for a meet. The message was that Escobar had received a call from one of his men that they were in place near JJ's and Escobar told them to keep EL Cuchillo on ice until he arrived. He had to meet his mark at midnight. LaGuerta put out the call to have Escobar followed. There would be alternating unmarked cars with plain clothes officers tailing him. She sent several units to the docks to be available just in case. She contacted the surveillance team at JJ's and found out that the brothers had each just left in separate cars. They were told to follow JJ which they did. She figured she could catch up to EL Cuchillo after they had Escobar and JJ in custody.

Dexter had seen CJ come over the fence but didn't know it was him. It could have been anyone so Dex laid low and waited. CJ walked right up next to Dexter without seeing him as Dexter lay flat on the ground next to the house. As CJ stood up to look in the window Dexter knew who it was and saw the gun at the same time. Dexter sprang up and grabbed CJ's hand with the gun and twisted it out of his grip. CJ was startled and turned on Dexter with a quick turn and tried to keep his grip on the gun but couldn't. CJ put his other arm around Dexter and they went to the ground and rolled over with CJ on top. CJ had his hands on Dexter's throat at this point.

Dexter spit out a quick, "CJ, its Dex!"

CJ kept his grip, then backed off when he recognized Dexter. They rolled apart, stood up with their backs to the house gasping for air. They looked at each other and couldn't believe that the other one was there.

"What are you doing here, CJ? You are supposed to be home with Rita and the kids," Dex whispered.

"I have to finish this business tonight for Rita's sake."

"Me too, CJ," Dex almost laughed, "Follow me."

They made their way back over the fence and back to Dexter's van. Once inside they looked at each other and Dexter took the lead.

"You crazy son of a bitch, CJ. You almost lost it back there. I was ready to take you out when you stood up and looked into the window and I saw it was you. Good move by the way after I took your gun," as he smiled at CJ.

"You are full of surprises, Dex. Like I told you the other night, it seems you and I think alike. I wasn't wrong. Now what?"

"Let's check in with Deb and see what has developed if anything."

"Deb, what's the latest?

"We have a meet for JJ and Escobar. We're tailing Escobar to the meet from this side and we have a tail on JJ from that side. It seems Escobar has it in for JJ; he referred to him as his mark. Escobar has a team of men out for Emmanuel too. He wants them to hold Emmanuel until he can get there."

"Get where?"

"To JJ's where Emmanuel was staying, but our guys saw him leave at the same time JJ took off, at 10 pm."

"Where would Emmanuel be going?"

"Don't know. LaGuerta told our guys atJJ's to follow JJ, so we can get these guys together. She thinks once we have them in custody she can find out where Emmanuel is."

Dexter was silent, thinking. He knew he had missed something. It was a detail, a missing bit of information. It occurred to him, why was Armando killed? He was a liability, that's why. But what had made him a liability? He had knowledge. He worked at the MMPD. He was killed the day after the event at Z Hotel. Emmanuel was not going to the meet with JJ. He had a different place to go. Oh God.

"Deb, put out a call to have all available units roll to CJ's, now," he shouted as he started the van and looked at CJ, "Emmanuel is on his way there now and CJ is with me across town. Rita and the kids are home alone and El Cuchillo has a head start. We are on our way, I will call Rita."

CJ's heart almost stopped. He turned white. He had left them alone. Oh god no, no. His Rita, his little Astor and his little Cody. What chance did they have? He would not be able to live with this. They were his life, his reason for living. What had he done? It was his fault they were alone, defenseless. He prayed for the first time in years as Dexter sped through the streets of Miami towards his house.

Dexter called Rita on her cell, hoping beyond hope that she would answer.

Deb got the call out and units were on there way, ETA, 4 minutes. It was 10:45 pm Sunday night.

El Cuchillo pulled up around the corner at 10:35 pm. He made his way over the back fence from the side street and made his way to the back of the house. All the lights were on but he couldn't see in, all the drapes and blinds were closed. He thought for a minute. He would go in hard and fast, screaming. It would scare the shit out of anyone home and his job would be easy and quick. He counted on the fear factor and how it would make a person freeze. It was risky but not so much that he wouldn't do it, he was El Cuchillo.

He found the back door and prepared to smash the window pane and reach in and unlock the door. It was 10:40 pm.

Rita had just made her way back into the kitchen with the plates and glasses and had just set them in the sink. The kids had fallen asleep but the movie was still running. She had shut the bedroom door behind her and took her cell phone to call dad. She didn't want to wake the kids.

The glass in the back door shattered and Rita screamed. A man was screaming and reaching in through the broken window reaching for the handle to get in. She went into survival mode and her mood went from quiet to being really pissed in about one second. This was too much and she was going to fight. She ran into the living room and grabbed the stabbing spear on the wall above the mantle and went into the hallway at the opposite end from the kid's bedroom. She turned off the hallway light and crouched down in the corner with the end of the shaft of the spear jammed into the corner of the hallway at the floor; she had both hands on the spear and had it laying almost on the floor. Her adrenaline was pumping through her veins and her heart was racing. Her arms were shaking and her breathing was shallow and fast. She waited; focused on the hallway entrance.

El Cuchillo had heard Rita scream and it excited him. His plan was working. He was in the house and went towards the living room and heard a noise in the hallway. He ran up to the hallway entrance screaming and stopped. He slowly looked in towards the noise coming from the bedroom to his right but heard something to his left. He turned and saw her crouching in the corner, she was a dark figure in the dark hallway but just enough light from the living room was all he needed to see her. She was his; the blonde bitch was going to die.

It was 10:44 pm. El Cuchillo screamed and turned to his left and charged towards Rita at full speed with his knife in his hand ready to cut her to ribbons.

She raised the front of the spear to chest height and braced it tightly in her hands with the shaft jammed tightly in the corner at the floor. El Cuchillo couldn't stop and ran right into the 22" blade as it pierced his chest then his heart and kept going until his momentum and the spear came to their final resting position. His face and Rita's face were just inches apart now, he looked shocked; he dropped his knife then collapsed. His weight dropped him forward but the spear being pushed into the corner pushed him over to the side. He was dead. He was up against the wall and not quite on the floor.

Rita's cell phone rang at 10:45 pm. She opened it and put the phone to her ear as she looked down on El Cuchillo. She heard Dexter's voice as he yelled into the phone in a panic.

"Rita we're on our way and patrol officers will be there in a few minutes. We think El Cuchillo is on his way there but we don't know exactly where he is!"

Rita was surprisingly calm as she looked down at her first kill then spoke softly and calmly into the phone.

"I do."

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