Roman drove the sports car up to the front of a large estate. He parked the car and stepped out as he put on his sunglasses. He walked around and opened the door for Prentiss. She put out a red high heel shoe then stepped out wearing a tight black dress. Her hair was pulled back into a high bun, and she wore large, hooped earrings.
She held onto her clutch purse with her right hand, and her left reached out and grabbed hold of Roman's. She looked at him and grinned.
"What?" he asked.
"You look like you just stepped out of Reservoir Dogs with that thin black tie," Prentiss gave a smug grin as they walked toward the guard at the entrance.
They were escorted through the mansion and were let out at a large atrium where a man was sitting at a table in the shade with a woman lounging on the bench playing on her phone.
"Hello, you must be Cortez, I am Paul, and this is my business associate… Emily."
The man at the table looked up from his stack of papers to Roman. "You know the more money you have; the more people want to take it away."
"I understand completely," Roman replied. "I patented a portable nurse kit to use in emergencies. I made quite a lot of money, and now I have to deal with all the headaches that go along with it."
"I was told by Luis that you were someone I should take seriously. Have you come here to talk to me about nursing kits?"
"No, actually, I am here to broker a deal."
"What kind of a deal?"
"The kind of deal that gets Alvaro back."
The girl put down her phone and sat upright. "You can bring Varo home?"
Roman looked to Prentiss, who took a step forward and spoke to the girl. "Yes, we can bring him home," Prentiss spoke softly and reassuringly.
Cortez dropped the papers from his hands and stood up from the table. "What is it you want in exchange for Alvaro?"
Roman held his phone in the air. "I just need to make one call, and I can have Alvaro on a plane heading back to you. I just need one man."
"Who?" the girl asked.
"Charles Sullivan. Cease any attempts to locate, capture, or in any way harm him or his family. Consider the matter settled."
"And you expect us to just forget about the heroin he stole from us? And that he killed one of ours in the process?" the man asked.
"Well, that all depends," Prentiss said.
"On what?"
"On if you want Alvaro back and the same considerations given to him from the Yakuza. The matter will be settled and will return Alvaro back to you," Prentiss said to the girl.
"Do it!" she said.
"Rosa!" he snapped while moving toward her.
She held out her hand to him. "No, Miguel. We are bringing my brother home, and that is final. Do you understand?"
"Yes," Miguel said.
Roman looked back and forth between them and then pointed to Rosa. "Cortez?"
"Yes, I am Cortez," she said as she sat back down.
"I uh, just wasn't expecting that," he admitted.
"That's the point. And I hope we can keep that information between us," she said.
"Certainly. So, does this mean we have a deal?"
"Yes, it does."
"Good. Alvaro will land tomorrow at 5 pm. He will return unharmed, and the Yakuza will consider the matter closed. Until the time he returns to you, I hope we could put a moratorium on any actions towards Charles Sullivan."
"Agreed," Rosa said.
"Oh, before we leave, I just wanted to give you a little tip." Roman turned toward Prentiss.
"The FBI are in Mexico and looking into one of your own as a possible serial killer," Prentiss said.
Rosa glanced at Miguel then back to them. "Thank you for the information. It is most appreciated."
Alex was lying on Rossi's couch with her feet up on the arm, and a wet washcloth was covering her eyes as she talked on her cell phone. "Penelope, I promise we're fine. It's not the first time I have been in a firefight on a motorcycle, and I doubt it will be the last. We think it's safest to just crash at Dave's tonight, and we can get a better game plan in the morning. What do you mean that's what you hoped I'd say?"
Alex sat up when she heard the doorbell. "Please tell me that's not you."
Rossi was quick to open his door. "Garcia, what are you doing here so late?"
"Alex told me about the ordeal you guys went through, and I had come over and make sure that everyone was okay. Look, I even brought my own go-bag," she said as she held up a bright, multi-colored bag.
"A go-bag for what?" Rossi questioned.
"Aren't we all staying here tonight… for safety?"
Alex couldn't help but let out a giggle.
Rossi looked to Alex. "I will deal with you later." He then turned back to Garcia and gave a sigh. "Sure, fine. The more, the merrier, right?"
"Great!" Garcia said as she enthusiastically entered Rossi's foyer.
She dropped her bag on the floor, rushed over, and plopped herself on the couch next to Alex. She wrapped her arm around Alex and squeezed her tightly. "Oh, I am so glad you are alright! I'm sure Reid must be in a panic. Ah! You did call him, didn't you? I can if you need me to! Oh, and you have to deal with that mean CIA lady who shall not be named."
Alex patted Garcia on the knee. "It's okay. I have already talked to Spencer; he and the rest of the team are aware of what happened. Kiefer was already here and treated the situation just as you'd expect."
"Well, I am here to help!" Garcia stood up and looked around the room. "Where should I begin? Oh, I know. Tea. Should I make you some tea?"
At that moment, Hugh came from the kitchen carrying a tray with a teapot and cups. Charles followed two steps behind, eating from a box of cookies. Hugh barely had time to place the tray on the table before Garcia enveloped him in her bear hug. "I am so happy you guys are okay. You know when I get calls that my family is being shot at and high-speed vehicle chases and especially not so long after you guys were shot at in your car. I just had to come over and make sure you are all okay."
"Penelope, please have a cup of tea," Alex urged, holding up the proffered tea.
"Did you put a sedative in it?" Rossi asked dryly.
Garcia scoffed. "That's how you behave after I rush over here?"
"I am only teasing, Garcia. I am grateful to have a friend who cares so deeply," Rossi said, then leaned forward to kiss Garcia on the forehead.
"All is forgiven," Garcia said, then sat back down.
Charles put the box of cookies down on the table and wiped the crumb dust from his hands onto his pant leg. "Hey, I think we still have a few of those strawberry danish; anyone want one?" He looked to Alex first.
"Oh, no," she grimaced. "I couldn't eat that right now." She took a sip from her tea as she held the cloth back onto her forehead.
"Oh, so I heard about the deal Paul Roman made with Cortez," Garcia started. "How did he manage to pull that off?"
Hugh sat in the large sitting chair. "Well, I brought Paul with me because he has connections everywhere and with everyone. With the assumption that it was indeed Cortez who had been hunting Charles, we needed to figure out what Cortez wanted. That was easy; it was Alvaro who was being held by the Yakuza over some uh, let us say, personal differences. Then the tricky part was finding out what the Yakuza wanted."
"So, what did they want?" Garcia asked on the edge of her seat.
"Turns out that they love In-N-Out Burger. Paul was able to broker a deal to supply them with a couple of their catering trucks and training. And for that, they released Alvaro."
"Wow, so all of this could have been settled with a few Double-Doubles?" Garcia asked. "Wait, does that mean that Charles can come out of hiding now?"
Charles looked down to the floor, then back to Garcia. "Let's see how everything goes tomorrow before anyone gets their hopes up."
