Author Note: Kit's chapter will be up in a few days. Gabe Shadow is currently working on grammar things and those fun little things for me. Thanks
Jack could feel himself falling asleep. He struggled to keep his
eyes open, but his tired body continuously fought back to finally rest. He had not slept decently in awhile and his body wanted to sleep. He was even more relaxed by the sound of the engines of the plane, and the comfortable seats. To keep himself awake, he took out the headphones provided to him and turned on the little radio Pedro loaned him. He turned on the only rock station he could find.
Wish I was too dead to cry
My self-affliction fades
Stones to throw at my creator
Masochists to which I cater
You don't need to bother;
I don't need to be
I'll keep slipping farther
But once I hold on'
I won't let go 'til it bleeds
He was not sure who was singing, but the voice was nice for a
change. He listened to the lyrics and the thought of the little girl came
back. He felt like a shit bag at the moment and wanted to curl up and die.
if he choose not to? Who could hold it against him for not wanting to kill a little girl? Wish I was too dead to care
If indeed I cared at all
Never had a voice to protest
So you fed me shit to digest
I wish I had a reason;
my flaws are open season
For this' I gave up trying
One good turn deserves my dying
The guilty look must have registered on his face because he noticed
Claudia looking over at him. He gave her a faint smile trying to show that everything was fine as usual, but in his heart, he knew she could look through his faint smiles and fake goodness and see the real Jack. The killer of innocent little girls, and others. Had he gone too far before?
Would he ever be able to get back to where he had started out? Sometimes, he would dream of running away from it all, and hiding out on a deserted island where he would live the rest of his life in solitude. He knew what he wanted to run from. He needed to run from the dark side of himself that scared him. He needed to escape the side that everyone possessed, but most were able to hide.
You don't need to bother;
I don't need to be
I'll keep slipping farther
But once I hold on'
I won't let go 'til it bleeds
Wish I'd died instead of lived
A zombie hides my face
Shell forgotten
with its memories
Diaries left
with cryptic entries
The lyrics brought him back to the issue that has haunted him ever
since the day, Teri and her death. He wanted to die with her. That day, he almost killed himself. He had the gun pointed at his head and he was ready to pull the trigger. He thought to himself how it would have saved him, and a lot of other people a lot of grief. Maybe he should have flown the plane all the way into the ground that day with the nuclear bomb, instead of turning over to Mason. Mason was slowly dying at the time and it would have been two people dead instead of one person. He was really not alive anymore. He just went through the motions of life and tried to prove to everyone that he was almost normal and happy again. Had that been all Kate was, his chance to prove to everyone he had moved on, when in reality, he was still stuck in the past.
And you don't need to bother;
I don't need to be
I'll keep slipping farther
But once I hold on'
I won't let go 'til it bleeds
You don't need to bother;
I don't need to be
I'll keep slipping farther
But once I hold on:
I'll never live down my deceit
Claudia got out of her seat. She continued to walk back to sit next
to Jack. She was still pissed at him, but she could see in his eyes, and in
his faint smile that something was wrong. She did not know all of the
details of the night before, but she was sure he was smack dab in the middle of it all.
When she sat next to him, he took the headphones off and smiled at
her. "Hey. Talking to me now?" He asked smiling trying to hide the pain he felt inside, and the hatred he had for himself and everyone else at the moment.
"I'm sorry. I had no reason to act like I had earlier. It was your
job. Are you okay? You look sort of..." She could not find the right
word.
"Yeah, I'm fine." He answered quickly trying to give a genuine smile.
"You look like you haven't slept in days. How can you be fine?"
"I haven't slept in days, but I'm fine."
"Why don't you get some sleep? We are about an hour from our
destination in Mexico and I doubt there is going to be any trouble on the
plane." She said looking into his tired eyes.
"I'm fine." He said with a little anger. He hated that she was able
to read him already.
Hector interrupted, "Jack, why don't you go in the back and catch
some shut eye? I just got off the phone with my brother and we are going to be quite busy for the next few days."
Jack knew even though it was in the form of a question, he could not
refuse it. He got up and walked to the back of the plane where it was
quieter, more comfortable. He laid down on the small bench that had been outfitted with a carpet-like material. He used his duffle bag as a pillow and laid down. A few minutes later, he was asleep. His body shutting his mind off long enough to let him fall asleep. He was so tired that even dreams did not register in his mind.
Claudia walked to the back of the plane when it was getting ready to
land to check on Jack. She had wondered if he had fallen asleep or not. He did look horrible earlier and he looked as if something was tearing him apart inside. When she opened the door, she noticed he was on the carpeted bench sound asleep. She looked on and her heart raced as she saw him. He looked so beautiful and peaceful asleep. Almost like an angel. She wanted to touch him just to make sure he was still real, his features fully relaxed for once. She walked over to him and gently shook him awake.
He felt soft hands touching his arm, bringing him back from the dark
slumber. He opened his eyes and she stood there. For a moment, he thought he was dreaming, but when he realized he was really there, and it was all happening he jumped up and asked, "What is wrong?"
Claudia noticed how he went from relaxed to stressed in a few
seconds. She answered him, "Nothing, we are getting ready to land."
"Oh, thanks." Jack said getting up to take his seat out front
again. His was stomach rolling. He knew it was only a matter of minutes until he met Ramon Salazar, the boss of the Salazars, the founding father of the small organization that was ever growing and increasing in power. He knew that Ramon was a dangerous man and he had to watch out with him.
Ramon was not as stupid as he acted. He knew more than most drug lords, and had more experience than most drug lords. With these thoughts, Jack had begun to wish he had slept the night before or at least rested better. He had to be on top of his game, not only to maintain his cover, but to gain Ramon's trust.
When the plane landed, he unbuckled his seat belt and helped Pedro
unload the luggage from the back. As he walked down the steps to the tarmac, he heard Ramon greet his younger brother, and Claudia. Jack continued on to one of the SUVs. He tried to pay little attention to Ramon Salazar, or the others. He was just packing the luggage and that was all, nothing interesting.
He had Claudia's luggage in the back of the SUV when Hector called
him over, "Jack, come over here."
Jack closed the door and walked over to Hector with his nerves acting
up so much that he was afraid he might get sick. He hid it from everyone.
Hector patted Jack on the back and told Ramon, "This is the crazy
son of a bitch I told you about."
Jack smiled and said, "Hello, sir."
"Jack, is it?" Ramon said looking him over as if he were something
Ramon was thinking of buying. "Ex-Delta?"
"Yes, sir." Jack replied not sure if he was supposed to answer or not.
"Fine. Let's go home." Ramon said walking away.
Jack was not sure if that was a good sign or a bad one. He knew at
the moment anything Ramon said went and he needed Ramon to trust him enough to let him into the small circle. Part of him thought this all could have gone better.
Hector looked at Jack and said, "You'll ride with Pedro and Thomas."
"Yes, sir." Jack said turning around and walking to the other SUV
his nerves were still in high gear. What if Ramon decided Jack was not
worth the risk or if he saw something in Jack he was not supposed to see? Would this be the end of everything? If so, would it really matter, what was he losing his crappy life of pain and misery?
Hector got into the driver seat of the SUV, Ramon sat in the
passenger seat, and Claudia was in the back alone. She was thinking of Jack and what she had seen earlier when he was asleep and when he woke up. She wondered what was bothering him so much. She knew his happiness he conveyed was not true happiness. She was not sure if any of his emotions where true. He was two different people. When she met him, he was a kind funny man, and
around Hector he is a cold person. She wondered what he was like when he was alone? She thought she might have seen a glimpse of it on the plane when he was listening to the music thinking of something. She always wondered what others were thinking. If she had to choose a power, she would want to read others minds so that she was better able to understand them.
Hector and Ramon sat in the front discussing Hector's trips.
"So what was the death toll this trip?" Ramon asked knowing that
there were a lot of people who were killed that weekend.
"Uh, there was the bar owner, the guys who came into the bar to
get Carlos, Salvador, one of Carlos men who was working for the feds."
Hector paused to think of who else there was. "Oh and the guy, the woman, and their child. I think that was all that I had to get rid of this trip."
"Eventful trip, I see."
"Yeah and Jack killed six or more of them. You should have seen the
man. He killed the little girl on my order without even hesitating."
Claudia heard what Hector had told his brother and she almost gasped
in horror. Jack had killed a little girl. She never would have thought him
capable, but then she did not know him that well. Why did she expect so much from the man she did not really know? Did she have a right to?
"Really, that many in the two or three days?" Ramon asked now
interested.
"Yeah. At first I hated him. He's a little sure of himself, but he
is pretty good at what he does. The night that the guys came after Carlos, he was able to come back and kill two of them putting an end to the little fiasco." Hector informed Ramon, he was trying to get Ramon to let Jack stay on. Hector trusted Jack after all he had done for them that weekend, and he knew Jack was capable of so much more. "You are always talking about how you want our men better trained. He's that man. He's ex-Delta and he knows his stuff. He's not a fed because he's killed people and he has a little problem."
"What's the problem?" Ramon asked interested in Jack now.
"He likes heroin, but he's even still better than all of our men on
the shit."
Claudia again almost shrieked when she heard about Jack's drug
addiction. She had never fathomed he was a junkie. He just did not come off as a junkie. She was starting to think maybe she did not know anything about him, and she had assumed too much.
Hector continued on, "But that's also half our men too." The
Salazars had a habit of wanting their men addicted to their drugs that way they had a way to control them better.
"We will see. I want to check out his abilities first hand, then
I'll make my decision." Ramon said pulling into the drive way of their
Cancun home.
He parked the SUV outside of the big ranch house. Claudia's little
brother Sergio waited outside anxiously for Claudia and Hector to return.
When the SUV door opened he ran up to his sister hugging her asking, "Did you bring me anything back?"
"Sergio, let her breathe." Hector said smiling at the young boy.
"Hector." Sergio ran up to Hector hugging him. Hector was his role
model even though Claudia continuously fought against it, but the more she fought, the more Hector became a role model to Sergio.
Jack got out of the SUV and helped carry the luggage into the house.
He followed Pedro unsure of what he was suppose to do around Ramon or anyone else for that matter. Pedro led him to the barn where there was a hang-out area for the guys. When they walked in a few people greeted Pedro and Pedro stopped and yelled out to everyone, "This is Jack. He's the new guy."
Some introduced themselves, and the names were quickly forgotten as
Ramon and Hector walked in. Everyone sat in silence awaiting their orders. Ramon called over to Jack, "Come with us."
Jack left the room following behind Ramon Salazar. The thought
occurred to him and a sudden rush of adrenaline ran through him. He was actually fully undercover, in Mexico. The past few days were not even a part of the major plot line, they were just small bumps to jump over, and it all began now.
"My brother has told me about what you have done for us the past few
days. He also informed me that you are an ex-Delta Force member. Is this true?" Ramon asked walking in front of Jack leading him to a room on the second floor of the barn.
"Yes, sir. I spent ten years in."
"Interesting. I hope you are as good as he has made you out to be."
Ramon said stopping at a door and opening it.
Jack felt his neurons fire and kick into action. He did not know
what awaited him behind the door and part of him wanted to run away now before it got any worse.
Inside the room, there was a small round table in the center with
three chairs around it. Ramon and Hector sat at two of them and Jack
followed their lead seating in the empty chair on the left. Jack felt
Ramon's eyes study him, looking for anything out of place, or any weaknesses. Jack felt a little pressure having so much attention paid to him.
"You will work with the security for awhile. If you do good, we
will talk again. Where are you staying down here?" Ramon asked breaking his gaze from the man. There was something about him, he could not explain it, his brother was right. He was hiding something, but Ramon was sure after what he had heard, it was not that he was law enforcement. There was a pain in his eyes that he hid, but just not good enough.
"A hotel, I guess." Jack answered not sure where he was going to
stay.
"No. You will stay in here. I'll have one of the guys bring a cot
up for you." Ramon answered getting out of the chair and leaving the room.
Hector followed behind, saying to Jack "Come on, we are going out for
some drinks."
Jack followed behind still unsure of what he was supposed to do. He
hated the first few days of being undercover because that was when you had to learn everything quickly or else fail. Failing usually equaled death so everything was at stake. Every move you made was simple, life or death.
It was enough to make a person suffer from general anxiety disorder or at least a panic attack or two. Only the best could handle it, and only the best did survive.
They drove to the bar in silence. Jack sat in the front passenger
seat thinking about what was in store for him. Pedro drove and another SUV followed behind with even more guys. Jack began to wonder why he was riding in the SUV with Ramon and Hector. It was unusual for someone as new as himself to be riding in the same car with the bosses. Anything could happen and he was not yet trusted. That could create problems if he were there when it went down. He then thought it must be Ramon's way of checking him out, up close and personal watching him and his every move. His nerves flared for a minute until he was able to keep the voices in his head from screaming for him to run now while he still could.
Ramon watched the new guy as they drove. His facial expression never
changed. He looked as if he were bored out of his mind by this tedious
work. Hector trusted him, he had told him before he chose to bring Jack down here about all the man had done over the weekend. He did not know if he could trust him though. Hector was right originally there was something about him he was hiding from them. With that thought, they reached the bar.
Jack got out of the SUV and opened the back door for Ramon to get
out. He closed the door behind Ramon and walked in behind him. Jack
studied the surroundings as he walked in. He knew that the Salazars were becoming the most powerful smuggling/Drug Czar's in the South American region and that created for them a large group of enemies that would love to see one or both of the brothers dead. He was going to be ready to stop them. He smiled to himself as he walked behind them. Here he was, a federal agent undercover protecting the people he would eventually put behind bars, the irony of life.
They walked into the old building that made up the bar. Jack
marveled at it's outside beauty. It was not the new clean cut beauty that
was found in the United States, it was the old rustic cowboy beauty. He felt as if he had just walked into an old western and they were the "law" in town. When they walked in, everyone stared for a moment knowing who Ramon Salazar was. The bartender came around the bar quickly and asked, "Would you like your usual room, sir?"
"Yes." Ramon said continuing to walk back towards the back of the
bar where there were different rooms for the important customer were. Jack noticed it was a newer addition added on to the bar. The wall and area looked newer than the rest of the bar. He walked into the back room and let his eyes adjust to the lack of light.
The room was almost like the bar back in L.A., but there was no desk.
Instead there was a table with chairs around it. Jack took his post at the
door, leaning against the wall he waited for whatever was to come.
Ramon, Hector, and Thomas sat at the table talking about the trip to
L.A. and other things to come. A young woman walked into the room and took their orders. Jack got coffee only which made Hector raise his eyebrow at Jack. He noticed how the man when he was getting ready to work never drank unless he was forced to, which was a sign of a good worker. Most of their men didn't have to be told to drink. They just did on their own.
The waitress came back a few minutes later with the tray of drinks.
She handed Jack a styrofoam cup with the steaming coffee in it. She told him to reassure him, "It's fresh, I just made the pot."
Jack thanked her and took a drink of the hot black substance he
hoped would help him become more alert as his mind was asking for rest. He stood up drinking his coffee staring at a spot on the wall not paying attention to what was really going on until a knock came at the door. He looked at Ramon who shook his head for Jack to open the door.
Jack opened the door and stepped out of the way as another man he
knew as Timothy Payne walked into the room. Jack ran over the biographical information he had memorized about the man. He was near forty, Jack's age.
working his way up the ranks to become the most feared drug lord ever in the South American and Mexican area. He was what was holding the Salazar's back from being number one. He was not married, had no children, and by all outward appearances intelligent.
The man walked into the room looking over Jack and than taking the
final chair at the table with the Salazars. His men entered the room behind him there was an equal amount of both sides. Jack closed the door behind them and took his post against the wall again this time not zoning out and paying attention to what was happening.
"Who's that?" Timothy started out referring to Jack.
"He's one of our guys. He's fine." Ramon answered wondering himself
about the same thing, but he trusted his brothers judgment. "Let's get down to the business."
"Good enough. I came to give you a warning." Timothy said.
"About what?" Ramon answered.
"I want you to back off. I have allowed your little organization to
prosper and now you are breaking in on my business." The business Timothy was referring to was the arms trade among other things that up until a few months ago the Salazars had no business in.
"If we don't?" Ramon asked.
"Then you will have a full out war on your hands, and you will lose
your business and if you're not lucky, your lives." Timothy answered coolly. "What will you give us in turn for backing off? We stand to loose
millions if we do, so why would we?" Ramon asked threatening Timothy.
"If you don't, you will not live to see next week." Timothy said
ready to call the other men who had been waiting outside to come in to start the war he knew would come. Ramon Salazar thought he knew everything there was about the business and the man had not even began to understand.
"No deal." Ramon said knowing what he was starting.
"Fine. You brought it on yourself." Timothy got up and walked out
of the room his men lingering to long for Jack's nerves. As soon as Timothy was out of the room, more people started to come towards it. Jack saw the man next to him go for his gun.
By instinct, Jack went for his own with his right, and with his
left he threw a punch into the man's stomach doubling him over. He pulled out his Beretta the same time as the other man by the door had. They both fired at the same time, Jack's bullet hitting his target in the head and plastering him against the wall.
Jack felt the sharp pain erupted in his arm and looked down to see
he had been scratched by the bullet. He went towards the center of the room where Ramon and Hector had already pulled the table off the ground and were using it as a cover.
Pedro and ten other men had taken out twenty other men in the room and now all that was left were ten or fifteen outside. Jack looked around the room for something he could use to take out the ten or fifteen men outside. He raised his head from the table to take count of the number of people outside, as soon as his head popped up a bullet came flying by. He lowered his head again. He knew the table was not adequate cover it would not stop a bullet and if they got smart enough the wood chunks would do some damage to the people, like himself, crouching behind it.
Jack looked around again. He knew there had to be something in there
to use to stop the men from outside getting the guts to rush the room. If
they rushed the room some of them would die, but there were more of them than the people in the room so they would be able to take out quite a few people in the room. He then saw the beer bottle with beer still in it sitting on the floor. He scrambled over to get it hoping that the table would hide what he was doing.
Ramon watched the new guy scrabble from the cover of the table to
the corner where a beer bottle sat. Ramon thought for a moment, this is the wrong time to be drinking but than it dawned on him what the new guy was going to do.
Jack scrambled back to the table. He looked around for loss
clothing to use to make the Molotov cocktail. Not finding anything, he ripped the sleeve of his shirt and began to roll it up so that he could make a wick. He looked around and then finally asked over the sound of gun fire, "Does anyone have a lighter?"
Ramon took out his lighter and lit the end of Jack's shirt sleeve
that had been stuffed into the bottle. "Pedro, on the count of three, I want you to shoot from the left corner towards outside. Do it for three seconds. Give me enough time to throw this and for it to make it out into the bar area." Jack ordered.
Pedro waited for Jack's count to reach three and then he started to
fire around the corner of the table out into the bar area. Jack stood up
and tossed the bottle quickly. Taking aim with his own weapon, he waited for the bottle to reach the middle of the bar and than he fired three shots at it hitting it with the first two. The liquid in the beer bottle spilled out catching fire as it flew around the burning t-shirt wick. With that, Jack and the others rushed out of the room into the bar where Timothy's men had been shocked by the explosion and flames.
Jack searched the room shooting at anything that was moving. He
took out the man who sat in the corner aimed at him, and then the man behind the bar. After what seemed like forever, the room went silent.
Hector and Ramon emerged from the room looking around at all of the
dead bodies. A few of their men were dead or injured. Ramon looked at Jack who was still alert waiting for more to come, "Are you okay?" Ramon asked looking at Jack's injured arm.
Jack looked down at it and said, "I'm fine sir. It's just a
scratch."
"Good thinking back there." Ramon complimented him on his
performance.
Jack continued to stay alert now feeling the pain of the scratch as
his adrenaline rush receded.
"Let's get out of here." Ramon said walking towards the door.
Jack noticed the gleam from a scope and grabbed Ramon pulling him to
the floor quickly. A second later, the wall splintered where Ramon's head would have been. Everyone went quickly for cover. Jack now against the door frame tried to slowly turn to see if he could find the sniper. He asked Ramon who was next to him, "Is there any other way out of here, sir?"
Ramon thought for a moment. He had always went through the front
needing to make an entrance. "There is a window in the bathroom."
"Will the sniper be able to see me from there? I think he is in the
bushes."
"No, it's in the back." Ramon answered.
"Okay. I'm going for it." Jack took off across the bar to the back
hallway that led to the bathroom. He opened the door to the bathroom and was met with a hard punch into the stomach that sent him stumbling back against the wall. He had been careless and did not expect anyone to be hiding in the bathroom.
The man came at him again as Jack tried to stand. This time, the man
smashed his P229 handgun against Jack's head, sending it back into the wall. Jack shook his head to get the cloudiness out and then went to attack before the man came at him again. The man swung Jack ducked from the punch and returned it with a solid uppercut to the chin. Jack thought he heard the man's teeth clink together.
The attacker stumbled backwards. He came at Jack again. He swung at
Jack, the punch was blocked and before Jack could react the man sent his knee up to Jack's groin. Jack fell to the ground with a groan. The man walked over to Jack and began to kick him over and over. Jack finally caught the man's leg with his hands and then moved himself so that he knocked the man's other leg out from under him. The man hit the floor next to Jack. Jack quickly positioned himself behind the man. Jack grabbed the man in a headlock and began to apply pressure on the mans neck by flexing his biceps. The man began to scratch at Jack and trying to get Jack's arms from around his neck. Jack finally fully flexed his bicep and he felt the mans windpipe snap under the pressure. Jack let the man fall to the floor. He looked at the soon-to-be-dead man's eyes. He was staring at Jack trying to breathe but unable to because his windpipe was broken. Jack knew he could save the man easily all he had to do was open the man's throat and insert something below the break in the windpipe that he could breath through, a straw for instance, but Jack just got up off the floor walking towards the bathroom door again, this time carefully entering and looking around for anyone else.
Seeing no one, he walked over to the window and opened it. With the aid of a trash can, he lifted himself up and than slid out the window that was barely big enough for him to slide out from. He slid out landing on his side as he rolled over when he finally got out of the window so he would not land on his head.
Jack dusted himself out. Checking his gun, he reloaded it and walked
slowly towards the edge of the building. He scanned the surrounding area for anyone and listen carefully for any noises. He looked around the edge of the building and he could see the sniper. Jack thought about rushing after him, knowing the man was not looking for someone to be coming at him from Jack's direction, but there could be more snipers out there. Instead Jack slowly crept along the side of the building. When he reached the edge, he aimed and fired at the sniper hitting the ground next to the sniper.
again this time hitting the sniper in the head. Jack rolled over out of the
cover of the building and looked around the front. He waited a few minutes before he stood up and walked out into the open looking for anyone else to come or fire at him. Nothing came, he dusted himself off and yelled, "I'm sure it's clear now."
Ramon and the others exited the bar and quickly went to the SUV's.
Ramon smiled as he thought how stupid Timothy was. If it were him, he would have slashed the tires on the cars so if they tried to run out they could not drive off. Jack got into the passenger seat of the SUV and Thomas drove them back to the compound.
On the drive back Ramon asked Jack, "Where did you learn all of that
stuff?"
"Delta Force." Jack answered studding the bullet wound on his arm.
It was just a scratch but it was a scratch that took a nice chunk out of
him. He ripped his sleeve off to use it to tie around the wound to stop the bleeding.
"Do you need to go to a hospital?" Hector asked from the back.
"No, I'm fine. It's just a scratch." Jack answered.
"This coming from the man who thought he didn't need to go to the
hospital when he could barely stand." Hector said laughing out loud.
They reached the compound and Ramon instructed everyone to pack.
They were going to go to Columbia to fight the war if Timothy came again he wanted to be on his own turf. Jack ran up to the room he would have been staying in if they had not been moving on already. He quickly grabbed is bag and returned back to the SUVs. It took about an hour for them to get everyone ready to go and packed. Jack helped in loading up the SUVs while he waited for everyone to get ready to leave, with his mind contemplating the day and its events. He was now smack dab in the middle of a Cartel war and he knew things would only get worse from here.
Claudia came out of the house holding her brother's hand. She heard
what Jack had done saving Ramon and the others today. When she saw him, her heart sank because he had incurred more injuries. She was surprised by the sudden fear she felt when she saw his arm covered in blood. She walked over to him and asked, "What happened?"
Jack was not sure what she was referring to until he saw her big
beautiful brown eyes looking at his arm. "It's nothing." He said leaning
against the SUV in waiting.
"Nothing, your arm is covered in blood!" She shouted grabbing his arm
gently. She untied the makeshift bandage he had made out of his other shirt sleeve. She looked at it and said, "We still have time before we have to leave. You come with me so we can tend to this before it gets infected. I swear all you men are the same want be machos. We'll see how macho you all are when you die from infections." She scolded him like a child and Ramon sat in the background laughing at the scene.
Jack followed behind her half smiling and half pouting. She took
him into the bathroom and instructed him, "Sit down and take your shirt
off."
Jack did as he was told not wanting to argue with her. He knew with
women like Claudia, you would never win. With women in general, a man could never win. He learned that from Teri, Kim, and later Kate. The thought of Teri brought a new sadness to his eyes the Claudia caught for a moment.
She grabbed the peroxide out of the cabinet. She took a warm wash
cloth she had gotten out of the towel bin and wiped gently at the bullet
wound. It had scratched him taking a nice chunk out of his lower part of
his arm. She wiped gently but she could feel him tense in pain. She
finished wiping the blood off and said, "This is going to sting." She
poured some peroxide on it and he hissed in pain as the wound fizzled in a white substance as it cleaned it out. She blew on it gently like a mother would for her child. After the white fizzle went down, she grabbed the gauze out of the cabinet and began to wrap it around the wound. "Hold it there." She ordered.
Jack put his finer arm on the end of the gauze to hold it in place as
she found tape to tape it with. Jack sat halfway amazed by her tending to him. He had not expected her to be as gentle and caring as she was. She seemed to have this cold hard side to her that she showed around people, yet she was gentle too.
After she finished taping the gauze she said, "That should hold
you." She looked at him and said, "Well, your new shirt is already ruined."
Jack laughed at her. "Yeah, I guess it is." He got off the bathroom
stool and heard someone coming down the hall.
It was Hector. He walked into the room and dismissed Jack being half
naked because he saw that Claudia must have tended to his "scratch". "You ready to go?" He asked Claudia still looking at Jack wondering exactly what was going on. Claudia had not taken to anyone as much as she seemed to have with Jack.
"Yeah, sorry. I just wanted to make sure I fixed him up before we
took off." Claudia said walking over to Hector kissing him.
"Sergio is outside asking for you. Why don't you go get him settled
in the SUV? Jack and I will be along in a minute." Hector said flatly.
Claudia left the room knowing what was most likely to transpire
after she left. She could see the questions in Hector's eyes. She only
hoped he did not see the questions in her mind. If he did, she would be in hot water of even thinking about Jack as she had. She was still mad at the man for what he did, even if she had no real reason, but there was something else there.
"What is this all about?" Hector asked once he heard the door close.
"What?" Jack asked genuinely confused.
"You and Claudia? You two are acting awfully friendly. She is
mine."
"I'm sorry, if you got the wrong impression, Hector. I have no
intentions towards Claudia in that way. I'm sorry if it seems like that.
I'll stop whatever it is that offends you." Jack answered semi-nervous
because this could be the end. He knew Hector did not think things through all the time. Hector stared at Jack. The man seemed to be telling the truth. He
could even see some fear in Jack's eyes for once, but it was not the fear of being caught it was the fear of what Hector could do to him. "Fine. I'm just being paranoid I guess. Claudia has never been this nice to anyone new or anyone else for that matter."
Jack felt like sighing in relief. He followed Hector out of the
house to the SUV where Ramon told him, "You're driving."
Jack got into the driver side of the SUV. Hector, Claudia, and
Sergio sat in the back. Ramon sat in the passenger seat directing Jack
towards the airport. When he pulled into the airport he turned the SUV so that it was right in front of the steps to the plane for Claudia and the
rest in the SUV to easily get to in case there was an attack.
Ramon yelled for all the men to meet in the back of the plane after
they finish getting everything on board. Jack helped carry the luggage on
and when he came back down the steps he saw Claudia struggling to pull
Sergio who had fallen asleep on the way over to the airport.
Jack rushed over and said, "I'll get him for you."
Claudia looked at him and asked, "Are you sure with your arm and
all?"
"It's nothing." Jack grabbed the boy out of the back of the SUV and
he could feel his arm scream in pain, but he blocked it out as he carried
him up the steps of the plane to a seat that had already be reclined for him to sleep on. Jack laid him down gently and then went to the back of the plane for the meeting.
Ramon pulled out a small map of the compound mostly for Jack who had never seen it but also so the others could get a visual of where they should be. Ramon began, "We are at war now with Tim Payne. We are going to win and be the number one in these areas. What I want is 24 hour surveillance on the compound. No one gets in unless we know it. Thomas has formatted a plan for it."
Thomas began to point out the areas in which he wanted people
posted. He finished and asked, "Any suggestions?" He was use to no one having any, but the new guy spoke up.
Jack said, "You might want to post snipers at all the entrances to
the compound that way they can alert people of oncoming traffic and if need be, take them out before they get too close to the house."
"There is one problem with that. WE don't have enough people
trained for that." Ramon said.
"I can train people in a few days, until then, I could give a quick
crash course and be available to help out full-time."
"Can you really? When was the last time you actually slept? You
look like hell now." Hector asked.
"I can do it. I have stayed awake for weeks at a time before. A
few days is nothing."
Ramon looked at him and figured he could handle it. "Fine. You
train a few people when we land, and then you're on the first twelve hour shift. After that, you're on call. If that's all, first shift, try to get some sleep."
Ramon, Hector, and Thomas left the room. Others slowly filed out
towards the cockpit where there was a little area for them. Jack was the
only one left in the room. He went through his duffle bag to find his
supply. He needed a fix, his hands were already shaking. He sat on the
floor pulling the needle out of his bag and the vial of the drug. He
quickly tied the tourniquet around his arm and waited for the vein to pop out. Once it did he inserted the needle, with some trouble because his hands were shaking. He pushed the plunger down and as he was pulling the needle out the door opened and Claudia walked in.
She stared at him for a moment. Not believing what she had just
seen. She said in a flat tone, "If you want, you can sleep out here." But
she was still shocked. She had heard he was a drug addict but she did not believe it until she actually saw him shooting up.
"I like it back here." He said as the drug rushed to his brain.
Claudia walked out of the room closing the door behind her. Jack laid his head back and let the drug take control of him as he closed his eyes so tired that sleep easily came.