Luna half-awake stumbled into the kitchen to see a large muscular tattoo-covered man that she didn't know. She let out a scream that made Angel run out of the room with a gun in his hand. "What the fuck!" Angel spat. Luna turned her head to let another scream when she saw a woman's head impaled on the top of a rifle.
"You wanted to talk?" The man leans on the breakfast bar.
"Luna, come over here." He orders. Luna kept an eye on the stranger as she ran over to stand behind Angel.
"This was you?" He gestures to the head. He nods his head. "And all the bodies?" He kept the gun on him.
"Isn't that Vicki's racist neighbor?" Luna leaned in to look at the head. It was the woman that called her many slurs. She no longer felt bad.
"Yeah." The man leaned against the kitchen door frame with a carton of milk in his hand. "We were gonna leave her at the house, but it seemed a little bit over the top."
"You think?" He asks. Luna peaks around Angel's side to get a look at the guy who thought taking her head wasn't over the top. "Who the fuck are you guys?" He demands.
"Lower the weapon." He said in a casual but stern way. Like when your mom was tired from a long day of work, so she gives you that one calm warning to behave or she'll pass out an ass-whooping. "And sit down." He walks to sit down on a chair that he made look small. Angel took a seat on the chair across from him. He put his gun on his lap. Luna moves to stand behind him. "You can sit down too if you like." He nods to her. She looks at the recline that has the woman's head on it and the couch that was too close to the stranger for her liking.
"I'm comfortable here, thank you." She hides behind Angel. He thought about telling her to go into the room but didn't know if the stranger brought any of his boys with him. He felt better knowing that she was in his sight.
"So… what do you know about me? Angel Ignacio Reyes?" He stares.
"Besides your flair for the dramatic, not fucking much. Got from Dennis you were buying the scripts." Angel told him.
"Where is Dennis?" He asked, seeing as that was the one person he left alive.
"With Mama… or what's left of her." Angel glanced over at the head. "Why'd you waste them all?" He looks back at the stranger.
"They did the R.O.E. Then they unraveled, became a liability. Your club got something to move?" He wanted to move on to the reason that he was here.
"Not the club," Angel said. It clicks for Luna why this man broke into her house. Angel must have connected him to move the drugs that the rebels had.
"So, it's your own deal." He nods. That made more sense, from what he heard the club had its way to move the drugs. "Stop wasting my time." He said when Angel looked off to the side.
"Heroin. Six keys. 97 percent pure guero. 30 per." Angel looks at him.
"You got them here?" He points to the ground.
"You ex-military? Blackwater?" Angel asked, letting him know he wasn't about to tell him where the drugs were.
"Close enough." He shrugs. "We are… unfuckable."
"Yeah. I get that." Angel nods. The stranger took another drink from the carton. "The H is in Santa Madre. I can get it here in two hours."
"You move your shit through tunnels." The man figures it out. That was the only way you could move that fast.
"We do." Angel nods.
"We might be able to make this work." He nods impressed. "I'll need a favor first to earn some trust."
"What favor?" Angel asks.
"I need to smuggle a friend into the States." After he gave details of the friend and where he could be found, he got up. Angel put his hand on his gun when he started to walk toward them. "Calm down, I just want to apologize." He turns towards Luna. "I'm sorry for the scare, miss. I saw his bike in the front and assumed he was the only one home."
"It's okay." She nods nervously.
"Thanks for the milk." He waves as he walks out of the house.
"Hey Luna, you think I could get my dick in her mouth?" Angel nods to the head.
"If you do, it'll take the term skull fucking to a whole another level." She walks to her room to get ready for the day.
Luna rode on the back of Angel's bike to the yard. Gilly waved them over to the picnic table with a newspaper in his hand. Coco walks over to the table too, when he sees the motion. It was a paper from the other side of the border. The cartel killed a nun and was trying to pin it on the rebels. "This is fucked up, but smart." Angel read the paper to Luna.
"Not really. The rebels aren't known for this, it is a cartel move. Anyone with brains can see through it." Luna shook her head.
"Smart, Nena." Coco leans over to kiss her temple. "We got through to Pablo. Adelita's in the city letting everybody know it was Galindo who fucked up the church." He turns to Angel.
"Rebels are moving camp again." Gilly took a hit from his joint.
"I got some news that might take the sting out of this, Cole paid me a visit," Angel told them.
"When?" Gilly asks.
"This morning, at the house." Angel looked over at Coco, who did exactly what he thought he would do.
"What? When you were home?" He turns to his old lady. Luna nods. "Did he do anything to you?" He looks over her to check for any scratches or bruises.
"He just scared me and drank all the milk." She told him.
He looks her over again before turning back to Angel to give him a nod to continue. "He brought Alice with him or at least her head."
"Serious?" Coco took a cigarette from his pack.
"Very serious." Luna scrunches her nose up. She hoped she could get the smell out of the room.
"You were right. They're ex-military: marine, special forces. Now they're pretty much venture mercenaries. They got contacts all over the world. Hook up buyers and sellers, and take a percentage. That's what he did with Alice's scripts." He nods to Coco.
"Until the crew got sloppy." He lights his cig to take a drag from it.
"We sure we want to be in business with these guys?" Gilly asks.
"We already are. Cole can move all six keys. All we gotta do is earn a little trust. Do him a favor." Angel explained to them that this was their best option, hell it was their only option.
"Yeah? How many heads does he need?" Gilly thought it would be something as simple as killing.
"Just one. Needs to smuggle a friend into the States. An Afghani national." He told them.
"No-fly list." Coco knew the drill.
"Yeah." He nods.
"Who is this guy?" Gilly wanted to know what Cole needed this guy for.
"He's one of the translators." He repeated what Cole told him.
"Nuh-uh." Gilly wasn't buying it that the translator would be on a no-fly list.
"Dude, anybody eating curry is on the no-fly list." Coco took the cig out of his mouth to tell him.
"He's hiding out near the Sonora border. We pick him up, blindfold him, and bring him home through the underground." Angel thought it was a simple favor.
"That's a lot of trust," Gilly said.
"It's on both ends though," Luna spoke up.
"How'd you figure?" Gilly asks.
"He has to trust that you guys aren't going to hold his friend ransom. The way he spoke about this man, you could tell he is a friend, not just someone he needs for business." She remembers the way Cole's eyes softened when he spoke of his friend.
"That's a good point, but I'm still not sure." Gilly looks at Angel. He trusted Luna with his secrets, but he knows much loyalty she has for Angel. The man was number two in her life after Coco. If she needs to persuade him to do what Angel wanted, then she would. He was positive that she had before, but he chose not to dig into that.
"We don't have a choice, this could be a clusterfuck for Los Olvidados. Adelita needs that cash." He reminds them why they were selling the heroine in the first place.
"I'll go." Gilly let him know he was in.
"No. You go back to the ranch. Cover up that hole better. See where that tunnel leads." Angel told him. He nods his head. They got up from the table when Chucky opened the gate. Alvarez and a few others rode in.
"Got a few hours left in the yard," Coco whispers.
"Just finish up. Business as usual. I'll take the prospect with me." With Alvarez here, they couldn't afford to be leaving early.
"Yeah." Coco nods.
"If he ever fucking gets here." Angel hiss. He walks over to greet the guys who just came in.
"Well, I'm going to my A/C office. Be safe." She kissed her old man and walked into the building.
"Um… hum… I have to tell you something, Luna." Chuckie fidgeted in front of her desk.
"What's wrong, Chuckie?" She spins in her chair to face him
"I love Johnny 'Coco' Cruz. He's nice to me and made sure I was taken care of when I moved up here." He told her.
"I know." She smiles at the odd man.
"But, I love you too, Luna Morrow. And I also love your mom, Gemma Teller. And if I didn't tell you this then she may haunt my dreams. So, I'm going to tell you this. I saw him yesterday in front of the Olympic Diner. He was arguing with a woman and he chased after her." He looked so conflicted in telling her that she felt bad for him.
"Don't worry about it Chuckie. It was his mom. He went to meet her there yesterday. It is probably the same song and dance it always is. She asks for money, he gives her some, and she yells that it's not enough. I'm sure she insulted me as she does, you give all your money to your white whore but you won't give anything to the woman who gave birth to you." She mimicked the annoying woman's voice.
"No, the woman was pretty and young. He just got a call and left in a hurry. I'm sorry, Luna." He looked down at his feet.
"Thank you, Chuckie. Don't worry, Coco won't know I found out from you." She got up to hug him. She felt a raging calm wash over her.
Luna was watching him from the couch. He was cleaning his guns at the dining table. A sniper rifle, an assault rifle, a pistol, a revolver, and a few she didn't recognize were all spread out on the table. Coco was one of those guys who could care less if his woman kept the house clean and organized. The state the house was in when she moved in was proof of that. But, he was particular with his weapons. They had to be clean and handled in a particular way. That's why he was doing it and not the prospect.
She shook her head, scolding herself for procrastinating on what needed to be done. She needed to confront him about knowing that he lied to her about meeting his mom. It wasn't the first time he stepped out of their relationship. He got a girl pregnant while on a run. He swore to her that he would never sleep with another girl. This was different, in some way it hurt more than any other time. He was going on dates with this girl, it was more than physical.
"You know you don't have to stay with me out of guilt." She blurted out.
"What the fuck are you talking about?" He looked up from the gun to squint at her.
"I know that I gave up my family to be with you, but that doesn't mean you have to stay with me. If you were to meet someone else, I would rather you break up with me to be with them than to see them behind my back." She grew irritated when he continued to squint at her like she was tiny letters he couldn't make out. "Or maybe you think I'm some dumb bitch who will let you run around on her. I could leave Coco. I would do fine on my own." She yelled, not believing a word she was saying. It was pathetic, but she would never leave Coco and she would be devastated if he left her. But, she didn't want him to think that he could continue to hurt her.
"Babe, you have to explain what you're talking about because it all sounds like gibberish to me." He got up from the table to take a seat on the couch next to her.
"I know you lied to me about meeting your mother. Someone saw you arguing with some pretty girl outside the diner. It's one thing to fuck another girl, but to have a whole relationship is too much." She cried. She never knew of any other old lady that had to deal with something like this. Sure some croweaters got too attached because a Son kept coming back to fuck them. But, never did she hear of one getting taken out on a date.
"No baby, you got it all wrong. I was meeting up with my mom, but my daughter was there too." He explains.
"If this is your way of telling me that you got another girl pregnant." She stood up, ready to find something of his to break.
"Stop assuming shit and sit down." He grabs her arms to pull her back on the couch. "When I first met you I lied when I told you I had only one kid, by then I had two. Her name is Leticia. It was way before you. She was born while I was doing my first bid. Her mom didn't want her either, so she was supposed to get put up for adoption. But, instead, my mom decided to keep her for the welfare check." He kept a grip on her arm, so she wouldn't try to storm off.
"Why didn't you tell me?" She relaxes after hearing his story. It wasn't pleasant to hear that her boyfriend was hiding a kid, but at least he wasn't having an affair.
"Because I was ashamed. I know my other kids were better off without me, but I was never sure about Lety. She's stuck with my whore of a mother. Also, until that day at the diner, she thought she was my sister." He let go of her to put his head in his hands.
"Well, let's go get her. We can't let her live with that monster that calls herself a woman. I can't believe you let her live with that bitch for this long." She went to get up but he pulled her back down.
"This is another reason I didn't tell you, I knew you would want to get her. This life ain't good for her either." He shook his head.
"It's better than what she got now, you're always talking about what a cold heartless bitch she was to you. At least here Lety would know what love is. I grew up in a biker gang, it is not the most ideal but I never didn't feel loved." She glared.
"That's why when I meet you, you want to be anything but an old lady." He rolled his eyes.
"Only because I felt like it was being forced on me. We aren't going to do that to Lety, we are going to let her know she can be anything she wants to be." She tries to convince him.
"Look it doesn't matter, she jumped into some semi-truck and they took off." He explains.
"What? Did you see the company name on the truck or the license plate? Does she have a cell phone? There has to be some way we can track her." She pulls at the roots of her hair as she starts to freak out.
"She was upset, she just found out she was being lied to all her life. You can't drag her back here and force her to accept me as her dad. If she comes back and wants a relationship with me, we'll go from there." He shook his head.
"What if something happens to her? I never hear about good things happening after a young girl jumps into a truck with a strange man." She stared at him in disbelief. She couldn't believe he was being casual about this. Right now, Lety could be getting raped and beaten. He was making it seem like she was at some house party.
"She is a Cruz, Amor. She'll be alright." He got up to go back to the dining table. She decided to drop the subject for now.