AN: Hey all! So as usual please leave your comments and suggestions. I read them all and appreciate the feedback very much. Hope y'all enjoy!

Chapter 44: Not Without a Fight

"Are you stalking me?" Chris asked after she hung up the phone and turned to Alonzo.

"Nah. I had a meeting over here" he said explaining him being there.

"A meeting huh?"

"You don't believe me?" She shrugged. "I'm looking to expand my business. I had to come check out my competition".

"I see" she said with a nod. She walked over to her taxi and opened the door.

"Does that scare you?"

"Why would that scare me?" she asked confused.

"Ah, that's right. You're with Franco".

"So…."

"So you're no stranger to the nature of this business" he said with a shrug.

"What business would that be?" she asked playing clueless.

"When are we going out again?" he asked ignoring her question. Chris laughed.

"I don't know. Franco's kind of…shortening the leash".

"Ah, he found out about our date?"

"He knows I had a date. He doesn't know it was with you".

"Well, if he finds out, puedo protegerte" he said moving closer to her. (I can protect you)

"Why would I need protection?"

"I heard he can have an explosive temper".

"You heard?" He nodded. "Heard from who?"

"Can't give away my sources" he said with a smirk.

"Oh ok" she said with a nod. "Well, I have to go. Hasta luego". (See you later)

"Luego" (Later). She got in the taxi and it pulled away from the curb. She made it back to their undercover apartment just before four o'clock. Franco was sitting on the couch drinking a beer.

"Should I even bother asking where you've been?"

"Nope" she said simply. She went in the bedroom and shut the door behind her. She changed into sweats and t shirt then lounged in bed, reading through their case files. She added new notes to the ones that Elena had already started. And started new pages for Alonzo and Dante. She pulled out her phone and started a page in her notepad on Franco. She didn't want to think about all the possibilities of how this could end. She hoped that Franco had nothing to do with Elena's disappearance. Whatever happened, Franco would be going away for a long time. She'd been in the bedroom alone for two hours when Franco knocked then opened the door and told her he'd order pizza. She came out to the living room and sat with him to eat. "So you seem be getting in well with the crew. Monte and Ernesto trust you" she said starting conversation. He nodded his head as he took a drink from his beer.

"Yeah. You too".

"They trust me because of you" she pointed out. She'd been thinking of how she'd confront Franco about his role in the drug ring. She knew the best thing to do would be to keep her mouth shut, her head down, get proof that he was the leader and let IAB handle it. But she couldn't do that. She couldn't wait that long. She couldn't hold it in anymore. "What the hell are you doing, Franco?" she asked.

"I don't know what you're talking about".

"You know exactly what I'm talking about" she said angrily. "¿Crees que estúpido? Do you think I can't see what's going on here?" she asked raising her voice. 9Do you think I'm stupid?)

"¿Qué? ¿Qué está pasando?" (What? What's going on?)

"Eres sucio!" she yelled. (You're dirty). "Is that why you brought me in? You thought I'd help you out, look the other way? Did you think that we'd be partners?"

"You're wrong" he said calmly.

"Am I?" He nodded. "How do you know Alonzo?" she asked bringing her volume back down.

"I don't" he said simply.

"He sure as hell knows you. So does Dante and the girls from the club the other night. Everyone knows Franco. And you know who else they know?" she asked rhetorically. "Me". Franco sighed and continued to drink his beer. "How the fuck do they know us, huh?" she asked raising her voice again.

"Alright" he said slamming his beer bottle down on the table. "I'm dirty. You happy?"

"Why? Why would do this? Throw your career away, your life away. Why?"

"Because I was sick of it" he snapped. "I was sick of it Christina. Sick of watching you struggle trying to take care of yourself and your family".

"Don't you dare" she said stopping him from going any further. "Don't you dare say you did this for me. You didn't do this for me. You did this for you".

"I've put in years of work taking these guys down" he said looking at her, "and I put them away. And you know what they do? They have their crew working the whole time they're in prison. Just racking up more drugs and more money. They come out of prison and pick up right were they left off. They live comfortable while people like us scrape together nickels and dimes. Overworked, underappreciated. I was sick of it. So I got in the game" he said with a shrug.

"What happened to Elena?"

"I don't know". He picked up his beer and took another drink. "She got in with Alonzo's crew and that was it".

"So what are you saying? Alonzo did something to her?" she asked.

"He must have" he said simply. "She was fine before she started hanging out with him". Chris wasn't sure whether to believe him or not. Alonzo seemed like a smart, cool headed guy. If anything he'd use Elena's relationship with Franco to his advantage. He wouldn't just get rid of her. Anyways, it was Ernesto who'd sent her to Alonzo. She wouldn't be surprised if he'd done the same thing with Elena.

"I cannot express how disappointed I am in you Franco" she said sadly. He nodded his head and finished his beer. "We're gonna finish this. We're gonna find out what happened to Elena and take down these crews and then you're gonna turn yourself in to IA". He laughed and rubbed his temples. "Usted tiene que hacer lo correcto. Que sigue siendo quien eres. Que tiene que ser" (You have to do the right thing. That's still who you are. It has to be). Chris got up from the couch and went back to the bedroom. She brushed her teeth then got in bed and went to sleep. Franco stayed up half the night trying to figure out what his next move would be. He couldn't wait around for Chris to turn him in to IAB. He had the perfect thing going until Elena got in with Alonzo and his crew. She messed everything up for him. Now Christina was threatening to do the same. But he knew he couldn't handle Chris like he handled Elena. He'd have to be smarter this time. He went into the bedroom still unsure about what he was going to do. The only thing he knew for sure was that he wasn't going to let Chrisina or IAB take him down. Not without a fight.

The next morning Chris woke up early and went for a jog. She jogged all the way to Alonzo's house, hoping he would be awake. She knocked on the door and waited. Jauquin answered the door and ushered her inside. She waited in the living room while he got Alonzo. After five minutes, Alonzo descended the stairs in nothing but sweat pants and socks. It was obvious he'd just woken up. He went over and sat down next to her on the couch.

"You always up this early?" he asked rubbing his eyes. Chris nodded.

"Yeah".

"Estás loco" he said with a yawn. (You're crazy).

"Si" she said simply.

"Quieres sube las escaleras?" (You want to go upstairs?) She thought about it only for a second.

"No".

"So, what is it then?" he asked. "Why'd you come over so early?"

"I was out for a jog. I just thought I'd stop by" she answered. "You asked when we'd go out again".

"Yeah. You said Franco was tightening the leash".

"Yeah well, I cut it" she said with a smirk.

"Is that right?"

"Um hum" she mumbled. "So, here I am". He stood up from the couch.

"Let me go get dressed". She nodded and relaxed into the couch as he headed upstairs to get ready. She wasn't sure how this would play out with her and Alonzo but she felt like he was her best bet at finding out what happened to Elena. She knew he had history with her and he'd already told her, in not so many words, to watch her back with Franco. She wanted to know why he thought she needed to. He came back downstairs fifteen minutes later and they left the house together. They walked to a small family owned diner and got a booth in the corner. Alonzo ordered an orange juice and the big breakfast platter. Chris decided to have waffles, eggs, and hash browns with coffee. "So what made you do it?" he asked taking a drink from his glass. Chris gave him a confused look. "You said you cut the leash. What made you do it?" She shrugged her shoulders.

"He was getting a little out of hand" she said putting sugar in her coffee, "y usted dijo que me protegería" she added (And you said you could protect me). "Did you know Elena?" she asked frankly. "Is she why you think I need protection from Franco?"

"Why would you say that?" She shrugged.

"I've been hearing stories".

"What kind of stories?" Their waitress came over with their plates and sat them down in front of them with a jar of warm syrup. "Gracias" Alonzo said to the young woman. She smiled and nodded then went on her way. "What kind of stories?" he asked again.

"That Elena was with Franco. Then she started hanging around you. Franco found out, he wasn't happy about it. Then, she was just….gone".

"Hum" he mumbled before taking a mouthful of food.

"You said you heard he had an explosive temper" she said as she cut up her waffles. "Did Elena tell you that?"

"Ella era una chica agradable" he said not answering her question (She was a nice girl). "She wasn't like you. She was in over her head in this business. Franco shouldn't have been using her".

"What makes me so different from her?" she asked curiously.

"Usted es duro. Usted puede manejar usted mismo. That's why I want you on my crew" he explained (You're tough. You can handle yourself). "Elena, she was a bundle of nerves all the time. She fucked up a lot. I tried to get her right; paired her with Laila. She must've told Franco about that because the next we saw her….let's just say Franco proved how much a man he isn't". Chris took that to me that Franco had hit Elena the same way he'd hit Ernesto that night at the club after she asked about Alonzo.

"Why would Franco be mad about her working for you? Or about me working for you?"

"I used to work with Franco" he admitted. "Franco, Ernesto, Monte…..we were on the crew together. Franco, he was cool at first. Then he started taking over things, moving up the ranks. I didn't like how he operated so I went on my way".

"And he just let you go" she asked in disbelief. He nodded.

"He knew he couldn't stop me" he said with a small laugh. "Let's just say I had some intel that he didn't want getting out".

"So you're rivals now?"

"Nah. I stay out of his way, he stays out of mine".

"But you didn't stay out of his way" she stated more than asked. "You took Elena". He shook his head.

"I didn't take Elena. She was sent to me" he corrected her. "The same way you were. Think about it". She did what he said and started to put some things together in her head. Ernesto was running drugs and money with Alonzo behind Franco's back. If he used Elena and she told Franco then she might've told him that it was Ernesto who sent her there. She could add him to her short list of people who had something to do with her disappearance. If she was telling Franco things he didn't want Franco to know, she was compromising his arrangement with Alonzo.

"So am I next then?" she asked pretending to be nervous. "Am I gonna disappear like Elena did?"

"Not a chance" he said confidently. "de ninguna manera" (No way). "Like I said, you're not like her". They finished their breakfast and then left the diner together heading back to Alonzo's place. "I got a job for you" he said as they walked in the house. "You up for it?"

"Yeah". He went upstairs and came back with a bag like the one Ernesto had given her on her first job. "You take this to Ernesto. He'll give you something to bring back". She took the bag and put it on her shoulder then left the house and headed to Ernesto's apartment. She went up and knocked and was let in by some girl she'd never seen before. Ernesto came to the living room, took the bag, went to the back and came back with a different bag. She took it and started to leave.

"Oye" he said stopping her, "Not a word of this to Franco". She nodded her head and left the apartment to go back to Alonzo's house. She delivered the package to him. He was pleased. He reached in his pocket and took out a wad of cash, counted out five bills and gave them to her. She took the money and shoved it in her pocket. He said he would call her if he needed her for anything else or when he wanted to go out again. She laughed and nodded then left his house and headed back to the apartment. When she got there Franco was still in bed. She grabbed some clothes and went in the bathroom to shower and get dressed. When she came out, she had a message from Monte to meet him at the club in an hour and for her to come alone. She remembered how upset Franco got when they gave her jobs without running it by him so she woke him up to ask him.

"Hey" she said shaking him awake.

"What?"

"Did you get a message from Monte?" she asked. He lazily turned over and grabbed his phone to check his messages.

"No" he said putting his phone back down and turning over to go back to sleep. "What does he want?"

"I don't know. He just said to meet at the club in an hour" she said leaving out the part about him telling her to come alone.

"Ask him what he wants" he said with his eyes still closed. Chris texted him back asking what was up. He responded that she'd find out when she got there. She told Franco what he said. He sat up, grabbed his phone and made a call.

"What do you want with her?" he asked angrily. "What did I say? No. I said no jobs for her unless you ask me first. She's not coming. Give it to Rosita or Marisol". He hung up the phone, put it back on the night stand and then laid back down.

"Wow" Chris said, "You really are in charge, huh?"

"Damn right" he said closing his eyes to go back to sleep. Chris chuckled because she knew things that he didn't. Franco thought he was in charge but really Alonzo was running the table. He had Ernesto. Ernesto had Monte. Monte had everyone else. Sooner or later, Franco wouldn't have a crew to call his own and they wouldn't need him anymore. He'd have to fall in line under the new boss or they'd get rid of him. But she knew Franco. She knew that he was backed into a corner and no matter what he told her, he wasn't just going to just turn himself in. He wasn't going to go down without a fight.