Chapter 46: Time's Up

Ernesto drove to the club and went inside. Chris waited in the car, making sure to keep an eye out for anyone that might sneak up on her. Ernesto came back and put two bags in the back seat then got back in the driver's seat. He pulled out of the ally and got back on the road to their destination. They rode in silence the entire way there until Ernesto pulled up in front of a house. He put the car in park and turned off the engine. He reached over and opened the glove box. There were two hand guns inside. He took one for himself and handed the other to Christina.

"Just in case" he said looking over at her. He got out of the car and grabbed the bags from the back seat. "Come on" he said prompting her to get out of the car. She got out and followed him up to the door. He knocked and they waited for an answer. A little girl answered the door. "Hola" Ernesto said kneeling down to her level. "Dónde está tu papa?" (Where is your dad?)

"En la cocina" she said sweetly. (In the kitchen)

"Soy Ernesto. Este es mi amiga Christina. Podemos entrar?" (I am Ernesto. This is my friend Christina). The little girl nodded her head and let them come inside the house. Christina shut the door behind them and the girl ran off down the hall. She and Ernesto headed into the kitchen. "Leonardo" Ernesto said announcing himself. He was a handsome guy no older than thirty and there was a woman with him who looked to be about the same age.

"Ernesto" he said nervously. He looked to who she assumed was his wife and gestured for her to leave them. She turned down the stove and then left the kitchen. "Que pasa?" he asked, trying hard to control the tremble in his voice.

"You tell me" he answered. "Alonzo's been calling and you…." he said pointing his way, "haven't been answering". He walked around the table into the kitchen. "¿Dónde has sido mi amigo?" (Where have you been, my friend?)

"I…I just been busy man" he said with a shrug. "I got my wife and my little girl, you know? They take up a lot of my time". Ernesto nodded his head, as if being understanding and accepting of Leoneardo's reasons. "And I got this new job at this car shop" he said continuing to explain. Ernesto continued to nod his head as he walked closer to Leonardo. Then, before he could say another word to explain, Ernesto pulled his gun and put it to his head. "Ernesto por favor amigo" he said quickly starting to plead for his life.

"You think you can play me for a fool?" he asked angrily. "You think Alonzo cares about your wife, your kid, your new job?"

"Ernesto" Christina said finally speaking up.

"El hombre quiere su dinero" he said ignoring her (The man wants his money). He continued to press the gun against Leonardo's head. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't blow your brains all over su cocina bonita (your pretty kitchen)" he said turning the safety off to show his seriousness.

"Please Ernesto" Leonardo begged, "I'll get the money, lo juro. No tiene que hacer esto" (I swear. You don't have to do this). Christina could see how afraid Leonardo was and she'd already seen that Ernesto could kill someone without a second thought. She stepped up and put her hand over his, pushing the gun down to his side away from Leonardo's head.

"Deten esto" she said firmly (Stop this). "Se inteligente". (Be smart)

"Smart thing is to send a message; that you can't screw Alonzo and get away with it".

"So what are you gonna do, huh?" she asked letting his hand go. "You're gonna kill him? Here? His wife and daughter are back there" she reminded him.

"I didn't realize you were so sentimental" he said sarcastically.

"It's not about sentiment. It's about using your head. The wife, the girl, those are witnesses. And unless you plan on killing all three of them, I suggest we take him out of here alive and let Alonzo deal with him". Ernesto turned over in his mind what she was saying. "You know I'm right" she said pushing his thinking along.

"Fino. Vamanos" he said gesturing for Leonardo to move towards the door. (Fine. Let's go)

"Ok. Let me just tell my wife where I…."

"Now" Ernesto yelled.

"Ok. Ok" he said pacifying his temper. He moved towards the door and Christina followed behind him. Ernesto tucked his gun back into his waistband and followed them out of the house. They made another stop and Christina took the bags Ernesto had gotten from the club to one of Franco's dealers. She gave him the product and he gave her money then she went on her way. They took Leonardo to Alonzo who threatened him the same as Ernesto did. He slapped him around and said that he had two weeks to come up with the cash or he'd be saying goodbye to his wife and kid for good. Ernesto gave Christina the keys to the truck and told her to drive Leonardo back home. Once she dropped him home, she took the truck back to the club, parked it and then jogged back to the apartment from there.

Franco was inside when she got in. He was sitting on the couch in front of the tv, a pizza box and beer bottles on the coffee table in front of him. She set her keys on the counter and headed into the bedroom without saying a word to him. She changed out of her clothes and took a shower then got dressed in jeans and nice shirt with sneakers. She brushed her hair and pulled it back into a ponytail then went out into the living and sat down on the couch next to Franco. She reached for the remote and turned off the tv before turning to face him.

"I'm gonna ask you something and I want the truth, Franco" she said seriously. He just sat there staring at the now black screen of the tv. "What happened to Elena?"

"You still stuck on that?" he asked annoyed.

"What do you mean am I still stuck on it?" she asked angrily. "Yes, I'm still stuck on it. She's why I'm here".

"I'm why you're here" he yelled. "You're here because I wanted you here not because of Elena. She was just a good excuse".

"What the hell does that mean?"

"Her going missing was the perfect excuse for me to request you" he explained. "You wouldn't be here if I hadn't asked for you and I didn't ask for you to help find Elena".

"Why?" she asked simply. "Because you already know what happened to her?" He reached forward and grabbed his beer then took a drink. He rested the bottle on his knee then leaned back into the couch. "Answer me Franco".

"You really wanna know?"

"Yes, I really wanna know" she said annoyed that he was dragging this out.

"Yeah. I know what happened to her" he said nonchalantly. He gulped down the rest of his beer before putting the empty bottle on the table and reaching for a new one. He popped the cap off and took another swig.

"What happened to her Franco?"

"Ernesto" he said before taking another drink. "He killed her".

"Why?"

"Because I told him to" he said looking over at her. She looked into his eyes and there was nothing there that she could recognize. He wasn't the man she knew back in California. The laid back, carefree, smooth talking stud of a cop was gone and in his place was a cold, unfeeling, calculating, manipulative, drug dealing murderer.

"Why Franco?" she asked in a whisper.

"She crossed me. She was working for another operation and pocketing money behind my back" he said looking into her eyes. "I had to send a message". He wanted her to know that he knew she was doing the same thing to him that Elena had done. But they both knew something more. He couldn't get rid of her like he'd done with Elena. All eyes were already on him. If he wanted her gone, he'd have to find another way and he'd have to make it look good. No roads could lead back to him. But if he was being honest, he didn't want it to come to that. He wanted Chris to get on board with him; to be on his team. But he knew there wasn't much chance of that happening.

"Where is she?" Her mind was turning over scenarios as fast as it could. She had to figure out the safest way to end this for both herself and Franco. Even though he didn't deserve it, she wanted to do whatever she could to help him. She couldn't save him from prison but maybe, just maybe, she could at least save his life.

"I don't know" he said with a shrug. "I told Ernesto to take care of it and he did. Didn't ask for any details". Christina got up from the couch and headed towards the door. "Where are you going?" he called after her.

"To find her" she said as she grabbed her keys from the counter. Franco got up from the couch and ran over to her. He grabbed her arm to stop her from leaving.

"Are you out of your mind?" he asked. "You start asking questions about her and you might as well out yourself as a cop".

"Come on Franco, give me some credit" she said pushing past him. "You should know not to underestimate me". She left the apartment and headed over to Alonzo's. When she got to his place, some of the crew was hanging out on the stoop.

"Hola chica" Laila said as she walked up.

"Oye chica, que pasa?" she said with a smile. (Hey girl, what's up?)

"Nada. Bienvenido a la fiesta" she said happily (Nothing. Welcome to the party). Chris could tell she'd been drinking. She could also tell that Laila had a little crush on her. Depending on how much longer she'd be under that could be of some use to her. She walked up the stairs, taking Laila's hair and twirling it around her fingers as she passed her. Laila giggled like a little girl and turned to watch her as she went into the house. Some guys were at the table in the dining room playing dominos, some girls were in the kitchen cooking, and music was coming through the open back door. She stepped outside and saw Alonzo sitting at a table playing poker with five other guys. Ernesto was one of them. Manny was another. The other three she hadn't met before.

"Christina" Alonzo said across the backyard. She locked eyes with him and he waved her over. "Ven aquí". She walked over and stood next to him.

"Hey" she said acknowledging Ernesto and Manny. They nodded their hellos.

"This is my cousin Orlando" Alonzo said pointing to one of the guys at the table with him. "esta fiesta es para él. He just got home from a stint upstate".

"Bienvenida de nuevo" she said nicely (Welcome back).

"Yeah" Alonzo said happily. "He's ready to take his rightful place in this here operation. No es que correcto?" (Isn't that right?)

"Sí primo. Vamos a tener la carrera de este barrio" he said proudly. (Yes cousin. We're gonna have the run of this neighborhood). Navia came out of the house and handed Christina a beer.

"Gracias" she said thanking her for the beer she handed asked for. Navia smiled and turned to head back into the house.

"Oye" Alonzo said stopping her. "Traerla de una silla" (Hey. Bring her a chair). She nodded and went to the house then came back a minute later with a chair for Chris. She thanked her again then Navia disappeared back into the house. Chris was seeing a lot of the guys that were supposed to be working for Franco at Alonzo's house. She was seeing just how little control Franco really had over his operation.

"So like I was saying" Alonzo said leaning forward with his elbows on the table, "it's time". Everyone leaned in ready to continue listening to the man in charge.

"Time for what?" Christina asked needing to catch up on the conversation she'd walked in on.

"To take Franco down chica" he explained. "His time here is done. We're taking over his territory and everyone in this part of town is gonna answer to me" he said confidently. "Es que va a ser un problema para usted?" (Is that going to be a problem for you?"

"No" she said confidently. "No problema".

"Bien" he said pleased with her answer. "Now we can do this without spilling blood. I want everything possible done to keep Franco alive and have him working for us".

"Why hombre?" Manny asked. "I can't stand that fool. Let's just get rid of him".

"No" Alonzo said definitively. "We can use him".

"Use him how?" Christina asked. "Franco doesn't like you. Why would he work for you?"

"Because I know something about him" he repeated the same thing he'd told her when they went out for breakfast. "something that'll guarantee he doesn't burn us and guarantee that he helps us out if we're being targeted by the cops".

"What do you know?" Manny asked curiously. Chris brought her beer to her lips and proceeded to take a drink.

"He's a cop" he said simply. His admission caught her off guard and she choked on her drink. Alonzo pat her on the back to help clear her chest.

"Decir de nuevo" she said once she'd gotten her breath back (Say again). She was expecting he'd say he knew about Elena and Franco's involvement in what happened to her. Alonzo nodded his head.

"He's a cop" he repeated. "If he takes us down, he goes down with us".

"How do you know that?" Christina asked pretending to be surprised.

"What I'm about to say doesn't leave this group, todos entienden?" he asked looking around the table (you all understand?). everyone nodded except Christina who didn't have to try very hard to fake the stress she was feeling. "Christina" he said pulling her out of her trance.

"Yeah" she said reluctantly.

"Entiendes?"

"Si, entiendo" she said with more confidence.

"Everybody heard about Elena; how she just…. disappeared one day?" he asked. Everyone nodded. "Well she didn't disappear. Ernesto killed her…. on Franco's orders. And she told him that she was a cop working undercover with Franco to bring us down". Christina set her beer on the table and leaned back in her chair. She took a deep breath and ran her hands through her hair. She had planned to cozy up to Ernesto; get answers about what he'd done with Elena. There was no way she could do that now. They knew Franco was a cop and if she asked too many of the wrong questions, they could figure her out too. She couldn't risk it. "No te estreses" he said rubbing her thigh (Don't stress). "We've got dirt on him. There's no way he doesn't work us".

"You sure you want a cop working for us?" Orlando asked. "Anything goes down, he can say it was… part of his undercover duties".

"Ordering a cop killed" Alonzo pointed out, "no way he can explain that away". They all agreed that they had enough to ensure that Franco wouldn't flip on them. "In the meantime" he said looking at Christina, "you gotta act normal; like you don't know a thing". She nodded her head. "Hey". He put his hand under her chin and forced her to look at him. "¿puedes hacerlo?" (Can you do it?) She nodded her head. "¿estás seguro?"

"Sí, seguro" she said sure of herself. Alonzo was satisfied that she was onboard.

"Excelente". He turned back to address the whole group. "Tomorrow, we meet at Ernesto's to go over the plan. I don't want any surprises. We move on Franco by Monday. There's a big shipment coming in on Wednesday and it's going to be mine" he said making himself clear. "Everyone does their jobs and everyone gets paid". He raised his beer and the others followed suit, toasting to a turn in the business. As Christina raised her beer, her mind was going over the logistics. She'd be checking in with Schiller on Sunday and she wasn't sure what to tell him about the progress she'd made on finding Elena or Franco's part in her death. She wasn't even sure if she could trust him. But she knew SVU had her back no matter what. Time was up. She had to make plans for her exit. She started to work out a plan in her mind on how to find out exactly who all the players involved were and how far up the corruption went. She had to do this just right or it could mean the end of her life.