Chapter 14 A family Business.
Sands knew he was working blind, on so many damn levels, Sara was not being a whole lot of help , all he was getting was her nervousness. A Waitress came over "¿Es usted listo ordenar, los extranjeros?" she said
"Ready" Sands said.. he seemed to he trying to sense everyone in the room "pilbil del puerto dos con gracias del tequila y de la cal" Sands said.. doubling his usual order, hell if Sara wasn't wanting some tequila and lime, he'd happily oblige.
"And that is?" Sara said, a tad more irritably than she meant, but Hell Sands didn't have the monopoly on bad moods, and she felt rather in the dark here, and rather scared of what to expect, I mean she had at least seen first hand what the people Sands mixed with did. What was it Sands murmured in those nightmares of his, about only seeing too much, well seeing the affects of Sands activities, was rather too much.
"Two specials, and some tequila, when in Rome.. and all that'' he shot her a slight short lived 'working' smile and placed a brown roll up between his lips "So Doc, do tell, anyone looking at us, or trying not to look as if they are looking, and do describe anyone arriving, I kinda doubt who ever set the set up, up , so to speak, stays here all the live long day" he shot her another tight un-amused smile. Sara nodded, and then as she mentally kicked herself for being so dumb she mumbled
"Sure.. yeah, no problem" She said looking around as he lit up, she didn't much like cigarette smoke, but she guessed just now she was going to have to concentrate on something else
"You can tell me anytime, as long as its now" he said in that amused tone, though it was not a joke he was sharing. Sara tensed more, this time with anger, she did not like being anyone's idea of a joke
"There is a man about eighty by the look of him eating , and a barman behind the bar, the waitress you met, that's it" she shrugged.
"For now" Sands said turning his head to the door, she then heard it too, footsteps
"Yeah, someone's come in"
"Some one, that doesn't give me anything else I hadn't got, heels so a woman, any blanks you willing to fill in there sugar-but?" he said to Sara, the footsteps stopped suddenly .
"She's blonde.. headscarf, sunglasses" Sara began hurriedly, and quietly as the woman was standing fairly close
"Its ok I got it from here" Sands said "So Jaque, at least that's what your going by, Blonde?.. really?" he said with a smirk
"No not really blonde" the woman said sitting at the table giving Sara a hostile stare
"So this thing is why you almost slipped under the radar, was expecting you to come back alone" she said "not as some Mr and Mrs Smith"
"Tell me why I shouldn't.. " Sands began
"Cos whatever your thinking is not it, I was hoping my brand of cryptic would have you curious enough not to put a bullet in me .."
"As soon as see you?" Sands cut in this time
"I am not her" she said
"But I am betting there is a hell of a family resemblance" Sands said, he was more than a little pissed off.
"What is… " that was Sara.. Sands tilted his head her way , a movement that did enough to convey how very, very wise to keep quiet around now
"Indeed, there was a lot of hidden family in the family business" she said
"How.."Sands again
"How much?.. I am willing to guess your more than half way there, you want me to fill in the blanks"
"Well if you could" he said in an icy tone, that warned not to make too many glib reference to the lack of eyes in his head
"Nice work by the way, what I can see behind the shades" she said
Sands kept silent "Ok.. I had to be careful, " Jaque continued "The family business is all shot to Hell, and well laid plans went out the window, literally as it happens. " She looked over at Sara suspiciously "How much does this thing know?" she said, though that was not all there was behind the hostility
"Next to nothing, and I still don't know enough, so you and sis what was it?"
"Daddy liked his deep cover, one in the police, that inside line covered, one a lawyer, to give the inside line on that, he also liked competition, Ajedrez liked to win, you might have noticed, she liked to think big"
"So she was getting the Cartel… and you?"
"I was meant to be a secret second in command, " she gave Sara a disdainful look "If you haven't got it yet, she and I were twins, identical" she said "Throw people off balance, the myth of being invulnerable, someone who really could be in two places at once"
"So you were in the shade, and didn't care for it much?" Sands said
"There is a whole lot of stuff I didn't like much, but Daddy was a man one didn't say no to too often, and still have a tongue to speak"
"And your telling me this why?" Sands said in a tone of total disinterest
"I didn't know what happened, I knew I had to get out of there, before the day of the dead, disappear, I knew Ajedrez was planning on killing me after she took over, so I dropped of the radar, totally, but I heard eventually what happened, to her, Father, you" she said that more softly than the harshness she said the other names with
"And when you knew, you made this little set up, why?" he said
"Cos a job needs finishing once started" she stated
"my thoughts exactly" said in deadly cold tones to her
"So you'd kill me just because I resemble her?" she said
"Well I can't kill her twice can I?" Sands said with a smile
"What makes you so sure you killed her first time?" Jaque said, taking a moment for that little gem to take hold