21
The Rose was full of clients, sexy women accompanied by elegant businessmen… or so they looked. Sebastian was regularly filtering the customers and would not grant access to Al's favorite entertainment place. Bernie was already sitting behind his piano, waiting for Tessa. He knew something was very wrong with the young woman, but he was too polite to ask. All he could do at his level was to comfort her the best he could, sometimes proposing melodies he knew would fill her heart with joy, some other times just offering his great big smile.
But Tessa was nowhere in sight this evening. He was a bit worried and walked to Sebastian.
"Excuse me, do you know whether Miss Tessa will arrive soon?"
"She won't come tonight, Bernie."
"Oh, is she unwell?"
"Nothing serious, just tired I guess. Mr Fuentes allowed her to rest and to take the evening off."
"I see. Would you tell her I wish her well when you see her?"
"I will."
"Thanks, Sebastian."
"Don't worry, Bernie. You'll be entertaining our guests with your usual maestria tonight, won't you?"
"I will, of course."
Bernie returned to the piano; chose several scores he knew would fill the place with a soothing and relaxed ambiance.
In the meantime, Al had arrived with Rico on his tail, as well as Mike. Bernie saw that the latter two were exchanging stealthy looks, like they were plotting a wicked spell on a potential victim. But it was not his place to investigate. The only person he was worried about was and remained his dearest Tessa, for whom he felt something like genuine paternalism.
Al sat at his favorite table, next to Rico who didn't even wait for his uncle to sit first. This was just his way to show his dedicated lieutenant he was in charge, or so he pretended. Mike kept his usual position, standing behind Rico, with his arms crossed on his chest, hiding the gun under his jacket, with no emotion on his face.
Bernie started to play. Alejandro Fuentes was listening, thinking of Tessa, of the bruises he had seen on her face, of the lecture he had given to his nephew, of the bargain he was about to deal with the two new guys and eventually the decision he had made for later. He sighed deeply and took a sip from his glass of wine. Rico was looking at him, smiling a fake smile, thinking "go ahead, enjoy this, 'cause it might be the last time you play the King in here, Dear Uncle."
When Collins and Burnett entered The Rose and were shown to the boss' table, Fuentes unexpectedly stood up to shake their hands.
"Good evening, Mr Collins, Mr Burnett. Please, take a seat and let's get immediately to the details of our business."
Both cops gave Fuentes a solid handshake and sat down.
"Good evening, Mr Fuentes. It's a pleasure to work with you. We look forward to reaching a suitable agreement for all of us," Hutch said in a somewhat respectful tone.
"Good evening, Rico," Starsky said, deliberately avoiding the "Mr" to make him understand that he knew the kind of man he was and that he didn't want to treat him with the same respect as Fuentes.
"So, let's get straight to the point. I'm ready to provide you with 10 units of the best quality. All we need is to decide on a place to deliver."
"We have thought of a pl…"
"I wish to propose a place, totally safe for us." Rico interrupted.
Fuentes gave him a harsh look, warning him he was most displeased with this type of behavior in front of strangers. On one hand, the outsiders might think he was not in charge, that Rico was instead, but most of all, he was unhappy by his nephew's attitude all in all. Lecturing him in front of clients was not a solution either; but the way he looked at him made Rico shrink just a little, sit back on his seat and keep silent for the rest of the evening.
Fuentes calmly resumed his negotiation with his guests.
"There is a small warehouse, close to the harbour; I own the place and it's rather isolated. We can meet there, say… in two days. That is, if you do have the "counterpart" ready for me, gentlemen."
"We do, Mr Fuentes. We'd just like to talk about our participation." Hutch took a folded paper from his inside pocket and slid it over to Fuentes. The drug lord took it, unfolded it and read the amount written.
"You are aware that what I have to offer is a rare product, pure, perfect. This deserves a little effort." Fuentes said, in a very quiet low voice.
Starsky turned to Hutch, as if looking for approval, then turned to Fuentes again. Avoiding discussing the terms of the deal might have looked questionable. The issue here was to sound like real "businessmen", only eager to make a profit.
"You are aware that, if the merchandise is indeed of high quality, we'll become regular customers; that should compensate for a higher price on the first delivery. Don't you think?" Hutch voice was more than convincing.
Fuentes seemed to retreat within himself, while Rico started to wriggle about on his chair.
Starsky was staring at Rico, meanwhile Hutch seemed to take a deep breath while waiting for Fuentes' final answer.
"I think we've reached an agreement. So let's say we'll proceed to the exchange at midnight."
Starsky felt an imperceptible shiver down his spine as he suddenly remembered the night he took a bullet in the shoulder, during the night "Monty" was supposed to show up at midnight. Yet, no one noticed when he quickly clenched his teeth and got an even quicker grip on himself.
"Midnight, it is." Hutch proudly announced, as if he had won a special lottery. He even dared to extend a hand to Fuentes to seal the deal, under the amused eye of Rico.
Rico tried to hide his disappointment at the fact that Fuentes hadn't even raised the bid in the first place. He promised himself that, when in charge of the future business, he wouldn't be so generous, for sure. He took his glass and in a simultaneous discreet motion, he winked at Matt.
"Swell! Let's drink to that!" Starsky said, raising his glass to Fuentes. "Now we can enjoy a pleasant evening and listen to that pearl singer of yours."
"I'm afraid, Mr Burnett, that Tessa isn't going to perform tonight."
Starsky portrayed a sorry look and tried to act as if he knew nothing of what recently happened to the young woman. He was aware that it would have sounded less suspicious if Hutch had been asking about her, but the words were on his lips before he could restrain himself.
"That's a shame. That would have been a perfect way to conclude the evening."
Conclude whatever you like, Mister, the conclusion will soon be mine, Rico thought, feeling an acute bitter sensation down his throat.
About twenty minutes later, with all the details on the exchange location in mind, Burnett and Collins took their leave of the drugs dealers and headed back to their blue Lincoln.
Fuentes retreated into his private office without another word to his nephew.
Rico nodded at Matt a "c'mon" look. The loyal bodyguard followed him outside.
S*H ~ S*H ~ S*H ~ S*H ~ S*H ~ S*H ~ S*H ~
Rico was driving, with a nervous Matt on the passenger seat.
"So? We're getting close to the conclusion to this charade. I'm eager to see it all done."
"But if the cops know where you're gonna be, they…"
"Do you really think I'm stupid enough to lure them in a place they're gonna fill with cops? C'mon Matt, THINK!"
He didn't look at the man sitting to his right, because he knew what kind of face the latter was making.
"I'll tell my uncle at the very last minute that the place he chose is not safe anymore. Don't worry, I'll find a good reason. I may even tell him the truth, so that he will see no objection to my proposal for a new place for the transaction. And then… boom! This is gonna be great! Trust me."
Matt kept silent. All he could think of right now was that he might have a chance to deal with that New York cop himself, that Rico would let him have a piece of the cake.
"You will go to the printing shop and prepare the place as I tell you."
"Yes."
"When we get there, I want all the cards in my hand. Do you understand? There is too much at stake and I don't wanna miss this wonderful opportunity to get rid of el Fuerte, his doggie Sebastian, the Burnett & Collins clowns and our charming traitor."
"Traitor?"
Geez, I may as well get rid of Matt someday, but he's much too useful at the moment, Rico thought.
"Tessie."
Matt almost choked.
"You mean…?"
"She's with them, Matt! She must be taken care of too."
"As you wish."
"But she's all mine. I'm gonna deal with her myself, do you understand?"
"Yes."
Matt suddenly remembered his time when he was serving in Miami police department; well, "serving" was a big word; he didn't last long. His uncontrollable temper had served him unwisely too many times. All he could think of at this moment was that he wanted to be recognized as a valuable asset in Rico's new organization. His hatred of the police corps had only grown bigger over the last few years. He had been in touch with his contact at the Metropolitan Police Station very recently. Learning that a member of Fuentes' gang, one cop, a female on top of that, had managed to deceive them so well, made him feel like, for once in his life, he was on the right side of the barrier.
S*H ~ S*H ~ S*H ~ S*H ~ S*H ~ S*H ~ S*H ~
It was very late when they got back to Metro, yet they were surprised to hear Dobey talking in his office. No other voice. He probably was on the phone.
Starsky softly knocked on the door and heard a loud "Enter" the moment he opened the door, anticipating as he always did.
Dobey pointed a finger to the chairs on the other side of his desk, inviting his best lieutenants to sit down while he was going on with his phone conversation.
"I want a full back-up, with the best marksmen dispersed around the block."
"…"
"I don't care! Two of my best men will be on site and I don't wanna take unnecessary risks."
"…"
"I'll call you in about an hour."
"…"
"You'd better still be in your office. 'Cause I want this finalized tonight, period!"
Dobey hung up rather brutally and turned to his men, sitting in front of him.
"So? What's next?" he asked.
Starsky started to explain the deal which had been confirmed and the place where Fuentes and his gang were supposed to give them the merchandise in exchange for the money.
"We'll be outnumbered, Captain. Your troops better be ready."
"Don't worry, I'm taking care of this." Dobey replied, frowning.
Hutch noticed immediately their Captain was worried about something else.
"What about Tessa?" Hutch inquired, before his partner had the chance to open his mouth.
Starsky gave him a nasty look, but not too much though.
"She knows the risk," Dobey snapped back, "but she won't be there, will she? So, by the time you get to the warehouse, she'll get back here, safe."
"Why not take her outa there right now?" Starsky asked. "She's done more than enough, don't you think?"
"If she disappears from Fuentes' sight now, it'll look suspicious. I don't wanna take any chance of seeing this whole operation going down the drain, because you can't refrain from being the perfect White Knight!"
"But, Captain, this Rico guy…"
"… will be dealt with altogether, with the others."
Starsky felt that any further explanation or excuse would be washed away, so he kept silent. But even with his mouth shut and his fists squeezed, the air was filled with his revolted scream. He would not let the woman get hurt in any way, not again.
"Now, go home, both of you, get some rest… That's an order!" Dobey said in an imperious tone, as none of his detectives seemed to want to move an inch.
"C'mon, Starsk," Hutch called, standing and grabbing his partner's arm.
"Good night, Captain."
Dobey nodded and picked up the phone again.
They heard him give his last recommendations, filling in the guy on the phone with the data he had just been given by his men.
"Don't look so depressed, Buddy." Hutch whispered.
"Do I look depressed to you?" Starsky snapped.
"Well… maybe not depressed, but…"
"I'm worried sick, that's how I feel! She's all alone in there. I get a feeling that bloody Rico knows more than he shows."
"How can you tell?"
Starsky didn't reply to that. Instead, he gently rubbed his stomach.
"I know… gut feeling again, huh?" Hutch said.
"Geez, Hutch, I wonder why she got in there in the first place… why she volunteered for that mission. When I was at her apartment, she…"
There was a long pause. Hutch kept silent.
"I know she's been hiding something from me, something terrible."
"Like what?"
"I don't know."
"Something she did?"
"Dunno."
"Something she…" Hutch insisted
"I don't know, Hutch!"
"Hey, calm down, Gordo, it's me, all right?"
"Sorry, Blondie. I think she must have experienced something bad in the past, something she's been trying to forget, or to escape, I don't know. Shit! I wish this was all behind us already. I want her safe outa there."
"She will be. Dobey's busy finalizing all the details. You know we can trust him."
"Yeah…" Starsky muttered.
Hutch knew that his partner was again lost in his thoughts. Yet, despite the fact that the brunet seemed more and more involved in wishing for Tessa's wellbeing, he knew their team would be totally operational in less than forty eight hours, as usual.
S*H ~ S*H ~ S*H ~ S*H ~ S*H ~ S*H ~ S*H ~