Chapter 42: The Colombian Connection
Geraldine slept on her bed as the suns warmth filled her room.
It felt good to wake up in a home like this she thought. She stretches her limbs and climbs out of bed. The mattress that she slept on was a special one, not memory foam per say. It was a newer material. It was soft as a cloud. It was one of the first things that she had bought when she moved in.
She put her slippers on and walked to the mirror and did her hair.
After getting dressed for the day, she headed downstairs. It still amazed her that she could finally live in a luxurious house. Never in a million years did she ever think that she would be in a place like this. Geraldine knew though that something was missing. It wasn't her cat; Tiger was just being himself; first thing he did was get comfortable. Sleeping on her new mattress was like heaven too him. It wasn't that. Sunny and Chelsea had visited her home many times before and they helped her adjust to her settings; that wasn't it either. But Geraldine did miss the both of them. They were doing something in Chelsea's neck of the woods in Blaine County, Sunny did say that she would call her if a score could be taken there; a 'We'll see' from her mentor. It finally dawned on her what she was missing.
Reggie.
Gone where the days when Reggie would drag her into something stupid and the both of them would (not by Geraldine's choice) fight for their lives. Reggie would say to look on the bright side, they were at least alive. And they got something out of or so she would say, until it blew up in their faces. Geraldine in return would scold her for not thinking things through and, of course above all, Reggie never taking the consequences seriously. Whatever the situation was it usually ended in an argument between the two friends. And now Reggie was out of her life. It wasn't because of something Geraldine had done, it was mostly Reggie's fault for the whole thing. It was petty to think but it was true, at least to Geraldine it was, it was something that could have been avoided if Reggie had listened to Geraldine. But she didn't and their friendship suffered for it. Yet Geraldine couldn't help but feel depressed over how their friendship ended. It was right after their argument, that she pulled over a block away from her former residence; and she weeped for a good fifteen minutes. It was just so sudden. A wave of emotion just poured through her body like electricity.
The first couple of days after moving in, Geraldine was digging through a box; she was looking for summer clothing; though apparently she forgot which box it was in.
"Man. where the hell did I put those clothes?".
She rummaged through boxes. The one thing she had forgotten to do was to mark them. And now Geraldine didn't know where her summer clothing was. She found two. One had her summer clothing in it. The other box was unopened, it was probably some Christmas decorations she thought. Geraldine opened it and saw what was inside. Old photo albums of her and Reggie. She was hesitant to open and look at them.
Geraldine's heart ached, after a moment; she decides to open it.
A tour down memory lane that was painful for her. With a sigh she looks at the first page.
Geraldine looked the photos of her and Reggie smiling. Friends above anything else. The first photo Geraldine looked at was when she got her bounty hunting license. Reggie was the first who congratulated her and later became her partner in the business. Back then Geraldine's hair was all black before deciding to dye it apple red. Back in those days bounty hunting was her passion. A passion that drove her to make good. But the high eventually wore off, especially when she was getting cheaper and less thrilling bounties. And the bigger ones were always given to Frank; which always angered Geraldine; as she always worked herself to the bone. All she got were people who had failed to pay child support, those who failed to show up to court, those who had unpaid parking tickets or those who had the unfortunate luck having a little baggie of weed (even though it was legal in the state now). Geraldine by then had gotten sick of getting the short end of the stick.
She can't recall the many times that she would get into arguments with Martinez over getting crappy bounties. To which he would reply that she needed to be patient. Geraldine was patient enough as it was and it didn't get her any further than before. Thanks to Sunny's unlikely timing, she got out and was able to see the way the world really works. She got money and a brand new house. But it felt hollow. And she knew why.
Her former best friend was missing in her life, it made Geraldine feel uncomfortable, if not empty. She didn't know what to do about it. Geraldine was always tempted to go back and find Reggie, she thought maybe she could talk to her. But Geraldine was too scared to go back down. Maybe when things were right, would she contemplate of going back down.
Her phone starts to vibrate "Hello?".
"Madame Winslow, this is Paul Dericourt" "Everythin' okay?" she wondered "For the moment yes, is Madame Rhee there?" he inquired "No, she's gonna be out of town for a while, same with Chelsea" she mentions "Oh I see, I was wondering if the three of you could help me with something" "Maybe I can help you" Geraldine felt eager to get out of the house "If it's not to big then I can handle it" "Okay, come down to the restaurant and I'll explain". After hanging up, Geraldine went over to Tiger and quickly petted him "Looks like I get to work, see you when I come back" "Meow..." he purrs and rubs his head against her palm.
After getting into her Cavalcade; Geraldine starts the engine; then turns it off.
A part of her didn't want to go and do this work, whatever it was, all she wanted to do was stay and relax. It was too depressing to relax though. Especially if Reggie was the one person on her mind. She pulled her pack of smokes and saw that their was only two left. Geraldine had contemplated quitting altogether; she thought of turning to nicotine patches or gum; even smoking weed seemed like a better idea. She felt depressed and bitter. Come on she orders herself You can do this Geraldine breathed in then out. She starts the engine again. This time for sure she is going to go and do this job.
The Lyon's Den winery and restauraunt, East Vinewood
Geraldine sat and waited as Dericourt was preparing himself. When she was offered food she didn't take any. Not that she was hungry but she didn't feel like eating for the time. Dericourt finally came out and sat in his seat. "So what's this job that you got for me?" Geraldine asked "What do you know about the country of Colombia?" Dericourt suddenly threw out a question "The country? Other than coke, not a damn thing, why?". A waiter pours the wine into a glass "There's a problem that needs to be solved" Dericourt grabs the glass and sips a small amount of wine "There's a man by the name of Carlos Mendoza, guy's been causing me some problems lately" "What kind of problems?". He sighed "Many years back, Carlos had a dispute with an associate of ours. He had accused him stealing money from him during some poker operation that he was running.
"My associate denied the charges, Carlos of course didn't like that answer; one day he decided to do something about it" Geraldine looked on with insight "He and some of his friends went to the bar that my associate owned, shot and killed his staff" Dericourt stared at the reflection in the glass "The bartender, a couple of waitresses, the cook and my associate" "What happened to him?" Geraldine curiously wondered "They took him to secluded place, beat him horribly until he stopped moving" he catches his breath "His face was so bruised and bloodied, I didn't recognize him" Dericourt sighed, reliving that memory was horrible "Vicious little bastard...".
"So...what do you want me to do?".
"I heard he's in town, somewhere in East Los Santos, frequents a place called Ring of Fire" "That's a chili place," Geraldine recognized the address "it's on Innocence boulevard" "Okay, then go" he ordered "Their's one last thing" Dericourt says before Geraldine leaves "Carlos is not an easy target" "What do you mean?" Geraldine wondered "He has lots of bodyguards around him" "How many?" she curiously needed to know "Ten to fifteen".
"What the fuck? Are you serious?" Geraldine stammered mentally "He's a very paranoid person, one last thing" he adds "He has a small operation, cocaine in general, in a warehouse; follow him and put him out of business" Dericourt finishes the last bit of wine in his glass "Alright, I'll take care of this".
With that Geraldine goes out to her assignment. She never dealt with Colombians before. She knew of the stories from South America and abroad, the violence that they brought from paramilitaries fighting against the government to becoming the backbone to the drug cartels hit squad and to eventually becoming independent, going into business for themselves. The Colombians used to be big back then, ran the whole market when it came down to powder. Then all of sudden it goes downward when the person supplying the stuff, the then so-called king himself gets killed by the cops, having the very same officers who took him down pose with his bloodied and bullet riddled corpse. Taking a photo the same way hunters posed after hunting a big game kill. Mexico soon became that supplier and a new war breaks out, with the same result as it's predecessor; bloody, violent and filled with horror. From decapitations to shootouts with soldiers and police. To kidnappings and executions. From handguns, shotguns, SMG's, assault rifles and hand grenades. Even heavy things like rocket launchers were used.
Geraldine starts her Cavalcade. She had hoped to be an easy hit and run. But instead it was going to be a firefight, a firefight with some of the most cold blooded people south of the border. People who weren't street trash and capable of holding their own. The types of people who'd massacre whole scores of people without a second thought. Killers not thugs. Just fuckin' perfect.
...
Geraldine looked over at the chili place. She only been there once. Geraldine thought it was an okay place, but the service she remembered was terrible. The people were rude to her and they charged too much for a simple bowl of chili. The chili she remembered, was sub par. It wasn't bad but it tasted like they were trying to hard to impress her. She waited in her SUV. Her phone dings from the text that was sent. She swipes the screen to see the text. It was a photo of her target. Carlos was tall, around 5'8; his hair was slicked back with the ends all curled. A pointy nose is the thing that she noticed the most. A thick looking goatee covers his chin. His eyes were hard, as hard as stone. Carlos, in Geraldine's eyes, looked like more skilled soldier than a common street soldier.
Geraldine reached into the backseat and pulled out her bulletproof vest and the Bushmaster XM-15. She inserts the magazines into the pouches of the vest, Geraldine strapped the vest onto her body. It felt like being on the hunt again. All that was missing was Reggie doing something stupid and blowing their chance at collecting any type of money. It usually would end with Geraldine scolding Reggie for being an idiot and messing the whole thing up, plus with the shootout that usually occurs that comes from said incident. Those times are gone now. Geraldine is now alone. She had Sunny and Chelsea but that wasn't enough.
Her vision turns to the entourage that had arrived. The whole lot of them, around ten or so, stood by as el jefe (the boss) went to order his food. These men weren't cholos; they were different. Not street trash who'd do a drive-by over petty things over territory and drugs. These men looked mean and scary, those who wouldn't hesitate to kill someone if they got in their way.
She looked straight at them through her sunglasses. Her hand loads her Beretta as she looked on. Her eyes saw the target: Carlos. He walked out with a tray of chili. He must really like that stuff, because Geraldine couldn't understand how he could stomach that stuff. Geraldine got out the drivers side. As she exited, a problem that usually happened happens. One of his bodyguards turned his and saw her with the rifle in her hand "Mira! (Look!)" he points towards Geraldine "Ah shit". A shot is fires from her rifle "Mirda! (Shit!)" Carlos runs to his escort car.
Geraldine squeezes the trigger as the bodyguards pull out their guns; AKM's with high capacity magazines. They fire back with more procession. Geraldine quickly took cover behind a row of cars. The clack of the casings are heard as they spill onto the ground. The Kalashnikov rounds bounce off the cars. Metal is torn and glass is shattered. She pops out of cover, Geraldine aims down the sight and squeezes the trigger. A burst of fire spits from the rifle as three are hit and go down. "Proteger el jefe! (Protect the boss!).
Carlos runs towards his SUV, his security team take position on the vehicle. Two open the back and seat themselves into position and shoot from that space. "Vamanos! (Let's go!)" one yelled. Carlos's SUV takes off and takes a hard left "Shit! Damn it!" Geraldine quickly shoots at the armed resistance left behind. She switches the mode to automatic and unleashes the full barrage. They put up a fight. She aimed straight at them. The Bushmaster blows them away. Geraldine catches the direction to where the enemy vehicle was going. "Shit!" she hurried back to her Cavalcade. Geraldine quickly flips the ignition and takes off in that direction. A bloodied guard with a wound on his leg drags himself to the center of the street and starts to shoot at Geraldine. She ducks down quickly as speeds towards him.
She pulled her Beretta and aims through the bullet holes down.
Her sight aims down the one hole.
Bang! A round strikes him in the hip.
The shot makes him spin around. She aims slightly higher.
Bang! A round catches him in the back of the left shoulder which makes turn right back towards Geraldine
Geraldine's foot hits the gas. Her Cavalcade collides with his body, blood covers the hood and windshield, along with being cracked "Ah shit!" she knows that she's going to have to clean that up and replace the glass. She flows the trail of Carlos.
Geraldine sees the SUV. She speeds up. Bullets whiz past past the Cavalcade. Geraldine cursed under her breath. She tells herself that when she catches them they'll have insurance money for the damage to her car. They reach the warehouse, Carlos and his men scramble out as Geraldine pulls over. She runs to the warehouse with her rifle in tow. She quickly shoots and takes down one guard. Geraldine quickly takes cover behind some machinery. All of them yelling and cursing in Spanish, she didn't understand but if she could then it would simply translate 'Kill that bitch!'.
She shoots at the first row of hard asses that she saw. The bullets tear through their bodies. Geraldine changed the magazine clip, the end of her rifle is smoking. As she cocks the bolt, a bullet whiz and nearly hits her head. "Goddamn!" she cursed as she fires in that direction. Th e whole warehouse was filled with cocaine and gunfire, what a combination she thinks. Geraldine ran towards to the one who took a shot at her, she takes that one down harshly. The gunfire becomes more intense. She was used to fighting street trash who bailed on their court dates. These peculiar individuals were different and more deadlier There were more than expected originally. Geraldine now realized that this place was going to have to be leveled to the ground.
She pops out of cover and takes down several of the guards. Several shots rain from above and nearly hit her again "Motherfucker! You think that's funny!?" Geraldine angrily berates. She quickly shoots and kills them. Geraldine changes another clip. Some of the gunfire briefly carefully listens in for voices. She hears voices coming from the office nearby.
She searches the one of the bodies and crazy enough finds five hand grenades of all things. She quickly takes them. Geraldine climbs up the stairs. She carefully sneaks up to the office. She pulls the pin and throws it through the glass "No!" she hears a scream.
Boom!
Glass and shrapnel explode from the room. The door that was there is now smoking and torn. Geraldine went in with her rifle at the ready.
Her eyes see the damage to their bloody cadavers. It made her sick to think that one little grenade could do that type of damage. She doesn't see Carlos.
Geraldine stepped back outside and saw him hobbling with the remaining six of his guards.
She squeezes the trigger and carefully dispatches them. Carlos caught a bullet straight through his back.
He turned around to see his attacker "Fucking puta (whore)...!" he cursed. He reached into his jacket.
A bullet catches him in the head.
Geraldine surveyed the damage "Damn..." she says under her breath. Remembering that she had the remaining four grenades, she pulls every pin and tosses them randomly at different directions.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
This business is now closed.
"Hey? It's me" Geraldine says "It's done but man, that shit was intense. It got out of control fast" "When it is ever easy" he quipped "Is he dead...?" Dericourt wondered about Carlos's fate."Yeah he's gone" "Good riddance" he bluntly puts out. "Before you take off, I need to ask you something" Geraldine quickly gets into her Cavalcade "What is it?" she asked "I want to know if you and madame Rhee would be interested in becoming business partners with me" she starts the engine up "Shit, I don't know, what about Chelsea?".
"I might have an interest in her if she behaves" Dericourt snarked "I don't know I'll ask when see her" Geraldine says as she hung up the phone. She looked back at the wreck. This is one of those things that she won't forget.
Geraldine also looked at the damage to her car and windshield. She would guesstimate that this could some around the range five thousand dollar level. It's a good thing that she has the money for the proper repairs to take place.
...
She walked all the way back from Los Santos Customs. It was better than taking a cab who'd likely ask for a bigger tip. When they asked Geraldine about the blood on the hood, she simply said that she hit a deer. As for the bullet holes, well they didn't ask questions so long as they got cold hard cash; which she gave them. Twenty thousand dollars each.
After making it back home Geraldine laid down on her carpet.
"Meow" Tiger slowly came towards and rubbed his head against hers.
Geraldine gently grabbed him and petted him. She felt lonely, though she didn't want to admit it.
It was hard to live in a place like this if you didn't anyone to share it with. This big house that was something was but that something was missing. It was more of a someone that was missing. Geraldine put Tiger down and went over to the kitchen. She opened her refrigerator and pulled out a beer. She pops the cap off and takes a swig of beer.
Geraldine hated to admit but she missed Reggie.
She missed her more than anything in the world. She pulled out her cigarettes and looked at them. Those two last ones.
She put them aside and looked past the view outside.
Geraldine sighed.
She really did like an idiot for ending her friendship with Reggie. Over something so petty.
Wonder what she's doin' now...? she thinks.
It was too little and too late to feel bad but she'll always feel bad for destroying something that she had close to her heart.
Chapter 43 is coming soon. Rate and Review.