“I know. I owe you big time, Jorge. Just keep in mind how you are helping in saving a few lives today, okay.”
“Oh my God, Pancho, is that them coming?”
Pancho had already spotted them and was accessing the situation. Thank God Celina isn’t in that white bathrobe that they took her in, he thought. She was wearing a blue simple sundress.
“Yep. It sure is. Just stay where you are and keep your hand on the trigger.”
There were four of them. Rafael, holding Celina by her waist, and alongside them were Flaco and Chuy. Why didn’t it surprise him, how he managed to get those other two in, if he had only left two tickets for Rafael on the windshield.
“Okay Jorge. Just keep looking down, and keep those hands in your pockets. They need you alive, so they’re not going to shoot you.”
Pancho’s eyes were scanning Celina’s body for any visible physical bruising. He was hoping to see none, because it was going to be hard for him to keep his mind focused on the mission at hand. He saw no bruising, but he did notice the worried look on her face. He wished that he could tell her that everything was going to be all right. He wished he could explain what their plan was to her. However, at the moment, none of that would be possible. Pancho stood in front of Jorge, shielding him from Rafael’s view.
“What’s up with the kid?” inquired Rafael, as they got closer.
Pancho understood him but was stalling for time. “What do you mean?”
“It’s like eighty degrees this morning, and he’s wearing a hoodie jacket.” He pulled Celina closer to him.
Pancho said nothing and kept a blank look on his face.
Rafael then chucked. “And you have him wearing a handkerchief over his face and dark sunglasses.”
“Yeah, laugh all you want. I’m the one who has to cover my ass with the surveillance cameras. I’m the one that the law is going to come after, for kidnapping him, and to top it off, he’s the Chief of Police’s son. While you are in Mexico, going on with your life, my ass is going to prison.”
He replied in a sarcastic voice, “Well, you were the one that wanted to meet here. Nobody told your stupid ass to meet here. This was stupid. So now you’re fucked.”
“What did you expect, for me to walk into an ambush at your warehouse? Now that would have been stupid.”
“Well, that’s enough talk. Hand over the kid.”
“First, turn Celina loose. Man, I know you’re packing.”
“Yeah, and I know you’re packing too. So what does that mean?”
“That I give you the kid, and then you pull out a gun, take the kid and Celina too.” He shook his head. “That’s an old trick that I’m not falling for.”
“So what the fuck do you want to do now?” He cocked his head back. “I’m tired of playing your stupid games. I have important things to do.” He yelled in frustration.
Celina’s eyes were wide with terror, as the men shouted back and forth to each other.
“I want Flaco and Chuy to back off, and walk away. Then I want you to back up too. Celina and the kid will walk towards each other, and you can take him, and I’ll walk away with Celina.”
There was silence for a while.
Rafael nodded to the men, giving them the order to back off. Once the men were at a distance, Pancho told the kid to stand up.
Pancho’s heart accelerated, with the thought that something could go wrong at any moment. There were no SEAL buddies that he knew and could count on, to watch his back or foresee dangerous movements.
“Okay buddy. You are going to go with these people, and we’ll see you a little later.” He put his hands on Jorge’s shoulder, sending him in Rafael’s direction. “So here we are, send Celina on over.”
Rafael took a deep breath, and released his hold on Celina’s waist. Pancho could see in his facial expressions that he didn’t want to let her go.
Jorge had been instructed to walk very slowly at the moment of exchange. So he slowed his pace, waiting for Celina to reach him at the halfway mark. Celina looked at the kid, whose face was all covered up, and passed him. The moment she passed Jorge, she ran to Pancho, and stood behind him, and squeezed him.
Rafael reached for the kid, and yelled, “Hurry up, you brat!” He then walked backwards slowly, holding onto his hand.
Chuy then started walking slowly towards Rafael, while Flaco remained where he stood. Chuy grabbed the kid, and yanked him hard, pulling the hoodie off, and knocking the sunglasses off him.
Pancho muttered softly, when he saw the hoodie come off, “Oh shit.”
Rafael did a double take when he saw the kid, and shouted, “What the hell?”
Chuy then said, “Es un enano.”
Jorge then yelled back, “Who are you calling a midget, you fat piece of shit!” He kicked Chuy in the balls twice. “This enano just kicked you in the balls.”
Before Celina had any time to react, Pancho grabbed her arm and pushed her behind a long, oversized flower container. It had been purposely placed there, to use as a shield from gunfire. Another container with fake pink flowers stood opposite the first container, and Jorge dove in that one, after Chuy turned him loose.
Rafael wasted no time pulling out his gun. His freaky grin terrified Celina, sending chills down her spine, but not Pancho. He was ready for him. That was one thing that was certain; Rafael and Pancho were going to have to battle it out to the death, and this was the moment. Rafael would never give up, and Pancho needed to move on with his new life. He refused to run away and hide from Rafael.
Rafael raised his gun at Pancho, and Pancho ran to take cover with Celina behind the flower box.
Chuy remained on the ground, holding on to his groin. He then began to yell in Spanish that he was going to kill Jorge for kicking him in the balls.
Rafael fired a few rounds, then yelled out to Pancho, “You pinche puto, now I’m going to have to fuckin’ kill you! I gave you a chance to be by my side, you sorry motherfucker. Anyone in my organization would have given anything, ANYTHING, to have been given the chance that I gave you!”
Rafael took cover behind a tree and began to fire his gun. Chuy fired a scant half-second later at Jorge. It’s a good thing that they were handguns and not assault weapons, because the bullets could have gone through the flower planters.
Shots were heard in the distance, towards the entrance of the park. Pancho recognized those shots as coming from assault rifles. Knowing Rafael, he probably had more men outside. They probably met up with SWAT after hearing the gunfire over there.
Chuy had managed to crawl behind some bushes, not much for protection, but he was not out in the open anymore.
Rafael did not let up firing in Pancho’s direction. Pancho, who was wearing a bulletproof vest, returned a few rounds, but he was worried about Celina getting hit.
“Okay, you sorry piece of shit,” Pancho muttered. “You are just shooting to shoot. I am going to shoot, but I will be aiming at you. I will get you with fewer bullets.” He positioned himself at an angle where he had a better shot and view. “There you are,” he whispered, getting ready to pull the trigger.
Pancho had him in sight, and was about to pull the trigger, when he heard shots fired. Those shots were not fired towards him, but in Rafael’s direction. He lowered his gun a little, to get a better view. He thought it was SWAT moving in on them, but to his surprise, it was Flaco who was firing at Rafael.
“You are a piece of shit for a boss! After everything that I have done for you.” Bang, bang! Flaco unloaded his gun into Rafael’s back. “All of your fucking dirty work, for what?” He fired again, and again at Rafael, leaving him in a pool of his own blood.
Pancho continued to point his handgun in Rafael’s direction, witnessing his cousin get gunned down by his own people. Rafael had it coming, but sad that it had to be by one of his own men.
Flaco looked in Pancho’s direction, made eye contact, and nodded.
The SWAT team came in heavy, and took Falco and Chuy into custody.
Jorge crawled over to Pancho, too scared to stand up.
SWAT then gave the signal for all clear. Pancho told Jorge as he stood up, “Buddy, you did good. I owe you big time, and I thank you for helping us out like you did. That was very brave of you.”
Jorge stood up, beaming with a big smile. “Shit, Pancho, I don’t know how you convinced me. This was some scary shit, now that I really think of it.” He let out a loud chuckle.
Pancho gave him a big hug, and after releasing him, said, “I’d like for you to meet Celina.”
Celina extended her hand, and said, “Thank you!” She then bent down and kissed him on the cheek.
Jorge blushed. “I see why you are crazy about her.” He glanced over to see Pancho.
Celina giggled.
“Celina, this is an old buddy of mine. His name is Jorge Villarreal. He’s on the wrestling team here in the valley, where I act as referee.”
“Wrestling?”
Jorge moved his head shyly. “Yeah, we can get pretty rough at times. We draw a good crowd, as we midgets make people laugh.”
“Celina, you need to see Jorge wrestle. This guy can be brutal with his opponents!” He laughed.
As they stood there talking amongst each other, the police chief made his way along with other SWAT officers. They surrounded Pancho with congratulations, handshakes, and pats to his back. Celina and Jorge got smothered out of the way. An officer escorted them to paramedics, who were outside waiting to treat people.
When Pancho looked up, Celina and Jorge were nowhere to be seen.
Chapter 44
In the arms of the Marshal, so the hero walks away
Finally, Pancho was able to walk away, after several minutes of discussing what had happened, and being congratulated. What had just happened at the zoo was considered an historical event for the police department. All the people involved couldn’t stop smiling and giving each other high fives. The Brownsville Police Department had never encountered anything like this, along the U.S. side. Pancho overheard some officers talking about how it had sounded like a war zone, but if they only knew that this small spat was nothing like the missions he had been in. The chief of police had even offered Pancho a job as a SWAT trainer.
Pancho walked on the sidewalk in the direction of the zoo entrance. His eyes were scanning, on the lookout for Celina. Since all the commotion, he hadn’t had a moment to hug her properly and ask her how she was doing. He wondered if Rafael had hurt her in any way. He was hoping that Rafael and his men had not raped her, because they were known to be rough with women. Not because of the possibility of other men being with her, but for her own mental and physical wellbeing. He only cared for her safety; nothing else mattered.
He was nearing the entrance, and he could see that the parking lot was no longer empty like it was earlier. It was now swarming with dozens of cop cars, and ambulances flashing their emergency lights. SWAT also, had a couple of their units parked out there, and members were putting their gear away. Some of the men walked up to him and shook his hand, as he continued to search for Celina. His heart was beating rapidly, knowing that he would find her soon, that he would be able to hold her tightly, inhale her scent and kiss her madly.
Then he stopped in his tracks. He froze when he saw her in the distance, near one of the ambulances. He blinked several times, to make sure he wasn’t seeing things. But yes, there was Celina in the arms of the U.S. Marshal, Xavier. He felt his legs go weak, and felt a loss for air, when he saw Xavier’s face. He had a smile that stretched from ear to ear, and he swore he could see the man glowing from where he stood. The way he held her by her petite waist, and the way he was looking at her, he knew that the man was more than a friend.
He stood, and watched for a good while, watching them talk as the Marshal held her tightly, in a hold that was sensual. But when he saw Celina kiss Xavier’s cheek, and then Xavier kiss her on her lips, it was more than he could handle. A tough SEAL man Pancho was physically, but he couldn’t see anymore. Now it made sense why Xavier was being so hard on him, why the air had been so tense when they had first met.
He started to walk to his godfather’s red truck. He just wanted to leave, to go home and just be alone for a while. He needed to think, as to what he wanted to do. Should he stay in Texas, or go back near base where he had met some of his best buddies? The police chief had mentioned earlier, that there was a reward offered by the United States worth millions of dollars for the capture of Mexican cartel members. The chief did say that even though SWAT had been there to assist, that it was Pancho who had lured them for the capture. So there was a strong possibility that he would receive all or some of the monies; it looked like some money was coming his way.
When Pancho heard about the reward, he thought about traveling, and seeing the world with Celina. But at this very moment, the money didn’t interest him. He felt like that old Marshall Tucker Band song, Can’t You See. Where the guy just wants to crawl in a hole and die after he can’t handle what the woman was doing to him.
He fished for the truck keys in his pocket and unlocked the door. Then, from a distance, he heard someone calling his name. Pancho didn’t want to talk to the police chief or any of the officers right now, so he hurriedly opened the door.
And then again, he heard his name. “Pancho! Pancho! Where are you going?” It was Celina. He recognized her sweet voice. He held his breath and closed his eyes for a few moments.
“Hey.” She tapped his shoulder. She was panting hard from that short run to the truck.
He was wondering what she wanted. Did she want to thank him, maybe? Thank him, before taking off with the marshal, back to her hometown in Laredo? He figured that would be the polite thing to do, coming from a sweet girl like herself. He turned around slowly. He couldn’t help that his face had a sad look on it. A look like someone he loved had died.
“Hey, where do you think you’re going, tough guy?” She breathed in hard, flashing a huge smile. Her heart was thumping wildly in her chest, when she saw him. Nerves and excitement mingling together--he was so handsome, with rippling muscles, and an impressive stance.
Pancho didn’t say a word and avoided eye contact with her.
She moved in real close, and got up in his face. “Say, what’s wrong? What happened?” She noticed that his face looked so haggard, so tired.
He took a deep breath, then looked at her, and placed his hand on her shoulder, creating some distance between them.
He cleared his throat before he spoke. “I was just leaving, going home. I also need to return this truck, since I had just borrowed it.”
She widened her eyes. “Really? And you weren’t going to tell me anything?”
There was silence for a good while, before Pancho spoke. “You were busy, and I didn’t want to interrupt.”
Celina took a step back, and nodded her head. She knew exactly what he meant. “You mean you saw me with Xavier.”
Pancho blushed. “Yeah, I guess you can say that.”
“So what did you see?” She tilted her face.
“Enough.” He then looked directly at her.
“Yes, I was happy to see him, and I had several things to tell him.”
Pancho stood still, giving her a look that wasn’t convincing.
“Look, I don’t know what you are thinking, but whatever it is, you are dead wrong.” She informed him.
“Celina you don’t have to lie or pretend with me… with whatever you got going with the marshal. As for me, I enjoyed the days that I spent with you, and I just want to let you know that they were very special to me. I don’t want you to think that I enjoyed having sex with you only.”
“What are you saying? I don’t have anything going on with Xavier.” She denied his allegations.
“I saw him kissing you.” He wrinkled his brow and his fist curled. “He kissed you on the lips.” He raised his voice. “I saw the way he was looking at you.” His heart accelerated, as he remembered.
She gave him a look of ‘
yeah, right.’
“Yes, I have good vision. I can see from this far, but I saw all of this from the entrance of the zoo, which is much closer than where I’m standing now.” He made his point clear.
“Okay! Yes, Xavier was pursuing me, but he’s married.”
“What? You are involved with a married man. Let me just get going,” he snarled.
She frowned, her jaw clenching. “Wait a minute,” she yelled back. “I deserve to explain myself. Then you can leave.” She demanded to be heard.
His eyes narrowed on her, waiting for her to speak.
“As you already know about my story with Homer… well then, I’m looking at moving on with my life, and Xavier knows that. At this moment, his marriage has been out of convenience, his marriage has been dead for some time. And now that I’m moving on with my life, that’s why he now wanted to divorce his wife to pursue me. But I don’t want him like that, and I told him that before I got kidnapped, and again just now. I thanked him, and I’m grateful for his time and effort in looking for me. And yes, I did kiss him, but on the cheek. I don’t know if you saw that.” She looked directly at him, and paused. “He then, kissed me on my lips. It wasn’t passionate like you think it was, because I didn’t kiss him back.”
She was right about that. He did see her kiss him on his cheek, and it was Xavier who kissed her on her lips, but then he turned away and didn’t see the rest. So now what? He was very confused.
“Well then, thank you for hearing me out and before I leave,” she paused, when she felt a knot in her throat. “I’d like to thank you for saving my life. I am very grateful for everything that you have done for me. Truly believe that.” Her eyes began to well up, and then she turned on her heel, and left.
Pancho stood holding the truck door, and watched her walk away. He didn’t have much experience with women, much less with relationships. The one thing he did know was that he was in love with her.
“Ah hell,” he muttered to himself. He shut the door to the truck, and ran after her. “Wait just a minute. Celina, I’m talking to you.”
Just a Kiss Page 20