“Have you helped mi amigo out? You can help?” asks Jose Enrique, looking at Paty and then looking at Carlos, noticing they are a little embarrassed. Hmmm, what’s going on? Why the embarrassment?
“Hermano, we have been talking, getting acquainted. We have not talked about his issues yet.” She smiles at Jose Enrique, hoping to keep him from asking too many embarrassing questions.
“Si amigo, we were discussing Gabriel. He is mi hermano. He is marrying tu prima Erica, and I didn’t know it,” he said grinning, looking at Paty, and watching her blush. Yeah, she’s bella y mia, he thought.
“Carlos, I never thought about it. I didn’t connect you two as hermanos. Si Gabriel is marrying mi prima in dos semanas, and he’s also going to work for us as the demolishing department manager after his duty in the Navy is done in six months,” said Jose Enrique amused. “We’re familia, and we didn’t know it. This is great.”
“Claro amigo, we’re familia. I’m feliz that mi hermano is marrying into a great familia. I haven’t heard from mi hermano or padres in weeks. This has taken me by surprise. Paty is the one that made the connection,” he said, looking at Paty with a smile.
“Si, hermano, we were discussing this when you showed up. I will get on it now,” she said, looking at Carlos warmly.
“Okay, I just wanted to greet you,” said Jose Enrique, going to the door to leave. “It will be terrific if you stop at mi office before you leave, amigo,” said Jose Enrique, leaving Paty’s office.
“Si amigo, I’ll stop by,” said Carlos, looking at his amigo leave, closing the door.
Jose Enrique went back to his office and continues to monitor the job sites. I need to get to the bottom of these problemas.
These don’t appear to be random accidents. It appears that it is intentional, he thought, leaning back in his chair, turning to look out of his window, trying to think of a reason for this to be happening.
Paty takes Carlos to her hermano’s office, smiling and thinking of her future. She knocks on Jose Enrique’s door. Paty opens the door, and they enter his office. She looks at Jose Enrique who is observing that they are holding manos.
They are not aware that they are still holding manos. Hmmm, what’s up with mi hermana y Carlos? They look like something went on. Should I ask or pretend that I don’t notice?
Paty is an adult and knows what she’s doing. I know that Carlos es un grand hombre. Can it be possible that they clicked?
Jose Enrique leans back in his chair waiting for any type of comments from them. “Carlos, please have a seat, and tell me what’s up,” he said, observing them. Waiting to see what they are going to do next.
“Hermano, I have scheduled an hour or two every day at one to review his contracts,” said Paty, going to sit down next to him, without letting go of his mano, smiling at Jose Enrique with felicidad.
I don’t think that they are aware that they are holding manos, thought Jose Enrique with some amusement. I guess they will not say and I know very well the signs. I will wait until they are ready to deal with their feelings.
“That’s great. I knew that you could assist him,” he said, looking at his amigo. Hmm, I can see Carlos’s ojos. Yep, he’s is having difficulty paying attention to the conversation, wanting to only contemplate Paty.
Boy, do I know that feeling well. He’s gone, thought Jose Enrique with amusement, trying not to laugh. I’m feliz that it’s Carlos that will be marrying mi hermana. I know he will make Paty extremely feliz.
“Carlos, I recall that you recommended tu amigo, the one that you mentioned to me a while back. Si tu amigo that is great on finances, stocks, and investments. I’m wondering if you can give me his information. I want mi prima Bella to contact him to arrange an appointment. I want to see if he can work with us,” said Jose Enrique smiling, looking at Carlos attempt to pay attention to the conversation.
Carlos finally reacts to what is transpiring. Great, this is exactly what I need to establish today. “Si amigo, I do. I will give you his information now so that tu prima can contact him. I know that he will be contento to assist tu firm,” said Carlos pleased, writing down his partner’s information on paper.
“Gracias Carlos. This is great. Let me call mi prima and give her the information now,” said Jose Enrique, calling Bella before he gets distracted. Jose Enrique calls Bella, and she’s not available. That’s okay. I will tell her later or in the morning, he thought. No, better still, I will e-mail her the info.
******
“Jaime, tienes que llamar a De Le Cruz ya, es hora,” said El Mextli, looking at his mano derecha. “Vamos a forzar sus manos.”
“Si Mextli,” said Jaime, going to the phone to make the call.
******
This is great. Now I can focus again on Paty, thought Carlos, turning to look at his mujer. Si, Paty es mia, and I cannot wait to claim her in every way possible.
The phone rings, and Jose Enrique answers it, signaling to Carlos to give him a minute. “Thank you for calling De La Cruz Inc.,” he said, without remembering that the Mexican cartel had threatened to call him again today.
Ricky is entering the cuarto, wanting to see if it is the stupid bastardos calling as they had threatened. I know it is them. I have been waiting for this time to arrive. I think that Jose Enrique forgot all about this call.
He turns to look at Paty. I don’t know el hombre that is holding su mano. What’s up with this? Is he her novio? Is he the one? I need to look into this to make sure that he’s the one and not playing with mi prima, thought Ricky, looking back at Jose Enrique’s cara.
Jose Enrique looks at Ricky’s cara y remembers that this call can very well be them. “Hola, Jose Enrique. It’s tu amigo. I’m calling you to see if you have reconsidered our offer. Like I said on Friday, it will be muy lucrative for tu familia y la compañía,” said the unknown caller with the machine that is distorting his voz.
Jose Enrique looks at Ricky who is motioning with his manos for him to put the caller on speaker phone. He nods in agreement, as he did so, answering the caller, looking at Carlos y Paty. He motions them to stay quite as he presses the button.
“Jose Enrique, did you not hear me? Do I need to remind you that tu familia can be at risk if you don’t associate with us? It will be exceedingly lucrative and beneficial for tu familia’s well-being,” said the caller with a smirk in his voz.
Jose Enrique is furious y afraid for his familia. “I told you last Friday that we are not interested. Thank you for considering us. Have a nice day,” said Jose Enrique ending the call, rubbing his cara with frustration.
“Primo, I told you we should have told Chris y Claudia about the call on Friday. They can at least give us an idea in which direction to go,” he said with anger, pacing back y forth, undoing his tie.
The phone rings again, and Jose Enrique looks at the phone, dreading to answer the call.
“Primo, will you answer the damn call and send them to hell. We don’t have to do anything,” said Ricky agitated, is taking off his tie.
Jose Enrique looks at Ricky. “Thank you for calling De La Cruz Inc. How can I help you?” he said, putting the phone on speaker, so Ricky can hear the guey.
“Jose Enrique, we are not playing games here. You will become an associate as we told you or else you will be having issues with tu familia y constructions. We will not give you another opportunity to think about it. I will call you on Monday at this same time. I will be expecting good news,” said the caller. The caller ends the call without giving Jose Enrique the opportunity to respond.
Jose Enrique stands up and starts to pace, taking off his tie, trying to take deep breaths. What are we going to do? Should we call the police? The caller warned us against that, he thought running his manos through his pelo.
Paty stands up. “Hermano, what is that all about? What does that hombre want from you?” asks Paty, going to her hermano, trying to see if he is okay. “Should I call the paramedics? Are you okay? Primo?” asks Paty, turning to l
ook at Ricky. She is worried about her hermano, looking at Ricky who is also in the same state of shock y fear.
Carlos is observing the entire situation, thanking Dios that his best amigo y familia are not involved with the Mexican cartel. I knew that they are honest y hardworking. I need to still keep mi cover for now until I figure out how to help them. “Amigo, what’s wrong? Who is that caller? What do they want?” he asks, trying to be ignorant of what is happening.
“He’s un hijo del diablo that called on Friday, asking us to associate with him in money laundering. He said that one of our new clients has referred us, highly recommending our association. He told us not to involve the police because they will hurt la familia. I told him on Friday that we are not interested. Ricky and I thought or hoped that it was a prank call,” said Jose Enrique, looking out the window, wondering what will happen if they don’t associate.
Everything that I and mis padres have worked hard for will go down the drain. We will be slaves to the Mexican cartels whims. “We don’t know what to do. Todo that we have worked so hard for will go to hell if we associate with the Mexican cartel,” said Jose Enrique, hitting the wall with his fist in anger y frustration.
“Hermano, are you okay? Are you sure it is the Mexican cartel? Why do they want us? We don’t do anything illegal,” said Paty, looking at all of them for answers.
“Prima, they want us because they can hide their drug money with our profits, and they can also think of a million things to involve us in that will make us criminals,” said Ricky, pacing back and forth, trying to think of a way out of this immense problema.
Paty sits down staring out the window, thinking y praying that this is only a nightmare. Knowing the law as she did, she knows that they are steps away from being forced to becoming criminals.
“We need to call Claudia. She is an FBI agent. She can tell us what to do,” said Paty, pacing with Ricky y Jose Enrique. “Have you told our padres?” she looks at her hermano y primo that shakes their cabezas no.
“Prima, we were praying that it is a joke,” said Ricky, standing still and grabbing his neck that felt real painful. “Why will we advise our padres? They will have a heart attack. Look at us,” he said, taking deep breaths.
“Do you believe that they will hurt la familia or cause issues with the constructions?” asks Paty, looking at them, waiting for some answers.
“Hermana, I think that they have started causing issues with our constructions. The materials at the job site this morning did not arrive. I am talking of hundreds of thousands of dollars lost today because the concrete didn’t arrive to start pouring,” he said, looking at his watch.
“The job site manager is scheduled to report here at three to give us the breakdown of what happen to the concrete. He is to report on the other materials that were ordered and if they are correct. This can be happening because of them. I don’t know,” said Jose Enrique with frustration.
“Primo, that’s a lot of money that we’re losing. We need to go and keep track of todo the jobs. If this job site manager is not doing his job, we need to can his ass,” said Ricky with frustration y anger in hearing about this situation.
“I will go out and monitor the job sites like I used to. Paty can do the building contracts,” said Ricky, pacing back and forth. “When this job site manager shows, I want to hear his report. I will can his ass if he messed up,” he said, looking at his watch.
“We have everything scheduled to the day. We have been doing this for years. We have great suppliers. There is no reason for this to be happening. I will start mañana, primo, taking care of the job sites. I know that Chris will take the job that you offered him on Friday,” said Ricky. “Chris told Tony that he is taking the job. I will do it until he is here working.”
Si, this makes me muy feliz to hear that Chris will be doing the job as the job site manager. It is a good thing that we all worked each position as we went through college. We all have the knowledge y skills to work each position. Our padres believed that is the only way to know how to construct a building.
I’m just contento that I’m not alone in this mess, he thought, looking at his amigo. “Carlos, I’m sorry that you witness this disaster,” he said, looking at his amigo y knowing in his corazon that he will be marrying his hermana Paty.
“Amigo, no worries, I just wish I could provide some help,” he said, feeling helpless y frustrated in the role he has to play. “Maybe I should leave. You need to have a familia meeting,” he suggests, hoping to give them a direction.
“I’ll take you to the elevator,” said Paty, knowing that he didn’t know his way out.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
I NEED TO GET BACK TO see what the construction manager has to say. Paty almost runs to Jose Enrique’s office, not wanting to miss anything.
Paty enters the office and notices that Ricky y Jose Enrique are still pacing y frustrated. She looks at her watch. Hmmm, it’s a few after three. That’s why they are so frustrated.
“Hermano, you need to call Tony, Bella, y Jessy, so we can think of a plan to take control. I don’t know if you want Monique y Jacki here. They might get a little scared,” said Paty, looking at her hermano y primo.
“Si, hermana call Tony, Bella, y Jessy,” said Jose Enrique, looking at his primo to see if he wants Jacki there.
“No, primo, I don’t want mi reina to get scared, y I think that Monique will be the same case. I don’t think that Chris will want her to know,” said Ricky, running his manos through his pelo, pacing back y forth, and attempting to think of a plan.
“Primo, Jose Enrique needs to talk to you. Can you please come to the office?” asks Paty.
“Si, prima, I’m on mi way,” said Tony, surprised with the request.
“Bella, we need you to come to Jose Enrique’s office. It’s important,” said Paty, looking out the window, praying that this is only a nightmare.
“Si, prima, I’ll be there in a few,” said Bella, leaving her office in a hurry.
“Jessy, we need you to come to Jose Enrique’s office,” said Paty, looking at Jose Enrique, pacing like crazy.
“Si Paty, I’m leaving now,” said Jessy, leaving her office.
Paty went to stand at the window, thinking. What can we do? What should we do? This is so surreal.
Jessy and Bella arrive at the office at the same time. Immediately they perceive that something huge is occurring. They notice the state of frustration, fear, y rage that Ricky, Jose Enrique, y Paty are experiencing.
Tony walks into the office right after his primas y assesses the situation. It looks like something huge has happened. Mis primos look like they are about to croak, he thought contemplating them.
“What’s happening?” asks Bella, getting truly concern, approaching her primos. They look like they are about to have a heart attack, she thought.
“Do you want me to call the paramedics?” asks Jessy, getting anxious for Jose Enrique y Ricky’s condition.
“This guey is not showing,” said Ricky with frustration y anger.
“What’s going on?” asks Bella, getting real scared.
“Mi amor, please close the door,” asks Jose Enrique, turning to look at Jessy. “Please lock it.” He walks to get the phone calling his secretary.
“Ms. Jones, I need you to call all the numbers that we have to contact the site manager Jefferson, and tell him I need him here now,” said Jose Enrique, controlling his anger.
“Yes, Mr. De La Cruz,” said Ms. Jones, wondering what’s up.
“Mi amor, prima, have a seat,” said Jose Enrique, looking at Tony. He then returns to his desk to take a seat. He looks at them, and doesn’t know where to begin.
“We have a crisis that will jeopardize our entire vidas if we don’t take control now,” he said, looking at them.
“Si, we have a situation that we need to have some brainstorming to arrive at a reasonable path for la familia,” said Ricky, walking back and forth, thinking.
“Primas, primo
, la familia is being pressured by the Mexican cartel to associate with them and don’t want to take no for an answer,” said Paty, pacing back y forth, along with Ricky.
“The cartel has called us twice, and we thought, or should I say prayed, that it was a prank,” said Jose Enrique, standing up y pacing.
“Tony, Jessy, Bella, they called about a half hour ago and threatened la familia y the constructions that we have in progress,” said Paty, looking at her primas. “We need to come up with a plan to discourage their interest in la familia’s company.”
“We believe that they have started with our constructions. One of our job sites didn’t receive the concrete this morning to start pouring. This has cost us hundreds of thousands of dollars,” said Jose Enrique, stopping at the window to look out, trying to see if he can see the site manager Jefferson.
“That’s impossible. How did that happen? We have been working with our suppliers for years and have constructed thousands of buildings. We don’t make these huge mistakes,” said Bella, standing up y pacing.
“Why didn’t you mention this to me before? Why did you wait until now? We could have thought of the best recourses for la familia. I think that you should have allowed us to help you. Where is that job site manager?” asks Tony with frustration on learning about the risks that la familia is in with these events. Tony undid his tie and runs his manos through his pelo.
“Jefferson is supposed to arrive at three to give us an update. The report on what caused the delivery not to arrive, the other material orders, and the status,” said Ricky with frustration. “He has not arrived, and now look what time it is.”
Jessy tries to think of a plan and some options. “How can we stop the cartel?” she asks, wondering we don’t know them, or what they are doing next, how can we stop them?
“We need to make sure that they don’t have any opportunity to mess with the orders. I’m starting today to monitor all the orders, supplies, contractors, our employees, todo,” said Ricky, looking at Jose Enrique. “We need to split this up.”
Hot & Spicy: De La Cruz Saga Page 24