by Matt Lincoln
Little by little, more and more of the group began making their way onto the dance floor. Ethan had taken Alejandra with him, and they seemed to be getting to know each other on the other side of the room. Alejandra obviously knew how to dance, and she was doubled over laughing as she tried to teach Ethan a few steps.
I looked over at Robbie and noticed him watching the impromptu dance lesson.
“What’s the story there?” I asked, leaning in to shout into Robbie’s ear above the music. Robbie turned around and looked at me with mild surprise.
“There’s no story,” he assured me, although I didn’t believe him. “She’s our liaison. We just met her the other day.”
“They look very comfortable for not knowing each other very well,” I pointed out. Robbie chuckled a bit and turned back to me.
“They do, don’t they?” He had an amused look on his face as he spoke. “Marston has a… history of falling for women that are involved in the cases we work. I’m just keeping an eye on him. I need him to stay impartial. We don’t know how much we can trust her yet.” He looked back over at the laughing couple cautiously.
“We don’t?” I clarified. “Why not? Who is she?”
Robbie looked back down at me. “Officially, she’s supposed to be one of the good ones. There’s more to this case that I’m not at liberty to discuss, though. Let’s just say there’s a lot of mistrust, and not just with her.”
“Sounds complicated,” I muttered, stealing one last glance at the couple. Ethan seemed to be getting his footing now and seemed slightly less awkward. Alejandra was shouting enthusiastic words of encouragement as they danced.
“It is,” Robbie agreed. “Today has been the first time since we’ve gotten here that we’ve been able to branch out and do something fun. So, thank you for forcing us to come out.”
“Oh, it was nothing,” I assured him. “My crew and I are always down for a night out, especially after pulling in from a patrol.”
“Yeah, I guess that makes sense,” he grinned. As the song ended and the next one began, Ethan came up from behind me, slightly out of breath.
“I don’t think dance competitions are in my future,” he teased as he looked at Robbie. “That woman can dance, though.”
“Yeah, looks like it,” Robbie chuckled. “You looked awkward as hell, though. I don’t advise you to try to impress anyone with your new skills quite yet.”
Ethan barked out a laugh and turned to me. “You guys need another drink?”
I nodded fervently and followed Ethan up to the bar with Robbie right behind me. Ethan ordered us all refills while I turned to look back at my friends.
Slade and Murph were breaking out some crazy dance moves in the middle of the floor with plenty of laughter sprinkled in, but the rest of my crew was gathered at the edge of the space, shouting over each other in lively conversation. It took a moment to find her, but when I finally spotted Alejandra, she was alone on the dance floor, swaying and gyrating to the beat of the music. I was struck by how fluidly the woman moved as if she were dancing underwater.
“Here you go,” Robbie shouted, coming up by my left elbow with a frosty bottle of beer.
“Thank you!” I replied cheerfully, taking the bottle from him and helping myself to a swig of the ice-cold beer.
Ethan joined us with a fresh glass of Four Roses, and we watched the crowd together. My crew began making their way around the edge of the crowd toward the bar, an assortment of empty glasses and bottles between them. As they approached us, I could see just how rambunctious they had grown. I had a hunch they had been here drinking for longer than they’d originally let on.
“Linda!” Murph shouted as he squeezed past everyone to the bar. “I’ve got next round! How’s your beer?”
“New,” I informed him, holding up the cold bottle. “Thank you, though!”
Murph turned toward the bar, and I turned back to my friends, who were all talking over each other while they waited for Murphy to order their drinks. Behind them on the dance floor, I could make out Alejandra, but her moves had slowed as she spoke to a man who had just approached her. Alejandra took a step back and shook her head to say no, but the man took a step forward in response, not accepting her answer. Two men came up behind him, obviously friends of his.
“Uhm, Robbie?” I shouted over my loud friends. He stood there oblivious as Rogers came up beside him to engage him in conversation. “Robbie,” I repeated, placing my free hand gently on his forearm. He turned to glance over at me, and once he saw the concerned look on my face, he turned his back toward Rogers and gave me his full attention.
“What’s wrong?” he asked. He followed my gaze to the dance floor, where I was watching Alejandra rip her arm out of the man’s firm grasp. She took another step backward, but this time he took two steps of his own, closing the gap between them even more. The other two men circled around her, trapping her in the center. Alejandra didn’t seem scared. Rather, she seemed angry, but the man wasn’t taking the hint. Robbie swung his arm backward blindly, hitting Ethan’s shoulder and causing him to spill his drink.
“What the hell, Holm?” he shouted. The annoyed scowl on his face quickly dissipated as he read Robbie’s expression, though.
“We have a problem on the dance floor,” Robbie pointed out. Ethan glanced out over the crowd and saw what was brewing.
“Damn,” he muttered. “Why does this happen to us every time we go out?”
“Sure feels that way,” Robbie commiserated. “Are you ready to do this?”
“Yeah, let’s go.” Ethan handed me his glass and shook the spilled liquid off his hand, and Robbie handed his to a confused Slade, who hadn’t been paying any attention to the current conversation. The two of them began making their way across the dance floor, but I wasn’t about to let them handle this on their own.
“Hey, Sanchez,” I shouted. Sanchez turned toward me.
“What’s going on?” he asked casually.
I let out a long sigh. I probably shouldn’t have been doing this. I was, after all, a lieutenant and a Commanding Officer. I was supposed to have decorum. I wasn’t supposed to get involved in bar fights.
I also wasn’t about to sit back and do nothing. “Hold these,” I ordered, shoving both drinks into Sanchez’s open palms.
“Uhh, sure, Cap,” he stuttered. He watched as I stormed forward, and one by one, I caught the attention of the rest of my crew.
Ethan had reached the small altercation first, stepping between Alejandra and the ringleader. The man was tall and looked like he never missed a day at the gym, although he must have focused all of his energy on his upper body. His solid arms were twice the size of his legs.
“Oh, are you the boyfriend?” he taunted, towering over Ethan.
“No,” Ethan snapped back. “Why? Would that make a difference?”
“No,” the man chuckled, “just makes things more interesting.”
Robbie stepped up beside Alejandra. “Are you alright?” he asked her, but the other two men closed in on them quickly. One of them was tall and thin, but he still looked strong enough to be a challenge. The other man was short and stocky, with gelled up hair and rhinestoned jeans. I knew the type. He’d be easier to fight, as he’d probably hadn’t had much training. He was all looks and reminded me of the Jeeps with the fancy paint jobs and rims that had obviously never been off road. Mall crawlers, I called them, and this guy was the human version of them.
Robbie saw the two men approach and planted himself between them and Alejandra. She seemed annoyed at needing help, though she wasn’t refusing it.
Suddenly, the ringleader swung at Ethan, forcing Ethan to duck to avoid the impact. Ethan responded with an uppercut to the guy’s chin, knocking his teeth together and causing him to stumble backward as he regained his balance. This prompted the other two men to run at Robbie, who ducked one and sent his fist right into the gut of the second one. Robbie then spun around to send another fist toward the taller of the two, an
d I watched as Mall Crawler caught his breath. He went toward Robbie, who had his back toward him. Acting on impulse, I surged forward, knocking my fist into Mall Crawler’s jaw, catching him completely by surprise. He whirled around to face me, his hand clutching his mouth, but he balked when he found himself faced with a woman.
“Don’t back down now,” I taunted with a smirk on my face. I had my feet planted firmly, and my knees bent, ready to react to whatever he decided to throw my way.
He laughed. “I’m not going to fight you.”
I was secretly relieved. Escalating this fight wouldn’t be a good look, especially with almost my entire crew watching me.
Mall Crawler’s eyes shifted to over my shoulder. “I’ll fight you, though,” he cackled. I turned to find Sanchez and Murphy standing behind me, their hands balled into fists.
“For the record,” Sanchez shouted as Murphy surged forward, “we are doing this to keep your nose clean, not because you need our help!”
Sanchez followed Murphy, and as Mall Crawler advanced on them, they exchanged a quick nod. One went high, and the other went low, and since Mall Crawler couldn’t stop them both, he ended up doubled over gasping for air after Murph sent his fish into his gut. Sanchez shoved him down to the ground, where he rested on all fours trying to find his breath. Robbie ducked backward, trying to avoid a swing from his opponent, but he didn’t see the man on the ground and tripped over him, falling right on his tailbone. He grimaced and popped back up, just in time to get knocked in the jaw. The crowd around us was bobbing and weaving, trying to avoid the blows while not missing any part of the action.
“We have to go,” I gasped.
Instead, the rest of my crew blew past me, breaking the fight apart and getting wrapped up in it themselves. Slade grabbed the ringleader, pinning his hands behind his back and making him an easy target for Ethan. Jones scrambled to help Murphy do the same with Mall crawler, leaving only Robbie fighting. He swung an elbow down on the guy’s shoulder, causing his knees to buckle, and then Alejandra was behind him, wrapping her arm around his neck to pull him into a chokehold.
“Damn,” Robbie panted, taking a second to catch his breath.
With the three men secured, Robbie and Ethan looked around.
“Is everyone okay?” Ethan called out.
My team all seemed to be fine, but now we had a bigger problem.
“Ethan,” I trailed off as the colorful bobbing lights turned red and blue. “We need to get out of here.”
Ethan looked out the front door and back at Robbie. “You grab him, and I’ll grab this guy. Linda, get your crew out of here.”
Robbie did as he was told, and with my team free, we wriggled our way through the crowd and toward the front door. There was a lot of shouting and shoving from the rest of the crowd, but as the police came in, we all slipped out undetected.
“Holy crap!” Slade yelled as soon as we were free from the chaos. “That was intense! What do we do now?”
Murph pointed down the block. “There’s a pizzeria down that way that’s always open late. It’s a few blocks down. Let’s head there. Hopefully, Ethan, Robbie, and Alejandra can meet us when they get out.”
“If they get out,” Sanchez muttered. “They’re taking the brunt of this for us. They may need our help.”
“Well, let’s start walking and get clear of this place before someone recognizes us,” I declared. “Once we’re clear, we can figure out what to do to help them.”
My crew all agreed, and together we headed down the block toward the pizzeria. I pulled out my phone and sent Ethan a message letting him know where we were headed. If they somehow were able to get out of that mess, they’d be able to find us quickly.
The restaurant was a bit upscale for a pizzeria, with linen-covered tables toward the back and candles along the glass bar to the left. I could smell the cheese and the grease, though, and I was suddenly starving. We were led to the back of the restaurant where several long tables were pushed together to accommodate our group. I saw Jones in deep conversation with our server at the end of the table, no doubt taking control of the food order. It was a smart move on her end, as my team was still feeling the effects of the drinks they had consumed.
“Did you reach out to the guys?” I turned to find Slade looking at me expectantly.
“Yeah, I sent him a message,” I replied softly as I watched our server fill my water glass. When she was done, I picked my glass up and took a few generous sips. The server continued to make her way down the length of the table as I sat my glass back down on the tablecloth.
“I hope they’re alright,” she muttered. “Although I appreciate them stepping in, I don’t think it was entirely necessary. Once we got you free from the fighting, the rest of us would have been okay.” Slade’s mischievous grin made me laugh. Of course, they would have been okay. The person that would have punished them for fighting was the same person they had just helped: me.
“Yes, but I’m glad we didn’t have to take that chance,” I admitted. “If the wrong people get involved, then we are suddenly dealing with Captain Morris, and then we’re all in trouble.”
Captain Morris was the base CO, and my boss. As much as he trusted me and was proud of the decisions I had made that got me to this position, he also knew I played fast and loose with the rules, and he could only turn a blind eye so many times. It was nice to have an ally in the Command, but I wasn’t about to test the limits of that alliance. I knew that there was only so much he could, or would, do for me.
“That’s a good point,” Slade conceded.
I listened as my team recapped the evening’s events, increasing the amount of flair with each retelling. By the time the pizza came out from the kitchen, we sounded like superheroes.
The servers rested the pizzas on metal platforms that lined the center of the table and then offered each of us warm ceramic plates so that we could help ourselves. When I turned to grab my first slice, I saw a few familiar faces step through the front door.
“They made it!” I announced gleefully, and the chatter at the table immediately ceased as everyone turned their attention to the new arrivals. Ethan and Robbie looked a little rough, and Robbie’s hair gel was no longer doing its job, but Alejandra still looked flawless. All three of them looked exhausted but happy.
“There are empty seats down here!” Slade called out, waving them down to our end of the table. “Come and join us!”
“This smells amazing,” Alejandra gushed as she led the way. “What is on all of this?”
“I got a little of everything,” Jones informed her confidently, “this way everyone has a chance to try something new.”
Ethan and Robbie slowly approached our end of the table but made no move to sit down.
“We’re going to assess the damage and get cleaned up,” Ethan decided. “We’ll be back in a few minutes.”
When Robbie and Ethan did come back, we had all helped ourselves to a couple of slices, and the chatter had been replaced by chewing and random outbursts of muffled compliments to the food. Everything I had tried so far had been phenomenal, even the pineapple slice.
The men took their seats and grabbed a couple of slices each before settling back in their seats and catching their breath.
“So, how d'you break free?” Slade pressed. “I’m dying to know.”
“Flashing a badge around helps,” Robbie joked. “In all seriousness, though, multiple people saw those guys giving Alejandra a hard time. Everyone came to our defense. The cops let us go right away and made us promise to leave and not come back.”
“We didn’t really see a problem with that,” Ethan added as he tore a bite off the end of his pizza.
“I wouldn’t have, either,” I agreed. “Thank you for that.”
“Yeah,” Slade nodded, her mouth full of pizza. “You covered for all of us back there. Don’t think it goes unappreciated.”
Ethan laughed as he swallowed his food. “Watching the CO get into a bar figh
t was my first sign that this night was going downhill fast.”
“Oh?” Robbie asked, turning to face his friend. “You mean, it wasn’t the fact that we had to put our drinks down and go fight a couple of idiots?”
Ethan paused for a moment as he thought about what Robbie had just said. “You have a good point there,” he admitted.
“Well, thank you,” I added. These two men had gone from mere acquaintances to trusted friends in an incredibly short period of time, but that shouldn’t have surprised me at all. They were, after all, good friends of Jake’s.
Chapter 13: Alejandra
Traveling to an island with two men she did not know had been a bit intimidating at first, but Alejandra had been in much more intimidating situations before. The men had seemed nice when she first met them, and they had given her no reason not to trust them, but she definitely had not expected them to step in to help her last night.
As a matter of fact, it hadn’t just been the Special Agents that had come to her defense on the dance floor. Linda Reyes and her entire crew had stepped in also, which Ethan had explained later was a very big deal.
For her entire life, Alejandra had worked to prove that she was tough enough to handle anything. Her mother had not been around much, and she had plenty of male cousins and a younger brother to grow up with. She could either toughen up to be seen as an equal in their eyes, or shy away from it all, and she had never been shy. Although she had been annoyed at first that she couldn’t handle last night’s situation on her own, she was incredibly grateful for the help, and now she knew just what an incredible support team she had around her. Alejandra may have been far from home, but she was not alone.
As much as she had enjoyed the evening last night, with the exception of the dance floor altercation, of course, she was itching to get back to the task at hand. Her brother was missing, and it was infuriating to her that things weren’t moving along more quickly. She stared at the window and absentmindedly chewed her bottom lip as her anxiety and pent up frustration got the better of her.