Chapter Fourteen
Carlos
Amazing. The woman was nothing short of amazing.
I could see that my two friends thought so too.
Good. I would not be explaining why I wanted her by my side.
I did not have to. These two men weren’t stupid.
Even if they acted stupid when they argued.
I had to admit, I forgot how funny they were in their semi-competition fights.
The Sir jokes alone made me laugh so hard my gut hurt.
Selena now seemed to relax a bit around them. She always had this edge to her, but being an operative of the Diego’s that was understandable. I now tuned into the conversation they were all having.
“We need to plan an itinerary,” Rain said. “Plane, rental car, and hotel rooms.”
“So use this for all our arrangements,” Selena said as she handed a card to Rain.
He looked down at it and exclaimed, “A fucking Amex Black Card?” He raised his shocked gaze up to her.
She sighed as she explained, “Ok so, since I have not stipulated the payback to him, Quanto said he did not like owing me or anyone for that matter. He believes in power and strength and owing someone puts you at a weakness. So he had this card set up for me. I went into it online and made it mine, so he has no connection to it really.”
“I’m sorry but I have to ask,” Henry cut in.
“If that is the Centurion Card, also known as the ‘Black Card.’ I happen to know that it’s available only by invitation for high-net-worth individuals, requiring a $10,000 initiation fee and a $5,000 annual fee or something ridiculous like that.
It is renowned for its premium concierge services and high spending capacity.
So my question is. How in the hell did he just like…
give you one of those? Your credit line would have to be a minimum of 100k. ”
She shrugged. “I didn’t ask.”
I stared at her and asked, “Can it be—”
“—tracked?” Rain cut me off. “No. Unless the CIA gets a warrant issued by the actual Justice Department of the United States. Then no.”
“The great thing about it is that I have rarely used it,” Selena told us. “So it will pay for this whole thing. Plane tickets, hotels, food, and transportation.”
Henry smiled as he rubbed his hands together. “Ok, now we are talking.”
“It is not a real vacation, Sir Gullible,” Rain said with a shake of his head.
Selena now cut in too, “But we need to look and act like that is just what we are doing.”
We all looked over at her.
“We will be on vacation,” she clarified. “Not tracking missing kids.”
Rain studied her. “Yes, I see.”
Henry looked over at him as his emerald colored eyes glinted. “Well, I don’t see. This is a mission and her tone makes me feel nervous.”
“It is a vacation among four good friends,” Selena announced. “Carlos and I will be newly wedded.”
I stared at her and stammered, “N-newly…”
She laughed. “That will be our cover.” She then looked over at the two men. “And you two will be a couple.”
“A couple of what?” Henry asked her.
“A couple. Like um… you know?” Selena hinted.
“No, we do not know,” Rain replied, although the hard look in his blue eyes said differently. “So you had better explain it to us.”
Henry chuckled, then he halted and snapped his head up. “Wait a minute here.”
I grinned and smothered my glee over this.
“You mean a gay couple?” Henry asked with a gasp.
I laughed and clapped my hands. “Maldito! Chingar, that would explain to everyone why you two are bickering all the time. Great cover!” I turned to Selena and raised my hand.
We slapped our palms together in a high five.
The two men sat and stared at us with very hard expressions on their faces.
“No God damned way,” Rain growled.
Henry nodded. “For once, I can say that Rainmaker is absolutely right.”
“It would be the best cover,” I told them.
Selena now argued her points, “Like we will be tourists but we do need to hide who we are. If Carlos and I go there with two bodyguards, who are we?”
I nodded. “The town is not huge enough to cover our presence even though tourists will be there. And we do not want to tip anyone off that we are looking for those kids. We need to be on vacation. Totally harmless. To be seen as silly, funny, drunk and or idiots on the surface.”
Rain looked over at Henry with a sort of deadpan face. Like he had all kinds of things to tease Henry with on this subject.
Henry scoffed as he warned him, “Don’t even open your mouth, Russian boy.”
I now pointed out the obvious, “Like that right there. How gay can you two be?”
Selena burst out laughing.
Both men looked over at her with glares in their eyes.
She tried to smother it but her laughter pealed out anyway. “Stop making me laugh!” she exclaimed as she held her belly.
“If you both think so…” Rain sighed.
“You are gonna go along with this?” Henry asked him as he looked absolutely gobsmacked.
Rain shrugged. “As long as you promise to keep your grubby hands off me.”
I covered my mouth. More laughter at their expense would not win this one.
Selena bit at her lip as tears shone in her eyes from trying to hold in her laughter.
“K-keep my…” Henry spluttered.
“Yes, I have always known that you think I am sexy,” Rain claimed.
Ok, that did it, I howled with laughter.
That also seemed to unhinge Selena as she did the same.
We both leaned onto one another as our laughter knew no bounds.
Henry actually scowled. “Ha-ha. Great joke.” He looked over at Rain. “Are you in on this prank too?”
Looking unamused, Rain slowly shook his head.
Henry looked over at me now. “Carlos. This is not a funny subject. How can you laugh?”
I tried to get a breath in and speak, “I-I’m… It is not a joke, Henry.”
Henry looked back and forth at us as if he still held out hope that this was only a joke.
Rain shrugged. “We need a good cover and that would definitely be a good one. Except I caution you to not even try to hold my hand.” He glared at Henry.
“Oh, no, no,” Henry argued. “Methinks one doth protest too much. You are agreeing to this awfully fast, Rain. So maybe you are the one crushing on me.”
“And methoughts are that you are protesting more than I am, Sir Of Denial.”
Both Selena and I lost it all over again as we fell onto the bed and couldn't seem to catch our breath between laughs.
“Blimey… you two suck,” Henry grumbled.
I tried to stop laughing, I really did.
Rain shook his head. “Ok, let's leave the nutty newlyweds alone for now,” he griped and looked over at a disgusted looking Henry. “I got us rooms on either side of this one.”
Our laughter finally slowed and we sat up to try to look responsible and adult. We were both breathless though.
“So when you book the plane tickets, you two sit together close to us,” Selena instructed Rain as her voice sounded a bit hoarse after all of the laughing.
“Then make reservations at a very nice hotel in Catemaco. We can act rich and carefree. But remember, you two need to share a room…And have it adjoining ours. That way we can all be close together for safety’s sake and not raise any suspicions. ”
I nodded as I swiped at my eyes. “You never know who will be watching. I had a contact in Catemaco but I was out of commission for the last year and I do not even know if they are there anymore. So it is a perfect cover. A newly married couple and their gay best friends. We will be celebrating our nuptials and you two will be very much in,” I paused. “...love.” I chuckled.
Selena again covered her mouth to halt her laughter.
“You are both enjoying this far too much,” Henry complained.
“Come on Henry, it is fucking hilarious!” I defended my amusement. “You know it is.”
“Hmmpf.” Henry simply pouted as he grabbed a soda bottle and a pizza box. No, he didn’t seem to see the humor in this idea at all.
After shutting it down, Rain zipped his laptop up in its bag. “I have a lot of arrangements to make for this party trip.”
Neither man seemed happy about the cover story, but they knew it was the best idea. At least, I hoped they knew it.
Selena stood and took her cell out to look at the stair-camera-feed. “Uno momento. Let me check,” she warned them, tapping her phone and studying the screen. “No one out there, but before proceeding, check the sides of the doorway, Henry.”
The bodyguard opened the door a crack and looked left then right. He stepped out to look around a second time, and said, “All clear.”
Rain gave us a nod. “I will call Carlos’ phone in the morning. We should then take the card and head out to buy some vacation type clothes.”
I clapped my hands. “Oh, goody! Pink shirts and tight jeans for you two.”
Selena gasped, then she laughed again.
Rain gave no response, he simply slammed the door behind him.
“I think I went too far.” I swiped my eyes and cleared my throat.
“Oh, yes. Pink shirts and….tight jeans?” She snorted. “Can you picture that? The two of them are tall and wide. But in those outfits? I know I shouldn't have laughed. But it was just too funny.”
I agreed with her, “They both take themselves so seriously. Jokes on them never go over well. But I had to agree with your idea. That would be the perfect cover.”
“I am so relieved now though,” Selena told me.
“About?” I looked over at her.
Nodding, she replied, “I trust them.”
“Si, I always have and I am glad you see it too.”
“I knew it the minute I saw their admiration and care for you.”
I never thought of it that way. But yes, they always treated me warmly like brothers.
“That was convincing evidence for me. I felt like they truly wanted to help us. Despite the gay couple ruse.” She headed over to her bag and took out her tool kit.
“Barbed wire time?” I asked.
“We need our sleep.”
I nodded. “Henry will already be doing his job.”
Selena paused and looked up at me.
“He went on duty from the minute he arrived,” I informed her. “I know he doesn’t seem…serious, but you will learn that he is the best at his job.”