Traffic

Chapter 7

"Sir, we're ready for the operation" he heard a subordinate say.

Detective Eric Wood nodded slowly; his informers—spies—told him about a sudden trip to Vancouver that the oldest Bailey twin made. All the work they completed to that moment gave them evidence to lock those guys up.

He frowned.

"Keep the plan; inform about anything. I don't want to miss a single detail" he stood up, "This time you won't be by yourselves."

***

At Vancouver airport, Alejandro was locked in a pink bubble of happiness. He wanted to finish this quickly; a brunette beautiful woman waited for him at home, and he was eager to see her.

Behind him, some feet away, a tall, brunette, sturdy man watched him intently. He was wearing a grey gabardine, dark glasses, and a tiny communication device in his ear. It was clearly a spy sent by the police to follow a target. The target moved and got on the plane; he followed him creeping.

Alejandro texted Karen; she replied back immediately, and he smiled like a fool. He heard the bell that announced the beginning of take off, turned his cell phone off, and fastened his seatbelt; the stewardess offered a drink and he ordered a whiskey on the rocks; then he looked out of the window.

He breathed heavily and thought of what would happen in a few hours. His brother would kill him for being so late, and he would have to find a reasonable excuse; that was the hardest part.

He closed his eyes frowning. Inside he was struggling; he wanted Jack's money. They needed it to pay the debt, but now he had Karen, who loved him, and he also had Elena, a young innocent girl that had been dragged to the board. He wanted to save her, to finish everything, to have a happy ending.

But it would be hard; there was just one obstacle, but it was a dangerous one.

***

At 2 pm, Jack and Elena had lunch in the kitchen with Lisa. She waited patiently until the boy finished touring Elena through the house—or part of it—and at 12 pm she started cooking. She didn't expect her to want company.

"This reminds me of something" she smiled sitting in front of them.

"My mother used to eat with you, right?" Jack sipped his drink.

"Yes, indeed" she looked at Elena, "Claudia used to eat with me all the time" she smiled more, "Everyone here knew it and let her do it."

"That's nice" she sighed, "I would've loved to meet her."

"She would've liked you" he affirmed.

"Did you see her photograph?"

"No, Jack didn't show it to me" she blushed at saying his name.

Lisa held her smiled; something happened that made her change her treatment towards him. Jack sipped his drinks and didn't say a thing. He was so delighted he dared not talk. He would betray himself in front of the two women and he didn't want to.

"He will when you finish lunch" she assured looking at him out of the corner of her eye; he was smiling like a fool, "Right, Jack?"

He coughed lightly to hide his euphoria; Lisa was so observant that it was impossible to hide anything from her.

"Sure, when you finish" he promised.

"Is there only one photograph?" she asked.

"No, darling" said Lisa, "Most of them are in what used to be Jack's parents' room; there's another one in my room, one in Jack's room, and one more in Alejandro's office, but the last one is a painting."

"Oh" she whispered. She didn't remember seeing a picture when she entered.

"Lisa, lunch was delicious" he gulped his drink, "Now excuse us; I have to show the rest of the house to Elena."

"Thank you so much" she smiled at her, "I'd like to help you next time."

"I'll be glad" she smiled, "Go with Jack, I'll be here in case you need me."

Jack thanked silently for her leaving them alone; he took her hand again and went up the stairs.

"Lisa likes you" he smiled when they reached the second floor.

"I liked her as well, she wonderful."

"I told you; I don't know what I'd do without her."

Elena smiled; she was happy. The warmth of his hand sent an electric wave through her spine.

"First I'll show you Alejandro's office" he said and opened the door. He turned the lights on and let the girl in.

Elena remembered seeing this place when she was looking for her bedroom, though she only could see maps and a desk.

"Is this Alejandro's office?"

"Yes, Thomas's is in front" he led her to the left wall.

There was a huge painting of a little woman with brown, short, wavy hair, pale pink lips and hazel eyes; she was beautiful.

"She's beautiful" she said enthralled. Claudia was wearing a pearl colored straps dress that made her look like an angel. How old was she back then?

"I think she was 18" he informed, remembering Alejandro's words, "This was painted after they announced the engagement."

"She was so young" she said surprised.

"Dad always said a photograph was better, but mom wanted to be painted."

"Who painted it?"

He smiled.

"You won't believe me" he squeezed her hand, "It was Alejandro."

"Really?" she blinked in amazement, "It's a beautiful work. Why didn't he become a painter?"

"Lisa told me that he stopped painting when my parents died" he winced, "I don't blame him. They were always together; he was mom's best friend. The painting was a wedding gift."

"That's so sad" she whispered, and her lips tightened, "He should continue painting. I'm sure your mother would want him to."

"Try to tell him" he barely smiled, "Lisa and I tried to convince him, but he always rejects the idea; he says that it's not necessary anymore. The only person that inspired him to paint was my mother, and without her..."

"You don't have to talk about it" she intervened.

Jack seemed to drown in a pool of fresh pain every time he talked about his parents.

"I want to" he said trying to get rid of the memories, "I feel like you deserve to know it."

"All right" she accepted, "But if you feel at some point that I don't need to know something, you can stop. I won't force you to tell me things that make you uneasy. I promise not to make questions.

Jack nodded; they looked at the painting one last time and left the room.

"Let's go in the library. We can talk calmly there."

"Sure" she walked beside him.

He opened the door and turned the lights on. They sat at the table, and he started telling his parents' story.

"Lisa told me that when my father proposed to my mother, she cried and left without explaining" he said in a low voice, "She returned the following morning."

Elena looked at him, waiting for him to continue.

"Alejandro went to get her" he answered her silent question, "My father told this to Alejandro; since they were close friends, he asked him to go and look for her."

"Why didn't he go himself?" she asked and suddenly put her hands on her mouth, "I'm sorry. I couldn't hold it."

He smiled.

"It's ok, you can ask what you want. I did the same when Lisa told me the story.

"All right" she smiled.

"The answer is simple; dad couldn't find her. He knew that in situations like this, she called Alejandro for help" he cleared his throat; he started calling them by their names, "When Alejandro received a call from Claudia, he went out to find her—pick her up—but she was confused by what happened and asked to him to stay with her."

"Did your father trust him?"

"Of course; they were brothers. He contributed for Claudia and he to become a couple" he smiled, "Alejandro was friend of both; he knew before Claudia about the proposal."

"Oh."

"Some days after she came back, they announced officially their engagement. Joseph, my grandfather, threw a party for the announcement" he rested his chin in his hand, "The dress in the painting was the dress she wore that night.

"That's so romantic" she said in an undertone.

"It was. Alejandro gave her the painting as a wedding gift."

"So she didn't pose for him?"

"It wasn't necessary" he smiled, "Alejandro was studying art back then. He had a photographic memory; he was an incredible painter."

"I'd like to see more of his work" she said feeling great grief. A dream destroyed at such an early stage hurt too much and was impossible to overcome.

"He painted the painting of sailboats on the business room" he remembered, "The woods in autumn in the living room, the starry night in the kitchen, a bizarre painting in my room, and the girl at the cherry tree in yours, all of them are by Alejandro."

"How incredible!" her eyes opened wide, "The painting in my room made me cry. It was beautiful, brilliant, and full of emotions."

"As I was telling you" he smiled at her excitement, "After they got married, Alejandro continued painting, but my grandfather wouldn't approve his choice for a career."

"Didn't he like his paintings?"

"He considered them a waste of time" he winced, "He wanted him to be the second successor of the business."

"What did Alejandro decide?"

"Lisa told me that those days were hard for everybody. The only person that didn't want to support Alejandro's talent was my grandfather, so he sent him to a boarding school abroad."

"How could he?" she frowned, "What kind of father takes decisions disregarding his sons opinions?"

"My grandfather was a... special man" he remembered the old man, "He only did what he wanted; if he didn't like, he would be really honest about it. I was scared of him as a child."

"That's horrible" she folded her arms.

"He died years ago" he said to calm her, "But as I was saying, when Claudia got pregnant she was 20, and it was big news. My father was really happy."

"I can imagine" she smiled.

"Alejandro came back some days after I was born" he remembered, "He was happy; he loved being an uncle, but my grandfather ordered him to go back to boarding school. We didn't see him for three years.

"I'll never meet him, but I think your grandfather is wicked" she tightened her lips.

"He never was warm. He treated me like a piece of clay that he could shape at will. He never treated me like a grandson" he remembered, his forehead furrowed, "But he was really cruel with Alejandro and Thomas."

"What about your grandmother?"

"I didn't meet her" he denied with his head, "But my dad used to tell how good she was. She died of cancer when he was a kid."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"It's ok, don't worry" he smiled, "My childhood was nice. I had my parents and Alejandro, who was the best uncle. He indulged all my whishes."

"Did he and Thomas get married?"

"No, at least not that I know of" he thought, "Though Lisa told me that for some time Alejandro was in love with my mom."

"Oh..." he stared at him, "Really?"

"It's ok, it was when they were younger" he smiled at the face she pulled, "But Claudia chose my dad."

"I see" she smiled. A part of her noticed that something in the story didn't make sense, but she didn't know what."

***

When the plane landed in Canada, Alejandro had forgotten all his worries. He had a perfect excuse to justify his delay, and he had taken a decision. He got in the car that was waiting for him, closed the door, and lay back on the seat. The car was empty; he thanked for the silence and for not having to ride with his brother. He nodded to the chauffeur to indicate him to drive.

He didn't like Thomas style for traveling; he didn't like the idea of having s*x with a stranger in the car, especially when they were around. He turned his cell phone on and it rang immediately. He smiled; it was a text from Karen.

I'm waiting for you at home. I got a surprise for you.

He read it several times, feeling his body shudder. Some minutes later he gulped; Radisson Hotel was at sight. He put his cell phone away and got out of the car when this stopped. Nobody welcomed him, except for a shocking coldness and a light snowfall. He put on leather gloves and walked to the entrance. He felt something weird; maybe he was nervous, but he thought he saw someone following him.

He shook his head; cops from his city couldn't afford traveling to Vancouver. He went to the front desk feeling ready to confront his twin; the clock indicated 3 pm. He was two hours late. He took a deep breath and went in the elevator.

***

"The brother is here" they informed the detective, "I'll go in, but I expect backup."

"You'll have them" Eric promised, "I'm sending them right now."

He got on his feet excitedly.

"Do you want us to wait?"

"I want you to kill those bastards" he commanded.

"What about the civilians?"

"They were probably bribed. They're accomplices."

"As you wish" he hung up.

Eric smiled at the idea of catching the pigs that had his fiancée. Nothing would stop him from doing it; he would destroy the entire hotel if he needed to. They wouldn't run away; if he had to go to hell with them, he would do it gladly.

***

By 5 pm Elena had seen almost the complete house; after talking to Jack she felt that something was missing, but she didn't to want to be rude and decided not to ask. Jack was resting in the living room, waiting for her to come back from the kitchen; he reviewed the story he just told Elena. He was thinking about visiting their graves; he definitely wanted to visit them, but he was wondering if Elena would want to come with him.

"I'll have to ask her" he said in a low voice, "I'll also take Lisa."

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath; they would have dinner soon. The bet with Elena was pending; he smiled at the sinful thoughts in his head. He was fascinated at the idea of doing anything with her; he knew that her pride wouldn't let her say no.

Now he was struggling inside; would he take advantage from that?

"Lisa sent this for us" she said with a smile.

She was entering the living room with a tray of popcorn and iced tea. Jack looked at her and stood up to help her with the tray. Then they sat on a triple sofa.

"Is this a cue for us to watch a movie?" he asked smiling.

Elena laughed.

"She's just being kind."

"You don't know her" he said and got on his feet.

He went to a cabinet next to the screen and opened a drawer.

"What's your favorite genre?"

"Will we watch a movie?" her eyes sparkled.

"If you want to" he encouraged her.

"Of course."

"So, what should we watch? A terror movie?"

"Yes! I love terror movies" she said and sipped her tea.

"Really?" he raised an eyebrow, "That's another thing we have in common."

"Cheers" she raised her glass jokingly.

"Cheers. We'll watch a terror movie in honor of that" he smiled and put a DVD in the player.

He went to the sofa with the remote in one hand and pressed play. It was an interesting story, very disturbing, but quite good. It was a series of mysterious murders in a family; there were people hung from trees and a little girl went missing. The pivotal point was a detective novel writer.

Elena watched the movie fixedly, feeling nervous about being so close to Jack in a dark room. She was even feeling hot. She shook her head and concentrated on the film.

Jack, on the other hand, was watching her, hoping that at some point she got scared and hugged him. That never happened; Elena might have been watching a romance movie. The movie was horrible, but she didn't throw herself to him shivering with fright.

There was no doubt that Elena was different; he smiled and resumed watching the movie. His hand took hers at some point; she didn't reject it, and she didn't look at him. Jack sighed relieved and squeezed her hand lightly.

Two hours and a half later they watched the last scary moment of the movie. Elena smiled; the ending suggested a sequel, and she already longed to watch it. Jack stretched out and turned the screen off. She was looking at him, trying to say something. He felt her hand trying to escape from his, but he didn't let go.

"Why did you take my hand?" she asked smiling, "You didn't need to guide me this time."

He felt his cheeks hot. Why was she so calm?

"I thought you were scared. I was just trying to support you" he heard himself and thought he couldn't have said something more stupid.

Elena giggled.

"Terror movies don't scare me" she said, "It wasn't necessary" she tried again to free her hand, but she couldn't; she stared at him.

Jack didn't know what to say; this was the third time he was speechless. He felt her hand wriggling; why didn't he let her go? He noticed that Elena wanted her hand back, but he didn't.

"I'm sorry. I thought you might be scared" he said still holding her hand.

Liar, she thought. That was not the reason.

"Don't worry. I appreciate it" she tried again, unsuccessful.

She got up from the sofa; the space between them became obvious. Their arms were stretched, and Jack was looking at her silently.

"I need to use the bathroom" she tried, hoping that Jack would release her. It was a big mistake.

Jack got on his feet.

"I'll lead you to the nearest one" he said and pulled her to the corridor.

She tried to stay calm; this was so obvious she felt it was unreal.

"You don't need to guide me; I know where the restrooms are" she tried to explain, "I want to go to the one in my room."

"Of course, the one in your room" he turned around and headed for the stairs.

Elena opened her mouth to say something, but she couldn't. She followed him up the stairs; her door was open. She kept thinking of a good way to ask him to leave her alone.

***

When he opened the conference room door, he felt chills down his spine; ten men stared at him fixedly and silently. He could actually feel the tension, almost touch it. At one end of the table, on the leader's seat, his brother stared at him with a black expression. Alejandro entered slowly and closed the door. He walked to his chair, which was opposite to Thomas's. He could only hear the clock's tic-tac; he cleared his throat and waited for them to continue.

"I apologize for the delay" he said with a clear and strong voice, "I had some inconveniences" he lied.

"What sort of inconveniences" Thomas asked in a deep voice.

"Some police officers came to see me in the morning" he lied convincingly, "I explained that I was late for a meeting, but they left two hours later."

Thomas's face changed; now he was interested.

"What else happened?"

"I had to get tough. Those morons wanted to take me to the station, but they didn't even bother to print an arrest warrant" he snorted.

"I suppose... no, I rather expect that this incident won't give us trouble" his voice was cold and bitter.

"It won't" he affirmed; he almost believed his own lie.

"Good" he cleared his throat; "Now that we're complete, I'll continue" he got on his feet.

The other men were amazed; Alejandro was the only person who could be late for a meeting and survive.

"Before you start, my brother" he smiled widely, "I want to apologize publicly. I was careless; I should've paid more attention to the happenings" he said and bowed.

Everybody looked at him with dropped jaws; one thing was to be late, but interrupting his speech was something completely different. They looked at Thomas and prepared for his reaction.

"Sure. Just make sure you won't do it again" he hissed.

He turned the lights off and clicked a button on a remote; a screen lowered down.

"We'll watch a movie" Alejandro said jokingly.

Thomas frowned and ignored him.

"Here you can see the main obstacles in our plans. The brunette guy is the captain" he pointed at a photograph with a laser pointer, "This one at the right is the FBI chief. The blond guy at the side is the detective that is helping them" he snorted.

"You're missing the cop that died recently" Alejandro said smiling.

"Here he is" he hissed and clicked on the next slide.

This photograph was nothing like the one the news showed; Alejandro winced.

"As I was saying, the undercover cop that entered our property couldn't accomplish his mission" the crowd laughed, "The information that he could collect is just speculative; you know that the deals at the office are not fishy. But he believed what the marshal told him."

"Who started the operation?" one of the associates dared to ask.

"This guy is one of the detectives" he pointed with the laser and the slide changed, "This is the photograph that the media is spreading" he changed the image, "But this is the real person" he said and pointed a dark-haired man with brown eyes.

"Gentlemen, I introduce detective Eric Wood" Alejandro reached out for the screen.

"This... brat" Thomas snorted, "Has been conducting an under-the-table operation. He sent the undercover cop, in case you were wondering."

The associates started mumbling to each other.

"Silence" he commanded, annoyed; "This guy is more involved than what you realize. He is a relative of one of the women in the market" he informed, "We didn't know he is a cop. The system gave him a fake name and record, but a contact helped us to know the truth."

"What do you plan to do about him?" Alejandro folded his arms.

"Eliminate him, obviously" his eyes squinted, "The objective is to finish this man, but we'll do that in due time" he smiled delighted, "I'll give you prior notification."

Everyone nodded; the plan was working excellently. Alejandro suddenly leapt to his feet; he looked at the door, which was slightly open. He opened his eyes wide and ran to it.

***

When they reached the room, Elena was already frowning. They were in the bathroom, together, her hand still trapped in his grip.

"I need to use the toilet" she repeated, "You don't need to guide me for this."

He blinked feeling ashamed. He let go of her hand like a snake uncurling from a prey and got away from her.

"I'm sorry" he said before leaving the room.

Elena shut the door and put her back against it. She couldn't understand what was going on with Jack as much as she couldn't understand what was going on with herself. His strange behavior was annoying her, but he also felt other emotions in her.

She splashed her face and took a deep breath. She needed to calm down. She was sure Jack was waiting for her outside, and she would have to face him. She breathed and turned the knob; Jack was looking at the painting with the cherry tree. She went near him slowly.

"I love this" she said, startling him. "I'm glad they hung this here.

"Elena, I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me" he said straightforwardly.

"Apologies accepted. You must have your reasons" she smiled.

Did he? He frowned. He couldn't believe what an i***t he was; Elena forgave him easily, and he was angry as ever.

"I'll let you rest" he whispered, "See you at dinner time."

"Have you showed me everything in the house?" she smiled.

Jack looked at her confused.

"Do you want to continue?"

"Of course. We haven't seen the back" she went near him.

"If you want to..." he swallowed the knot in his throat.

"Let's go" she took his hand, "I want to see it all."

His body shuddered at her touch. He was going crazy. How could he like her this much? He walked along with her; they went down the stairs. He couldn't help smiling idiotically; they went through the kitchen and went out by the back door. Elena was smiling like him; she was happy, terrified, worried. She liked Jack so much; it was absurd.

By the window, Lisa watched them with a big smile pasted on her lips. She sighed at the view of the atmosphere they created. She silently thanked her departed friend.

***

He couldn't say when the shooting began. He ran to catch an intruder that was listening to a private conversation and right after that... he could only feel a ringing in his ears, a smell of fire and death, the sound of sirens that made him shiver with fright, and the screams of the other men.

He didn't know were Thomas was; everything was confusing. A gas bomb went in; smoke filled up the place, making it impossible to see anything. He took advantage of this and ran back to the conference room. He heard a shot; he went in the room and fell on his back.

He was lying under a desk; he felt his abdomen burning. He glanced at it and saw it was bleeding. The smell of charred meat made him sick, and he was sure this was the end.