ASCENSION (22 page)

The men were
in the living room now, Vincent, Nico, Alfonzo and a man she did not recognize yet whose resemblance to Alfonzo was unmistakable. He had the recessive family gene.
Blue eyes
.
Alfonzo stood
among
the
group
of
alpha males
as the youngest of the pack. The room was a den of testosterone and the
moment estrogen entered they all turned to discover the source.
Alfonzo
immediately acknowledged
her presence and detached himself
from the
assemblage
.
“Hey babe.”

“Hi, i
t’s one o’clock in the morning?”

“
Sorry
we woke you
,” he apologized, “come
on
I want to
introduce you to
my
c
ousin
Giuseppe
.”

He
introduced
her
to
the tall stranger
who stood
erect
,
chest
out
and
an air of
a confidence akin to his rugged good looks.
The rebellious curvature
of
his mouth
gave it
a mocking
appearance
of sorts
.

Giuseppe
spoke
in
Italian, “
Lieto
di
vederla
lei e molto
bella
.
Troppo
bella
per
mio
cugino
brutto
!”

Ever
yone laughed except
Selange
,
she
did not understand
one
word.

Alfonzo reprimanded his cousin,
“
English remember
Gio
?”

“Pardon, I say you
are very
beautiful
, too attractive
for
my
cousin.”

The twins laughed harder. Giuseppe omitted the best part. The correct translation
went:
“
You are very beautiful, too beautiful for my ugly cousin.”

Selange smiled good-naturedly
, s
he really
wanted to
privately
speak
with
her husband.
There were
things they needed to settle,
but obviously
this wasn’t
a good time
.
Apparently, the boys
were staying
up for the night.
She excused herself
, returned
to
the
bed
room and
lock
ed the
door
.

Since he preferred to hang out with the boys, he could
sleep
else
where!

S
he
fell asleep
alone
to the sound of boisterous
m
en
guffawing and drinking like teenage
boys
at a
stag
party
.

CHAPTER EIGH
TEE
N

“W
e’re
not getting anything,” a frustrated Sinesi told his partner.
The other day their
surveillance equipment was operating without a glitch then the Serano fellow appears and
today
they g
o
t nothing.
He lit a
c
igarette and blew a cloud of smoke in the air
,
“
Franky
has
a few more days
to come up with something or he’s coming out
.”

A
gent Townsend was less talkative.
H
is transfer
was
denied.
He
suspected
Sinesi
had
s
omething t
o do with it.
A t
ransfer to
the Counterintelligence
Division was a strategic career move. He
needed this
transfer to be
come
eligible for a senior
position
within
th
e
division
if he wanted to be considered for the senior executive slot opening up shortly. He got wind of the
e
xecutive officer’s plan
s
to retire in six months and wanted to be in line for the job.
An
increase in pay grade was an attractive inducement
. A definite
perk
was
getting away from
his corrupt partner before h
is
career
tanked
.

Sinesi finished his cigarette, “They probably found the damn
bugs!
”

Townsend
tapped the
window
petition to alert the driver, “Get moving
, it’s a wash today
.”

The nondescript van emerged from the cluster of trees a short distance from the
Diaz resi
dence and traveled back down an unused path toward
San Juan.

***

N
ico sat in the
gazebo on the east side of the property.
All around him was a picturesque view of the natural landscape. If he stretched his neck
far enough he could see the Atlantic
ocean
and the clear sand of the secluded
beach.
It was a
shame Alfonzo felt compelled to build such a high wall
and
block
access
to
it.
To
reach
the
beach
you had to go through the front gate and travel around the wall to enjoy the clean blue waters.
Not very long ago
he and
his brother
watched from
a
hill
as
Alfonzo and his family enjoy
ed
the beach
unimpeded by walls or fear.
So much changed since then; the street punk he shadowed at the tender age of thirteen was replaced by a confident adult with duties far beyond what any man his age should have.

The walls were a self-imposed prison keeping the dangers out but his young boss had yet to learn the greatest danger came from within.
He
saw
Alfonzo
approaching across the lawn
and rolled his shoulders to release the negative energy.
The morning breeze brought with it the scent of the ocean
and he
inhaled deeply
, waiting for Alfonzo to join him so they could talk.

Alfonzo claimed the end of the wooden bench as
Nico scrutinized
his
appearance and noticed the dark stubble forming on his chin a
long with
a shadow of fatigue across the
usually clear blue eyes,
“You look like shit!”

A
lfonzo rubbed his chin.
It was early and his body
was
n’t fully awake
. S
leep
deprivation was
never
pretty
.
Last night was
rough
,
I only
caught
three hours
of
sleep
!

He raised a sharp brow, an involuntary reflex of a perpetual skeptic,
“Yeah, so do you.”

Nico liked the kid
even more than
he liked
his father. He would address his concerns later
,
but first there was something more urgent to discuss. He
reached in his pocket
for the check
, “
Courtesy of the kings.”

Alfonzo took it and noted the amount. He
grunt
,
“
T
hirty million dollars.
It works out
to ten mil per king
.” He pushed it back to Nico, “
Keep it, y
ou earned it
.
”

“Guess I have.”

Alfonzo frowned, “How bad were you hurt?”

“
Nothing to bitch about, I’m healing
.”

“You know
it’s never the same when you
’re gone
.
”

“That’s because your ass can’t stay out of trouble. I see Vincent’s been slacking, he never knew how to handle you.”

Nico had the unenviable task of watching his back for too long. It was time to release him from the daunting role. Alfonzo
looked into the
distance, “
D
o me
a favor friend.”

Nico frowned
,
Alfonzo wasn
’t
himself
this morning and he wondered if it had anything to do with the I.B.D.
“
Name it
kid
.”

“If anything goes wrong, y
ou
know
,
something happens to me,” he looked directly at
Nico, “promise you’ll
deliver my wife and son to Franky’s door. Tell him I
’ve
give
n
my blessing.”

“
What
…
no…
are you
fucking
crazy?”

Alfonzo stretched his body and languidly reclined against the wood post, “Far from it. I’m a realist.”

“Alfonzo, if this is about
Monticelli
and th
at
crap with the I.B.D
,
there are options
. D
on’t go giving your family to somebody you don’t even know. What the hell you know about
Franky
?
”

Alfonzo
frowned
.
H
e
analyzed every
option and the
y all ended badly except one. He knew enough about Franky to know the man loved his family and wasn’t entrenched in a life of crime. H
e’d gladly give his death in order for Selange
and Sal
to have a normal life
.
What he discovered about Franky made him confident in his decision to keep the man around. “I know all I need to.”

T
he information came to him yesterday. Francisco Dejesus’ real name was Christopher Hernandez; an agent with the F.B.I.
He didn’
t mention this to Nico because if he did Franky would disappear. Nico was a loyal soldier but he might act without authority. To Nico Franky posed a threat to the family but for Alfonzo he was a useful and valuable tool.

“Well I don’t.
S
top treating
your wife
like a possession and let her in on the important stuff
.
If she decides to split then fine
it
’s
her choice
but
d
on’t
decide for her
!”

Alfonzo s
narled,
“
I love my wife but look what I’m doing to
her
. Every goddamn day I
’m worried
someone’s going to stroll in here and murder
them
.
Dammit Nico, I can’t live with th
at
!”

The man was being tortured by the past but the past was not his future.
“
You listen,
escuchar
buena
!
Then be truthful with her. F
ight with every breath for
your family and
don
’
t let fears
of what might happen
bend you to submission!”