test dummy

Given that Ricky had already shot his load in pulling him into the station for possession, Zach doubted that he was lurking outside the store to pull the trick off a second time. Ricky had been desperate to dismantle the cartel for a long time, but he wasn’t stupid. Shining much more light on what they were doing here risked that light being flipped back around on him and that might end with Detective de la Peña tarnishing that halo he’d strapped on when he’d left home. The Sheriff here was probably just as corruptible as the ones south of the border, but she’d probably draw the line on one of her detectives having family ties to the man dealing in all sorts of death in her town.

From inside the store, he’d watched the street for half an hour, only half listening to the babble of voices from the counter. People had come and gone, but Ricky wasn’t out there in his real form at least. Maybe he’d decided to be an 80 year old man today, turning that crabby attitude on the assistant behind the counter cause he couldn’t get his fill on a free taste of every flavour. It was doubtful though, even Ricky had some standards (the wart growing big as a cherry on the side of the old man’s face definitely exceeded them). When the coast had been clear – and his damn watch had beeped at him to warn him he only had half an hour to go – Zach slipped out. Scurrying to the car with his shoulders up, he tried not to telegraph the fact that he was still nervy. There was nothing that captured a predator’s eye faster than a pendejo like him scurrying around, looking like prey.

He'd tried not to let Ricky see the panic in his eyes as he’d been paraded through the station. It wasn’t about not giving him the satisfaction of it. If Manny arrived and he was sweating like a virgin in a bordello, Manny would be sure he’d cracked. One word out of his mouth to the cops and the next time Ricky saw him wouldn’t be when he pulled him over, it’d be in a shallow grave out in the woods. Maybe Manny wouldn’t even put in that much effort, he’d be dumped on Ricky’s doorstep instead. A gift from a psychotic cat – look at the rat. By the time he’d gotten free it was a full on battle between the logical part of him and the primitive part of his brain that screamed he'd be dead. Looking Manny in the eye he’d sworn on his mama’s life that he hadn’t said a word about what they were doing here. Sweat mighta pooled in the hollow of his spine, but he’d made sure that every damn word was the truth, just in case Manny could sniff that out the same way he could fear or bullshit.

Still, Dulce Quiroa had raised no fool. The second he’d pulled away from the curb, Zach had been watching his rear mirror. He went light on his speed, driving like that 80 year old man as he made his way through town and out towards the sort of establishments that squatted like haemorrhoids on the outskirts of Mystic Falls. The good folks drove straight past spots like this, heading for the gentrified likes of Charlottesville, with its Vineyards and Monticello, the ones up to no good turned off the road, heading for the places the Founding Families never would’ve allowed in their backyard. Maybe if he hadn’t been the only one turning off, he wouldn’t have seen her pulling into the lot behind him.

Throat going dry, he sped up as he turned towards the end of the lot – all the better to make a quick exit if he had to. He guessed he coulda pulled right out again, but it would’ve fucked up the tenuous deal they’d made to deal with one of the bartenders to sell out of the bar. Zach stared at the mirror as he zipped into a space half hidden behind a panel van. Nothing moved, Eden didn’t come crawling along the row behind him. He was sure that’d been her though. Five minutes later, Zach slipped out of the car. She hadn’t come looking for him, maybe it meant he hadn’t just led someone else to exactly what they didn’t want them to see. Three steps later, he saw her. He probably wouldn’t have recognised the car, but it was Eden trying to duck behind the wheel. Mierda.

Swiping the back of his mouth, Zach headed towards the car. If Manny realised she was here she wouldn’t be selling ice cream much longer. He approached the driver’s window, seeing the smile slip over her face. Was it too bright? Had the sunglasses been her bad attempt at a disguise. ”Hey,” Zach murmured, his voice taking on an equally bright tone. ”Good. I’m good. Thought I’d take a ride, you know. I’m guessin’ you did the same? This one of your regular spots?” He tipped his head towards the bar, knowing that Eden would’ve stuck out in the place like a turd on the White House lawn. If he was wrong and she was out here every night downing shots off the sticky bar, then the deal would be off. They didn’t need anybody else sticking their nose in here.

Tagged: EDEN FOSTER * Word Count: 906

The staff at the store had all seemed like good kids. Taking the place over they could’ve fired them all, replaced them with their own people, but there was nothing that screamed we’re up to shady shit like a complete regime change. You kept people in place, gave them a little rope and then waited to see if they managed to hang themselves with it. When they were removed then, the only person to blame was them. Zach had buried plenty of those people before, lamenting their decision not to just fall into line with their new boss. It was a damn waste. Getting to know those kids over the last couple of months, it woulda broken his heart to do that to them, especially Eden.

After Ricky had arrested him and had found the stash in the ice cream tubs, Zach had wondered if Eden would end up his new target. Slinking into the store, trying to keep up the Australian’s bright chatter. Maybe being a woman would trip him up, but there was a good chance it’d taken him a while to figure out that she’d been replaced. It was like that pod people movie he’d caught on late night TV a couple of weeks back. You didn’t start noticing that shit for a while, once you did it was harder to deal with.

Heading to this meet, he’d already been kinda paranoid about the whole thing. Business wasn’t gonna stop just because Ricky had come so close to making a real arrest and outing himself in the process. Manny would keep doing it just to rub his brother’s nose in it, but he was the one who was gonna pay. A bullet in his head for giving the cops an opportunity to get to the cartel, an extra in his face being dumb enough to let someone follow him now.

Zach approached the car, squinting at Eden like he might be able to see through her disguise to a pair of darker, beady eyes beneath hers. His tone might fool Eden if this was her. If it was Ricky then he might as well have been whimpering for all the good a fake tone would do. ”Surprised I haven’t seen you here then. I was just out here last Saturday night.” Trying to get the bartender to talk to him, instead of just telling him to come back later.

He tilted his head, slipping his hands into the pockets of his jeans. Least his shoulders didn’t end up bunching up. Somehow he couldn’t see Eden in a place like this. The culeros who hung around the place woulda eaten her for breakfast. ”Same, just takin’ an afternoon off” he told her, bobbing his head. ”Won’t be long. You wanna grab a drink when they do? Non-alcoholic, of course, don’t wanna get stopped for drunk drivin’ on the way back to town.” Maybe he shoulda offered liquor, get her drunk enough that he’d be able to get the truth out of her without much effort. Or tell if it was Ricky when the alcohol didn’t bite like it shoulda.

Tagged: EDEN FOSTER * Word Count: 521

Mystic Falls. The place even sounded elegant. When it had come up and Manny had decided to go to Virginia on the word of that pendejo Grimes, it hadn’t seemed like the town would support their kinda trading. People in LA or Vegas had money, but they were also actively looking for the seedy underbelly of the cities they lived in. Mystic Falls didn’t look like it had one. This was the sort of place people came to build their mansions and drive around in their Lexus’ on a Sunday morning. It wasn’t the kinda place with guys hanging out on street corners, offering up a little oblivion to people too dumb to realise what a trap it was. Not that he was gonna say any of that to Manny. Zach knew the benefit to keep his mouth shut and his head down. If Manny, and Dacre and his partners, thought they could keep things going here a while, then let them try.

Seeing Eden in the parking lot of the shitty bar that probably wouldn’t have been allowed to open inside the town limits, Zach wondered whether the time for them to pack up and go was finally here. Ricky had already hauled him into the station on possession charges, acting like he’d been doing him a favour by not just looking the other way. No other cop in this town would’ve searched the van for the world’s tiniest speeding violation. They could be back in Cali, dealing with people who actually wanted them around.

The ice cream parlour changing hands probably wouldn’t affect the staff too much. They’d get new owners, guys who weren’t using a bunch of teenagers as a smoke screen. Judging by the look on Eden’s face, maybe they’d be glad about it too. Zach glanced away from Eden as her phone pinged. His lips were curled into a faint smile when he looked back. She honestly didn’t deserve the shit they could be bringing her way. ”I didn’t know this place was all that busy on weekdays. I’ll have to check out then. When I’m not workin’’ either, of course.” His smile twitched conspiratorially at her. Like Manny woulda cared if his people were knocking back a drink or two on the job. The only requisites to work at the store were not stealing out of the cash register and turning a blind eye to what else was going on in there. It had looked like Eden was doing both, but after what had happened with Ricky, he couldn’t take any chances. He wasn’t a cat with nine lives, in the end he’d end up being too much trouble and Manny would deal with him the same way he did everybody else.

What was he doing? Zach groaned inwardly. This was playing with fire, the sort that could end up burning Eden to ash if she wasn’t careful. She had no idea who she was messing with and he’d gone and invited her deeper into the situation. His shoulders hunched faintly as he avoided looking at the bar. By now their contact was probably looking out for him and here he was, about to walk in with some girl who had no survival instincts. Zach’s mouth twitched, a smile appearing. ”Great.” If it could his voice would’ve frozen and shattered in his throat, the same way his expression did as she climbed out and ask him point blank if he was gonna shoot her.

”What?” he managed to splutter, his laugh coming out a little tight as he stared at her. ”Why would you think I’d do somethin’ like that? I’m not even carryin’.” The gun in the car didn’t count, it wasn’t on him and the thought of putting a bullet in Eden right before he pushed her into the shallow grave he’d dug left him feeling sick. ”We’re just friends going for a drink, right?” Zach spread his hands like that’d somehow show his innocence. Ricky hadn’t bought that, he doubted Eden would entirely either. Women usually had a second sense about shit, like a psychic thing that told them when guys were laying it on too thick.

Tagged: EDEN FOSTER * Word Count: 696