Chapter 22
Gonzales turned at a rapid pace and began to head straight toward them.
“Well. I guess it's too late now,” Gaines said to Victoria upon seeing the Latino approaching.
Victoria responded by glancing toward the convenience store's front corner.
Gonzales was already less than ten feet away, and the crooked smile now plastered across his face wasn't exactly comforting.
“I have good news,” he said, upon arriving at the Gaines driver's side door. “The boss has agreed to see both of you - that is as long as grandma here agrees not to give us any problems.”
Victoria looked at him and scrunched her face. “What me, give you any problems?”
“That's right, grandma,” Gonzales said, folding his arms. Who else do you think I was talking about? ... I'm specifically talking about you. We've dealt with others like you before, and I don't want any trouble. … Let's just take care of the business at hand and hightail it out of here. Okay?”
Victoria deliberately paused before she answered, and her expression clearly revealed that she felt like she'd been insulted. “I'm starting to believe you might be right, Gaines,” she said, ignoring the black marketer. “Perhaps I should sell my jewelry elsewhere. This Gonzales guy seems to be a real jerk.”
“You NOW want to sell your jewelry elsewhere?” Gaines said, not believing his ears since it was obviously too late. Where would you ...?”
Gonzales frowned, having overheard their conversation. “This is exactly the type of nonsense I was just talking about,” he said, interrupting. “The two of you haven't even gotten out of the car, and already she’s trying to cause trouble.”
Gaines turned to face the black marketer, and then whirled back toward Victoria. No doubt, internally he was starting to feel uneasy. “I don't think ...” he said as Gonzales slid his hand into his pant pocket.
Inside the front of Gonzales's pants was a lump approximating the shape of a pocket-size Ruger.
“So you're starting to have second thoughts, Mr. Davis?” Gonzales asked, displaying a devilish smile.
“No.” Gaines replied after a short pause.
Gonzales grinned and then turned to give an out of direct sight accomplice standing near the convenience store's back corner a short nod. “Good,” he said, moving close enough to be able to reach the driver's side door handle. “Let's get going then. Federico and his men will soon be getting impatient.”
Gaines opened and stepped out of the car door. However, Victoria popped opened her purse and appeared to be reaching for something.
Seeing her hands travel deep inside, “You having some problems, grandma? You need some help getting out of the car?”
Victoria aggressively shook her head. “No,” she replied, flipping a hidden switch on the object resting inside the steel mesh compartment within her purse that she had specially made to keep airport security detectors from identifying whatever she stored there.
Gonzales nodded and seemed contended when she began to exit the passenger side, and both she and Gaines proceeded to follow him toward the back of the building.
The area directly behind the local 7 - 11 where Gaines parked was an undeveloped lot. Undeveloped, that is, except for a small, wooden frame, shed-like building that looked like something someone slapped together sometime during the 1950's.
Surrounding it was such a large abundance of other tropical foliage, it looked like one's idea of a miniature Amazon forest - if one could imagine one existing deep within an urban South Floridian suburb. Vines hung from the various tree limbs like long wooden snakes; and brightly colored yellow, pink and white flowers randomly scattered amongst the sandy surface extended each of their petals - as they tried to absorb and synthesize as much sunlight as physically possible.
A metallic security camera on the underside of the building's small front porch suddenly decided to turn right, before coming to a halt when it directly faced the pathway Gonzales and his victims had just entered.
Upon reaching the doorway, Gonzales momentarily gazed upward at the small 30mm camera lens, then proceeded to knock twice, then one, then two light knocks and one solid one afterward.
“Come in,” a distinct Latin voice coming from an overheard speaker said in reply.
Gaines looked in Victoria's direction and got the feeling that the earlier premonition he had in the car could easily be quite correct. They were going to be set up for a robbery, if not a kill.
Inside, two younger men stood at each side of the gentleman sitting behind what appeared to be an extremely out-of-place, walnut executive-styled desk. Their Latino styled black silk shirts seemed to almost glow in the overhead fluorescent black lights, and their matching black polyester pants and highly polished leather shoes were the kind one would normally expect to find only at Macy's or perhaps Saks Fifth Avenue.
“Welcome to my humble abode,” the fifty-something, partially gray haired boss said, reaching across his desk so he could shake Gaines' hand. His white shirt and dark tailored business suit reminded Victoria of some of her influential Chilean clients.
“Thank you,” Gaines haltingly replied as he gazed across the room.
Its interior decor was quite in contrast to the facilities' surroundings. And just like outside the exterior door, all activities within these four walls were being both videotaped and recorded.
“I understand your mother-in-law has some gold jewelry she would like to sell,” Diego said as one of his right hand men began to stare at Victoria's pocketbook. The other, continued to keep his eye on the two guests in front of him.
“I'm not sure,” Gaines said, gazing toward Victoria.
His mother-in-law responded by tightening the grip on her purse. However, she purposefully chose not to speak a single word.
Diego frowned. “So why are you here if you have no intention of selling anything? Are you with the SBI?”
“No,” Gaines croaked when Diego's helpers pulled out their semi-automatics and pointed them at them. “We're just a couple of ordinary citizens who wanted to sell some jewelry.”
Diego smiled. But, it wasn't one most would consider being particularly friendly. “So you DO have something to sell?”
Gaines gulped and turned again toward Victoria. She apparently had decided to go ahead and at least open her purse.
Being robbed would be detrimental, but the jewelry she was carrying certainly wasn't enough to be worth dying for.
The moment Victoria placed a couple of eighteen carat gold bracelets on the desktop; Diego's men grinned and promptly lowered their weaponry.
“Hmm,” the black marketer boss said, eyeing one of the bracelets now in his hand. “This is high-quality stuff,” he added, upon detecting the 18K symbol imprinted on the bottom side of the latch. “But don't you have any more? Purchasing only two small pieces wouldn't be worth my trouble.”
“We have a little bit more,” Gaines said. “But before we get into that, how much would you will be willing to offer for these?”
Diego picked up the other bracelet and proceeded to carefully examined it, the same way he had done with the first.
Gaines got the impression that the black marketer was pleased at what he was seeing. However, the thought didn't provide a whole lot of comfort since in only a few minutes from now, most likely, the two of them would be forced out the front door without either the gold jewelry or the cash they were needing.
“If I'm correct,” Diego said, stopping to glance at one of his men. “On the current market a piece like this is would go for... ahh ... around six hundred dollars.”
Victoria unconsciously nodded as the guard holding the first bracelet silently confirmed his boss's approximation.
Diego displayed a broad grin in reply.
“Since it's getting close to the Christmas holiday and I'm feeling festive today,” he continued. “I'll offer you three hundred dollars for both.”
Gaines' lips immediately turned downward, and formed a scowl. No doubt, this black marketer wants to get away with highway robbery.
“Three hundred dollars?” he said. “In Zack's Jewelers those pieces would be worth no less than six hundred bucks a piece.”
“But you're not at Zack's Jewelers,” Diego replied, raising an eyebrow as both of his men pulled out their gun. “We need to make a profit, and I'm offering you at least thirty percent more than what you and grandma here would get at a pawn shop.”
Gaines looked up and gazed out the nearest side window.
“He's probably right,” Victoria said to Gaines, breaking the silence that had developed. “But you see, Mr. Diego, Sir. My husband has recently become ill, and I need enough cash so my daughter and I can fly to Chile.”
Diego paused, as if he needed to consider what she had said, and then turned toward the bracelets. “I see. So exactly how much are you expecting to need to accomplish this?”
“I think a couple thousand should cover it.”
“Two thousand?” Diego said, repeating her.
“Yes. I think two thousand should be suffice.”
Diego frowned. The two eighteen carat gold bracelets sitting in front of him certainly weren't worth anything near that much. “What other items do you have to sell?”
“Some rings, a few more bracelets and a couple of necklaces,” Victoria answered, snapping close her purse. “But before we can discuss those items, I'm first going to need to see if you're willing to make a reasonable offer on what I've shown you.”
Diego hesitated in order to buy himself a few seconds. Most likely, grandma here probably has at least five thousand dollars worth of jewelry on her. ... But what would be the best way to acquire it, without having to kill them?