Chapter 10 of the R.M. Dolin novel, "Trophic Cascade"
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Sympatico didn’t think much about the delivery truck as it dropped off a used range and refrigerator yesterday. The driver and his assistant brought the appliances inside and connected them, trying nonstop to chat her up as they work believing they possess a charm much less obvious to others. She was getting nervous about their overt flirtations when saved by one of the Mexicans from upstairs who just hung around until they left. Then he went back upstairs without saying a word.
Two hours later word of Padre’s halfway house reaches Miguel, but lost in translation, is any mention of the woman working there. Miguel doesn’t know Padre personally but has been in night clubs where he’s performed. He generally dismisses people like Padre, especially after the night Padre unsuccessfully devoted his entire break trying to convince two of his henchmen to come to mass. Padre’s that way wherever he performs, finding ways to sneak a sermon in here or a guilt-trip there. The entire valley knows about Padre’s passion for politics and social justice, but Miguel never pays much attention, until now. Padre can only be opening a halfway house for trafficking victims because he knows people in the area need rescuing, and as far as Miguel’s aware, he’s the only game in town. That means Padre has to be targeting him and Ramon’s other forced labor operations, which makes him threat of considerable significance.
Equally concerning is that morning after Cinco de Mayo when came to collect the money Jake owed him for services rendered, and discovered Jake had taken his whore to church, which means Padre knows about her. Putting two and two together doesn’t require much to conclude once Padre’s halfway house becomes operational, Sympatico can easily disappear. Given Ramon’s dire warning about what’ll happen should he not get her back, it’s easy to see why Miguel’s a little on edge. Ramon mentioned more than once how similar operations at other places in his network caused lots of problems, it’s one thing to hide in plain sight from bureaucrats, but something altogether different when people with purpose intervene. And if all that weren’t enough, Ramon’s none too happy about what went down at the Ranch, which is why he’s on his way up. Miguel’s fairly certain Ramon’s not holding what happened against him, in fact, Ramon even complemented Miguel on handling the aftermath about as well as anyone could. That being said, how Ramon reacts can never be certain, and if past performance is an indication, Miguel has plenty to be worried about.
If he had more time, he could pressure he petulant distiller but as things stand, he can no longer wait for Jake to reach the inevitable realization that he has to hand her over. Miguel knows he must act quick to recover his property and doing it before Ramon arrives could very well be lifesaving. The issue, however, remains, as it has from the start, how? He saw enough of Jake’s security system the last time there to know just riding up and grabbing her would be difficult to do without leaving evidence and it seems Jake’s not the kind who can be intimidated into silence. It’s very unlikely Sympatico will ever be left alone, and equally unlikely she’ll go somewhere alone so whatever he does, it will involve risk and probably result in some sort of violent confrontation; but given he doesn’t have many options, violence appears the most preferable.
Miguel decides to send a couple new guys over to Jake’s tasting room pretending to be tourists to assess the security system in greater detail, make notes of who’s working there, and determine what, if anything, can be learned about Sympatico’s movements. He also plans to have one of his boys stake out Jake’s driveway in case Sympatico leaves, that way they can see where she goes. If she goes to Padre’s halfway house, he has to immediately move in to grab her, regardless of the consequences; the risk of her entering the church’s underground is too high. Finally, he needs to infiltrate Padre’s operation and find out just what he has planned. The movers reported there was a Mexican doing plaster work, and that’s his way in. Mexicans are easy to flip, if you can’t bribe them, you beat them. If that doesn’t work, you threaten to turn them over to Immigration Control for deportation.
With his strategy decided, two men are dispatched to Jake’s for whiskey tasting, two to Padre’s to follow the Mexican once he leaves, and two to stake out Jake’s driveway. He instructed the tasters to video as much as possible. The followers he instructed to grab the Mexican at the first convenient option. The stake-out crew is to keep track of who comes and goes and should Sympatico be left alone, or only with Theresa, they’re to grab her. Miguel has until Saturday morning because once Ramon arrives, he’ll take over, and from there things won’t end well for him. This means if he doesn’t have her by first light Saturday, he raids Jake’s place and does what he should have done weeks ago. For now, though, all he can do is wait and worry, and that doesn’t wear well on him.
It’s been busy all day in the tasting room, so busy, Jake pulls Chance from the mash house to help with customers. Things are slowing down now, which is typical as an afternoon wears on. Jake arrives at the top of the driveway as two customer cars queue up to depart. That leaves only a nearly new SUV in the customer parking area. An hour earlier Padre called asking if Jake could come get Sympatico? Nothing serious, he was just getting called away for the afternoon and didn’t want to leave her alone. Normally Jake parks in back of the house next to the casita, but since he and Chance are leaving soon, he parks in front next to the SUV. A liquor store in Española needs a delivery before close of business and Jake is using the opportunity to teach Chance how to make loading dock deliveries. If he leaves soon, they can be there and back before it’s time for Theresa to close.
Jake escorts Sympatico through the tasting room and into the house without acknowledging Theresa or her customers, not noticing the careful way the two men watch their every move. Before Sympatico has disappeared down the bedroom hallway, one of the customers is already texting his report. The two men diabolically masquerading as tourist are so convincing Theresa would later many times recount how there was nothing about them that would cause concern.
With their assigned task complete, Miguel’s tourists withdraw to a place along the highway where the stakeout team has set up. It only a takes a minute to complete their brief and start back to the Ranch. The stakeout team’s patience is rewarded as ten minutes later when Jake’s pickup pulls out of the driveway and onto the road. Initially Jake doesn’t think much about the nearly new SUV parked up the road, it’s not uncommon for customers to leave the distillery only to realize they don’t really know where they’re going. The stakeout crew sees someone in the passenger seat and assume it’s Sympatico. They text Miguel for instructions and are told to follow and ‘apprehend if possible.’
Entering Española and noticing the SUV five cars back does not, for some unexplainable reason, trip Jake’s warning alarms. By his logic, the next stop for tourists visiting his distillery would be the several wineries along the high road to Taos, and to get there you have to go through Española. Jake pulls into the parking lot of the liquor store and as he’s angling toward the small alleyway that leads to the delivery area, he’s sees the nearly new SUV pull in. Now he’s paying attention. As he makes his way to the back loading dock, Jake watches the SUV pull into a parking stall at an angle optimal for keeping an eye him as he unloads. Rather than back into his usual stall, Jake drives to the far end and parks in a way that allows the SUV occupants to see him. He’s just about to tell Chance what’s up when his phone starts buzzing. “Shit!” Jake says quickly scrolling through his phone.
“What’s up boss,” Chance nonchalantly asks.
“Nothing good, that’s for sure.” Jake slowly backs into the last loading stall almost all the way to rubber bumpers when he stops, knowing he’s out of sight from the SUV, he turns the truck hard right exiting the delivery area on the opposite end of where he entered while maintaining the illusion of still there. By a divine act of fate, there’s no Cholos out cruising at ten miles per hour, so the race from Española to Jake’s only take fifteen minutes, which is all the time Jake needs to bring Chance up to speed on the shitstorm they’re driving into. Miguel on the other hand has no idea about the calamity barreling toward him, so is willing to take his time and savor his impending victory.
“Well Senora,” Miguel says stepping into the tasting room just as Theresa’s about to close. “I said it before and I say it now, if you were ten years younger you would be employee of the month many times.”
Theresa’s so shocked by the sudden appearance of the very man she rightfully identified as a monster last time he was here, she forgets about the panic button. She looks around the room for anything that might be used as a weapon but all she finds is a waiter’s corkscrew on the bar. She remembers the can of mace below the bar but can’t seem to locate it with blind fingers.
“Where’s my whore,” Miguel demands dispensing with any pleasantries.
Theresa looks down, unwilling and unable to look into the face of evil. “She’s not here.”
“Oh Senora, why by like that? We both know it is not true. I’ll only ask once more, where is she?”
Like a death row inmate bracing for the needle, Theresa steadies herself with a courage and resolve even she doesn’t know she possesses. “I don’t know.”
“Suit yourself.” In a move whose swiftness is only matched by its viciousness, Miguel reaches over the bar, grabs the back of Theresa’s head, and slams it hard into the bar’s glass tile top. In the microsecond the entire act takes, Theresa manages to let out a large scream. Her last thought being that she hopes she warned Sympatico. The event postmortem remains inconclusive about whether hearing Theresa’s scream was good or bad. Either way, Sympatico arrives in the tasting room with Quando bravely at her side, holding a Chef knife she’s all too willing to use. She’s experienced enough of Miguel’s training sessions to know he’s just getting started and the only way to save Theresa is to shift his focus. “I’m what you want,” she screams, “so go ahead, come and get me.”
Miguel looks at his latest plot twist grinning. “WELL, Well, well, this is working out better than expected.” He adjusts his sport coat to better appreciate the moment. “You have a choice to make, a rather easy choice really; put down that knife and come with me, or your friend dies.”
If Sympatico’s learned anything during her time with Miguel, it’s that this is not an idle threat. As much as she desires nothing more than to be free, to be rid of the hell that’s tormented her for as long as time itself has existed, she cannot risk more harm to Theresa. When her journey toward now began on, she was prepared to die for freedom. She still is. The only question is, should she attack Miguel now and die in the process, or wait until they’re away and Theresa is safe to initiate her final act? In the end there’s only the end, and Sympatico is at peace with making that her decision. “I will go with you,” she tells her monster. “But you have to leave her be.”
“You’re not in any position to dictate terms. Maybe I’ll take her here, then take you at home. What do you think about that? Or maybe I should shoot the dog, just so we’re clear who’s in charge.”
Quando bares his teeth growling at this unwelcome intruder, “Quando no!” Sympatico whispers. “If you harm Theresa or Quando, I will kill you or die trying. If I die, Ramon will not be happy.”
“Why are you so damn important?”
“Ask Ramon.”
“He’s not really the sharing type, but if you come with me, that’s a win. You will of course have to put the knife down; you’ve inspired too much of that kind of nonsense already.”
Sympatico continues to deliberate the relative merits of dying here or somewhere in the not-too-distant future. Suddenly, the motion detector at the end of Jake’s driveway pings. “What’s that?” Miguel asks. Before he has time to consider his rhetorical question, Jake’s truck roars into the parking area coming to a dust covered stop in front of the courtyard entrance. As the truck still searches for its resting position, Jake and Chance bound toward the tasting room; Chance carrying a tire iron and Jake carrying a passion for loss that’s been in search of an outlet since Emelia’s tragedy. They storm into the tasting room not sure what they’ll find, but nonetheless surprised to discover a pistol calmly pointing at them.
Jake quickly takes stock of the situation determining that Sympatico is for now okay. Theresa’s still unconscious, her motionless body draped across the bar with a small pool of blood around her head. Without worry about what might happen, Jake pulls Theresa’s lifeless body from the bar and gently lays her on the floor. He discretely presses the panic button as he tends to her wounds, first applying ice from the under-counter fridge to the gash on her forehead, then placing an ice-filled bar towel under her neck. Soon both Hector and the police will arrive, and he hopes for Miguel’s sake, the police get here first.
Chance cautiously positions himself to shield Sympatico from whatever’s about to go down. He may be new to this dance, but it’s one with a familiar melody. While he be the only one not racing for the opportunity to die in order to make a point, he is willing to defend Sympatico, regardless of what that means.
“You should know,” Jake says walking down the bar and stopping where Miguel can’t cover both he and Chance at the same time, “all of this is being recorded, and police have been notified.”
“Then you should not force me to shoot you when I take my whore.” Miguel now knows he’s on the clock and that really pisses him off. “I offered you a deal, but you refused. I told you I had no options, but you ignored my warning. You have only yourself to blame for what happens next.”
“You really think I give a shit about you, your warnings, or what happens next? I long ago gave up having something to lose, which makes our calculus pretty clear. You touch her, you die. If you think anything in this world holds me from making good on that promise, you’re gravely mistaken. I don’t know how you die, but rest assured my wrath is devoid of consequence.”
“I don’t know what the hell any of that means, but your pitiful bravado is the least of my worries. You say I’m a dead man walking if I take her, well maybe I am and maybe I ain’t. What I am, is definitely dead if I don’t get her, so you tell me how this ends.”
“How about we go together, asshole. I kill you, then you kill me. Or if you prefer, you kill me, then I kill you. Either way, it’s fittingly Shakespearian don’t you agree?”
“Again, old man, I have no freaking idea what the hell you’re talking about. If you did indeed call the cops, I can’t be idly chit chatting, so our moment of truth is now.”
Jake doesn’t need Miguel pointing out the obvious. He’s about to take their stand-off into the home stretch when he spots Dario, standing just inside the courtyard like an assassin eying easy prey through his elephant gun’s scope. “It seems the tables have suddenly turned.” Jake gestures toward the courtyard and Miguel quickly realizes his exposed flank has left him vulnerable. No one will ever know for sure what Dario’s prepared to do, but every time the story’s retold, everyone confirms Dario’s a man who finishes what he starts. If the tables haven’t already turned enough in this drama, the timely arrival of the state trooper who happened to be nearby shifts outcomes once more; or perhaps history will better record that the outcomes where simply delayed. Either way, the sound of sirens at the bottom of the driveway is enough for Miguel to know his moment has been lost and retreat is the only remaining option.
As quickly as Miguel rained his terror down on Theresa, he darts through the tasting room’s back storage area, escaping fate as easily as he disappears in the thick Juniper and Pinon fortress encasing Jakes property. Preston’s security cameras capture the undignified way Miguel runs along game trails cutting though the forest in a mad dash downhill, not stopping until he reaches the highway where a nearly new SUV picks him up. Dario goes outside to intercept the State Trooper, knowing that what went down cannot be revealed. He concocts a story about a belligerent customer who was getting out of control until his friends calmed him down and they left. The Trooper, whose known Dario since high school, is not interested in peeling that onion any further, and after Chance comes out with a bottle of whiskey to make up for his trouble, the Trooper is content to leave without filing a report.
Back inside, Jake carefully removes the knife from Sympatico’s tight grip and places it on the bar. “I’m so sorry,” he says wiping away tears from her face. “I don’t know what I was thinking leaving you here alone.”
Sympatico looks at Jake without expression and collapses into his arms. Meanwhile, Dario races into the room after being told about Theresa and immediately goes to work using the first aid kit Jake keeps under the bar. He’s almost done when Hector roars into the parking area with a truck full of Mexicans from his plastering crew. Jake guides Sympatico to a chair in the kitchen, then walks outside to meet Hector, to prepare him for what’s inside, and to face the consequences of his negligence.
Miguel ‘s not even close to calmed down by the time he gets back to the ranch. As bad as his day’s going, it is about to get worse because Ramon is waiting with three of his crew. Reluctantly, Miguel approaches, “Boss, I thought you weren’t coming until Saturday?”
“Something’s come up. What’s this I hear about a halfway house?”
“I only found out this afternoon. My boys were about to grab the Mexican working there, but we got diverted.”
“What’s more important than that?” Ramon demands.
“I had a couple boys’ stakeout where the woman’s staying, and she was left unguarded. I went to get her, only before I could get out, the men returned with cops close behind. It was like they knew I was there, so there security’s pretty tight.”
“It’s most unfortunate you could not get her, at least for you. But I’ll honor my deadline. I gave you until Saturday, so even though I am early, you still have time. Which brings me to my other point, actually to the reason I’m here, what do you know about a federal agent named Alvarez?”
