They sat in Johnny's Suburban for a bit and listened to Black Sunshine by White Zombie. After the song Johnny switched off the sterio system and spoke. "Maria, I don't know what you have done in your past. I know it has to be something really bad, but that doesn't matter right now. What matters now is what ou are going to do. That and I think we both have real issues with just running from a fight."

"So far my life has been little more than pain, death and suffering. Most of my skills are related to how I have killed nearly fifty people over the past eight years. Right now I'm trying to break away from my past and start a new life." Maria admits. "I know of if not know personally every major drug smuggler from here to South America. Some of them would agree with my actions and some of them would simply kill me. I just want out of the life. I mean money is cool and all but there are alot of things that just can't be bought."

Johnny pulled his smartphone out of his coat. "So if i were to take your photo and run it through a biometric ID program followed by a law enforcement database what would it tell me about you?"

With the explosion of cell phone and digital camera technology finding all about someone became rather easy. With the right software just about anyone could find out about anyone else. Law enforcement kept it's own private databases about known and suspected criminals. Such databases used special software to access in an attempt to keep criminals from finding out what law enforcement knew. Unfortunatly, such databases are targets of criminal hackers and other people who really should not have the information in such databases.

"File unreadable." Maria replies honestly. "Or something along those lines. I had a friend trash my file durring a Chinese government hacker attack. IF anyone does bother to really dig into why my file isn't readable they should blame it on the Chinese not go looking for someone who usually helps them. I've had it checked by a couple of cops on Cartel payroll. Officially I don't exist, and I hope to keep it that way."

"So what are you going to do until your past rears it's ugly head?" Johnny asks.

"See what it's like to live a somewhat honest life and maybe find a boyfriend who doesn't beat or rape me." Maria replies.

"And here I am just making myself scarce while Pete has a photoshoot with my sister."

"Sister?" Maria questions."Photoshoot? What is she some sort of Model?"

"Yes she's a model under the professional name of 'LaShawna Tejana'." Johnny says. "About three years back Pete, myself and some friends of ours wanted some money to pay for College and a couple of the girls came up with the idea for an adult webpage. The basic idea is that it's of Tejana girls by Tejana girls. So far it's paid for their college expenses for them and My Sister needed some extra cash and She asked Pete and the Girls if she could join."

"Johnny, your sister is a pornstar?" Maria says.

"Not a pornstar, She is an adult model." Johnny Corrects Maria. " There is nudity, but there is no sex involved durring the shooting. With Esme and Sofia doing their shoots as well...I'll have to change the guest room sheets in the morning."

***

Maria sat on a chair and took a drink from a bottle of Coca Cola. She shook her head and pondered the people around her. They seem so normal, not what i was expecting of a group of people who take naked pictures of girls. None of them come acrost as slutty or on drugs and they all seem so relaxed and happy to be here. I don't get it.

Tamara "Lashawna Tejana" Bishop walked over to the small girl that Johnny brought home with him. She seemed very cute but there was something off about the girl. She locked eyes with Maria and figured out what was wrong. That girl is dangerous. You can see it in her eyes she's been through alot already.

"Nice place." Maria says trying to make smalltalk with Johnny's sister. "Looks expensive."

"I wouldn't know." Tamara answers. "Johnny put up the down payment for the place so in effect it's his. We just help him pay the bills for now. Peter is planning on buying it from Johnny."

"Cool." Maria replies. "Would you mind a personal question?"

"Shoot."

"How does a white guy end up with a black older sister?"

"The short version of the story is that we both have the same father." Tamara answers. "Brother Bishop, the man of god, The man to uplift your spirit to heven...not to mention the skirts of quite a few teenage skirts. All told there's about a dozen of us out there, that we know of."

"So your dad sinned six days out of the week and preached church on the seventh." Maria replies. "Sort of thing that makes one loose their faith in everything."

"It looks like you know from experiance then." Tamara comments.

Maria doesn't answer but takes off her shirt and exposes her scars. Scars on the back of her forearms where she was thrown through a glass coffetable, two bulletholes below her left breast, and the scars that Juan had put on her back with a whip. Marks that documented the vile life that she had lived. The sight of them stopped all conversation in the room.

"Damn girl that's some hardcore shit right there." Pete finally comments. "Some of those scars look really old."

"They are, there from a lifetime ago." Maria answers him. "I've left my old life and I'm starting a new one. These scars I'm eventually having removed and I'm thinking of getting a tattoo."


Johnny walks over to the stereo and keys up Fear Factory's ressurection. "Yeah Maria has been a really bad girl. She's trying to change her life for the better. It's not like any of us can strive for more than to better ourselves."

Maria walked over and Hugged Johnny. "Thanks."

"I haven't shown you the office yet." Johnny says and leads her to a set of doors next to the wetbar. Inside was a desk set against a wall. the other three walls were almost totally covered in bookcases filled with books on a variety of subjects. In the center of the bookcases was a maniquen in a glass case. The Maniquine was dressed and equipped as a World War Two Waffen SS officer. "That is my great gransfather's field uniform and equipment. He was a Nazi, and initially he disaproved of his pure Arian daughter marrying an Untermench like my Mescalero Apache grandfather. He was a racist for most of his life. I met him as a todler and he must have seen something he liked in me as he left me the books and his Millitary gear. Towards the end he changed his views and tried to make amends for a lifetime of being a very horrible person to anyone who wasn't Arian."

"So are you expecting this to have an influance on me?" Maria asks.

"No, As your friend it's not my place to tell you how to live your life." Johnny admits. "It's my place to give you a friendly ear to speak too, a shoulder to lean on, advice and consoltation when you need it. A true friend would never try to control your life. We would strongly advise you to stop if you were drinking too much or letting drugs control you. But ultimatly your life is yours to live as you see fit."

I'm starting to picture Johnny as Emile Hirsch in Alpha Dog.

No Johnny hasn't gone over to the darkside yet. he's very intelligent and Enterprising when it comes to money. He was raised by his LEO uncle and he's made alot of money legally. As a kid he made quite a bit of money collecting snakeskin and as he got older wild pig and coyote control for people. He's flipped cars and dabbled in construction. At this point in his life he's bouncing, plus his share of the company run by Pete and the girls.

Still he is now helping maria and while his intentions are good...That one road is paved with what?

I mean when I picture him physically (what he looks like), I think of Hirsch's character in Alpha Dog (but thanks for the information).

Physically he's about six feet tall and around 180 pounds. Shoulder lenght black hair usually in a ponytail. Blue eyes.

Think of Jack Dante from Death machine for his fashion sense, and personality wise alot less Childlike psychotic and alot more competant person.

Latter that night Maria stared at the ceiling. She couldn't sleep with the events of the previous day. She had burned so many bridges that she could just about taste the ashes. Contemplating what she did she got up off the couch with a groan. Padding barefoot she made her way to the kitchen. Grabbing a glass in the darkness he opened the freezer and got some ice and a chilled bottle of Jack Daniels. The fridge added some coca Cola for color. She finished putting together the mostly Whiskey drink when Tamara's voice startled her.

"Can't sleep?" Tamara asks.

"Nope, been one of those days that just stress a girl out." Maria replies.

"Well you arn't supost to be drinkin' something like that."

"I've done alot of things I'm not supost to do and I've been doing them for most of my life."

"That's what worries me." Tamara comments. "I don't want Johnny to get dragged into the sorts of Violence you lived with."

"Do you know what Johnny is capable of?" Maria asks.

"I've seen what happens when Johnny does get violent" Tamara replies. "For a while after what happened to Amber, he was staying with me. A wannabe Gangsta thug by the nickname of Big Thump wanted me as one of his bedmates. He'd knocked up this one Mex gal who didn't have the sense to know that Big Thump was a looser. I had turned his ass down repeatedly. One day he was waiting for me at my place. Johnny was there and he got between Thump and myself. They fought and Thump was looseing so he tried to grab a knife and stab Johnny. Johnny is a trained in how to fight.So Johnny ended up takeing Big Thump Apart with a kitchen knife. Scary thing was that he slept like a baby afterwards."

"I've noticed that about Johnny." Maria replies.

"What did you get my brother into." Tamara asks with a worried tone.

"He met my father and I've never seen the psychopathic bastard so scared in my life." Maria replies. "I had just met him and he invited me to lunch. Mi padre found me and messed with Texas. Mi padre ended up with all but one of the men with him dead and missing half his left leg. The only reason he's still alive was the fact that Johnny didn't feel right killing him infront of me. If he had done that I would have hated him. I'm not sure what I feel about him now."

"Give me a drink like the one you've made." Tamara remarks.Amber, Gwen, now Maria. Damn that boy attracts the most troublesome girls he can find.

***
Johnny parked his Suburban and looked over the The Chateau. Despite it's fancy sounding name it was the sort of bar that could be best described as a dive. Between the faded blue paint, the bright neon lights, and the general rundown appearace of the neighborhood it wasn't the sort of place that attracted those who had better places they could go. Even when dealing with the various, drunks, thugs and outright criminals that were attracted to the place he liked it. Picking up his duster from the passenger seat he pondered what that said about him. Who in their right mind and had other places they could be would choose to work in a neighborhood where there was at least one shooting a week and daily violence? Some people came to such places because they wanted to help save the world from all it's problems. Johnny liked the place for those rare moments when things happened and the rush of adrenaline, those moments when life was no longer dull and ordinary. Getting out of the Suburban he slipped into his duster and started walking to the door.

Pulling open the steel clad door he stepped inside and to one side until his eyes adjusted to the lighting. Scanning the room he looked over the bar girls and the patrons. Behind the bar was Ramona and Marcia. Ramona was the shorter of the two but beter endowed in the torso and was wearing a shirt tied just below her charms in order to draw attention to that fact. Maricia was less topheavy but still filled out her halter top. Along the bar was the usual evening crowd of Victor, Cory, Max, Rico, Emilio, Arturo, and Carlos. Most of them were pretty harmless although Emilio did fancy himself a biker and was trying to join a local outlaw Motorcycle club. Johnny Smiled as he spotted Santos walking towards him. Santos was a broadshouldered Ex-con with a leathery face who bounced on most nights. Great at his job Johnny had watched him defuse situations that should have ended in bloody brawls. They Shook hands.

"El Parton in his office?" Johnny asked once greetings were out of the way.

"Yeah, go ahead and clock in." Santos said. "Just don't spent too much time getting Marcia's hopes up."

"I won't." Johnny said with a devilish grin. Marcia flirted with him every chance she got and Johnny occationally returned the favor. It really wasn't serious for either of them but there was chemistry. Stepping behind the bar he walked towards the office. Right on cue Marcia "Accidentaly" bumped him with a firm, curvy ass.

"Oh, sorry Johnny I didn't see you there." Marcia flirts demurely.

"It's no problem Bonita Seniorita." Johnny answers. In his head he gets the image of a smaller, green eyed latina. "Unfortunatly I got to clock in."

"Ok, we'll talk latter ok?" Marcia says with an impish grin.

Johnny knocks on the office door. " Hey Gabrial, it's Johnny could you open up the door?"

Gabrial open the door and lets Johnny in. "How is it out there?"

"Quiet for now." Johnny replies. "hopefuly we have a quiet night."

"Amen to that Johnny." Gabrial answers. "We all make better money when it's quiet.

Unfortunatly any hope of a quiet night was drowned out about 11pm in the rumble of motorcycle engines. A week before there was a barroom brawl between two local Motorcylce clubs the Los Diablos and the Los Peros de Camino. Both gangs are small in comparison to the Banditos who arew the major biker gang in Texas, Both gangs combined are little more than fifty people. What they lack in size they make up for in Methamphetamine fuled mayhem. The Trio of motorcycles belong to Los Diablos and inside Emilio is a prospect of Los Peros.

Johnny had been working for half a shift when he spotted the bikers walking through the door. Santos had gone home earlier in the night to tuck his kids into bed. Leaving Johnny to bounce the bar. He watched Emilio stiffen at the sight of the newcomers and realized that they were not friends of the Biker. In fact there was a fight brewing. He walked swiftly over to the office and knocked. "Hey Gabe, we lust had a trio of bikers walk in and it looks like Emilio and them have some bad blood I'm going to go check it out."

"Que passa Amigo's?" Johnny asks when he aproches the bikers. "Hows it going tonight?"

"Fuck off you little punk." The lead biker replies as he spots Emilio. They didn't come to the bar to drink they came there to stomp Emilio into the floorboards. The biker gives Johnny a hard shove against a table and the trio swarm the sodden Emilio.

Johnny picks himself up off the floor as the trio of bikers start pounding on Emilio. the drunken biker is no match for the brass knuckle clad fists of the rival bikers. Walking to the nearest biker Johnny grabs the back of the man's vest while stomping the man's calf.

The biker hits the ground hard as Johnny throws an uppercut into the ribs of a second biker. The man grunts with pain and tries to backhand Johnny. Johnny ducks to aviod the blow and retaliates with a backfist to the man's solar plexus and a right/ left series of palm strikes to the man's jaw. Grabbing the man's head with his hands, he drives his knee into the man's sturnum.

As he shifted his grip to throw the second biker into the third the fist biker grabs him around his chest pinning his arms to his sides. Johnny instantly grabs the man's hands with his and drops to his knee while bending forward. The first biker is flipped over his shoulder and into the third biker.

The second biker kicks at johnny while he's down. Johnny sweeps his arm down camming the kick away from him before snaking his arm around to trap the leg on his shoulder. Riseing to his feet, johnny kicks the biker's supporting ancle and steps back. The bikers own weight causes him to overextend the tendons and ligaments in his groin.

Turning from the crippled biker Johnny looks at the pair of bikers untangling themselves. In the hands of the thrid biker a pair of bloody brass knuckled gleem evily, while the first biker pulls a knife from his belt. Johnny pulls a baton from his belt and starts circling them counterclockwise. The purpose of the circling was to put one biker between the other.

The biker with the brass knuckles bum rushes Johnny in an attempt to drag him down so the biker with the knife could start stomping on him with his steel toed workboots. Twisting with the impact Johnny manages to stay upright but leaves himself open to the knife. He feels a stinging sensation as the knife leaves a bloody gash along his ribs. Reaching down he grabs a bearpitcher and throws it in the face of the biker who slashed him. he knew he was in a bad spot between the bikers as he flicked open the baton into the man's knifehand. The steel knob at the end of the baton connected with the man's thumb breaking it with a crack as it also knocked the knife flying. Pressing the attack Johnny chops the baton over the Biker with all the skill of a seasoned woodsman turning a tree into a log ready for the logtruck. The biker fell in a bloody heap as the repeated impacts took the fight out of him.

Running on meth more than commong sense the last biker got to his feet and started toward the Chingate hijo de puta. The entire bar had backed away from the fight and watched as the combattants tore each other apart. he watched his friend fall to the ground as the bato relaje turned toward him.

Breathing hard Johnny turned towards the last biker and rested the tip of his baton on his shoulder. As the biker stepped towards him to use the brass knuckles Johnny's foot snapped out. The sound of the fracturing kneecap seemed loud in the room as the biker dropped. Looking at the knuckles on the man's hands Johnny stomped the hand. The brass knuckles focused the stomp on the bones of the man's hands breaking them all. The man screamed in pain as Johnny squatted down to retreave the weapon.

Standing up he asked. "Ramona have you called the cops yet? We are going to need multiple ambulances here."

The patrons moved aside like zebra in the path of a lion as Johnny grabbed a first aid kit from behind the bar and headed into the bathroom. He didn't have the skills to sew a knifewound closed but he knew enough to keep from bleeding out until he could find someone who did. Washing away the blood he found that the would was about six inches long and about an inch deep. it was painful and messy but in no way fatal or debilitating. Had the biker stabbed him he would have been looking at a puntured lung and weeks of recovery.

***

Maria looked over he new second story apartment. it was a tiny courner place with a bedroom, bath and a combined Living/dining/ kitchen. Inside was several thousand dollars worth of new furnature and alot of detrious from unpacking and assembling, As she plugged in the monitor of her new desktop She thought of her last one and the mess that it had made of her old room when the bomb in it went off. The sound of children playing outside made putting an explosive device in it not an option. It was a horrible feeling to feel some sort of responsibility to everyone around you after years of not giving a damn. Worse than the feelings of guilt were the horrible nightmares that would wake her in the middle of the night and prevent her from sleeping again for hours.

Wondering your Dominique was doing she sent an e-mail.

"Holla Chica,
Wazup? I've found a place of my own for now. It's rough going as I've had the time and privacy to think about what I've done and what I could do with my life. What's I'm e-mailing about is how you are holding up with what we have done."

Much to Maria's suprise she got an e-mail from Domino about an hour latter.

"Hey M,
I'm doing ok. As far as myself goes it was like playing a videogame. That's not to say that I don't recognize that the half dozen people I blew to bits wern't real people but they were known badguys after a friend of mine. There is no moral doubts about what i did and so far I'm sleeping just fine. I'm guessing that you are going insaine with the guilt of what you have done and Don't know what to do with yourself besides stew. Dr. Rodriguez Sugests going out for dinner and a movie and trying to relax. Hell, order yourself some lingerie, a vibrator and watch some porn. Remember no matter what you have done you do have friends who love and suport you for being who you are."

Maria smiled at the message and checked the links that Dominique had given her. The links were advice for copeing with abuse, combat and the general suckiness that life sometimes had to offer. It wasn't a trained psychologist and several years of therapy but It was needed advice. Unlike in most action films or videogames people were affected by commiting violence. Normal people did what they had to and usually felt like shit afterwards. Some people moved on with little outward change, Some people tok on a state of serenity as they accepted that they were mortal and that they would die. Other's thankfully rare enjoyed violence, Except for the people in the nightclub she helped her father bomb and getting shot Maria enjoyed violence. It was an intense adrenaline rush to take part in such a fight and some people became lost in it. Those people who became lost died as they couldn't think ahead.

Heeding Dominique's advice Maria found herself sitting at the local busstop. Without a car she was stuck useing bus routes or calling a cab. That was even more of her money that would be spent on needed things in life. She would have to talk to Johnny about where a girl could find at least parttime work that was legal. Unfortunatly a legitamate lifestyle usually didn't involve stacks of cash the size of a twin bed. Still, she knew of a few people on this side of the bordder who had hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash on hand in their homes. Maria squashed that thought.

***

Johnny Didn't get home that night until four in the morning. He staggered to his room and took a shower. It was amazing how medical technology had changed over the years. Where once he would have had stitches for weeks while his body knit it'self back togeather and had a great big nasty looking scar. Now they packed the wound with a protien growth medium and glued the wound shut. There would still be a hairline scar after a couple of weeks but it wouldn't even slow him down. he could even take a nice, hot, and relaxing shower a mear hours after being treated. Clean and relaxed, Johnny slipped alone into bed and fell asleep.

Five hours latter he was woken up by the chattering of his smartphone. He looked at the number and saw that it was Gweniviere. Gwen was a full blooded Mescalero girl that he had first met when they were about three or so. She was probably his oldest friend.

"Hello Gwen how are you doing." He said.

"Johnny what's this I hear on facebook that you kicked the heck out of a trio of bikers." Gwen said by way of greeting. "I know you've done some stupid things in your time but that takes the cake. Is it true and if so I want all the details."

Johnny rubbed his blurry eyes and tried to think. "yes Gwen it's true. Three Bikers walked into the bar and attacked one of the patrons. I stopped the assault. I'm sure you can get a copy of the police reports somehow. Or are you going to just pump me for information and try to sell it to one of the news websites?"

While Gwen was Johnny's oldest friends and someone who Johnny wouldn't kick out of bed for leaving crumbs...or a mes of whipped cream and chocolate sause for that matter. She had a few really big flaws, she was nosey, she liked to gossip and she was stubborn about it. In essence she was a natural born reporter by nature. He only hoped that he could nicely get her to leave him alone long enough fo him to sleep until noon. Hopefully she wouldn't show up on his doorstep to raid the beer and badger the story out of him.

"What makes you think I'd do a thing like that?" Gwen asks.

"You have the morals and greed of a Navajo." Johnny replied as plesently as his sleep deprived state allowed. The Navajo remark was based on a very old reservation rivalry, stemming from the Indian wars of the 1800s.

"Like you don't have your women." Gwen fires back.

"Like you wouldn't love to be one." Johnny says with a chuckle. "Look I'm really tired I got to bed at four am. I'd love to get back to sleep."

"Sorry Johnny." Gwen replies. "Sweet dreams."

***

Maria walked up to Johnny's front door and hesitated for a second before ringing the doorbell. Soon she heard the sound of heavy footsteps and soon Pete filled the space between the door and it's frame. She smiled and greeted him. "Hey Pete is Johnny home?"

"Hey Maria, He's up and inside." Pete says stepping out of her way. "Have fun."

Maria arcs an eybrow and looks at Pete. For someone who was legally a pornographer, Pete seemed to be an alright guy. Certantly Pete was lightyears better than the men who worked for the cartels. Still his remark had many meanings, one of them made Maria blush. "Mi..Mi..."

"I didn't mean it that way Maria." Pete says realizing what Maria was thinking. "He's a charming rogue and I know he likes you. But he wouldn't do something like that or at least not until you both know what you're getting into."

"It has something to do with Amber doesn't it?" Maria asks.

"Tamara told you the story?" Johnny asks walking up to the door.

"Not everything." maria answers. "I know that you two were lovers and that she was murdered by someone. I can understand why for a guy who could have a harem of women avoids getting close to anyone."


"Come inside and sit down." Johnny says.

Maria walked inside and enjoyed the sight of Johnny without his shirt until she saw the cut on his ribs. "Johnny what happened?"

"Walking into the kitchen, Johnny pulls a pair of Coca Cola bottles out of the fridge and hands one to Maria. "Three Bikers started a fight at work and I got involved. One of them had a knife and he cut me."

"That's not good." Maria says. "Do they know who you are because they could come after you."

"They can probably find out." Johnny says. "You know better than anyone else here how easy that sort of thing is to get."

"Yeah, I'm greenlighted because I beat the shit out of the son of a cartel head and walked away."

"You what?" Pete asks incredulously. " That's some seriously crazy shit right there. Did you know about that Johnny?"

"Yeah I did." Johnny answers.

"You know we allways knew that you wern't right in the head especially after Amber but this." Pete says. "This is plain up and fucked in the head suicidal."

"Not really." Maria chimes in. "I have a plan that does not include getting killed by my former cohorts. Johnny wasn't part of the plan but he doesn't change my plan. Hell he speeds it up in a couple of places."

"What plan can stop a bullet?" Pete asks.

"No plan can do that Pete." Johnny answers. "What Maria seems to be up to is break away from a cartel of mad dogs and keep quiet while Someone puts down the dog."

"You say that like you can see the future or something." Pete says.

"The cops are cracking down on the cartels this side of the border. That is a fact. Their cracking down on the border because some fool in Maria's cartel has been having US cops hit. Sooner or latter the other cartels are going to kill them for bringing down the heat on everyones head." Johnny explains. "As for that gang of Bikers they are a small club and unless they join up with a bigger club there are only going to be a small number of them actually willing to murder for the club. Since they are already in a gang war I'm a low priority."

"Seems like everythings going to come up roses the way you tell it." Pete says. "What happens when the people after you have different ideas?"

"I'm on leave from the bar so I can disappear for a bit and I'm not sure what Maria's plan is but I know it involves keeping away from known cartel members."

"So what are you going to do if things go wrong?" Pete asks.

"What did I do when you had those mobsters trying to take over the company." Johnny says refering to an incident when a group of extortionists tried to take over the Tejana Girls website through implied criminal activity. Someone left a care package on the desk of the cop investigating a suspicious fire. Someone got the Extortionists on tape threatening the burnt out businessowner. There was also video from a hidden camera of the criminals talking about their crimes in private and the criminal's ledger book listing the businesses that they were extorting.

"Set them up for the cops." Pete replies. "It's risky."

***

Maria looked over the doors of the VW Safari that she had stored in Mexico. She had driven it out into the desert again and had dug up her guns. It wasn't that she wanted to kill again it was the fact that someone was threatening her friend. She didn't delude herself that everything would turn out alright. There was a very large chance that things were going to get bloody and she wanted to be ready for it. The thought of simply settling down someplace where noone knew her, getting fat and having lots of kids was a wonderful thought but it just wasn't practical. Still she had invited Johnny to dinner and a movie and he had accepted.

So Johnny ended up taking Big Thump Apart...

thanks for that catch S&W.

***

Maria looked over the doors of the VW Safari that she had stored in Mexico. She had driven it out into the desert again and had dug up her guns. It wasn't that she wanted to kill again it was the fact that someone was threatening her friend. She didn't delude herself that everything would turn out alright. There was a very large chance that things were going to get bloody and she wanted to be ready for it. The thought of simply settling down someplace where noone knew her, getting fat and having lots of kids was a wonderful thought but it just wasn't practical. Still she had invited Johnny to dinner and a movie and he had accepted. her plan on how to get multiple, highly illegal firearms into the US was simple. Volkswagons at least the older models are so well made they float on water. If she got caught by Immigration and Customs Enforcement then she was caught. Usually Illegals were first detected by FLIR cameras and then live officers were directed into the area. Then there was Roving patrols, which radioed in their positions useing coded phrases. Maria had the codes given to her by a bribed officer. It seemed that the Cute little 19 year old College freshman who took the officer back to her place was really a 17 year old illegal with an apartment wired for sound. She knew that she was useing the man for her own gains. Still if she got the chance she was going to give the man the tapes once his usefulness was over. His usefullness ending when the man retired or was sent to prison on coruption charges. Stil she waited for the roving patrol to pass her position and get a couple miles down the road before she turned on her engine and headed into the river.

With the moon only a sliver the far bank was only a dark shadow even though it was much narrower than most people expect.it would bee like swimming across an olympic sized pool. Maria didn't know how to swim but she was putting her trust in the German engineers who designed the car and the silicone caulking that she put around every seam in the bodywork she could find. Still with the load the Safari was carrying she watched the water rise along the side of the door. Slowly the water inched up the side of the doway until there was about six inches between the water and the top of the Safari's doors. Still the air cooled engine sputtered along and the sand tires acted like paddles as the Safari imitated a boat delivering illicit cargo to a hostile shore. She missed her planned exit of the river and found a second several hundred yards down river. Gunning the engine Maria guided the Safari up the bank of the river and into a stand of trees. Stopping the car she got out and walked to the front of the car. from her purse she took out her smartphone and closed one eye. She keyed up the video camera and it's options and chose the nightvison setting. carfully she paced out the next hundred yards of woods. returning to her Safari she heard a rustling in the underbrush. freezing Maria slowly crouched down and listened to the sound trying to locate it. Soon she heard other sounds, grunting, squeeling and the clacking of tusks.

Maria had stopped in the middle of a pack of wild hogs. ICE would have been bad enough as she could always turn back into Mexico and try again latter. Wild hogs were a whole different matter as they were several times her size, territorial and she was unarmed. Normally animals didn't bother Maria and Maria returned the favor. Pigs were pigs and maria didn't get along with pigs unless they were roasting on a spit. Still she got up and slowly walked calmly to the Safari. Lumping over the side she reached over and slipped the shotgun out of it's bag. The shotgun was a Remington Model 870 with pistol grips, top folding stock and the barrel cut back to a meer 14 inches. It was a compact weapon that was currently loaded with a tube of 00 buckshot. Slugs would be much better for takeing the fight out od a pissed off and possibly hungry pig.

Turning the key Maria slipped the car in gear and crept along the trail she had scouted. Once out of the trees she headed north until she encountered a road. She then turned west and kept going until she heard on the radio that a roving patrol was heading her way. Carefully she turned off the road and into a wash and around a bend. Jumping out of the car she took a broom and returned to the road and swept away her tracks. it wouldn't do in the daylight against a skilled tracker but at night it might work. Still she waited behind a rock to observe La Migra making it's rounds.

The SUV slowly made it's way along the road and crept past Maria's position. She scrunched down against the ground while the vehicle passed. it was amazing what being small and quiet would do for you. Wearing an earthtone hoodie didn't hurt eather. When the vehicle disapeared down the road Maria got up and after listening to the patrols for a bit got back into her Safari and headed to an abandoned housing development in El Paso where she would hide the Safari and the guns.

***
Johnny looked at the pile of Chinese food on Maria's plate. He looked down at his own plate as he slipped a pair of chopsticks into his hand. As he poped a piece of chicken into his mouth Maria looked at him.

"Johnny how do you use chopsticks?" She asked sheepishly.

"Wait a minute you don't know how to use chopsticks." Johnny answers. "Take one stick and put it in the web of your hand like so. Then place the shaft on your ring fingernail. Use your middle finger to hold it in place. Use your thumb to hold the other stick against your index finger and use that finger to open and close the chopsticks."

"Like this?" Maria asks holding up her hand and trying to click the sticks together.

"Hold on." Johnny says before correcting her grip. "There you go with practice you should be able to eat rice like that."

The pair ate and quietly made small talk. Johnny kept finding his sky blue eyes drawn to Maria's emerald green eyes. under the table they seemed to keep bumping each others feet. For the pair it seemed that Love was in the air. Johnny paid the bill and the pair left the resterant.

"Johnny I really enjoyed the dinner." Maria said snuggling closer to Johnny.

"I did too." Johnny said looking down on the petite girl. "Now we could go see that movie..."

"Johnny." Maria inturupts him. "Does the rear seats of your Suburban fold flat?"

"Yeah...why." Johnny answers right before Maria kisses him on the lips.

Maria blushes and then says. "Forget the movie I wanna just kiss you forever."

"Don't you think that you are moving a little fast there?" Johnny asks. "What if I'm not looking for a girlfriend?"

"Johnny, I know about Amber and what happened to her. I'm not asking you to 'move on'. I don't have any desire to replace her." Maria says. "She is Tu Amore, your love. I have no right to try and take her place. After Mi Madre was murdered one of Mi Padre's girlfriends tried to act like my mother. I hated her guts and I was really happy when Mi Padre finally dumped her ass. As you said My life is mone to live and so your life is yours to live. I want to spend time with you because you make me feel safe and happy even though I know we arn't."

Johnny slipped his arms around Maria and stroked her nice firm curves. "What if I brought home strange girls to sleep with al the time when I wasn't tieing you down and beating you?"

"Juan would have other girls all the time and he was the one to take a whip to my back." Maria says looking down then stepping closer to Johnny. "You are much different than him. You care about the girls you are around. Even though you are a killer, we feel safe with you next to us. I wouldn't mind the rough stuff with you as I know it would be in fun and I'll be ok afterwards. As far as other girls go....If we are lovers, I'll probably have to share you just to give myself a chance to recover from something of that size."

Johnny leaned down and kissed Maria again. "I haven't even made out with you and we are already lovers. My the sunday confessions you must have."

"I shot the Padre." Maria said flatly.

Alejandro Villamor watched the US border patrol vehicle bounce along a rutted dirt track. The two man vehicle partol was traveling west bound about 100m into the US. His hide was a good 300m inside Mexico and outside the jurisdiction of the border agents. He had dug out a shallow trench overlooking the roadway on a small hill. this he covered in a chickenwire frame that supported a canvas tarp. the tarp was covered in dirt and small vegitation. This left him with a small slit to look out and fire from. He was going to make $30,000 for a weeks worth of work. The cartels did pay good money for the murder of honest US Border Patrol Agents.

Earlier that week he had slipped over the border and planted a series of nailbombs hooked up to timers along the stretch of road he was watching. The bombs made out of cans of beans were timed to go off next to the partol vehicle. While the individual agents wanted to do their patrols in armor plated vehicles the truth was that the US government just didn't have the money for that kind of equipment. The small nailbomb he had built would be enough to immobalize the vehicle without damaging it too much. He wanted to get ahold of the electronics inside the vehicle so simply blowing it off the road in a fireball was out. So he had to disable the vehicle while in a radio deadzone. The radios in the vehicle could be jammed but that would take a vehicle with enough powerful radios to override the SOS, and that would call atention to the area as well. As his personal weapon he was useing a Kimber model 8400 Tactical Rifle in .308 and backing it up was a Smith & Wesson M&P in .40S&W. He didn't nessisaraly need to shoot the agents, no matter how they died it would work for his plan.
The chosen ambush point was along a bank that would be hard to climb and more importantly hard for the gringos to escape his bullets. The nailbomb blew in a cloud of dust and destroyed the right front tire of the vehicle. The vehicle swerved into the bank and stalled out. Villamor snugged the rifle butt into his shoulder and took aim for the drivers door. The Agent tried to get out of what had turned into a deathtrap, he forced the door open and jumped out of the vehicle. Villamor squeezed the trigger and sent a 180 grain bullet into the man's chest. The agent's vest slowed down the bullet but couldn't stop it, leaving the agent with a sucking chest wound. He watched the Driver's partner drop out of the vehicle and behind the right rear tire. the man was useing it as cover while he found Villamor. Villamor watched as the agent moved around the vehicle to help his wounded partner. That's when Villamore shot the agent in the head before finishing off his wounded partner.

Crawling out of his Hide, Villamore drug with him a tire monted on a packframe. His plan was to replace the damaged tire and drive the vehicle into Mexico. It would buy him some time and take advantage of the horrible political relationship between the US and Mexico. Usually it put what should have been strong allies at each other's throats but it did have some advantages. His weapons were a biproduct of project Gunwalker where BATFE agents allowed Mexican Gunrunners to buy US weapons so that theoretically they could be traced to varous druggangs. The reality was that the weapons were out of control as soon as they left the gunshops. It was ironic that several of those firearms were linked to the murders of US law enforcement agents. On the mexican side of the border corruption was rampant and the powers in visible control of the country wanted the US to become part of mexico rather than deal with their own problems. In all it created a fouled up mess of things.

So why is he killing them? I know hes a bad guy and all but isnt a low profile desired?

K9870,

In Real Life, there are Cartel bounties on US Law Enforcement. Villamore killed the two Officers to collect the bounty on US LEOs. Plus by crossing the border he is causeing an international incident at a time and a place where the two countries are not co-operating against a common threat...ie the cartels. I'm not saying more because it will give away the plot too much.

When he reached his vehicle he stoped and got out. Stretching he got out of the boarder patrol vehicle and walked to the back of his own. Inside was a toolkit and civilian model radios similar to the ones the Border patrol used. Working with practiced efficiecy he swapped out the radios. With the radios switched he then took out a five gallon can of gasoline. With care not to splash himself Villamore enshured that the radio would be badly damaged by the fire. He set the vehicle ablaze and was driving away when his phone rang.

"Buenos Dias." Villamore answered.

"Mi Amigo." a Familiar voice responded. "I have need of your survaces again. This time it's for a personal problem."

"I'll be at the usual place in two days." Villamore answered. The caller was Juan Tomasa, a well paying client even if he was a hot headed little punk.

***

Ranger Michael Chandler walked up to the two story house at the end of the culdesack. The lawn was freshly mowed and the shrubbery was neatly trimmed. In the drive was a Mustang from the early 2000s and parked in the street was a tan collored GMC Suburban. he pulled into the driveway, parked his Dodge Charger and put a Rattlesnake hide cowboy boot onto the concrete. The boots were a gift from his nephew who had collected the hides himself. Unfortunatly that nephew had gotten himself into trouble and now he was going to deliver a message.

Pete hear the doorbell ring and got up off the couch to open the door. Standing there was a western man from his snakeskin boots, jeans, wester shirt and stetson. The man also had a badge and a gun on his belt making him a cop. The man was also Johnny's uncle and Pete hoped that the visit was social. "Good afternoon Ranger Chandler, Johnny's in the kitchen. Come right in and make yourself at home."

Chandler looked around the high ceilinged main room and noticed a small teenage girl sitting on a couch reading some graphic novel called "The Couriers" that had a swarthy male and a caucasian female with a revolver on the cover. He noted that the girl wasn't one of Pete's employees and turned and walked past the office, the stairs up and the wetbar before turning left into the kitchen. Johnny was mixing up a Whiskey Habanero marinade for some steaks. "Johnathan we need to talk about those bikers you got into trouble with."

"Uncle Mike!" Johnny exclaimed as he put down a mixer and bowl. "I didn't hear you come in but if it's about 'Los Diablos', then it's going to be business and probably bad."

"For you it's going to be great news." Chandler replies. "Someone hit the Diablos while they were having Church at their clubhouse. Used about a half dozen IRA style homemade mortars and leveled the place."

Johnny stopped and thought for a second about what Uncle Mike had said. Someone had found out when all of the Diablos were meeting at their headquarters and had then blown them all up. While there were other groups who used Homemade Mortars the IRA had a style and a way of making the devices. If it did have their style to it he knew who to ask about such things. "Maria, we need to talk to you about a bombing!"

Maria looked up from reading about Moustafa and Special shoot up an airport getting away from Triad Hitters. She had discovered Brian Wood's "Couriers" series in a bargan bin and was instantly hooked on it. It was funny how people in various illegal occupations liked reading or watching stories about their line of work. Just look at Scarface or the Mexican ballads about the cartel kingpins. Having a cop just walk into Johnny's place had made her nervous but since pete seemed to know him she had relaxed. Which was why when Johnny yelled for her to come talk to him about a bombing she jumped about a foot off the couch and came running. "I didn't do it! I know nothing about it! Why are you blaiming me for something I didn't do?"

"Maria, calm down I know you didn't mortar the Diablos." Johnny said trying to calm down Maria. He knew for a fact that she hadn't blown up the bikers but from her reaction he just knew that she had been planning something eminantly fatal for them. "Uncle Mike here, just told me that someone wiped them out with an IRA style improvised mortar. Since you dad was an active member and you picked up some things...I was wondering if your dad had any friends or students who could do something like that?"

"Johnny, you said he's your uncle and he's obviously important to you but I just can't help the cops period." Maria states. "Dad has made a mortar once but it's not his style. He's more bullets and placed bombs."

"Maria, is it?" Chandler asks. "How deep into the cartels are you?"

"Was." Maria answers. "Too deep to be at my age. I'm trying to get out and go legitimate. I mean there's a big difference between making $100 a day and making $100,000 a day. Hell, I shouldn't even bee seen in the same area code as Texas Ranger Michael Chandler."

"You know of me?" Chandler asks.

"I knew the guy who was going to try and collect the standing $100,000 bounty on your head." Maria explains looking right into Chandler's eyes. "He messed with the wrong person and got turned into a quadraplegic."

"And now you are hanging out with my nephew." Chandler says. He was familiar with the standing bounty on his head. It had started out as the usual cartel bounty on Law enforcement officers but had grown a he had made arrests and seasures of cartel assets. "Should I be worried about him?"

"He is my friend and I don't want to bring my problems down on his head as he collects his own problems."

I know I've written around 30 pages of this story and I was wondering how many people around here enjoy it and should I keep posting sections here?

"He is my friend and I don't want to bring my problems down on his head as he collects his own problems." Maria answers. "It's like he has that infamous Chinese curse about leading an interesting life.You are his kin so you are supost to worry about him."

"Are you still involved with the cartels?"

"I've left a cartel. But I'm sure I already have a greenlight on my head for as long as the cartel can pay." Maria replies. "Not that I expect the cartel to survive for much longer. I wish I could tell you why but I really shouldn't."

Johnny watches Maria grab a bottle of Coca Cola and go back to reading her graphic novel. He knew that Maria was telling the truth about wanting to talk to his uncle. They had talked about Maria's nightmares and the acts that caused them. "Uncle Mike, I asked Maria over here because her father is a known Narco-Terrorist with knowledge of constructing such devices. Personally she would be a suspect in destroying those bikers except that she doesn't know how to weild or machine well enough to make a device. Still I was hoping that she would be willing to give a clue inadvertantly."

"Johnny, you had better watch trying to use a girl like that." Ranger Chandler admonishes his nephew. "That's not how you treat a friend."
***

Maria watched Ranger Chandler drive off out of the culdisack. There were things that she really wished that she could have told him. Information that would lead to where the bodies of people were disposed of. Families would no longer have to wonder what happened to their relatives. It was an all too common occurance in the drug trade. A hit team would kidnap and murder someone. Or they would ambush a car full of people because the perso looked like a rival smuggler or the car looked like a rival smugglers vehicle. What the cartels did to snitches would make Torqumada queesy and the Spanish Inquisitor was know to torture hundreds of people. Finally she spoke. "Johnny, I know you were just trying to help your uncle. Please don't ask me to talk to him about work. I have my reasons for not talking to him and I think you know that."

Johnny sat on the couch on the opposit side as Maria. He looked at her and said. "You are right when I said I was trying to help my uncle. Him and my Aunt are the only real family I have. You know that my dad's been in prison since I was a todler, uncle Mike was the person who raised me. You can understand why I asked you if you knew something."

"You have family that not only admits that you exist but they care about your existance." Maria says scooting beside Johnny. "I've never had that and I can understand why it's important to you."

Johnny put his hands on Maria's shoulders and gave them a quick squeeze. It brought a reashured smile to the small girl's lips. "I'll take you home if you want."

"I'd like that." Maria answers and takes Johnny's hand. he led her to his Suburban and helped her in. he walked around to the drivers side and got in. Taking off Maria turned the audio system to Static X. After a while Maria turned the Stereo off and asked Johnny a Question. "Johnny, with your contacts in Law Enforcement how hard would it be for you to locate someone?"

"Depends on if they are in the US or not and if they are conected to any criminal activity...why?"

"About six months back I picked up a guys's wallet and I want to send it to the next of kin." Maria replies.

"You feel guilty about it?" Johnny asks.

"The guy was only looking for you daughter who disappeared." Maria answers. "He tracked her to Juan and Juan had him carved up like a turkey. It's been one of those things that keep me awake at night."

"So why not go to a church and confess?" Johnny asks. "You are catholic arn't you?"

"Faith is only a comfort if you have any Johnny. I've lost my faith in the Catholic Church and the people behind it. I've been to church almost every sunday of my life and so has my dad and Juan's family. You have a group of people who smuggle, rob, steal, kill, and trafic in human beings for six days out of the week and Going to a building on the seventh and donating blood money is supost to make everything kosher again. No Johnny Fuck that and Fuck their god." Maria says venomisly. "You have an organization that is suposedly dedicated to the betterment of mankind by following the guidelines put forth by the creator of the universe. Insted they are in bed with men who's only goal is to become undescribably rich off the misery of others. If Juan and his ilk are getting into Heven I would much rather sell my soul to the devil so at least I get some nice lingure and silk sheets when i spend an eturnity as a Succubi's plaything."

Now as I know that some of you do read this. I would like some comments on an upcomming adversary...

El Monsturo

It can hold 12 people and can reach 68mph? With those facts in mind, and from the picture they show of it, I get the impression "The Monster '11" (not a very original name in my opion) has pretty light armor. Give the border patrols AT4s or possibly even an M2HB .50 cal and it would be pretty easy to take down compared to most tanks or APCs.

I can't tell for sure, but the inflated rim on the bottom of the vehicle looks like that of a hovercraft vehicle. Is this supposed to be able to glide over mines?

Yeah it's lightly armored. Basically it's an armored body bolted to a truck frame. Similar vehicles have been designed and built for security use and those can stop 7.62 Soviet and possibly NATO rounds. You are quite right about an AT4 or a M2HB shreading such vehicles.

What makes them so dangerous is the simple fact that until resently Drug Gangs did not use armored vehicles designed for combat. Sure they used armored limos and SUVs, but they did not use armored vehicled designed to attack other gangs and/or the police.

For people who are not prepared to face armor such a vehicle is a real killing machine. Now I am sure that in places the border patrol would love to patrol in APCs but politically that is not viable unless things get alot worse.

Ok should I continue with the action or should I show everyone what Johnny was doing the morning he went down into mexico and introduse the girl with the Grim Reaper Tattoo?

Ok so I got no answer. I guess that the story is going to remain trapped on either my hard drive or in my notebooks then.

My usual computer is down so in order to save some data I'm giving you Johnny's Morning. The reason he was in mexico when he met Maria.

Johnathan "Johnny" Bishop inhaled the sent of lavender under toned with something distinctively feminine. It was then that Esmeralda "Dizzy" Gomez snuggled her slim body against him in her sleep. They had spent the previous day together and they had ended up sharing Dizzy's bed. He opened her eyes and studied her angular brown features. Gently he brushed a strand of dark hair away from her face and kissed her forehead.

She stirred at his kiss and opened her dark, coffee colored eyes. She caressed his chest and kissed him softly on the lips. "Good morning Johnny."


Johnny slid his hand down over her body, enjoying the firm, tight curves, and gave her butt an affectionate squeeze. "Good morning to you too."

They had been friends for years and had quietly shared the same girlfriend for a while. Unfortunately they had Lost Amber to violence way too soon. Neather one of them had dated anybody since then, Although Dizzy had been flirting with a cute blonde who came to the shows of Dizzy's band.

Snuggling for a bit under the covers, they enjoyed the time alone to themselves. Entwined they heard the sound of a door opening elsewhere in the apartment. Johnny gave a knowing smile as Dizzy slipped a long, toned leg off of him. Soon the door to Dizzy's bedroom opened and her four year old daughter, Lucinda, looked around the door into the room.

The little girl ran to the bed with the arms up so that Johnny could help her. He reached under her arms and lifted her on top of the bed and over to Dizzy. He watched the pair cuddle for a bit before he got up. Watching both mother and child share a loving moment was a bittersweet joy. Slipping on his pants he picked up his custom Double stack M1911 from the nightstand on his side of the bed. He hit the magazine release, dropping the 14 round magazine into his left hand. Checking the magazine tension with his thumb he re-inserted the mag and made sure a round was in the chamber. Then he checked the Ed Brown Tritium fixed carry sights before shoving the handgun behind his right hip.

Johnny stopped in the bathroom before heading downstairs to the kitchen. Opening up the refrigerator he got out the ingredients for breakfast. Some eggs, ham, orange juice, and various seasonings were placed on the counter. By the time Dizzy and Lucinda arrived downstairs he had made three omelets with ham and orange juice.

"Johnny, do you think you made enough food?" Dizzy asks looking at the generous portions that Johnny made for them. She really didn't mind as he provided quite a bit of food for his friends. "Are you trying to make me fat?"

"Esmeralda." Johnny says using Dizzy's real name. "It would take allot more than that to fatten you up."

Dizzy had the lean build of a professional runner or a gymnast. Combined with her just short of six foot height, it made her seem much thinner. Besides the metabolism of a ferret, Dizzy jogged, did yoga, aerobic kickboxing and spent at least a dozen hours a week drumming. Lucinda still had the chubbiness of a toddler but it was obvious that she had inherited her mother’s height and build.

They ate breakfast and the adults cleaned up the mess. Soon Dizzy's daughter was engrossed in morning cartoons. Johnny and Dizzy were sitting at her kitchen table with Her Tarot deck. Dizzy looked over her cards. "This is interesting, it seems that you will meet a girl soon and will be a couple. Unfortunately it seems that there are allot of problems that you will face to be together."

"I'm going into Mexico today." Johnny informs her. "Is there anything you want me to give to your aunt or your grandparents?"

"Yeah I do have a couple of things." Dizzy replies. "I would have taken them, but things are getting bad again across the river."

Mexico was going through a periodic upswing of violence. Going through Ciduad Juarez was taking ones life in ones own hands. The violence was spilling over into El Paso, Texas. If one looked at some of the buildings facing Mexico, you can see the fresh bullet holes from rounds fired across the border. In addition to random rounds you had Mexican Hit teams and American gangsters crossing the border to commit acts of violence. Johnny knew the risks and accepted them.
I know these Apartments have a no weapon policy. But, would you mind if I stashed my guns here until I get back?" Johnny asked. Mexico has Tyrannical laws restricting firearms ownership and harsh penalties for violations. The laws limited law abiding citizens to non-military calibers at the descression of the local authorities. The drug cartels didn't care and imported military hardware by the ton to protect their trade. If an American accidentally brought even one prohibited round into Mexico and got caught they would spend Years in Prison.

In addition to the M1911 that he carried in his belt, Johnny had a pair of Rifles that they had shot the day before locked up in his truck. The first was a DS Arms SA58 Para that he used for both competition and culling destructive game for some farmers and ranchers that he knew. The second was a rifle that he had saved up over ten grand to buy and accessorize. It was a fifty seven inch long, Thirty pound, fifty caliber Barret M82A3 long range rifle. He had bought it because he had pushed his other rifles to their practical limit. With the Barret he had three times the range of the SA58. The only issue was that it was expensive to shoot much.

"I'm not sure I can hide the big one." Dizzy says referring to the Barret. While her apartment complex had a no weapon policy, she didn't think twice about further violating it further.

"It shouldn't be a problem as its disassembled and in a covert case." Johnny points out with a grin. In his mind he pictured Dizzy curled up behind the bipod of the Barret. The body position needed to comfortably shoot the mammoth rifle did wonderful things to a girl's backside. “It doesn't look too much different than some of your musical gear."

The pair makes a quick trip out to Johnny's truck and stashes the rifles in Dizzy's bedroom. Johnny's M1911 ended up in Dizzy's nightstand next to her Glock 19. Thus disarmed, he was ready for a trip into what some called Murder City.

"Johnny, I'm going to call Mi Familia and let them know you're going to show up.” Dizzy tells him as he gets into his truck.

"Thanks." Johnny says leaning down and kissing Dizzy. "Last night when you read the Tarot, you had said that I was going to meet someone. Who knows maybe I'll find her."