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.
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