Livewire

Chapter 23

Kyle reached the end of the road and pulled the truck to a stop. A cloud of sand and dust billowed up around the truck tyres, shrouding the surroundings in a thin haze. Once the cloud had dissipated they climbed out. The track Joe told him about was in front of them, tucked into the dense trees and undergrowth.

Kyle slung the sports bag over his shoulder and took the lead. He was not sure that what he was following wasn't actually just an animal track, but he forged ahead, confident in his decision. The path wiggled between the trees with the lake only just visible through the foliage on his left.

The jungle surrounding them gave way and opened out onto a beach, just as Joe said it would. It was completely tucked out of sight from the rest of the world. The trees on the opposite shore of the lake were just as dense as the ones on surrounding the beach. At the far end was a wooden shack. They carried on walking towards it, their feet sinking into the fine grains of white sand.

Up close, he could see a figure of a man lying in a sun lounger in front of the shack. The man was wearing board shorts which were tight around his chunky legs and his skin was tanned like an old leather couch. He was lying back in the lounger with a panama hat covering his face. His broad arms were resting on his belly with his hands held together in the middle. A gold watch glinted round his wrist in the sunlight while Kyle approached. It had to be Uncle Joe.

Joe didn't move from his spot when he heard them approach. "Found the place alright then?"

He could see a few prison tattoos on Joe's arms that weren't there before. Although he was a little softer round the edges, he was still probably just as tough as he was before prison. If not tougher from the stint locked up.

He threw the sports bag down next to the sun lounger then started to walk away.

Joe sat up and removed the hat to reveal his sunglasses. "Not even gonna wait for me to count it?"

"It's all there–"

"I believe you. See I know I can trust you lad. I've always known that." Joe stared hard into Kyle's eyes. "Who's the bird then?"

"I'm Trudie," she said.

"She's my woman."

Joe raised his eyebrows. "An American." He nodded. "I'm glad to see you've found yourself someone lad." His eyes turned to the right where Angie was walking out of the water. The sun glinted her wet body as she walked up towards them, stroking her wet hair and swinging her hips. She strode up and grabbed the towel on the second sun lounger, then dabbed her face and hair.

"Hey Kyle. Nice to see you again."

He felt a panic surge and could feel Trudie step up closer behind him. In the corner of his eye he noticed her jaw clench.

"This must be your girlfriend?" Her eyes glanced over to Trudie.

Joe had noticed the growing tension. "Kyle's brought us the money."

"You'll be going back to London then?" He said.

Joe pulled his sunglasses down. "Look around, kid. This place is paradise. No, London can wait. I'm not leaving this place just yet."

"Right. Well you've got your money Joe. I'll be heading off."

"So soon?" Joe laughed. "I'm sure I'll see you before I go."

He turned and put his arm around Trudie. She was glowering at Angie while she lay back on the sun lounger, paying them no notice. He had to pull her away. They walked back down the beach, along the narrow track to where the truck was parked up.

They drove back in silence. Trudie still looked on edge after the encounter with Angie and he didn't want to provoke her. His own head was whirring with thoughts too. He sat behind the wheel and felt anger surging inside him. It was over, Joe was paid off. So why did he feel like it wasn't quite the end. Like Joe wasn't really out of his life for good.

He pulled up outside Casa Fortuna and his hand gripped the wheel so tight his knuckles were white.

"What's wrong?"

He sighed. "Something tells me that isn't the last I'm gonna see of him."

"But you paid him. He's got nothing over you anymore."

"I know. But I've got this feeling in my gut."

She rested her hand on his leg. "We're in it together." She smiled. "I'm working tonight, we can talk about it later."

"Sure." He leaned over and kissed her. "I've gotta get the truck back to Emilio anyway." She hopped out of the truck and darted inside. The sky had already started darkening as evening was giving way to night. The alleyway was gloomy without the neon sign above the door lighting it up. His eye caught the shadow of a figure lurking up ahead in the alley. He squinted trying to distinguish their features. Other than the jazz club, there was nothing else on the alley. What was this person doing there?

A dot of orange appeared in front of the figure's face when he sucked on a cigarette. It was enough light for Kyle to see some of his features - the line of his jaw and the shape of his eyes. The glow faded and with it his face disappeared back into the shadows.

Just a smoker. What else would anyone be doing in the alley? He'd been so on edge the last few days that an intense mistrust had grown inside him. People who he'd not even met before he started to assume were following him or watching him. None of them were of course. It was all in his head.

He ground the gears putting the truck into first and revved hard to get it moving. The clutch was slipping. Just another thing wrong with the truck that Emilio wouldn't fix. If it still drove then why get it fixed? That was his mantra.

Emilio was down at the boat shed again, swilling beer and touching up the bad paint job he did before. He chucked him over the truck keys and Emilio chucked the keys to his harley in return.

"Gracias hombre. I hope you took good care of her."

He laughed. "Yeah it's still just as much of a wreck. Oh and your clutch is going."

Emilio shrugged. "Yeah for like a month already. What are your plans for the rest of the night?"

"Trudie's working, so probably–"

"Don't tell me. Hector's."

"Yes. Hector's."

"You know the guy is cartel and yet you keep going there."

"Ex-cartel–"

"We both know there's no such thing."

"Well how do you think he'd react if I stopped going, right after I found out about his cartel connections?"

"Nothing good can come of you going there all the time." There was anger in Emilio's tone. Like his decision to continue to frequent Hector's was a personal affront.

"I've been going there for ten years–"

"Ok. But don't say I didn't warn you when you end up floating face down in Laguna Real."

"I'll see you later Emilio. Don't take this attitude back to Mama." He turned and left Emilio with his coolbox of beers. Just because Hector had connections to the cartel didn't mean Kyle was at any risk. Hector had other patrons and they had no cartel links. Did they? Doubt crept into his mind. He didn't know for sure - maybe they were cartel too.