absence of affection- javier peña

Part 4

They all went back to the station and both Steve and Vanessa got to work. As they were looking at their work, Peña walked in. Murphy tapped Vanessa on the shoulder and she turned to face him. "Welcome to the Medellín cartel." Steve smiled before Peña walked over and took Murphy's pen and crossed out three people.

On her way home from the station, Vanessa stopped at a local bar while Connie and Steve went home. She had a few drinks and then saw Peña walk in. He looked at her for a few seconds before walking in the opposite direction and sitting down somewhere else. She scoffed before getting up and walking out and heading home. When she walked upstairs she saw Connie and Steve standing in the doorway staring at something. "Murphy?" she spoke and Connie screamed and turned around "What the fuck?!" Vanessa yelled as Connie began aimlessly hitting her. "Connie! Connie, stop!" Steve yelled as he pried Connie off of Vanessa. "What the hell is your problem–" she stopped as she saw what they were staring at. "Where's your camera?" Steve asked Vanessa "Under my bed." she spoke as Connie hugged her and Vanessa continued staring ahead of her.

They all slept somewhere else that night and brought the picture to the station the next morning. "There's something you should see." Vanessa said to Peña as she walked in. He gave no response so she handed him the picture. "I'm more of a dog man myself, but no cat deserves this." Peña said as he examined the picture. "Did you tell anyone about why you were down here?" he asked Vanessa and she furrowed her brows "It's his cat, not mine. Why are you questioning me?" she asked, "Answer the question, Barlowe." Peña ordered "No. I did not tell anyone." she crossed her arms. He then directed his attention to Murphy. "Not to get personal but have you had any encounters?" he asked "Encounters?" Steve questioned. "I'm married. She's my best friend." Steve said as he pointed to Vanessa whose face contorted with disgust "Ew." Vanessa shook her head "Right." Peña nodded "Only people I've encountered outside of the DEA and my wife and best friend are those Columbian cops in Medellín." Murphy said. "No, no, Carrillo's solid." Peña told him. "Did anyone have access to your credentials?" he questioned and both Vanessa and Steve looked at each other. "Passport." Vanessa whispered. "You gave someone your passports?" Peña asked as he turned to face her.

"We were trying to get Puff through immigration." Steve said as he stood up and began pacing "Puff?" Peña questioned, "I didn't name it, dude." Steve told him. "Traffickers pay people at the airports for intel. A gringo coming from Miami raises suspicion. That's how you got made. Don't let it rattle you, man, that's what they want. You both probably got a price on your heads, but no one's gonna take the contract." Peña explained "Fucking price on our heads?" Vanessa questioned "There's a standing bounty of 350,000 US on any DEA down here, but you're safe...because of Kiki." Peña said. "Do not tell Connie that story." Steve ordered. "I won't. But neither of you should forget it, either." Peña said "Why?" Steve asked "This cat is DEA." Peña said as he held up the picture of the cat. "Mark my words, it will get justice." he said as he looked at the picture.

The next morning, Steve dropped Connie off and then met up with Vanessa and Peña at the station where they were driven by Peña to a shop of some sort. They all walked in and Peña sat down at a table which led both Barlowe and Murphy to sit down as well. Peña and the man conversed for a moment as Murphy and Barlowe cluelessly looked at each other "The only thing I got out of that was cat." Barlowe whispered to Murphy "What's he saying?" Murphy asked Peña. "I'm tellin' him about the cat." Peña said before the man began talking again. "Okay so he just told him it was the narcos and they don't...shit lightly?" Barlowe shrugged. The man then looked over at Vanessa and Steve before speaking. "Your friend is a little crazy." he said in Spanish. "He said-" Vanessa began "No habla español, amigo, I don't know what you're sayin'." Steve shook his head. "I don't speak English." the man replied in Spanish and Steve just stared. Peña and the man kept talking and Vanessa tried to pick through what they were saying "This is why I can't speak Spanish. One word can mean 100 different fucking things." she whispered to Murphy "What is he sayin'?" Murphy asked Peña in a sort of urgent tone. 

"They don't like cats in this country." Peña told Murphy and Barlowe. "Tell me about it." Murphy sighed and then the man began speaking to Peña again. Then Peña slid the man a wad of cash across the table. Peña then slid a paper and pen over to the man. After examining it, Vanessa looked at Javier. "Is that a D-103?" she questioned "Yup." Peña replied. "So you gotta pay off a cop to get information and then get a receipt?" she asked and Peña looked at her "I gotta get reimbursed." he told her and she shook her head. The man then stood up and said something. "Let's go." Peña said as he walked away, Murphy and Barlowe followed. They were brought to the same location as the receptionist from the airport and his boss. They were behind a one-way mirror, watching as the men were interrogated. The interrogator said something and the receptionist laughed. Without missing a beat the interrogator leaned forward and slapped him. 

The interrogator turned around and motioned for the agents to come in. Barlowe walked in first, hitting the receptionist on the shoulder, causing him to jump before she walked over to stand between him and his boss. Murphy then walked over and stood next to her. "Miss. Barlowe, Mr. Murphy, do you recognize these men?" the interrogator asked. "Yeah, you guys stalled me and my friend here at the airport so you could take our passports and scan them, didn't you?" Vanessa asked.