absence of affection- javier peña

Part 9

Vanessa pulled up to the building and composed herself before walking inside to see Peña talking to a few guys. "Vanessa." Steve said out of breath as he grabbed her arm. She quickly turned around to face him. "What?" she questioned "Can't you wait for a second?" he asked as he caught his breath and fixed his hunched-over posture. "Okay, let's go." he spoke as Peña continued talking to the officers, Steve dragged Vanessa to the back of the room "What is this shit?" she questioned as she looked around "Enough evidence against Escobar to put him away for 100 lifetimes." Steve said and Vanessa's expression completely changed "Holy shit. Are you serious?" she asked as she took a folder from the shelf and looked through it. "Fuck." Peña whispered as he walked over to Barlowe and Murphy. Barlowe looked up from the folder at Peña "Barlowe." he nodded. "Peña." she replied and Steve felt the tension "What's up?" Murphy asked "Jaramillo's running the show." Peña said. "He's pissed we only gave him 100 grand." he continued. "He's not letting us make copies of anything." Peña said and Barlowe looked up from the file. "There's some good stuff in here, stuff we can use." Barlowe said. "None of it can leave the room." he told her "The narcos have been paying some guy named Ellis McPickle to run coke all over the place." she showed Peña the file "Ellis McPickle?" he asked. "I'm assuming and sort of hoping it's an alias." she said and Murphy softly chuckled "Take 'em." Peña said as he watched other officers put more files in the room. 

Vanessa took the paper from Peña's hands and looked at him. "What?" she questioned "Just stuff 'em down your shirt." he said, not looking at Vanessa or Steve "What?" she raised her eyebrows "What are you talking about, Javi?" Steve asked. "Do you want to catch Pablo or not?" Peña whispered and then cleared his throat. She opened her blazer and was about to put in in a pocket before quickly pulling it out and pressing it to Peña's chest "Why me?" she whispered "Because they'll suspect me. And you really think Murphy'll do it?" Peña questioned and Steve nodded "They won't suspect you." Peña told Barlowe. "What if they search me?" she questioned "They're not gonna search a white girl, okay? You're a guest in their country." Peña said and Steve chuckled "Guests don't usually steal." she continued whispering. "Just do it." Peña forcefully whispered. "Fucking christ." she whispered to herself before unbuttoning one of the buttons on her shirt and stuffing the paper under her bra so it wouldn't move. "Sometimes you have to do bad things to catch bad people." Peña told her. "Let's go." he told the two agents and they walked out, shaking hands with the men on their way out. 

As soon as she got in her car, she took the papers out of her shirt and handed them to Steve. "Jesus christ, these feel like they just got off a printer." she sat as he handed the papers to Peña "Shut up, Murphy." she said sternly. He put his hands up in surrender and she sighed. She knew where the papers needed to go so she drove them to Suárez's office. They arrived and went to his office. Peña handed him the papers and explained to him what they were. "Take this." Peña handed Barlowe a picture and told her who to give it to. She walked to another agent's office and saw he was on the phone. Murphy followed behind her as she sat down on the man's desk and pressed the switchhook, hanging up on the caller on the other line. "Wha--what the fuck is this?" the man yelled and slammed the phone down. "This is me giving you homework." Barlowe said as she handed the man the photo of McPickle. 

"Former CIA pilot flying coke for the narcos." she said as Murphy walked into the room causing her to look over "And we need you to find out who it is." she told the agent. "FIrst off, I don't fuckin' work for you, Barlowe, you hear me?" he shouted as he lifted the picture in the air "Well that's no way to talk to a lady who could easily get you fired." Murphy crossed his arms. Vanessa looked at Murphy and then back at the man, nodding her head. "So don't come in here thinking--" the man began talking again "Is that Barry Seal?" another man walked in and both Vanessa and Steve looked at him as he spoke. "What's he up to these days?" the man asked "Barry Seal." Barlowe smiled as she snatched the picture back. She got off the desk and walked out of the room "Nice work." Murphy said "I work better when I'm pissed off." she said "Is that why you're pissed off all the time, then?" he joked "Oh, ha ha, you're absolutely hilarious." she said in a deadpan tone. 

"So he likes mind-altering drugs and pussy? Wow, perfect CIA material." Vanessa spoke. "This should be easy to find him, then. Hey Peña, where's your favorite place to find hookers?" Vanessa asked Peña and he gave her a location and she just stared at him. "I was kidding." she said. "Oh." he replied. "Let's just get this over with." Murphy said as he started walking away. Vanessa and Javier followed. They then drove to the location. "A friend of mine told me about this place. I've never been here before." Peña defended himself and both Murphy and Barlowe chuckled. "No, I'm serious." Peña said as the other agents kept laughing. "Look." Murphy said as the door opened and a bunch of women wearing only bras and underwear stood around a man who was walking out. "Oh, my god. That's Freckles. I know her." Peña said and Murphy and Barlowe both looked at him before looking back at the man they presumed to be Barry Seal.