An Angel's Vice

Chapter 9 - False Pretenses

November 19th, 2008
An Angel's Vice - Red Light Quarter, Española Way

Weeks have passed since the incident between Sugar and Lauren, and Sugar's hitmen and Candy's crew she let get shot up in Buena Vista. Lauren was able to bounce back and get all her ducks in a row (oddly enough) without disturbance, but Candy wasn't. Sugar continued her spontaneous attacks in each one of Candy's territories, but it wasn't without a couple of her guys getting caught and thrown into jail even if they'd get out hours later. Candy let Sugar think she was winning this battle that didn't have to exist between them in the first place if she wasn't such a crazy bitch. She led Sugar to all the places she needed her to be in as she helped Sergeant Cafferty build a RICO case against the mafia boss. In time, he'll have gathered enough evidence to take out the entire family in the U.S.; patience was strongly emphasised here.

Sure, Candy suffered her losses and continued losing valuable men and women. That didn't matter too much though, as the recruiting of Vice Angeles doubled in numbers—most newcomers being immigrants from Colombia, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Mexico, and the Dominican Republic. She provided them safe passage into the ports of Miami-Dade and began to wonder why not gather as many immigrants as she could from all over South America and the Caribbean islands, quadruple her army, and strengthen the organisation of her cartel. No one else in southern Florida had as much leverage as she did. However, there was one simple fact that Candy didn't keep at the front of her mind—the one thing Lauren warned her about: the bigger you expand, the increase of trouble within your cartel on a day-to-day basis. Keeping an eye on that many people is unrealistic, and at some point most of her enemies would come from inside the cartel rather than outside of it.

One person in particular was beginning to see Candy as a problem—a venomous snake slithering in the grass, camouflaging itself with the nonvenomous bunch, available to strike against her own kind at any moment. Ever since Lola's suspicions were confirmed that night and everyone at that restaurant got slaughtered like clueless lambs abandoned by their shepherd, a foul taste she couldn't wash out has plagued her tongue. Candy planned on leaving her there to die too. Had she not figured it out in time, she wouldn't be standing here today, always one step behind Candy, looking over her shoulder, watching her every move. She stopped trying to figure out why Candy would sacrifice her, and she stopped trying to make sense of her boss acting as though she had no idea that attack was going to happen that night and just "happened" to get lucky to be summoned elsewhere just in time. All Lola understood was that the next stunt Candy pulls like that will be her very last, ever.

"Cherry!" Candy shouts for the fifth time.

Lola blinks out of her trance and addresses her boss, first with an apology. She clears her throat and smiles warmly. "Qué te puedo hacer?" (What can I do for you?)

"Are you okay?" the brunette—dressed to the nines in diamonds and a lilac couture halter neck jumpsuit that brings out the light in her auburn eyes, and also draws all attention to the deep v-cut revealing her brown bra styled with rhinestones—expresses genuine concern that both confuses and comforts Lola.

"Sí."

"Segura?" Candy ambles to the round table Lola rests at, right by the sinful angelic statue guarding the cream coloured stone steps leading to the second floor. She sits with her and puts a kind hand on her shoulder. "Anything on your mind? Anything you need?"

Lola kinks her brow. "You're offering your support before you tell me what you're demanding?"

"Sí, claro. I care about you, I want to make sure your needs are met," she sweeps Lola's straight, thin hair behind her shoulder and smiles.