The door opened and a short round man stood back to let him in.
“Senior Vasquez is in the living room.”
Javier followed the man into a huge living room.
“Ah, there you are,” he said, raising up from the couch and extending a hand. Vasquez sat back down on the couch and relit his cigar.
“You have the birth certificate?”
“Yes. Here.” Javier threw the birth certificate at him. “Susan’s dead. That was not part of the deal.” His voice raised with each word. “You killed Susan.”
Vasquez looked at Javier in disgust. “I did not. I know nothing of this.”
“You don’t understand. She’s dead. That was not part of the deal.”
Vasquez looked intently at Javier. “We had a deal. I expect you to uphold your end. You are to do as I say, or another part of her family will die. I believe his name is Tyler?”
“No,” Javier said.
“You must do as we agreed. I’m keeping my end of the bargain. You must do your part. I have the papers all here. You have to fill out the paperwork and sign it. This will allow us to get him a passport.”
He softened his voice. “Don’t worry about a thing.” Vasquez smiled. “Javier, relax. Everything is going well. The request for a passport is all we need. I have no immediate plans for Tyler. But I will not hesitate to kill him if you double cross me. Now lay low while the police scurry about. Then you can forget about this unpleasant event.”
“I have a business to run,” Javier said.
“The business will go on without you for the little while this takes,” Vasquez said. “Here, fill this out, and we will take care of everything. Do as we agreed, and the children will be fine. They will be well taken care of. As we agreed, the loans I gave you will be paid off. This will be a tremendous benefit to the rest of your life.”
Javier slowly took the papers without looking at Vasquez and filled them out.
“Good, now have a brandy with me and leave all your worries at my door.”
Javier took a long drink of the smooth liquid and choked.
“You need to sip fine brandy, young man. Relax and enjoy the niceties of life. Everything is working out fine. Go find a place to stay for a while. The paperwork will take a week or so.”
“Rent, perhaps on Stock Island. That way you can move around a little. Just keep away from the police. Go fishing.”
He looked intently at Javier and said smoothly, “Remember you cross me, and the boy will die.”
* * *
Ricardo Vasquez made his way across town to an old two-story house where Consuela Lopez watched the children. The house was surrounded by large trees and overgrown foliage. He opened the tall gate that was connected to a chain link fence behind a tall hedge. He made his way along a narrow path to the front door. His knock was answered by a woman dressed in a silk dressing gown.
“Ricardo.” She smiled and he stepped in taking her in his arms and kissing her.
“Consuela, you look beautiful tonight.” Her long, dark, curly hair hung below her shoulders and cascaded down her back.
“I brought you a present. Everything is falling into place.”
She leaned against him. “The children are asleep.”
Ricardo pulled out a long box from his pocket and handed it to her. She pulled on the gold ribbon and opened the velvet box. An emerald neckless sparkled up at her.
“Oh, Ricardo, this is beautiful.”
“No,” he took the necklace and put it around her neck. “Now it’s beautiful because you’re wearing it.”
“Ricardo, what are we doing with these children?”
“The baby is mine.”
“What?”
“I’m adopting the baby. I want you to come back to Chile with me and we will raise him together.”
“I can’t go back…” The tears filled her eyes and she leaned against him.
“Yes, you can. Fate has given us another chance. It wasn’t your fault about the baby. It has been such a long time, but we still have a chance to be a family.”
Consuela looked into his eyes. “I still love you.”
“And I love you. Now you must trust me. I promise everything will be different.”
She held tight to him. “He is beautiful. I love him already.”
“Trust me.”
“Why were there two boys?”
“He wasn’t supposed to be there when Maria picked up the baby. There was just a mix up. I’ll get it straightened out. Not to worry.”
“Now, it’s late, and we need to get some sleep,” he said, his arm encircling her tiny waist.
Down the hall Tyler rolled over in bed. He pulled the soft sheets and lightweight blanket around his shoulders. He said a prayer and closed his eyes.
I’m sure mom will be back…something must have come up... This thought allowed him to drift off to sleep.
Later that night Vasquez lay on his back and lit up a cigarette. He looked over at the woman sleeping contentedly next to him. The baby monitor on the dresser suddenly announced a disgruntled baby. Consuela’s eyes flew open.
“I’ll be back,” she said. “Don’t leave.”
“Not to worry, my love. I’m not going anywhere tonight.”
Saturday Morning
R. Sloan and his father Alex were heading out on an early morning run. Saturday morning had dawned clear and bright. The air was fresh and the storm clouds were gone.
“You’re telling me that you do this jog every Saturday and Sunday?” Sloan said, trying to catch his breath.
“Not going too fast for you, am I?” Alex said with a smile. “Next month the knee surgeon said I’ll be running this road, for now it’s just
