The Court Chronicles (A Blog Novella) - Part II, Chapter 9

Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8...

"Bueno, I'll let him know, but he's not going to be happy."

Garrett closes Jay's cell phone and throws it in the glove compartment.

"Hey, be careful with my phone."

"It's a piece, man, who uses flip phones anymore?" says Garrett.

"I do, dick and if it wasn't for that 'piece', we wouldn't have been able to give Vasquez' people a heads up. What did they say?"

"That he would give him the message, you know it's tough to actually talk to Vasquez."

"Did you let them know I had nothing to do with this?" asks Jay.

"Calmado, everything's cool", Garrett reassures Jay.

Garrett can't stop thinking about Veronica and how much he was into her. It wasn't supposed to go down like this. They were suppose to go golfing and Arturo was going to transfer the stuff to Garrett's truck. Garrett was then going to walk Veronica to her car, say he had a good time and meet Jay in Long Beach.

"So how much does she know?" asks Jay, interrupting Garret's thoughts.

"Not a damn thing as far as I know."

That answer wasn't good enough for Jay, he needed to make sure she knew nothing because El Chulo would have no problem sticking his foot in Jay's ass and leaving it there for a good while.

"As far as you know? I'm surprised you're not popping mints like a mad man."

"I ran out."

"Well, she better not know a damn thing because I'm pretty sure we'd be castrated if she gave us up."

"I highly doubt she suspects either one of us," but Garrett didn't even believe that himself. They would need to be careful and tactful with every move from here on out until the delivery was made.

The hot bright light was shining directly into Veronica's eyes and she had to squint just to make anything out. She finally gave in and put her hand up to shield her eyes.

"Is this bright light really necessary? I can't see anything."

Sgt Howell moves the light out of Veronica's eyes and continues flipping through a file.

"Look, it's almost 6 in the morning and I've been up all night. Is there anyway I can go home and come back in a few hours?"

Sgt Howell gives Veronica an annoyed look, "Sure, Ms. Nuñez, we'll let a whole drug cartel keep running rampant because you need your beauty sleep."

Veronica didn't take sarcasm aimed at her very well and since she hadn't been to sleep was understandably cranky, "Look, Sargent, you've kept me here all night, I've told you everything I know and now you're pulling this sarcasm shit with me? What's to stop me from getting up and leaving right now?"

"You're absolutely right and I apologize, Veronica, may I call you Veronica?"

"No."

That answer caught Howell by surprise and he knew that if he didn't make her more comfortable he was going to lose his sure way in to Vasquez' operation.

"Can I refresh your coffee Mrs. Nuñez?"

"I think that's a good idea, it's the only thing keeping me up."

"Sanka, right?"

Veronica couldn't help but smile at the Sgt's lame attempt at a joke. She played along, "Exactly."

Sgt Howell takes Veronica's coffee cup and walks out of the briefing conference room. The morning shift officers are just getting in and the police station is just waking up. The break room is crowded with cops getting their morning coffee and donuts. Howell hated walking in there at this time of the morning because it was a cliche. He maneuvered his way through the officers to the coffee pots and refilled Veronica's cup.

As he walks back to the briefing room he spots Sgt Johnson and stops her in the hall. "Sgt, can I borrow you for a minute? I need some help prepping someone for a sting."

Sgt Johnson's green eyes light up, she's been looking to get into something juicy for months now, "Absolutely."

Veronica was struggling to keep her eyes open, where was Howell with her coffee. The door opens and Howell walks in with a female officer, great, more cops.

Sgt Howell slides the coffee cup towards Veronica, "Ms. Nuñez, this is Sgt Johnson and she will brief you on the sting operation."

Sgt Johnson extends her hand, "Good to meet you Ms. Nuñez."

Veronica shakes Johnson's hand, "You can call me Veronica."

Jay parks the Tahoe behind the In-N-Out Burger and places the place mat on his lap. Garrett watches him and laughs.

"What?"

"You actually use that thing? Maaaaaas puto!" says Garrett laughing hysterically.

"Whatever, man, that's what it's for and these jeans are Gucci."

"Once again, maaaas puto!"

"Give me my burger!"

Garrett hands Jay his Double Double all the while laughing. Jay's phone rings and Jay picks it up to look at the caller ID screen. He doesn't answer it.

Garret notices and asks, "What's wrong?"

Jay holds up the phone so Garrett can see the ID and it says "Veronica".