Death & Tequila [mxm]

37. Bottle of Rum

Jaiden and Toni were in the car and heading to Maria's.  Toni glanced at Jaiden, who was silent. Toni knew that Jaiden was running through everything in his head. "Care to share your thoughts?" He asked.

Jaiden played with his ring.  "I feel like I have been dancing to this bastard's tune this entire time."

Jaiden sighed. "The murders of the Garcia and Chavez families were shrouded in mystery for the longest time. The crime scenes were clean. Additionally, Terrance also waited 20 years to exact his revenge. It was hard to pinpoint a suspect and a motive. We didn't consider the foster kids until we found the pamphlet of the Our Lady Church at the last crime scene. This prompted us to look into the church's events, which became our watershed moment.

"We found out about the abuse and the fire. Then we uncovered Terrance's dark past. It fit perfectly like it was spoon-fed to us. He set up everything perfectly so we could focus on Terrance." He leaned his head back on the seat. "If Christopher killed his foster parents out of vengeance, it would have been over now. His goal was completed. He won..."

Jaiden bit his lip. "But he came back... and if it was to come after me, Terrance's killer, then why go through this elaborate ploy and kill three random people? Why set up these insane crime scenes?"

"Are you still thinking about how he mentioned this being a game?" Toni asked.

Jaiden nodded. "I do... and if he calls this a game, what is his end goal? What constitutes the winner and the loser?"

Toni was silent for a while. One hand gripped the steering wheel tightly while the other was on Jaiden's leg. "Isn't his end goal you, mi sol?"

Jaiden gave an awkward shrug. "Maybe. But if he is enjoying this, will he ever stop? Will he ever think that he had won?"

They had pulled up to Maria's and walked inside the empty restaurant. She greeted both of them with a hug. "Hola, boys."

"Hey, Maria." Jaiden smiled. "Sorry for the last-minute favor."

"No need to apologize." She handed them a folder. "This is the information I have for Chris before he left. Sit for a moment and have something to eat while you look it over."

She pulled them to a table, quickly brought out some dishes, and left them alone to work. They knew they could never resist her food, so they happily obliged.

Jaiden opened the folder, and the first thing he saw was an ID with Christopher's pictures. He let out a long breath. "I knew it... it was him."

Toni looked at the picture, memorizing Christopher's face. "How did you know he was working here?"

Jaiden shifted in his chair moment.  "Because I met him.  The night my stepfamily came down, we went to Maria's.  I was about to order another drink, but he recognized me, and he was paying attention to what I was drinking... I thought it was odd at first, and then I assumed I had hung out at the bar too many times. Because of everything happening at that time, I forgot about the interaction.

"I didn't get a good look at his face. But I did see the burn scar on his neck. The injuries were consistent with Christopher's medical report.  On top of that, I remembered Darlene's statement and how she told us about the first victim's affair."

"The one you flirted with." Toni said with a light smile.

Jaiden rolled his eyes. "Not flirted. Don't forget that I am still very into dick—specifically yours."

They both laughed, and it felt good to do so. Today seemed unlikely that Jaiden would have any emotions other than depression and rage.

Jaiden rubbed his chin a little. "Darlene said that Cynthia's lover was injured as a kid and lost his sister. That corresponds with him being injured in the Our Lady's Church fire, which was also when he lost Mary. Additionally, she mentioned that his brother was murdered."