Graceland: Family Affair

Chapter Twenty-Four

Mike and Paul sit at a table with Mendoza Junior. Ten minutes in, so far so good. Up until now, it had been polite chit-chat. They'd ordered drinks, and all seemed relaxed and casual. They had been careful to take a table that was situated 'out-of-the-way', putting an invisible barrier between them and the rest of the restaurant diners. The waiter walks over to the table and leaves their drinks down, each thanking him. Johnny shoves another handful of sweets into his mouth – how can he eat at a time like this?

"So where's your Father? Is he coming later or –?" We hear Paul ask, impatiently getting to the point. I cringe and slap my hand against my forehead.

"Oh, Paul...what are you doing?!" I whisper as I facepalm myself.

"It'll be fine", Johnny says, his mouth full of sweets.

"My Father is not coming", Mendoza Junior answers matter-of-factly with his strong Mexican slur. "He's still – how should I put this? – unsure about –"

"About us?!" Paul exclaims, cutting Mendoza off, which I'm sure is a big mistake.

"It's your funeral, brother..." I murmur to myself.

"You have to earn my Father's trust...we don't know enough about you!" Junior laughs. He picks up his glass and starts to swirl the drink inside it.

"We don't know anything about you –" Paul cuts in.

"I mean..." Junior looks up and his tone turns more serious. "...how do we know this isn't a set up?" This shuts Paul up. After a moment of silence, Mike pipes up.

"Well...I can assure you, this isn't a set up", Mike says coolly before taking a sip of his drink.

"That's what you'd say if it was one!" Junior smirks.

"This isn't some kind of game! You know what, we don't need this –" Paul slams his drink down in anger. Mike holds a hand out to Paul in an effort to calm him down.

"What can we do to put your mind at ease? I mean, we would love to get to know you and work with you, but if you would rather us leave –" He starts to rise from his seat.

"No –" Junior puts his glass down. "Don't leave. Let's stay and...talk", he smiles slyly. "We just want to know who we're dealing with before we set anything in stone and let you into the fold...you can understand that, right?"

"Well, we're open books..." Mike holds his hands out in a gesture of openness.

"Do they even have a backstory?" I softly ask Johnny.

"Not that I know of..." He answers, stunned. "So this'll be interesting..."

Twenty minutes later, I'm sat staring at the screen with my mouth wide open, completely dumbfounded and speechless at what I've seen and heard spill out from the mouths of my brother and my Mike.

"...And so being able to go into business with my dear brother-in-law has been a dream come true. I mean, at first, even I wasn't sure about this guy..." Paul jokes, pointing at Mike with one hand as he rests his other arm around his shoulder. "He was the guy that was taking my baby sister away –"

"I guess Briggs has noticed the signals Mike's been showing toward you –" Johnny laughs. I shoot him a frustrated glare.

"But I truly couldn't have asked for a better man to marry my sister. And to be in business with family is the greatest gift and blessing – one that I'm sure you can relate to –" He gestures across the table to Mendoza Junior, who is sitting in deep thought, pondering Paul's words. "– which is why we would love to collaborate with you, and make our family business your family business". Paul finally sits back and shuts up, taking a deep breath and a well-needed sip of his drink. There's a moment of silence, and Junior doesn't respond. "So, that's everything...we've laid it all out on the table..."

"So what'll it be, Ricardo?" Mike asks confidently.

"Ricardo? That's his name?! Ricardo?!" I turn to face Johnny, snorting at Mendoza Junior's name. I see a small smile start to form on Mike's face, making me think that he's heard my reaction through his ear piece.

"Yeah! You didn't know?" Johnny squints.

"Nope...there's a lot I don't know about this case...and I definitely didn't picture him as a Ricardo!"

"Are you taking us, or are you leaving us?" Paul finishes Mike's question. Ricardo swirls his drink again as he thinks.

"I don't know yet...I'd like to know more..." Ricardo replies.

"Well, we'd like to know more about you and your Father, but we don't always get what we want –" Paul scoffs.

"And we've told you all there is to tell..." Mike adds. "I think..." He says, quietly.

"I want you to meet my family. No business deals yet, and no answers to your questions tonight. We're throwing a dinner – a family dinner – you will come –" Ricardo instructs.

"I don't know if –" Mike starts.

"You will come!" Ricardo demands, a little harsher and more threatening than before. "Tomorrow night, 8pm, the address is on my card –" He fishes in the inside pocket of his jacket and pushes a card across the table to Mike and Paul, standing up in his seat, straightening his jacket and preparing to leave. "– And you will come, and you will bring your wife – his sister –" He looks at Mike but points at Paul. "And then you might get your answers!" And then Ricardo walks away, leaving an astounded Mike and Paul to pay for the drinks. Meanwhile I'm sat, close to fuming at what I've just heard.

"Looks like you're going undercover –" Johnny nudges me.

"Why me?!" I exclaim defensively.

"As if Paul will let Charlie go in her condition..." Johnny says, starting to dismiss the team for a debrief. I nod slowly in a dazed acknowledgement of what Johnny has said. After just a couple of days at Graceland, they've managed to drag me into this, and I'm not quite sure what exactly it is that they've dragged me into.