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Post by Deleted on Jan 19, 2010 20:46:57 GMT 2
Angel threw his feet up on the kitchen table, crossing them at the ankles and leaned back into the chair. With one hand he held a steaming cup of coffee, blowing air on it in hopes of cooling it down this century. In the other hand, he held today's newspaper, the one he had swiped off the next door neighbor's porch.
He glanced at the clock on the wall and then at the ceiling, hearing footsteps upstairs. "Bout fucking time," he mumbled.
He had been waiting patiently for signs of life from upstairs. As he let himself in a few hours before, he had taken the liberty of getting acquainted with the dog, who was now sleeping happily underneath his chair, and briefly took a nap on the couch. As he grew bored with waiting around for Brian to wake up, he decided on making breakfast for himself.
They (both Angel and the dog) were stuffed with the feast he had created for them, courtesy of Brian's fridge, of course. Angel thought about doing the immense amount of dishes he had piled up in the sink to keep himself busy, but decided not to.
He didn't wanna come off as some sort of pansy.
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Post by Brian O'Conner on Jan 20, 2010 0:22:27 GMT 2
It was another week day and time to get ready to go to work. Today was the day he had to figure out a good reason not to come to work tomorrow because the day after tomorrow Dom would be transferrred to Lompoc. The big day.
On his way down the old creaking stairs to turn on the coffee machine before he got in the shower he thought about their plan again until the smell of freshly brewed coffee filled his nose. Jack or Letty were already up at 6.30 am? That was very unusual. Brian walked into the kitchen to pour himself a cup and had a brief look around who was up at such an early hour. "Jack?" He asked while he streched his arms out and scratched his back. Then he opened the cupboard to grab a cup when his gaze fell upon the array of dishes in the sink and the left overs of what was once in his fridge. With a puzzled look he stared at the stuff.
Then he decided to have a look. With a whistle for Buster, who would usually run around his legs by this time and beg for food, he made his way to the living room just to jump back a few feet with his heartrate going up 50 beats per minute in a splitsecond when he spotted his visitor. A dark, scruffy figure had made himself comfortable on his couch with his feet up and Buster all cozy next to him. When the cop regathered his composure he remarked. "Where's my breakfast, Angel?"
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Post by Deleted on Jan 20, 2010 6:27:35 GMT 2
Angel sighed softly, throwing the newspaper over his shoulder and taking a sip of his coffee. When he was done, he set the cup down on the table and glanced towards Brian. Without taking his eyes off of him, he whistled softly, the dog sitting up at attention. He patted him over the head and then whispered something to him in Spanish. Buster barked and then headed for the back door.
Angel watched him go and smirked softly to himself. "Breakfast is long gone, Brian. If you plan to keep up with me, you'll need to keep certain hours," he replied. He stretched his body out and motioned for Brian to have a seat on the couch. "I hope you don't mind. I took the liberty of training Buster, something you apparently haven't gotten around to. I also made us a nice breakfast, as a treat."
Angel sat back down into his chair, placing his feet back up on the table, picking up his coffee cup once again. There was no need to interrupt his daily routine. He just had to make a few changes here and there- to accomodate Blondie. "We need to talk," he said, before taking another sip of his coffee.
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Post by Brian O'Conner on Jan 20, 2010 11:18:59 GMT 2
Brian let himself fall onto the soft cushions of his couch in an attempt to come off as cool and relaxed. Being in his underwear only made it a little hard. He was uncomfortable without his clothes and especially his gun with Angel around.
"You trained Buster. You're a man of many talents." He frowned. He took a look around to see whether Angel had broken anything this time. "Do you want a key to my place so you don't have to pick the lock each time you come?" He couldn't help but make a smart ass remark. It was Brian's way of overcoming his nervousness.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 23, 2010 18:47:19 GMT 2
"No need. Like you said - I'm a man of many talents. Breaking into your measly home is just a way to keep me and my skills up to par," he replied.
He cocked his head to the side and contemplated this man. He was definitely a complex one. Upon breaking in, Angel had taken a few other liberties. He let himself roam upstairs and into the several different rooms that he found occupied by Jack and a sexy female he had never seen before. He wondered who she was and what part she would or could play in all of this. Other than Jack and his half-assed relationship with Amira, Angel had Brian pegged as a loner.
"In this sad little world of ours, there are rules and regulations. And you broke a major one by running your mouth off to Amira. Now she's a liability, Brian. What am I supposed to do? She's curious. Asking me questions. She wants to know all about me and my business. How shall I deal with this?"
Angel was clearly testing him, eager to know what Brian's response would be. If he chose to deal with Amira himself, it would show character. Someone who was willing to get dirty. If he really wanted to become a part of Angel's crew, Brian should be able to go to any lengths necessary. But if he let Angel make all the moves.... He would be forced to put into effect his backup plan.
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Post by Brian O'Conner on Jan 23, 2010 21:31:59 GMT 2
brian knitted his brow. "I ran my mouth of to Amira...ha!" he snorted. "You're funny. She wanted to have her money back. You apparently forgot to mention the deal we had. So I told her about it."
Brian was confused. Who was playing who in Amira and Angels game. Who was in charge? It seemed like Amira was in charge and Angel was trying to do whatever he pleased. Not only trying. He was like a damn stray bullett. To be honest Brian was rather intimidated by the man and sitting here in his living room in his underwear only didn't make him feel very comfortable. "I don't know what your problem is. Why do you care what she thinks? You're running the show, right?"
Brian spotted one of Jack's shirts on the back of the couch and grabbed it with a swift move, then pulled it over his head. It said 'Potsmokers live longer'.
"How should you deal with this? I don't know...maybe use your incredible charm?" Brian remarked cockily.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 31, 2010 4:27:48 GMT 2
Angel smirked. He wasn't quite sure who was currently playing who... but did it really matter? At the end of the day it was all a sick, distorted game. He was fooling Brian, who was fooling Amira, who was probably fooling them all. He sighed and thought about his options. Brian was clearly no fool. "You're right," he replied, sitting up in his chair and clearing his throat.
"Get dressed. We have a long day ahead of us. I hope you don't mind clearing your schedule for little ole me." He returned his attention back to his cup of coffee, savoring what would probably be the last of a quiet morning. Brian and him were going to have a long day in front of them indeed...
It was time to get down to business.
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Post by Brian O'Conner on Jan 31, 2010 15:54:00 GMT 2
This was not a moment to hestitate. It was a chance Brian and the FBI had been waiting for. So he smiled a crooked smile and asked. "Why, you don't like this shirt?" Then he got up and scratched his head. "Okay, give me a minute. I'll be right back."
With quick steps he made his way upstairs and changed into a plain longsleeve baseball shirt and cargo pants. He reached into his drawer and grabbed his gun, which was sitting right next to his badge. For a moment he looked at it hoping Angel would never find it. With a quick motion he pulled his underwear over top of it and closed the drawer. He had to let 'the office' know what was going on but right now was a bad moment.
On his way back down he shot a look through the slightly open door of the opposite room. Jack was still sound asleep. Letty didn't come home that night so he used the opportunity to use the spare bed for a good night sleep.
Downstairs Brian found Angel looking around his kitchen -probably for more food. That guy was a riot. He seemed to beleive that he owned the place already.
Brian jiggled his keys. "I'm ready, let's go. Where are we going?"
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Post by Deleted on Feb 8, 2010 6:11:20 GMT 2
Angel walked through the lower part of the house, listening to Brian's foot steps hitting the hardwood floor upstairs. He sighed softly, silently wondering if he was doing the right thing. Honestly, there was something about Brian that made him want to let the blond into his world. There was something good about this man, but on the other hand- what did Angel know about being good. His entire life and existence revolved around being bad.
He heard the footsteps approach and then hit the bottom of the stairs. As Brian's voice rang out through the lower part of the house, Angel thought about his question. "We're going to work, Brian. Time to bring home the bacon," he replied. He whistled loudly as he approached the front door, turning on his heel as Buster ran back into the house. "Stay," he commanded, as the dog sat back on his hind legs and stared intently at Angel.
Angel opened the front door and stood on Brian's porch, squinting as the bright Californian sun invaded his eyes. "Starting today, you live, sleep, eat and breathe on my command. There is no room for fuck-ups around here. Every move we make has to be calculated and you need to do all the calculations beforehand," he said.
Angel made his way towards Brian's car, glancing over her shoulder to make sure the blond was following him. As he did, he thought about what Brian's reaction would be to what he was about to show him.
He was about to lead him straight into the lion's den.
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Post by Brian O'Conner on Feb 8, 2010 15:27:27 GMT 2
Brian shot a quick glance at Buster sitting next to the door waiting for Angels next command. he shook his head at the dog. Apparently he liked dominant owners. "At ease, buster." He petted his head and whispered. "Tell Mia I love her if I don't come home."
Then he quickly made his way down the three stairs and towards the car. He got in and waited for Angel to do the same. It was already boiling hot in the car so he rolled up his sleeves and pushed the button for the AC.
He eyed Angel when he buckled up. He didn't like the fact that Angel practically wanted him to be his slave. "I can plan ahead and do whatever it takes but...I'm not going to be your personal slave." He looked Angel straight in the eye. No smile, no sour face, just a fact.
With his blue eyes still fixed on the gangster, who probably wouldn't hestitate to pull the trigger on him if he had to, he turned the key in the ignition and made the engine roar slightly. Brian knew he couldn't push it too far with this guy but he also didn't want to be a push-over. The cop looked in his rear view mirror to check for traffic and put his sunglasses on to shield his eyes from the bright sunlight.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 8, 2010 16:22:43 GMT 2
Angel scoffed, clamping his mouth shut and letting Brian assert himself in this fucked up relationship of theirs. Sure, Brian wasn't going to become his slave, but he sure as hell wasn't going to have it that easy. "I'm not trying to make you my slave, just trying to make sure you understood that this is no 9 to 5. It's been days since I've seen my family, Bri. You always have to be ready for long absences," he replied to his statement.
As they drove through Brian's neighborhood, Angel barked out an address and then briefly gave him a run down of where exactly their target was located. As they waited at a red light, Angel couldn't help but turn towards Brian and glance at him.
"Any meddling family members I should be worried about? Other than Jack of course. I don't wanna fuck up and say the wrong thing to the wrong person," he said, considering the fact that Brian did have a life of his own. He couldn't count how many times a jealous girlfriend had started following a boyfriend around and only ended up walking in on something that could've blown up in their faces.
"I just want to make sure that no one else gets dragged into something they shouldn't be in."
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Post by Brian O'Conner on Feb 8, 2010 16:42:46 GMT 2
"Which crew in your line of business...whatever that is... operates 9 to 5? I'm no dummy, Angel." He replied while taking a sharp turn and overtaking another car right after displaying some of his driving skills.
At the traffic light he kept his eyes on the car in front of him. "No, my family doesn't live in LA." He replied honestly. "Only Jack." Then he turned to face Angel. "And I don't want him involved in this...at all. You see what happened last time. If Jack should be dragged into this you'll be in for an unpleasant surprise from me." He said with a hint of a smile on his face. Brian was aware that it was probably impossible to intimidate a guy like Angel. He just wanted to make a point.
When the light turned green he pushed down on the gas and weaved in and out of traffic quickly getting them to the location through a couple of back roads. If he knew something it was the roads of LA.
While he approached an old style car wash called 'Suzie Qs' he added. "I do have friends who hang around the house all the time. They don't need to know about this."
Then he killed the engine. "What about you? Somebody I have to watch my mouth around? Are you and Amira together?"
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Post by Deleted on Feb 11, 2010 7:09:22 GMT 2
Angel froze briefly but then caught himself. Amira and him? He thought about that question and he thought about the truth. And then he thought about the answer he needed to tell him, the lie he was gonna tell him.
Truth was that they had been grooming him since he was young to be her husband. Since a young age, he had been trying to measure up to her brother. It was his shoes they had intended to fill with Angel, not Amira. But somewhere he went wrong. Somewhere along the line he had not measured up to their expectations. And when Amira's brother went to jail, the head of their organization chose her over him.
The choice still baffled him. How could they choose her over him? What did he do so wrong that they demoted him? And even though she was in charge, she was just the front for them all. He was the one that was making all the decisions. The one taking on all the responsibilities. So why was he letting Amira talk him into letting Brian join his crew?
He knew why. He was still hoping to get their approval. All she had to do was complain to the right person and he would be ground to dust.
He was still trying to get her approval.
"Amira and I are complicated. We have a love/hate relationship. Most of which takes place in bed. She knows nothing about what I do. Just the rumors that fill the street," he replied. He knew he was playing with fire by saying something so disrespectful about his "boss", but he couldn't let Brian think he was going soft on him over a girl.
"I understand about Jack. I try to keep my family out of it as much as possible. My mother's the only one that knows everything. From beginning to end. She's my backup plan, in case something should go wrong," he added. It was true, his mother knew all his dirty secrets. It was his contigency plan. If something should happen to him, the information she had on the entire organization would protect her and their entire family, even if it cruxified him.
Angel pointed to his designated parking spot as Brian pulled into the car wash's parking lot. As they pulled in, he couldn't help but smile at all his hard work. "It's a legit business, Brian, so expect a pay stub. To the rest of the world and the governmennt, this is our 9 to 5. We launder the money we sweep off the streets through the car wash and we also do most of our dealings here. Welcome to the rest of your life," he said, as he began to climb out of the car.
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Post by Brian O'Conner on Feb 11, 2010 21:16:00 GMT 2
Brian listened very carefully to Angels words. Every bit of information could valuable to the FBI. When the man talked about Amira his expression changed a tiny bit. His tone of voice as well. Brian thought he could make out something like an emotion in it. Something about his story and what Brian knew about Amira didn't add up though. Both Angel and his girl told the same story about her not knowing much about what Angel did. To Brian however it seemed a little different.
Angel's voice softened when he talked about his mother. The affection was obvious. It was the same he felt about Jack and was grateful that Angel agreed to keep him out of 'business'. he wondered however what Angel meant when he said 'in case something goes wrong'. Did he have suspicions that somebody was on his track? The FBI agent instantly hope he wasn't walking into a trap. His guttfeeling told him he wasn't. It seemed that the gang leader just gave him the key to his world. A mixture of excitement and worry washed over him. 'Welcome to the rest of your life.' That just seemed too long,too much. On the other hand he had just handed him the intel that the FBI had been looking for for almost 3 years on a silver platter. The car wash didn't only wash cars. It washed the dirty money. This wasn't enough though. Brian needed to know more names and how Braga was tied to Angels gang.
He got out of the car and ran his hand over the goosebumps on his arm looking at the small business. Nobody would suspect anything here. "Sounds good to me." He followed Angel. "So what do you want me to do?"
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Post by Deleted on Feb 20, 2010 2:11:40 GMT 2
"Simple," Angel said, walking towards the car wash. He lead Brian around to the side, pushing open a heavy solid, metal door that lead into his private office. When they entered, he pushed around the cluttered desk that lined the wall and searched for a cell phone. When he found one he handed it to Brian. "You get a call, you pick up. You follow directions," he said. He motioned to another door and waited for Brian to make his way through it, before continuing his speech.
They were currently standing in a hallway, looking at the inner workings of the car wash. The outer wall of the hallway was comprised of two-way mirror material. Angel was looking at his employees, watching them like a hawk, 24/7.
"Cars come in and we try to clean them in about ten minutes or less. Some cars take a little more time though," he said, motioning to the car that his employees were currently working on. They watched as the workers pulled out the spare tire and sliced it open, revealing several white packets. "Those that take more time are the ones you're gonna be working on. You my friend are to make sure that these cars come in and leave within the specified amount of time. I've been at this for a long time, but some employees have been getting sloppy."
Angel talked as he walked down the hallway, never taking his eyes off the workers. "We've been lucky so far, but that doesn't mean we can get sloppy. They are taking longer and longer to get the goods into the office and the cars back to their owners. We don't want or need anyone getting suspicious because one of those fools decided to drop the ball," he said.
"I need you to get these men into shape, Brian. Just watch them. Get them to work together, faster. I need you to come up with better ways to get the goods hidden in the cars. Customs and border agents are getting better and better at catching the cars that drive all the way from Mexico to this shop. Our profits are slipping and so are we." On his last statment, he turned on his heel and came face to face with Brian, wondering if he was going to back out now because he knew what Angel was about.
To Angel, Brian was the lifeline he needed. It was true, profits were slipping. Out of the hundred cars that were being driven up to Echo Park with the sole purpose of delivering drugs to him, only a handful were making it through. They coudln't afford to get sloppy now. Angel needed to step up his game if he wanted to impress the bosses.
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Post by Brian O'Conner on Feb 21, 2010 0:51:18 GMT 2
Brian payed as much attention as he possible could to angel's words while taking in the details of the men working on the car, the carwash itself including installed security devices like cameras and motion detectors or mirrors. Brian didn't even have to hide his awe. He was supposed to be a bit surprised or even impressed. Angel was trying to sucker him into his world so Brian played the game. When the man was done talking and looked him in the eye Brian looked right back without flinching and replied. "Good thing you brought me on board. I'm sure I can come up with some ideas." He casually leaned against the doorframe and watched a couple of guys open another trunk. "I'm surprised you even get the drugs across in the spare tires. Don't the customs dogs sniff them out? Or are those tires sealed specially?" After a moment he straightened up and asked. "Why do you go through the border check?" If Angel's gang was connected to Braga, which was pretty likely considering he was trafficking drugs from Mexico to LA in cars, he was surprised Angel didn't know about the tunnels.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 24, 2010 5:19:27 GMT 2
Angel cocked an eyebrow. Brian was asking a lot of question, but he seemed to be justified. He was about to be knee deep in a pile of shit, just like him. He deserved some answers. Which ones, was up to Angel.
He thought about the tunnels Braga kept in the desert and he started to fume. Braga's greediness had put them on the map. He insisted on doubling the shipments and word had come down from the top that the feds were on to them. Traffic through the tunnels had slowed down to the point where he was better off having his mules drive the product up to Echo Park. Braga now used the tunnels to transport goods that were too high of a risk to be caught by the feds. What was so important to Braga that he needed exclusive rights to the tunnels, he didn't know and Amira wasn't sharing.
"I got some cousins that work for border patrol. I give them the vehicle and driver info and they make sure the car doesn't get inspected. If it does, they confiscate the product and return it back to Mexico, only to be snuck back over the border the next day," he replied.
Angel motioned to the workers putting the car back together and wiping it down with rags before returning it back to the owner. "That's why you're here. The spare tire trick is getting old. We need something new. Lately we've been filling up the gas tank with the products, but that's too complicated and takes too long to extract. I need something knew to approach the bosses with."
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Post by Brian O'Conner on Feb 24, 2010 23:24:51 GMT 2
Brian could tell by Angles dark expression that he had adressed a touchy subject and decided not to pursue it any further. He had seen Angels temper and didn't want to become the next one checked off his list by asking too many stupid questions. Brian had to be very careful around this guy and watch exactly what he was saying in ordered not to be detected as a cop. Angel would probably kill him on the spot.
He would soon have to report in and his boss would probably value the information about the cousins at the border but that wasn't enough. They were just small fish. Brian needed to find out who the main guy south of the border was and who was pulling the strings in LA if it wasn't Angel. The clock was ticking.
He turned to watch the guys working on the car a little longer and then nodded. "Okay." Here he was - put on the spot to come up with some sort of illegal way to import even more illegal drugs. He chewed his lip for a moment and suggested. "Have you thought about putting natural gas tanks in the cars and filling them up with your stuff instead of gas? You can't check one of those and simply take it apart without risking it to blow up in your face. So the customs guys won't touch them. If you put them into a car for fuel efficiency you usually keep your normal gas tank as well. So they wouldn't get suspicious. You'd just need a few decent cars in order to make it beleivable rather than this old piece of rust there."
Brian watched Angel's reaction out of the corner of his eye and then started pacing up and down. Suddenly he stopped dead in his tracks and grinned. "Or instead of using a car you could load up a van and stuff a lot of smelly seafood in there so the dogs won't be able to smell your 'products'."
He pointed at the window. "Why don't you introduce me to your boys?"
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Post by Deleted on Mar 1, 2010 5:30:54 GMT 2
"Anything you want. You got it. The boss won't mind spending a few extra dollars on our mission. She's actually quite a spender," he said, but instantly caught himself. Crap. I fucked up. Shit, I need to be more careful with this kid. I'm getting a little too comfortable with him. I can't be letting shit like that slip out.
He changed the subject, trying to make Brian skip over his slip-up. "Come on, I'll introduce you to the crew," he said, walking over to the end of the hallway.
The hallway doors were equipped with keypads and cameras that kept security to a maximum. He punched the 9 digit code in quickly, almost instinctively, and opened the door that led directly into the insides of the car wash.
The workers turned towards them and nodded their way. "Yo, this is Brian. Your new team leader," he said, turning towards Brian and motioning to the team.
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Post by Brian O'Conner on Mar 2, 2010 0:32:29 GMT 2
Of course Brian had noticed that Angel referred to his boss as 'she'. For a moment he wondered whether he should jump right on that bit of information or let it go. He decided for the middle ground. While he followed Angel through the camera protected door he asked. "Will I meet the boss soon?"
Then he focussed on his first impression on the workers. He made sure not to stand behind Angel but slightly in front of him and straightened his back. Loud and clear he said. "I'm not sure how you guys have been working so far but I heard you're getting a little slack here and there." He looked in their slightly annoyed faces and continued by stepping in front of a rather large fellow. Through gritted teeth he said straight to his face. "That won't happen on my shit." If anybody was going to risk a bit lip Brian was ready to punch their lights out right there and then in order to give them the right first impression.
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