Living Without
Part Twenty-Seven
"What do you mean, she's dead?" Carmen followed her son, who circled her desk and made himself comfortable in her big leather seat.
"I mean what I said, mother. Michelle has officially left the building," Danny replied as he lifted his feet up to rest atop the desk, and he leaned back in the chair. "Could I get some breakfast, please?" he looked around at those in the room.
"What game are you playing, Daniel?" Carmen asked. "What is the meaning of this?"
"I'm not playing any game, Mamá," he answered as he stared her in the face. "You nor Escobar have to worry about her anymore. She's gone," he said and the room went quiet.
Carmen continued to stare at her son, not knowing what to think of what he was saying. "You weren't authorized to kill her," she spoke up again.
"Since when do I need permission to off someone?"
"This wasn't just someone, Daniel! This was Michelle Bauer! The mother of your children. You don't kill family..."
"Family?? What are you talking about?" Danny cut in. "Since when did you consider Michelle family? If anything, she just took up space."
"You were in love with..."
"Don't talk to me about love!" Danny interrupted again. "You know what she did to me. All of you know what she did to me! And you know what I've been through because of her. Michelle owed me a big, fat check and it was time to collect. She paid with her life."
"You're serious," Carmen remarked.
"Why would I joke about this?"
"When did this happen?"
"Last night. On Uncle's turf," he replied and Carmen's head whipped in the direction in which Gustavo was coming back into the room. "Neutral ground. It was his idea," Danny added and Gustavo turned to look at his nephew, not sure what he was talking about.
"Your idea, Gusto?" Carmen asked as he reclaimed his seat next to Maria.
"He suggested it be done in Miami," Danny spoke before his uncle could, bringing his feet down from the desk to stand up. "The police have a close eye on us here, and there was no need to draw any attention our way. It could've been done in Chicago, but we would've been risking it there too. Florida was the only logical choice," he told them. "Uncle has a clean record, he's a respected member of the community, and according to officials, he has separated himself from the family and what we continue to do. No one will even think to look at him."
"He has separated himself from what we do," Escobar spoke bitterly. "We don't need officials to tell us that. He's been away from his own family and the others for years. He hasn't killed a single person in his life," he said as he went up to Gustavo and leaned down to him. "And now, you want us to believe that he actually aided in killing your wife?" Escobar asked while staring Gustavo in the face.
"Yes, I do," Danny replied. "I explained all of this to you on our way here."
"I didn't buy it then and I don't buy it now," Escobar told him as he pushed up from the arms of Gustavo's chair and looked over at Danny. "That won't change until I get what I asked for. Reliable and authentic proof."
"You want him to prove that he's finally rid himself of that mistake he was insanely calling a wife?" Carmen asked. "You can't be serious! How do you suppose he do that? By bringing you her body?"
"That's a thought," Escobar remarked.
"You're talking crazy! You know that cannot be done," Carmen told him as the man made himself comfortable in a cushioned seat in front of her. "My son gave you his word! He's told you more than once that the girl has been eliminated..."
"No offense, Carmen, but your son can't blind sight me with his slick words as he does with you," Escobar spoke. "I'm actually surprised that you're trusting his word, considering how he dealt with the Mick situation," he mentioned, causing Carmen to sharply draw in a chest full of air.
"I wasn't thinking then," Danny spoke up.
"Oh, so your thinking cap is back on now. You've come to your senses and decided that this was the perfect time to avenge your brother's death," Escobar remarked.
"That debt was long overdue, wouldn't you say?" Danny asked.
Escobar gave him a wry grin before his focus went to Gustavo. "That it was," he replied. "So tell me, Gusto. What exactly was your role in this?" he asked. "Danny came up with the plan and Alvarez took out the garbage. What did you do?"
"What does it matter?" Gustavo asked as he stared him in the eyes.
"It would probably explain how you got hurt," Escobar said with an unnoticeable smile.
"How did you get hurt, Danny?" Carmen asked.
"It was a little accident," he offered after a moment.
"An accident?!" Gustavo asked incredulously. "This was no damn accident! My house was massacred!" he exclaimed. "That shit was intentional! We were shot at, Daniel was hit, and I suffered a slice through the arm! I could've lost my wife! But of course, that's no big deal. Right, Daniel?"
"O mi Dios," Maria held a hand to her chest. "Are you both okay, nieto?"
Danny stared at his uncle for a moment before breaking away to look at his grandmother. "I'm fine, abuela," he replied.
"Shot?!" Carmen shrieked. "How did this happen?? Who did this to you, Danny?? Did you see who they were?"
"I did-"
"But he didn't get a good look," Escobar cut in and all focus was instantly on him. "He was too involved in a squabble with one of them. He told me so," he was quick to add. "I did manage to find out who the perpetrators were. They were sent by Julía family," he said, and Danny's eyes narrowed at his answer. "They have this belief that you had something to do with their son's death."
"Where would they get such nonsense?!" Carmen exploded. "I never once ordered a hit on the Julía family! I admit that we don't share the same drinking glass, but I had absolutely nothing to do with Carlito's murder!"
"None of us did, Mamá," Danny calmly said while staring down Escobar. "I made sure to send a message back to the family, letting them know exactly that. Next time, they'll think thrice before pointing fingers in the wrong face."
"There won't be a next time," Carmen seethed. "They'll pay for this!"
"Mamá, I took care of it. There's no need for further action. Let it go," Danny ordered. "Just let it go," he assertively repeated before she could object. "No one was hurt. I'm fine and so are the children."
"Carmen, I gave them a warning of my own," Escobar said. "Be assured that they won't be coming anywhere near this family again."
"Gracias, Escobar, but I've learned not to take any chances," Carmen said as she picked up her phone and dialed.
"Who are you calling?" Danny asked.
"The surviving Julía boy. What's his name?" she gestured with her hand in an effort to remember. "I need to straighten him out myself."
Danny snatched the receiver from her and slammed it down on its base. "I've already done that! You don't have to do it again. Don't go starting anything that isn't there!"
"They shot my son!" Carmen yelled. "There is plenty there!"
"Forget it! I don't need my kids thrust into any more of this mess!" he told her. "Michelle has been dealt with and so has the Julías. Escobar can vouch for me on that and so can Tío."
"Fine," Carmen said after a long pause. "Then I'll have men on you and mis nietos..."
"No!" Danny was quick to object. "No."
"These people can strike again!"
"My children are not being escorted anywhere with anyone other than myself, Alejandra, or Pilar!" he said to her. "What, are you trying to scare them??"
"Of course not! I'm trying to protect them!"
"You can leave that to me," Danny said, his eyes flashing. "No one follows anyone! Not me, not my children, not Pilar. That also applies to you, dear suegro."
"You're putting my daughter's life in danger, Daniel," Escobar spoke and Danny laughed sarcastically as he turned around to face him.
"Alejandra is in no danger. You know that," he told him. "Hector Julía would be an idiot if he even thought of attacking a Ramírez, let alone one about to become a Santos. He'd be a bigger idiot if he did as much as look in my family's direction," he said. "Trust me when I say that your daughter will be just fine."
Escobar watched him for a while before his thin lips curved into a tight smile. "I believe your boy is becoming the man you've always wanted him to be, Carmen," he remarked.
"I can see that," she delightfully smiled back as she came up to her son and brought his face down her so she could kiss it. "I'm proud of you," she said in his ear. "I know Miguel is too."
"Señor Santos," Elisabeth called as she came into the room. "Oh! My apologizes. I did not mean to interrupt."
"It's quite okay, Lis," Carmen said. "What is it that you need?"
"This young man right here," she replied, referring to Gustavo. "I could have swore he was still with me. He must've slipped by when I was adoring your grandchildren. They are beautiful."
"Thank you," Carmen's smile widened. "I hope mi nieta will blossom into a flower as beautiful as yourself."
"Please, Señora..." Elisabeth blushed.
"I speak the truth," Carmen said. "We already how Michael will turn out. He's the splitting image of my handsome son," she spoke while giving Danny this teasing glare, and when he rolled his eyes and looked away, the women burst into laughter.
"He's the shy type," Carmen remarked.
"I don't think so," Elisabeth said, still laughing. "Come on, Sr. Let's make sure all is okay with you," she said to Gustavo as she helped him up. "You should come too, Danny. I might as well kill two birds with one stone."
"I'll be there. Give me a few minutes."
"Go ahead," Carmen insisted. "I don't believe we have anything more to say at the moment, unless you do, Escobar?"
"Nothing that can't wait until tonight's dinner," he replied, a subtle threat in his tone that only Danny caught.
"Okay," Danny agreed and he left the room with Gustavo and Elisabeth.
Once they were out in the lobby and clear of any listening ears, Elisabeth forcefully exhaled and ran a hand through her brunette hair.
"What are we waiting for, dear?" Gustavo asked.
"We'll continue shortly, Sr. I have a message for your nephew."
"From whom?" Danny asked.
"My brother. He's been calling your phone for hours on end, and he was starting to wonder if you were okay! I assured him that you were, but that you were preoccupied with some visitors," Elisabeth told him.
"I need you to call him back and tell him to meet me at Millennium in..." Danny checked his watch. "Three hours. Do that now," he said and Elisabeth went to retrieve her phone. "Don't look at me like that, Tío..."
"How would you like me to look at you, sorbino? Like a hero??" Gustavo asked. "Do you even know what you're doing? Do you? You're digging yourself into a hole deeper than the one you're already in!"
"Tío..."
"You wanted me to lie for you in there," Gustavo continued. "To cover Escobar's ass?! I will never do that!"
"You'd never lie for me?!" Danny asked.
"Not if it means lying for Escobar!" Gustavo replied. "Did you see how he twisted everything around?? He sicced the Julía family on us and made it out to be as if they'd come on their own accord. He's going to start a war, Daniel!"
"Tío, I've got this under control!"
"Do you?? How do you plan on proving Michelle is dead when she isn't?? Hmm? Tell me that!"
"Look, I don't know!"
"You don't know?! He doesn't know!" Gustavo exclaimed. "You've dragged me and your aunt into this, and now you're telling me that you don't know what you plan to do?! Oh, that's very smart, Daniel!"
"First of all, I didn't drag you into anything! You and Gracie threw yourselves in this!" Danny huffed and forced out some air. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to raise my voice. I'll figure this out," he said.
"Oh, you better! And you best do it before they figure you out," Gustavo told him and then left his nephew to himself.
Lighthouse: 12:15pm
Michelle stepped out of the bathroom with a wet face and her hands equally dripped of water. She dragged her bags across the floor and plopped down on the bare mattress of the bed. As she was about to unzip one of them, the shimmering of the band on her finger caught her attention. She stared at it for a while, and immediately shook herself out of her reminiscence, pushing her hair behind her ears and proceeding to unzip the bag.
She carefully went through it, searching for something to dry herself off with, and she decided to settle for a worn tee. She pulled it out from amongst the other things and started to dry off her hands when something else caught her attention. Her cell phone.
Michelle picked it up, her mind reeling with what to do with it. She could call the police. Her family. She had to call someone. Anyone who would come and save her from this hell she was stuck in.
Hearing Juan coming up the staircase, she tossed the phone back into the bag, covered it with clothes, zipped the bag and pushed it over to the side with her foot just as he was entering the room.
"I thought you were going to wash up," he spoke as he clapped off the dust on his hands.
"I was," Michelle stood to face him. "That was until I realized I had no soap or towels...or anything else toiletry related," she said while he continued to brush himself off. "Weren't you supposed to return with something?"
"Oh, yeah," Juan snapped his fingers. "The rags. Where did you say they were?"
"You know what? Forget about 'em. I think we need a break from our dusting duties anyway," she said as she rubbed her face dry with the faded shirt. "I don't know about you, but my stomach has been begging for attention."
"Hungry."
"Very," Michelle remarked, tossing the shirt to the bed.
"Okay. Well, whatever you need, let me know. I'll be stepping out in a bit."
"Where're you going?" she asked and Juan stopped what he was doing to look at her. "I'm just a little curious as to where you're going," she told him. "That's all."
"You know better than to be curious, Michelle," he remarked as he grabbed his jacket from a nearby chair.
"I know better than to be curious," she repeated. "Oh! I get it. We're back to the Godfather's way of answering questions! Please, hold any further comments until I can pull out my book on 'How to Decipher Cryptic Statements,'" she scoffed.
"I still have that gag," Juan informed her as he pulled his jacket up on his shoulders, and Michelle rolled her eyes and turned to stroll away from him.
"Who'll be here with me while you're gone?" she asked following a pause.
"No one," Juan replied. "You don't need a baby-sitter, do you?"
"You're just gonna leave me here alone?"
"Shall I repeat my question?"
"People are after me!" she exclaimed.
"No one knows you're here, so you'll be just fine," Juan told her. "Look, I really have to go. Could you tell me what you need?"
"I need my family! Can you give me that?" she asked, turning back to him and then sighed when he didn't reply. "Just use your imagination, alright? If that part of your head has somehow become defunct, then I suggest you put your partner's mind to work."
"The door and its gate will be secured," Juan said as he climbed the foyer. "No one can get in. No one can get out. I should be back in a couple of hours..."
"Hours?! I could be dead by then!"
"You're a tough cookie. You'll find some way to survive," he remarked before pulling the door open and hurrying down the stairs.
"Juan! You can't leave me here like this!" Michelle ran to the door and yelled just as the lock to the entrance door clicked. "I don't even have decent water to drink!" she added, her voice bouncing off the walls of the hollow building, echoing loudly. The sound of the gate being padlocked could be heard followed by the sound of Juan walking away.
Michelle slammed the bedroom door shut with all her might and growled in frustration as she stepped down from the foyer.
"I can't live like this. I cannot be a prisoner," she was saying to herself while going over to her bag. "I don't care what you or Danny has to say. I've gotta get out of here," she unzipped the bag and pulled out her phone.
She had to let someone know that she was okay. Her family, however, was out of the question. She couldn't risk contacting any of them. Not after her first attempt led Carmen right to her.
She could call Bill. No. He's too close to Pilar.
Who the heck did she have left?
----------------
The phone shrilled loudly just as Drew was rushing out the loft, and she turned around to grab it and run back out with it.
"Hi. Drew and Jesse aren't here right now," she spoke as she struggled to get her keys out of the door. "And I'm not the answering machine, but if you'd like to leave a VERY important message, call back in a few seconds. If you don't have anything significant to say, hang up and don't call back until you do..."
"Drew, hold on! Don't hang up!"
"Who's this?"
"Who do you think it is?"
"Michelle??"
"Ding, ding, ding!"
"Where the hell are you?"
"I'm nearby," she whispered. "You can't let anyone know that you're talking to me," she told her. "Where's Jesse? Is he around?"
"He's downstairs," Drew answered. "Jesus, Michelle! Do you have any idea how worried you've made all of us?! Rick is going out of his freaking mind trying to find you! Why haven't you called?! I was afraid we'd have the Police come to us and say that they found you floating down the Hudson!"
"I'm not swimming with the fishes yet, Drew."
"Yet?? God...where are you?" Drew asked as she climbed down the staircase. "You can't tell me this is an adult version of running away because if you do, I'll be the first to let you know that this was very stupid and irresponsible! And its got a lot of people scared, Michelle!! Scared!"
"Keep your voice down, okay?"
"Do you know what your brother thinks?" Drew continued as she power walked across the dance floor in her skinny two inch heels. "He thinks the Santos family has you. Yeah! Talk about off the wall!"
"They do have me, Drew," Michelle quietly said, wishing the woman would just shut up for a second. "At least Danny does," she added and there was silence. "Drew?"
"I'm here," she said as her eyes followed Juan from the door over to the table where Danny was sitting. She hurried past the bar to go stand by the other doorway leading to the floor. "Did I hear you right? Did you say Danny has you captive?"
"Yeah, in the lighthouse."
"You don't sound like someone being held against her will, Michelle."
"How should I sound, Drew? Like someone with a knife to her throat?" Michelle asked. "Look, I don't have time to explain any of this, but I need you to do something for me."
"You need me to call the Police? I can do that! They'd be on Danny and his familia quicker than they can say enchilada!"
"No! No police. No one can know that I called you. Not Rick. Not Abby. No one. Not even Jesse."
"I don't understand..."
"Listen, okay? My kids are in a lot of danger and my cooperating with Danny has a lot to do with their safety."
"Cooperating? What in God's heavenly name are you talking about?! This is the very man who took the kids from you and now he's holding you prisoner!" Drew yelled and then she lowered her voice after peering into the room to see if she was heard by her guests. "Why are you trusting him?? Has he got you smoking something?"
"I'll tell you everything when you get here."
"Who said I was coming at all?"
"Drew, you've got to. I'm all alone up here. I need to see someone," Michelle pleaded. "Someone who isn't married to his gun and who won't shoot me if I blink the wrong way."
"Oh, no, girl. Uhh uh. You're in way over your head! I don't know what kind of deal you've made with your warden, but I'm calling the police."
"Drew! Drew, you can't do that!" Michelle told her. "Please! My babies will die..."
"You're not making any sense!"
"Don't contact anyone!"
"Okay! Alright, I won't," Drew agreed.
"Are you coming?"
"I'm coming," she sighed.
"Come alone. Whatever you do, don't let Jesse know where you're going," Michelle said.
"This is some dangerous shit, do you know that? I didn't wake up this morning to deal with gangsters, Michelle! Michelle?" Drew pressed the phone off when she heard the dial tone, and she walked back up to the bar, her eyes focused on Danny and Juan who were engrossed in a hushed conversation.
"You had her all this time, huh?" Drew asked as she grabbed her car keys, tapping the decal of the key ring against the back of her hand.
"The nerve that creep has coming up in here," Jesse spoke from behind Drew, startling her to epic proportions. "Too bad I can't kick his wide ass to the curb without risking a lawsuit," he remarked and noticed that Drew was still staring at them. "Is everything okay?" he asked.
"Oh, hi, baby," Drew barely acknowledged his presence.
"Are you alright?"
"Yeah, everything's cool," she replied.
"Do you have a problem with them being here?" Jesse asked of her vigilance.
"No. No problem at all," she turned to him. "It's a little stuffy in here. I'm going out for some air."
"Need company?"
"No, I'll be back soon," she said, kissing him quickly and pulling away to leave, but he held onto her wrist.
"Are you sure everything is okay?"
"Umm hmm," Drew nodded, avoiding his eyes and he let her go. She stared at Danny and Juan a while longer before exiting the club.
Once she left, Jesse's attention went to where the two sat. Something was going on with Drew and he got the distinct feeling that it had everything to do with Danny.
"Drew!" Jesse called as he was taking off his apron to go after her.
"Jesse..."
"Not right now," he cut the waitress off. "I've gotta go."
"Water is overflowing in the kitchen and the valve won't shut off," she quickly said, following him to the door. "It's starting to make its way onto the Floor."
"Damn," Jesse hissed. "Okay. Okay, I'm coming."
----------------
"You told them you had her killed," Juan spoke, his tone skeptical.
"That I did," Danny replied and Juan stared at him in silence before speaking up again.
"You're crazy."
"It's the only thing I could come up with. If I'd said anything else, it would've been curtains for my family."
"You're crazy," Juan repeated as Danny took up his glass from the table. "Ramírez believed you?"
"The man wants proof," Danny said and Juan sat back against his seat. "And he wants it by 8 tonight."
"What?!" Juan exclaimed. "What kind of proof does he want? Michelle's corpse??"
"He'd like that," Danny remarked and Juan's eyes widened.
"We're back to the original plan?" he leaned forward to ask.
"No! Michelle is not to be touched!" Danny told him and there was a brief pause. "I've got too much going on. I can't think straight."
"I'm not sure you're thinking at all," Juan remarked. "You're in too deep, man! You can't give Ramírez proof that doesn't exist!"
"I know. That's where you come in."
"Excuse me? What do you mean, where I come in?"
"You got me into this mess and you're gonna get me out!" Danny told him.
"Oh, so now it's all my fault."
"You're damn right it's your fault! You set this all in motion."
"Yeah, I went out searching for Michelle because I found it was the only fun thing to do with my spare time," Juan quipped. "It had nothing to do with you asking me to find her."
"You found her and you never told me," Danny sipped of his drink.
"Forget alla dat, man. It's in the past. I did it for your own good, alright? What's happening now with Ramírez would've went down then. You can say I spared your life."
"What kind of life did you exactly spare me, Carlos?" Danny asked.
"The kind that you made everyone believe you wanted back then," Juan replied. "Now I'm not sure what you want."
"Don't worry about what I want and focus on what needs to be done," Danny said as he returned his glass to the table and circled its rim with his finger. "What's important is Danielle and Michael's welfare. To ensure their safety, I have to prove that Michelle is dead without actually killing her."
"I still haven't heard how you plan on pulling off this illusion," Juan spoke. "What do you expect me to do? Pull shit from thin air? I could have a look-alike made, but that'll take days. I know I do the impossible, but producing a Michelle replica in less than 8 hours would just be God."
"So you're saying that you can't do it?"
"I'm saying that you should've given Escobar a different story," Juan told him.
"I'm not asking you to change water into wine, man."
"You might as well be," Juan remarked. "Isn't it a little early to be nursing a glass of whiskey?" he asked and Danny just glared at him. "What did your uncle have to say about this? Is he going along with it?"
"He is. For now. He thinks I'm insane," Danny replied, making a face to show his disagreement of that opinion.
"He's got my vote," Juan said while staring at him as he made continuous circles on the table with his glass. "Man, you're fucked."
"The highlight of my life," Danny lazily smiled.
"Maybe the end of your life."
"Are you going to help me or not?"
"Do I suddenly have a choice?" Juan asked and there was another brief silence.
"I need those disks," Danny started up. "I know someone who can figure them out."
"Someone like who?"
"Just give me the disks."
"I'm still working on them."
"Juan, this so-called wedding of mine is just days away! I don't have time for you to tinker around with codes and what not! I need to know what I may be sitting on."
"Then I'll keep working on them..."
"No," Danny shook his head in disagreement. "You will concentrate on making Michelle dead while someone else takes care of the disks."
"Who is this someone?" Juan asked and Danny refused to speak as he brought his glass up to his lips. "Don't tell me it's Bill Lewis."
"He's really good at this stuff!" Danny argued.
"What?!" Juan went off. "You can't involve him in this!"
"Excuse you, but this isn't your decision!" Danny whispered harshly after glancing to see that Jesse's attention was on them. "You will give him the disks. Today! He's at Lewis Construction...listen to me!" he grabbed Juan's jacket. "Tell him enough to get him to do what needs to be done. Keep your personal feelings out of this," he ordered. "Juan, I mean it. You will go to Bill and get him to hack, crack, or do whatever it is that he does so I can find out what Dietz and Warren have so preciously guarded on those pieces of plastic. I just might get what I need to escape this marriage."
"You may not find anything helpful," Juan said.
"I think I will," Danny replied. "Dietz sounded like he had an awful lot to lose should these fall into the right hands," he said, and he paused before continuing. "How's the light's new resident?"
"She's cooperating."
"Is she okay?" Danny asked.
"Yeah," Juan answered. "Yeah, she's okay."
"Good," Danny nodded while staring down into his empty glass. "Be sure it stays that way."
"Nothing will happen to her on my watch," Juan assured.
"I just want to be sure that she doesn't do anything that'll jeopardize this," Danny said, trying to sound unconcerned about anything else. "Nothing can go wrong. Nothing."