Chapter Carlos 1

In a political move, Carlos is to play host to a group of strange visitors. However there is something far more sinister hiding behind this evening.

Carlos had spent the past five hours dining the out-of-towners elite. Not too much more than ancient dragons with no bite. They come and go, and he plays his part. He heard rumors of their clubs, the places they visit and how they snub him with a slight upward twist of their jaw. There was a rumor of a late night orgy, another rumor about wife swapping, and the one person who refuses to remain loyal despite his claims that he loves his wife and all four of his illegitimate children.

Allegedly Carlos’s job in this scenario was to pluck up their egos and make them realize they had an ally with the mayor. He knew the truth. Despite the nice coat he wore. The perfect teeth the dentist had helped him refine, and the proper Saxon accent he could play without sounding inauthentic, he was a Mexican to them. One whose lineage spoke of immigration, job stealing, and the slums around the town. He could sense it every time they spoke to him. He was an outsider acting properly sub servant in hopes they would give him a piece of the pie.

That night a white limo took a turn off Granada Blvd onto the main freeway headed south. It had left the posh lights away, the open road, and went instead for a trip past the industrial zone, loud late night car races and around some drunk drivers who wanted to enjoy their own party. The limo was in no way a vintage model. It was designed with harsh edges on the outside making it seem rare and expensive compared to the rentals at some knock off tourist cabbie. This was personal, designed and customized with the owner in mind.

Carlos looked out the window of dark tint, making the only thing visible the city lights as they sank in the distant. He began to wonder if this is what it was like to fly in the void of space and the stars. He knew they were going fast enough that any cop would be insane not to pull them over. Fortunately the plates on this limo would make that just one step harder. The mayor had a special meeting with a chief or captain of some sort not that long ago about the last time his mistress got pulled over in this limo.

Now it was being used to bring his new “friends” some home hospitality experience. They were chatting. The eldest of the group, some relic named Ulysses was trying to one up the story told by Levi, the youngest. They had gotten into an argument of the most embarrassing trysts they had have. Levi was found being with a lobbyists daughter during a campaign rally a few years ago. The spectators were not that happy. How he was not murdered for that, no one knows. Ulysses took that as a challenge and came up with a story that seemed like Mayberry from hell.

“So this girl liked to bake pies for the annual town festival. Well lets just say while her husband was receiving a distinguished medal award for serving in some backwoods country, she was getting a personal award in the back of her tent. And yes, that is definitely a double meaning.” He starts laughing. So too did three of the others. Levi was quiet though.

Carlos couldn’t tell it was because he was outdone or if because the conversation just went off topic. Regardless he found this whole experience to be dirty. He wanted to go home, find a Zen garden, take a shower, burn his clothes in a pyre and purify his soul whatever way possible. The cigar smoke from Marley was creeping down his lung with each inhale.

Marley was the second youngest, but he wore the nicest suit. Carlos wasn’t sure what Marley did with his life to make it to the honor of this limo ride but he clearly was in his element. The people around him seem to constantly center their attention whenever he would open his mouth. It was as if whatever he had to say would instantly liven up the atmosphere and save them from the potential of falling into boredom.
 
The haze of the cigar smoke was getting thicker and Carlos felt like he was going to die here. This was not how he wanted to life to end, playing entertainer to out-of -towners. Not just entertainer, a submissive servant for the couple of moments of thrills. He had spent the entire week lining up this night and so far it had not gone well. With each club they visited, the potential sexual harassment lawsuits piling against them, the fight that broke out at a church.

“The priest started it.” That was all that was said the moment they walked into the limo to start their day together.    

The ride had now lasted for a seeming ten minute hell marathon. He started the night conversing hard, proving his worth among them. As this night was progressing, Carlos started to hide more and more in the background.

“We almost there?” Marley asked impatiently cutting off Ulysses’ next set of sexual conquest stories.

“It will be about another ten. The location is more than a jump from here. But I promise you; I got my guy, he is going to make sure it is the party of the year. The Mayor doesn’t know a thing and I want it to be kept in the dark like that. If you don’t mind.”

Ulysses slapped Carlos on the back, “It is all good my friend. I am sure tonight is already going to be a success.”

“So, does this mean the land development deal is already decided on?” Carlos asked. The faces in the back of the limo were not ready to commit. They looked confused and nervous.

“Well, I would love to but I need to know we are all on the same page. Carlos, I haven’t really seen you drink with us outside of some simple sips.” Levi started to pour a drink from the little bar compartment in the back.

“We have been to the site several times now but I don’t think continuing to bring it means that you will be cut in or cut out. I like the mayor, I like his politics, but I still need to know that he can bring investors to the table. We need to know that. He wants in on this, prove to us that what we have to look forward to is better than that front he puts on for the voters.” Ulysses was seemingly to get more business like as his talk went on.

In the world of money, it seemed to sober up his company. The talk quickly came to that of the purpose of the East Estates.

“So how did the idea to renovate the East Estates come about?” Carlos asked.

“I came from money. My grandmother ruled the era of Gatsby. We can trace our lineage back to the pioneer days and owning land. The west was won under the Templeton banner. My mom gave me three companies to run before I reached the age of 25. So, I sold one and started working on a passion to develop land.”

“But you are mostly known for your work with banks and Templeton Entertainment. Where do those fields fit in with East Estates?”

“Templeton Entertainment came from the whole world needing to be awake 24/7. We simply placed some seeds in a diverse field and watched them hatch. We then started buying out other shares and property until we could put it under a banner. We then sprinkled that around as much as possible. The end result, I could literally make more money now by sitting on a toilet for the rest of my life per second, then your average CEO would make on salary.”

“Would that money be going into East Estates?”

“Oh no. East Estates is a passion project. You see, since the sixties the town where East Estates is going to be was nothing but farm land and empty space. In the past 20 years it became model housing. Mass produced bullshit. We are going to fix that.”

Johansson, a former judge, who had been sitting quietly up till now broke in. “It really is a dream project.” Carlos looked at what seemed to be a young man. He wasn’t necessarily young, but just got out of the Law game at the age of 35. Carlos remember hearing the rumors of how deep into the pockets of special interest groups Johansson was. The the man’s hair was a German blonde, perhaps result from a lot of hair product. He spoke posh, and had not a single hint of stress wrinkles on his forehead. The one notable feature that stop Johansson from being any level of attractive was that a double chin lovingly sagged in between his jaw and neck and the mans Adam’s apple was lost as a result. This did not stop the fire in his eye when Johansson spoke. They would light up like Christmas trees when the conversation would switch to whatever channel he enjoyed. To the irony though, Carlos noted his eyes and focus would equally turn off and stare into dead space when he would cease to talk.

“Just imagine, high end homes, mansions, castles, surrounded by the most beautiful parks and a high end golf resort. The land value alone for a shack in that neck of the woods would be astronomical! However being that we would be on the ground floor buying the land, rezoning it, the profit that would come in would be enough to fund entire countries.”

Levi nodded, “It is a great idea. With the mayors help, and his investment, it would be a great opportunity for him. If he were to get involved however it would have to be as a silent partner. We already got bids on construction companies and a few friends who would actually pay us to let them into building the foundation.”

Carlos then asked, “So how did you get involved in this?”

The young twenty something year old had black curly hair and dark eyes. He however had a smile that Carlos knew any girl would instantly find attractive. “It comes from my fortune. It is a high risk, high reward. You see, I got lucky.”

Ulysses quipped, “You have more money than any god I know of. But we all know how you got it. You are one sick evil son of a b***h.”

Levi laughed, “I may be young and yes I have my hidden war stories.”

“Three countries of war.” Marley intervened.

“For the record, the United States government does not officially recognize any truths to these rumors.” Joel
Patted his friend on the back. Joel was a few years older than Marley but he had in him a child like smile. He looked stiff though in his suit he always wore. Carlos was briefed long ago that Joel was actually a state senator. It was odd, if Carlos was the outsider having this rare look into another world, than with Joel, the Senator, he was an outsider who could only look out.

It was all in the energy, the waves and bonds they had with each other and poor Joel was trying to unconsciously shift his aura to match theirs. Carlos could see it was a losing battle. This noble looking Senator who was lost among being with the real lions. The irony was they needed him. He was their ace in their plan so they brought him to their outings and they would occupy him with their jokes. 

“So we have a state senator who is going to support this business transaction, two wealthy people who have strong ties to different areas from local to the middle east, and we have a former judge who can bring some extra people to the table. How did this all come together?” Carlos asked.

“Well I was contacted by Mr. Marley. Me and him have known each other for awhile.”

“We are Eskimo brothers through a set of high class ladies.” Marley began to giggle. High class meant they were well experience and highly expensive prostitutes. The kind that tend to go on month long trips with their clients around the world.

“I was trying to find a way to lay low from a lot of my enemies. You would be surprised how invasive the world can be when you want to take a step back. Marley came up to me and told me during a nice party that he had wanted to start a new community that could finance itself from payment via local properties. In other words, we live like kings and have everyone else foot the bill. So I said how about an upscale golf course and resort.”

“Smart, right? I was going to just suggest a mall.”

Levi then asked, “Such a random project though. What made you decide on this first?”

Ulysses responded, “I wanted to bring in people I could trust. A track record of pro finance if you will. That was when I asked to find a group of like minded friends.”

“Ulysses came to me and I simply said, I know a good piece of land, and a senator that worked near the area. Levi was my first choice in making sure we had our backs covered. His outside connections would make this go even sweeter.”

“We have been planning this for a year though. Far too long if you ask me gentleman. However we now seem to be in the final stretch.” Levi smiled. Perhaps all of this had been taxing on his young self. Carlos didn’t know. If taxed right, the income would do great for the city finances but, the removal of an entire section of a city for a less amount of mansions would not go well with his stomach.

He also was sickened that this whole scheme was designed to feed themselves fat while the lesser neighborhoods would continue to shift towards degradation. Everything about this disgusted him. These people. The effect it had on the mayor. Everyone in this limo was consumed by the greed. It left a stench that he could detect. It was threatening to suffocate it since he refused to be consumed by it himself. How proper, he thought.

The limo continued its speed until a green sign on the highway came up. This was going to be there exit. It drifted two lanes to the right and then the exit lane developed. They were getting off at this point. The city had went from posh, to commercial, to residential. Now the area had hit the factories, the warehouses and mountainous areas were roads cease to go in linear fashion. It was a depressing area. The outside of the district was punctuated by train tracks that ran along and into the unknown distance. Graffiti was happy and everywhere and it reeked of drugs but no police stations in sight,

That was the reason Carlos had brought them out here. This place they were going to was not for tourism. It was for depravity. Another thing Carlos sensed from them early on; their love for not following the traditions of law and order. They were above such petty concepts. They were men who ran the world and thus like feudal lords, they made the rules rather than agreeing with them.

Carlos laughed for a split second at the thought. He too knew he was above the rules but that was for a different reason. He enforced the rules and molded the world for the greater good. He did not do it for a selfish goal. That was how they differed.

Tonight was actually a lie. It was a lie he had been pulling the strings for the entire time. Sure, the mayor wanted to make a good impression so he could make connections and hope to get on the ground floor for the East Estates deal. Carlos was designated to be the liaison to make this dream happen. That wasn’t Carlos’s real goal tonight. In a couple of hours none of this would matter.

Soon, there would be a murder. Carlos would be its mastermind. This was a night planned long in advanced and had a set end game. His problem was he didn’t know who he needed to kill. He would take them to this warehouse, far from civilization. Where no one could interfere, and he would kill the demon that hid among them. One of these men was just that; a demon. As a battle mage, it was his duty to kill it before it could escape him again. He just did not know who it was.

Author's Note

Any feedback welcome, and I look forward to bringing you the rest of this story.